Celebrate Every Day

Welcome to May 30, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we remember our fallen heroes and celebrate the spirit of the South. Of all the wars Americans have fought, none had more casualties than the Civil War—over 500,000 people in total. Memorial gatherings became a tradition each spring, with communities visiting the cemeteries to place flowers on the graves and pay respects. In 1868, General...

Welcome to May 29, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate drunken roosters and amazing trades. You may not be impressed to see “Rooster with Wine” on the menu but any culinary expert knows that a good Coq Au Vin is the hallmark of French cooking. Dating all the way back to the days of Julius Caesar, the dish from the Gaul region features a braise of chicken, cooked with wine, salt p...

Welcome to May 28, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate barbecue classics and popular patties. Brisket is one of the most prized cuts of barbecue meat, but it wasn’t always so popular. In fact, it was once considered to be of very poor quality. However, that changed in the early 1900s when European Jewish immigrants arrived in America and made their way to Texas. Brisket had long...

Welcome to May 27, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a portable fridge and the gateway to adventure. One of the most useful inventions to come out of World War II was styrofoam, which was originally intended as a replacement for rubber. In the post-war years, styrofoam got put to a new use—portable coolers. As Americans settled into suburban life, picnics and barbecues became p...

Welcome to May 26, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate living it up in “Salsaville” and flights of fancy. June 2010 was a great time for fans of tortilla chips—specifically those who were living near Jacksonville, Texas. Bob Blumer, host of Food Network Canada’s “Glutton for Punishment” and 20 volunteers chopped up ingredients like tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, and limes to create...

Welcome to May 25, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate inspirational libations and moving to the beat of happy feet. According to Greek mythology, there were twelve gods who lived on Mount Olympus. Of the twelve, only one was part human. Dionysus held a special place for the Greeks, not only because his mother was human, but also because he created wine. This magical beverage, li...

Welcome to May 24, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate amazing monuments and baffling treasure hunts. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established Devil’s Tower as the first National Monument in America. This unique rock formation rises high above the Black Hills area of Wyoming and has long been part of Native American mythology. According to legend, the sides of the butte...

Welcome to May 23, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the luck you are given and the kind you make for yourself. The first one-cent coin in America was minted in 1787, and was designed by Benjamin Franklin. On one side, it read “Mind Your Business” and the other “We Are One,” though we’re not sure which side counted as heads or tails. Pennies don’t have much value, but finding o...

Welcome to May 22, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate strange instruments and strategic goofing off. The most popular instrument in the world is the guitar. It makes sense if you think about its versatility in terms of genre. But at the other end of the spectrum, you’ll find the theremin—one of the most uncommon musical instruments. Theremins are electronic and are played withou...

Welcome to May 21, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate those who inspire us on land, sea, air and space and also in the pool. After a few defeats at the hands of British forces, George Washington requested troops that could fight on both land and sea. On November 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution to create two Battalions of Marines to serve with the Co...

Welcome to May 20, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate slowing down to the speed of streaming and life in the fast lane. There was a time when if you wanted to watch a season of an entire TV series, you needed to go buy a DVD boxed set. Then in 2012, Netflix changed that forever with a show called Lilyhammer. It’s the story of a New York gangster who is living in Norway and it wa...

Welcome to May 19, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate colorful alternatives and sinful desserts. Buying eggs at the grocery store is a fairly bland affair when it comes to color—everything is either brown or white. Most of the eggs we buy come from a variety of chicken known as the Leghorn. But there are plenty of other chicken breeds that lay much more colorful eggs. There’s a...

Welcome to May 18, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the crafty cleanup and puffed up cheese. Cooking and then sharing a meal with loved ones is one of the best things in life. The cleanup afterwards…not so much. So thank goodness for socialite Josephine Cochrane. Her household staff had broken too many pieces of her good china during cleaning, so she came up with an idea for w...

Welcome to May 17, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate stunning stunts and sweet substitutions. Shoshone Falls in Southern Idaho is known as the Niagara of the West, and boasts some pretty amazing views. But a little past the falls is one of the coolest attractions in the state. In 1974, Evel Knievel, the world’s most famous stuntman attempted to jump the Falls. People around the...

Welcome to May 16, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate living history and a legacy of barbecue. In a country with as much history as Great Britain, you’d think the oldest thing there would be some sort of ruin. But oddly enough, there’s a tree in Somerset County that outdates just about anything else in England—even Stonehenge. The Ashbrittle Yew has been around for over 3,000 ye...

Welcome to May 15, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate role reversal and classic cookies. If you are looking to mix things up, why not celebrate National Take Your Parents to the Playground Day? If you enjoyed the classic role reversal movie, “Freaky Friday”, where a parent and child switched roles for a day, you’ll love letting the kids take you to their place of “work” to remin...

Welcome to May 14, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate breaking records in sports and dance. In the 2016 Summer Olympics, Im Dong Hyun broke the points record in the men’s archery competition. The South Korean archer did this despite being legally blind. So how exactly does someone with impaired vision compete in a sport that normally requires such sharp eyesight? He says that th...

Welcome to May 13, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate good old American favorites. Americans didn’t invent frog jumping, but we know where the most celebrated contest originated. That would be Calaveras County, California back in 1849. Thanks to Mark Twain, these amphibian Olympics are still celebrated throughout the country to this day. While his story had three different names...

Welcome to May 12, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate rowdy poems and technology that has stood the test of time. Anna: There once was a man from Nantucket… Marlo: WHOA! You can’t read that on the air. Anna: I’m just reading a limerick. Marlo: Okay, but we can’t actually read a limerick. They’re simple five-line poems with a set rhyme scheme, but they are usually…um…a little off...

Welcome to May 11, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate comfort food and scary television. If you have felt the pressure of watching what you eat then, today it’s time to give in to the food you love the most. Today we give you permission to skip the calorie counting and google up your favorite comfort food. Chips, cookies, pizza, or maybe some cake. Just enjoy yourself. If anyone...

Welcome to May 10, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate nutty bridges and strange finds. The Lewis and Clark Bridge spans the Columbia River, serving as an important link between Oregon and Washington. But just a few miles away in Longview, is a lesser known bridge called the Nutty Narrows. In 1963, Longview resident Amos Peters was distressed by the number of squirrels that died...

Welcome to May 9, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate finding your groove and losing your socks. The human voice may be the oldest musical instrument. But drums have to be a close second. The act of banging a stick against an object is a simple yet effective way to create sound. No one knows exactly who invented the drum, but the instrument has been around a very long time. The r...

Welcome to May 8, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate heartfelt connections and tropical dreams. Human mothers instinctively hold their infants to the left side of their bodies. This happens regardless of whether the mother is left or right-handed. And it’s just primal instinct. The right side of the brain, which controls emotions, is linked to the left side of the body. Obviousl...

Welcome to May 7, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate short sports and thinking outside the package. Today is the Kentucky Derby, also known as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports.” Despite the name, there have only been two winners in history who’ve finished the mile and a quarter race under the two minute mark. In 2001, Monarchos finished with a time of 1:59.97. And in 197...

The Pale Blue Dot is one of the most famous photographs ever taken, though you may not recognize the subject at first glance. NASA’s Voyager I spacecraft launched in 1977 and traveled the solar system, transmitting images back to scientists on Earth and forever changing our view of our celestial neighbors. In 1990, as it was passing Neptune, Voyager turned its camera back to Earth and took a photo...