Celebrate Every Day

Welcome to April 10, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the animals that help us every day and our family frenemies. Today we celebrate sounders, broods, trips, and herds. In case you don’t have a dictionary handy, those are the group names of pigs, chickens, goats, and cows. Farm animals. These domesticated critters have helped to feed humans for thousands of years and are stil...

Welcome to April 9, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate great orators and magical beasts. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was one of history’s most gifted public speakers. His strong oratory skills and sense of humor helped lead Great Britain through World War II. His voice made such an impact that Mr. Churchill was awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for “his...

Welcome to April 8, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate hot guitars and original zoos. For his entire career, BB King played a black Gibson guitar named Lucille. But where did the name come from? In 1949, a fire broke out at the Arkansas club where King was playing. Two men were fighting and knocked over a kerosene heater, setting the club ablaze. After getting to safety, BB real...

Welcome to April 7, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate big burritos and a beer lover’s dream More after the break. If you’re going to eat a burrito, it might as well be a big one. Anyone who happened to be in La Paz, Mexico in 2010 was greeted with a big burrito—the biggest one ever. This monster was made with a single flour tortilla that stretched nearly a mile and a half and w...

Welcome to April 6, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate sweet success and a happy accident. When German immigrants Frederick and Louis Ruckheim first sold their caramel popcorn in Chicago, they had no idea what a huge success it would be. According to legend, one customer loved the snack so much that he exclaimed “That’s a crackerjack!” which meant it was pretty awesome. And that...

Welcome to April 5, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate awesome artifacts and inventions that help us celebrate far into the future. One of the biggest fossil discoveries in the United States was thanks to a bunch of chickens. When Nebraska farmer Henry Kariger noticed that his chickens were gathered in one spot on his farm, he went over to see what they were pecking at. It appea...

Welcome to April 4, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate tasty nutrition and the spirit of adventure. As long as humans have sailed the seas, they’ve had to worry about things like weather and staying on course. But no one ever thought about vitamins. In past centuries, one of the biggest threats for sailors was lack of nutrition. It seems like such a simple thing now, but it wasn...

Welcome to April 3, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate epic parties and film scores. When Edward Russell became head of the British Navy in 1694, he knew it was something to celebrate. And celebrate he did—by inviting 5,000 sailors and naval officers to his home for a big bash. Like really big. He drained the fountain at his estate, then filled it with a cocktail of brandy, Mala...

Welcome to April 2, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate surprisingly helpful pets and everyone’s favorite mash-up. When we think of domesticated animals, dogs, horses, and cows spring to mind. But one overlooked animal helper is the ferret. Around 2,500 years ago, these furry little critters were trained to help farmers keep rodents away from grain storage. Their long, slim bodie...

Welcome to April 1, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate good gags and wild crafted dough. No one is really sure how playing pranks on April 1st each year became a tradition. One theory links it to the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine. Every year, the Emperor made one of his jesters king for the day. A jester named Kugel was dubbed king and he established what we call April Fool...

Welcome to March 31st, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate PR for tators and the King of crayons. The potato was not a hit when it landed in Europe for the first time. It took some PR from physician Antoine-Augustin Parmentier to give the vegetable its due. As strange as it may sound, Parmentier leveraged his relationship with the king and queen to get potatoes into the public ey...

Welcome to March 30th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate sharp pencils and doctors with a point. In 2007, writer Keith Eldred set out to write a novel. Specifically To Kill a Mockingbird. You’re thinking…what? That book was already written. But Eldred was trying to prove a point—he wanted to see how long he could write with one ordinary #2 pencil. He was able to rewrite the ent...

Welcome to March 29th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the Silver State and a Golden Cake. Nevada is well known for its casinos and tourist attractions, but it’s also home to something not nearly as lively. Ghost towns. Because of its mining history, the state has over 600 of them. One of the most interesting is Berlin, Nevada. Not only will you find the remains of a mining c...

Welcome to March 28th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate strange facts and spooky cakes. After Prohibition, former bootlegger George Boyington moved to Oregon to embark on a legitimate career. He opened a hotdog stand on Rockaway Beach, which became very popular with tourists. But when his entire inventory of buns was ruined in a storm, it looked as if he might go out of busine...

Welcome to March 27th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate doodles with purpose and a good old cuppa Joe. Before we can write or even draw, one of the first things we do as kids is scribble. And as adults, the idle scribbling we do when bored can give insight into our personalities. According to researchers, if you draw squares, you’re a planner. People who like round shapes are...

Welcome to March 26th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate going green and Irish roots. The town of Crystal City, Texas survived the Great Depression thanks to an unlikely hero—Popeye the Sailor Man. In the 1930s, Popeye cartoons became very popular, which meant that kids everywhere saw him chomping away on his favorite snack—spinach. And, as luck would have it, Crystal City was...

Welcome to March 25th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate strange new worlds and acts of bravery. To say that JRR Tolkien had an impact on popular culture is an understatement. Without The Lord of the Rings, we might never have experienced Harry Potter or played Dungeons & Dragons. Before he wrote anything about a Hobbit, Tolkien was a professor of Old English literature and a s...

Welcome to March 24th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate two origin stories with happy results. Considering how long alcohol has been part of human culture, it’s surprising that the first cocktail wasn’t invented until the 1800s. Antoine Peychaud created the Sazerac in New Orleans using cognac, sugar, absinthe, and a dash of bitters. The name Sazerac comes from the brand of Fre...

Welcome to March 23rd, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate dynamic duos and our favorite snuggling companions. If you enjoy chips and dip, you can thank a tea company for the idea. In the years following World War II, the American suburbs grew rapidly, as did the demand for food and recipes for entertaining. Lipton, the British company known for its tea, marketed its onion soup m...

Welcome to March 22nd, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate hidden attractions and dessert for breakfast. Nestled deep in the Appalachian Mountains, you’ll find the town of White Sulphur Springs, WV. If you happen to be passing through, stop at The Greenbrier resort. It’s a gorgeous place, but the real attraction is far beneath the hotel. 720 feet below, to be exact. The Greenbrie...

Welcome to March 21st, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the voice that launched our greatest missions and the sweet signs of Spring. One of the most famous voices in the world belonged to Jack King. You may not know the name, but likely you’ve heard of him. Jack was responsible for one of the best-known countdowns in history—the launch of Apollo 11. As people everywhere watche...

Welcome to March 20th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the sweet signs of Spring and pasta turf wars. In Greek mythology, Demeter was the goddess of farming, and she loved her daughter Persephone very much. So when Hades, god of the underworld, abducted Persephone, the goddess was furious and demanded that her daughter be returned. Hades agreed, but there was a problem. Pomeg...

Welcome to March 19th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the great outdoors and one man’s sweet dream. For years, American backyards were very functional. They were mainly used for gardening or as workspaces. But after World War II, people had more disposable income and moved to the suburbs. Plus, there was a surplus of materials like aluminum and concrete, which meant that it...

Welcome to March 18th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate awkward slips and sloppy sandwiches. In 2011, Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey, Spain’s national pro soccer competition. For Spanish teams, this is on par with the Big Game or World Series. So of course fans in Madrid came out in massive numbers to celebrate. As the victory parade rolled through the city, players waved an...

Welcome to March 17th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the tale of corned beef and an Irish tradition for everyone. Corned beef is a St Patrick’s Day tradition, but why is the dish associated with Ireland? When the British ran out of land to raise cattle, the Irish started beef production as a way to make money. And the Emerald Isle became known for corned beef because of law...