Celebrate Every Day

Welcome to March 22nd, 2023 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the 35th state and dessert for breakfast. West Virginia; the last of the states to be created from one of the original thirteen colonies, formed by staunch Union supporters when Virginia voted to secede from the Union at the beginning of the Civil War. West Virginia is also called The Mountain State with the Allegheny, Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains running through the state. The newest National Park is in West Virginia, the New River Gorge National Park with over 70,000 acres of hiking, white water rafting and climbing among other pursuits. On National West Virginia Day, we celebrate from Harpers Ferry to Wheeling, the 35th of these United States of America. Anna: Hey, watcha snacking on there Marlo? Marlo: Nothing. Anna: It doesn’t sound like “nothing.” Is that chocolate syrup on your face? Marlo: No. Anna: Marlo, you are clearing eating dessert for breakfast? What I wanna I know is why didn’t you save some for me? Is that a Bavarian Crepe? Marlo: Maybe. Anna: Ok, but if you’re celebrating National Bavarian Crepe Day why didn’t you bring any for us? Marlo: Cause I’m celebrating National Goof Off Day? Anna: You are a goof off. I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to March 21st, 2023 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate colorful history and the voice that launched our greatest missions. It's likely that somewhere along the way you've noticed two spellings for the word "color", one ending in "or" (the American version) and one ending in "our" (the UK version). Both are correct so why are there two ways to spell "color"? In the early 1800's the United States was just out of the Revolutionary War and Noah Webster decided American English should use shorter, more logical spellings to differentiate ourselves from the British. He dropped the "u" in many words such as flavor, honor and color. He also changed "re" to "er" as in center, changed double "L's" to single and even proposed spelling "soup" with two "o's"! Not all his ideas took hold. On International Colour Day celebrate our British heritage with a "u". 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 watched the Saturn V rocket take off into space en route to the Moon, it was Jack King that calmly narrated the entire event. He was the voice of many NASA countdowns, but perhaps none more important than that one in 1969. On National Countdown Day, you can start a countdown of your own…easy as 123…or should we say 3-2-1. I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to March 20th, 2023 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the signs of Spring and a foodie quiz. 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. Pomegranate seeds. Persephone had eaten a few during her stay— and eating or drinking anything in the underworld caused a person to be trapped there forever. The gods worked out an agreement where Persephone could return to the surface world. But only for half of the year. When Persephone is away, crops die and leaves fall. But when her daughter is on Earth, Demeter is happy and everything begins to grow again. It’s a little something we like to call the start of Spring. John: Marlo and Anna, welcome to Name That Food! Today's food may have begun with sailors who wrapped their food to keep it fresh. Today it can be fried, baked or served with sauce or broth. Anna: Clams! Marlo: Shrimp! John: No...but clams or shrimp could be part of what's served inside of today’s food! Anna: hmmm... Marlo: Um... John: In the US this dish is most often served with a tomato sauce and was popularized by Chef Boyardee! Anna and Marlo: Ravioli! John: That's right! Anna: Happy National Ravioli Day! I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to March 19th, 2023 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate folks who walk the walk and having the last laugh. Nurses are a very dedicated type of person. If you think you would like to walk a mile in their shoes, consider this. In a twelve hour shift they walk just over 3 miles as they dart in between their patients. Multi tasking is part of the job and can be traced all the way back to Florence Nightingale, the woman who shaped modern nursing. She is best known for her brisk attitude displayed during the Crimean war. Doctors were not accustomed to nurses doing their work, but because they were overwhelmed with patients, desperate times called for desperate measures. On National Certified Nurses Day, we celebrate the selfless folks who balance complex care issues in our own challenging times. Anna: Hey Marlo, I ordered a chicken and an egg from Amazon, I’ll let you know. Marlo: Uh… Anna: Did you hear the scarecrow won a major award? Marlo: What… Anna: He was outstanding in his field. Marlo: What are you… Anna: Do you like my stepladder? Marlo: What is going on? Anna: I never knew my real ladder. Marlo: groans Anna: One more question for you, what’s the last part of your body to stop working when you die? Marlo: I. Don’t. Know. Anna: Your pupils…they die late. Marlo: It’s National Let’s Laugh Day isn’t it? Anna: Yup! Marlo: Oh Anna. I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to March 18th, 2023 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 and took turns showing off the trophy. Until it got to defenseman Sergio Ramos. Who dropped it. Ramos was standing on top of a bus, holding the trophy overhead. It slipped from his hands and it crashed to the ground. Which was bad enough, but then the bus ran over it. Oops. On National Awkward Moments Day, embrace the unintended faux pas of life and be grateful that tens of millions aren’t watching you do it. A version of the sloppy joe was served at a greasy spoon diner in Sioux City, Iowa in the 1920s. They called it the steamed hamburger, which was ground beef served loose on a bun with grilled onions, pickles, ketchup and mustard. But it was a Key West bar that named this loose meat sandwich. For this we can thank none other than Ernest Hemingway, who encouraged the bar owner to rename the place after Joe, a sloppy Havana bar keeper. Joe’s place in Cuba also served a loose meat sandwich, but the American owner knew a good name when she saw it. Today more than 50,000 sandwiches are sold each year at the Sloppy Joe’s bar in Key West, Florida. Of course you can always whip one up at home on National Sloppy Joe Day. No shoes, no shirt, no problem. I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to March 15th, 2023 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the Sunflower State and being wrong. It’s National Kansas Day today and we’re celebrating with fun facts about the 34th state. Kansas was admitted to the union in 1861 but the region became part of the US in 1803 with the finalizing of the Louisiana Purchase. Kansas is the home of White Castle, its state bug is the honeybee and Kansas even has an official state reptile, the ornate box turtle! It’s the home of the first airplane factory, mules cannot be used for duck hunting and the helicopter was invented in Kansas. On top of that, the nation’s 34th president, Dwight Eisenhower hails from the 34th state. On National Kansas Day, celebrate The Sunflower State, just don’t sing the alphabet on the streets of Topeka at night! No one is right 100 percent of the time, Anna. Today, we pause to consider just how much we don’t know. It’s a burden in life to be a know-it-all. So just for today, consider learning something new from the perspective of a novice. Did you know there is a geocache on the International Space Station? It’s been visited four times by other astronauts. Or that a strawberry is not actually a berry but a banana is? Did you know that Cookie Monster’s real name is Sid? On Everything You Think Is Wrong Day, give your noggin the day off. I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to March 14th, 2023 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate beautiful butterflies and being in the chips. Today we’re talking Rhopalocera or butterfly as we regular folk know it. While butterflies are beautiful to look at, you may not know that they have a long and interesting connection to our art, culture, mythology and folklore. They appear in art from ancient Egypt and Mesoamerica where some were considered to be the reincarnation of the souls of dead warriors. In Ancient Roman and Greek cultures they represented a person’s soul and butterflies can be seen on Christian tombstones as a representation of the resurrection. Across most of human culture, butterflies are used as symbols of our inner, spiritual selves and their metamorphosis has been used to show us what we can be. On National Learn About Butterflies Day, take a little time to watch a butterfly flutter by. The origins of the potato chip are hotly contested. Some say it was George Crum, a chef that tried to appease a customer who kept sending back his thick and soggy potatoes. This 1853 tale claims that the customer was none other than Cornelius Vanderbilt. The story was later debunked, but one thing is sure, Crum's Saratoga Chips spread like wildfire. Today potato chips are one of the world’s most popular snacks. Around 11.2 million pounds of them are eaten on the Sunday of The Big Game alone. No matter how you flavor them, from barbecue to Cajun squirrel, yes that's an actual flavor, anyone who cashes in on making them is no doubt in the chips. On National Potato Chip Day, celebrate by munching on your own favorite flavor! I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to March 13th, 2023 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a gem with a curse and a kid with big ears and big dreams. The one-of-a-kind blue gem known as the Hope Diamond was discovered by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in the 1600s. Well, not so much “discovered” as “stolen from a Hindu temple.” And the price of this theft was a curse. Tavernier sold the stone to French king Louis XIV and walked away a rich man. Shortly after selling the Hope Diamond, Tavernier was eaten by wolves. And, according to legend, every subsequent owner of the diamond has also met with tragedy or an untimely death. Royalty, jewelers, even the man who delivered it to its present home—the Smithsonian Institution. The Hope Diamond is on display, but safely under lock and key. On National Jewel Day, celebrate beauty from a distance. Farmington, Maine is bitterly cold, especially if you are outside ice skating in winter. For 15 year old Chester Greenwood the sting was particularly bad because of his extra large ears. In order to protect them, he asked his grandmother to sew tufts of fur between two loops of wire and voila, the first earmuffs were fashioned. Though it wouldn’t be the last invention for young Greenwood, it would become his legacy. For nearly 60 years, earmuffs were manufactured in the town of Farmington and to this day there is a parade in honor of Chester Greenwood. On National Earmuff Day celebrate the mother of invention and her big eared grandson. I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices