Celebrate Every Day

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 world watched on TV as he launched off the ramp on a steam-powered rocket that he called the X-2 Skycycle. Unfortunately, Knievel didn’t make it to the other side because the parachute deployed too soon and he crashed into the Snake River. If you’re in the area, check out the Evel Knievel Jump Site, and on National Idaho Day, celebrate the Gem State in all its glory.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and in the case of cherry cobbler that need was for a pudding. I’m talking about British settlers in the American colonies who were longing for a taste of their hometown favorite, suet pudding. The problem was a lack of ingredients and the rudimentary ovens which most people had in the New World. But this episode of Dessert Impossible had a very happy ending. Clever bakers opted for stewed cherries instead of suet and when topped with biscuit dough, the substitutions were quite delicious! On National Cherry Cobbler Day, celebrate the ingenious results of making due with what you have on hand.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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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 years and was very important to the Ancient Celts. There is a burial mound beneath the tree that, according to legend, is the final resting place for the heads of invading Roman soldiers. Today, the tree is still going strong in the churchyard of the St. John the Baptist parish. On National Love a Tree Day, celebrate the natural world that will probably outlive us all.

When you walk through the door of Floyd & Company Real Pit Barbecue, the smell of smoke triggers your appetite. Bubba Floyd left Tennessee and headed West with his family eventually landing in Kingman, Arizona. Like all transplants, he discovered a longing for home that was satisfied by building the Red Neck’s Southern Pit BBQ trailer. Now there is a permanent home that carries the Floyd name along with “& Company,” which stands for all the folks who supported them these past 18 years. When you sample the perfectly smoked meats and sides that taste like family recipes you’ll understand why. On National Barbecue Day, follow your nose to Kingman Arizona and discover a place that feels like home.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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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 remind you how exhausting it is to be them. Make sure you pack extra juice boxes and goldfish crackers and maybe some PB&J because going the distance with your kids takes lots of extra energy. While you might not wanna actually switch places with your kids, letting them run you around the park is a fair trade!

One of the supposed biggest cookie fans in the world is a big fake. Turns out that Cookie Monster isn’t nearly the aficionado of baked goods that he pretends to be. All those chocolate chip cookies we’ve seen him chomp into over the years weren’t cookies at all—they’re rice cakes with spots painted on. Puppeteers found that rice cakes break into pieces more easily and dramatically when Cookie Monster goes into a feeding frenzy. Today the rest of us can help pick up the slack by eating our share of some classic cookies—the real kind—on National Chocolate Chip Day. But try to actually get them into your mouth.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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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 the target “looks as if different color paints have been dropped in water” and he aims for the middle of the smallest drop. And by the way, the Olympic record he shattered was the one he also set in the 2012 Olympics. On National Archery Day, try a sport that looks deceptively simple.

As soon as you hear the upbeat oom, pah, pah of the Chicken Dance song, you know what happens next. Everyone heads to the dance floor and spends the next few minutes dancing in unison. Since it debuted in the 1950s, this silly little song has become a mainstay at weddings and Oktoberfest celebrations. In 1996, fans of the song took things to the extreme, setting the record for world’s largest Chicken Dance. 72,000 people were all flapping their arms and shaking their tail feathers at once. On National Dance Like A Chicken Day, shake things up with an impromptu dance. Even if you’re a party of one, it’s hard not to smile when you’re pretending to be poultry.

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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, Twain landed on The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and his frog Dan’l Webster immortalized this curious event. For the record it’s Rosie the Ribeter who holds the title for highest jump, coming in at a whopping 21 feet, 5-¾ inches. On National Frog Jumping Day, join the fun at a local event, or take it easy on the couch with a good read that is still as American as…

Apple Pie? There are few things more American than apple pie. Which is kinda funny if you look into the dessert’s history. The expression originated in the 1900s, but the first record of an apple pie recipe comes from England in 1381. The list of ingredients included, of course, apples, but also figs, raisins, pears, and saffron. All the other fruit was added because sugar was very expensive and the extra fruits sweetened the food naturally. So why do we say apple pie is American? Probably just because it’s awesome and we decided to claim it for ourselves. On National Apple Pie Day, celebrate with a slice of this delicious classic.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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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-color.

Anna: How about this one? There once was a man from Madras…

Marlo: Stop! We don’t want to know how that one ends. On National Limerick Day everyone can google some for themselves if they want. And maybe write some clean versions.

Anna: Oh, okay.

There have been so many technological advancements in the past century that sometimes it’s hard to keep track. Inventions seem to come and go, especially in the digital age. But a few devices have stood the test of time. Like the odometer. This device was invented way back in 15 BCE by the Roman engineer Vitruvius. He rigged up a chariot wheel with a feature that would drop a pebble into an attached box after the wheel had turned 400 times—which was exactly a mile. At the end of a trip, the driver could determine the distance traveled by counting the number of pebbles that had dropped into the box. Keep track of how far you’ve come today on National Odometer Day.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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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 asks why you’re on your second bag of potato chips, tell them to lighten up. It’s National Eat What You Want Day and you’re allowed to pig out if you choose, though getting crumbs on the couch is probably too far.

The next time you find yourself in the window seat of an airplane, check out the wall above the window. If you see a sticker shaped like a small, black triangle, then you’re in the best spot to view the wing flaps. It’s called William Shatner’s Seat, a reference to the famous Twilight Zone episode called Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. Shatner’s character spots a monster on the wing of his flight and watches in horror as the beast tears the wing apart. But when he alerts the crew, Shatner realizes that no one can see the monster but him. Today is National Twilight Zone Day, a perfect time to revisit this classic series. We just don’t recommend it as in-flight viewing.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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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 trying to make it across the busy street near his office. So he constructed a 60-foot suspension bridge between two trees that allowed the squirrels to pass the street safely. If you happen to be in Longview stop by and see it along with the statue erected in Mr. Peters’ honor. On National Washington Day, we celebrate the Evergreen State, the only state named after a US president.

If you’re a fan of the reality tv show, Storage Wars then you know that buyers bid on the contents of abandoned storage units, sight unseen. It’s not unusual to discover hidden treasures in the trash and the net gain can be astounding. One of the strangest items ever unearthed were chicken eyeglasses. It turns out that this accessory was used in the 1940s and 50s to keep chickens from pecking their eyes out. They also made the birds appear quite stylish. If it’s been awhile since you’ve cleaned up your own room, consider the hidden treasure that could be lurking in your house and on National Clean Up Your Room Day, celebrate with a good Spring cleaning.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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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 remains of drums from over 7,500 years ago have been found in China and Egypt. They were used for religious ceremonies as well as entertainment, evolving over the centuries into the drum sets we know today. Get your groove on during International Drum Month by tapping out a beat! Marlo, I have seen you do that on the steering wheel of your car!

Some mysteries may never be solved. Who built Stonehenge? What goes on in Area 51? And perhaps the greatest of them all: why do so many socks disappear from the dryer? It’s completely frustrating! You do a load of laundry with all your perfectly good pairs of socks. Maybe they are plain and white, or perhaps they have a picture of your dog on them. It doesn’t matter. The great dryer mystery does not discriminate. It will consume any and all socks, but only one from each pair. We are gathered today to remember these lost items on National Lost Sock Memorial Day. We celebrate the joy they once gave us, and hope that our favorite Argyle friend will find its match in sock heaven.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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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. Obviously, the left side is also where the heart is located. A mother holding her child close to her heart means that the baby will always be able to sense the mother via her heartbeat. This helps not only to build a bond physically by regulating temperature, but also emotionally by helping to keep the baby calm. On Mother’s Day, show mom that you hold her close to your heart, just as she literally did for you.

Tropical fruits were all the rage in the 1800s, as Americans and Europeans took great care to import bananas and pineapples. But people scratched their heads over how to ship coconuts. It was the French who decided to shred and dry the coconut meat for easier shipping from Ceylon, and voila, a new ingredient emerged. From here it was a short hop, skip and a jump into delicious desserts such as custards and pies. And anyone who enjoys this creamy confection, is likely to whip one up for any occasion. On National Coconut Cream Pie Day, we celebrate this exotic flavor that is now a part of our favorite recipes.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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