Nearly every day, there seems to be a strange holiday that no one has heard about such as National Dog Day on March 23, National Candy Day on Nov. 4, and of course the day this article is published, National Star Wars Day on May 4.
However, Star Wars isn’t the only thing celebrated on this day, as it is shared with eight other national holidays according to nationaldaycalendar.com, such as Bird Day, National Day of Reason and National Orange Juice Day.
While there’s no clear answer who started these unofficial holidays, there are some roots on where they came from. According to CNN, Adrienne Koopersmith from Chicago created the most unofficial holidays at 1,900 more than 30 years ago because it was “…almost as a form of therapy” after being robbed. She came up with these ideas from everyday life, from the first time she got on the internet to moving after college.
Koopersmith is not the only one though. Radio show host Thomas Roy created holidays for his morning program when he was struggling to come up with ideas for the show.
In the mid 1980’s, he went through Chase’s Calendar of Events and found a form in the back, encouraging readers to submit their own holiday ideas. He created Northern Hemisphere Hoodie-Hoo Day on Feb. 20 to overcome the winter days, where people celebrate by grabbing a beach towel or sunglasses and waving them at the winter sun while yelling “Hoodie-hoo!” twice. Little did Thomas know, the holiday was a hit, leading to him being featured in a front page story in USA Today.
Overall, unofficial holidays can be a way to have fun and overcome the burdens of life, whether it’s an excuse to spend more time with a pet on April 11 for Pet Day or a chance to grieve on Grief Awareness Day on Aug. 30.
These holidays can be as fun as Hop-a-park Day in July or Name Your Car Day in October. Learn something new on Learn About Butterflies Day in March. There are also days that spread awareness such as Restless Legs Awareness Day in September and National Homeless Persons’ Remembrance Day in December. People can even use these holidays to enjoy the small things in life with Best Friends Day and Corn on the Cob Day, both in June. Or to do something random with Answer the Telephone Like Buddy the Elf Day and A’phabet Day aka No “L” Day.
Just don’t confuse Flapjack Day on March 7 and Pancake Day on Feb. 28, and anyone under 5’5” should be wary of National Throw Short People Day on Oct. 24, though you can get back at them the next day with National Kick Tall People Day on Oct. 25.
For a complete list of unofficial holidays, check out https://www.holidayscalendar.com/categories/unofficial/.
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