Celebrate Every Day

Welcome to May 5, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate Mexican independence and reaching for the stars. In 1862, France tried to take over Mexico. The country had defaulted on loan payments to France, and the European nation was so angry that it sent troops to Mexico to resolve things with force. Normally, the United States would have intervened, but was in the midst of civil war…...

Welcome to May 4, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate fancy birds and feeling the force. Male birds tend to be more beautiful than their female companions. And there’s a reason. In the bird world, the female chooses her mate based on how he woos her—and this involves catching her eye. Take, the Costa’s Hummingbird, who puts on an elaborate aerial show in front of the lady he’s co...

Welcome to May 3, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the Big Sky State and all things spooky. There are more cattle than people in Montana. By a count of nearly 3 to1. But the state has always had strange ratios when it comes to population. In the mid-1800s when a gold rush started, prospectors flocked to Montana to strike it rich. And a few lucky miners really hit the jackpot....

Welcome to May 2, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a month of pedaling and smelly food. You’ve probably seen the old-fashioned bicycle known as the penny-farthing but didn’t know it by name. This very silly looking bike has a huge front wheel, with a seat and handlebars on top, and a tiny wheel behind it. It got the name because the wheels reminded people of the penny and fart...

Welcome to May 1, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate nursery rhymes and sweet success. We all grew up learning rhymes about a cat playing a fiddle and little piggies going to the market, but probably never questioned where they came from. To be honest, the origin of nursery rhymes isn’t really clear, since they were passed down by word of mouth for centuries. The first time thes...

Welcome to April 30, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate healthy treats and a wascally wabbit. It seems there’s an oddball in every group, even when it comes to cookies. People go crazy for chocolate chip and snickerdoodle, but that’s not the case for oatmeal cookies. Some people turn up their noses at the very idea. But come on—you get to eat sweets AND something healthy at the...

Welcome to April 29, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate cool inventions and crazy trees. Zippers are something that we use almost daily but probably don’t give much thought. This essential but overlooked part of our lives was invented in 1851 by Elias Howe, the same man who invented the sewing machine. But the idea didn’t become popular until 1917 when Gideon Sundback reworked t...

Welcome to April 28, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate heroes both fictional and in real-life. Marvel Comics debuted its first superhero in October 1939. His name was the Human Torch, an android with a design flaw. Any time he is exposed to oxygen, he bursts into flame. Seems like something that should’ve been caught earlier in the design process, but what do I know? The Human...

Welcome to April 27, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the Sultan of Swat and spinning a yarn with the best of them. The word “Ruthian” is used to describe a sports feat that is so incredible, it seems almost impossible. The word is a tribute to the legendary Babe Ruth. When he joined the New York Yankees in 1920, the record for home runs in a season was 27. That season he hit...

Welcome to April 26, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate big discoveries and shaking things up. There are many one-named celebrities out there, but none as big as Sue. She’s a big deal. Literally. Sue the T. Rex is the largest and most intact fossil of the dinosaur species ever found. The discovery was made in the South Dakota Badlands in 1990 by Susan Hendrickson, who lent the T...

Welcome to April 25, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate ringing up old friends and weird science. The first call ever made on a telephone lasted only a couple seconds. But the duration didn’t matter to its inventor Alexander Graham Bell, who was ecstatic that his device worked. But he would’ve positively freaked out if he witnessed the call between two Harvard University student...

Welcome to April 24, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the pets in our hearts and pigs in a blanket. Audrey Hepburn was one of the first celebrities to go everywhere in public with her dog. Mr. Famous, her Yorkshire Terrier, was along for photo shoots and Hollywood events. This wasn’t common practice at the time and it helped make pets seem more like family. When asked why her...

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Welcome to April 22, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate our natural world and the beans that everyone adores. Scientists refer to Earth’s location in our solar system as a “Goldilocks Zone.” In other words, it’s just right. Any closer or farther from the sun and the temperature on Earth wouldn’t be able to host life. No other planet we know of has this exact combination of facto...

Welcome to April 21, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate high fives and a garden for kids. If you’ve ever given someone a high five—and who hasn’t?—you can thank the Los Angeles Dodgers. On October 2, 1977, Dusty Baker hit a home run to put the Dodgers ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies in their playoff game. As he crossed home plate, his teammate Glenn Burke ran toward him with...

Welcome to April 20, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a mysterious fruit and a cake that says Aloha. Today we celebrate one of the most popular fruits in the world. The banana. But despite how common it is, our friend the banana has been keeping plenty of secrets. First of all, they grow from bulbs not seeds. Also they are technically considered berries. And did you know that...

Welcome to April 19, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the Peace Garden State and peace of mind for garlic lovers. When you think of places associated with Italian food, North Dakota is probably the last thing that comes to mind. But consider this: each year, Americans eat nearly 6 billion pounds of pasta. Pasta is made from durum wheat and 80% of that wheat is grown in North D...

Welcome to April 18, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate good advice and a box full of fun. Every family seems to have someone who likes to dispense advice to everyone else. The Friedman family of Sioux City, Iowa had two—twin girls Pauline and Esther. The world knows them better as the famous newspaper columnists Abigail Van Buren and Ann Landers, respectively. For decades, thes...

Welcome to April 17, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate family history and an egg roll for everyone. Ellis Island’s immigration office opened on January 1st 1892, and became the point of entry for Europeans coming into the United States. The first person to pass through its gates was Annie Moore, a 15 year old girl from Ireland. She and her two younger brothers began what would...

Welcome to April 16, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate unlikely poets and eggstraordinary breakfast. There have been many strange and eccentric poets over the centuries, but none quite like Archy the Cockroach. This little guy was the reincarnation of a nameless poet who found his way into the office of newspaper columnist Don Marquis. One night, Archy started writing poetry by...

Welcome to April 15, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the ripple effect and taking a wild guess. Today marks the 110th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, one of the greatest tragedies in modern history. There are many stories of that fateful night, but one of the most inspiring is that of the ship’s band, led by Wallace Hartley. As the Titanic slowly submerged, the ban...

Welcome to April 14, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate creative gardens and unusual life guards. One of the most beautiful and unique gardens you’ll ever see is in Fresno, California. But you’ll have to look underground to find it. In 1906, Sicilian immigrant Baldasare Forestiere began excavating a series of caves and passageways inspired by the Catacombs he’d seen in Rome as a...

Welcome to April 13, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a presidential lunch and the world’s favorite word game. Thomas Jefferson was a true renaissance man. He wrote the Declaration of Independence. During his presidency, he doubled the size of the United States via the Louisiana Purchase. He even stocked the Library of Congress with thousands of his own books. But it’s one of...

Welcome to April 12, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the Centennial State and good old toasted cheese. Nestled in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado has the highest average elevation of any U.S. State, measuring in at 6,800 feet above sea level. Its capital, Denver is known as the Mile-High City, which is entirely accurate. In fact, the 13th step on the State Capitol...

Welcome to April 11, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate cheeky pets and amazing inventions. Pets and their owners form a special bond that others can’t truly understand. Animals often pick up mannerisms from their humans, developing very unique personalities of their own. Take, for example, Poll—President Andrew Jackson’s beloved parrot. When Jackson passed away in 1845, thousan...