Celebrate Every Day

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 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.

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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 laws known as the Cattle Acts, which prohibited the export of livestock to England. This dropped the price of beef for the Irish, who finally got to taste what they’d been exporting for so long. Plus, the tax on salt was so low in Ireland that they could produce corned beef for a fraction of what others could. So why call it “corned” beef? Because the large salt crystals that were used to cure the meat were nearly the size of corn kernels. On National Corned Beef And Cabbage Day, celebrate with a delicious bite of history.

Harry Truman was the first United States President to attend the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City. But the parade itself has been celebrated annually since before the United States was a country. Held in 1762, the first St. Paddy’s Day parade was composed of homesick Irish immigrants living in the New York colonies. It has taken place every year since then to the delight of millions of revelers, Irish or otherwise. This time honored tradition of marching down 5th Avenue draws visitors to the Big Apple from around the globe. While things may be different in your neck of the woods, don’t miss your chance to drink green beer, while singing Danny Boy a little too loud. On St Patrick’s Day everyone enjoys being Irish.

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

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Welcome to March 16th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate irresistible vegetables and bears.

In the early 1900s, millions of Italians immigrated to the United States. And with them came the demand for foods from their homeland. One of the most popular items was the artichoke, which wasn’t easy to grow in America and had to be imported. Ciro Terranova, a New York City gangster, started a racket in which he’d force importers to sell him artichokes at a fraction of the cost. Then the Artichoke King—as he became known—would turn around and sell them to restaurants at a much higher cost. Terranova became such a problem that the mayor of New York had to outright ban the sale of artichokes until the cops could crack down. Which only made the vegetable more popular. On National Artichoke Hearts Day, we celebrate a delicacy that’s so good it’s practically criminal.

National Panda Day celebrates one of the world’s most beloved bears. And if you’ve ever seen one in person, count yourself lucky. These guys like to keep to themselves. Pandas can only produce cubs every few years, so the odds are not exactly in their favor. But conservation groups take their job seriously, and research over the last three decades has revealed that by preserving bamboo forests, pandas stand a fighting chance. Contrary to the popular kung fu cartoons, pandas graze on bamboo leaves and not on steamed dumplings. They are very shy and it’s recommended that you whisper around them when visiting the zoo. On National Panda Day share your love for these rare bears that inspire people around the world.

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

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Welcome to March 15th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate peculiar attractions and a day off for your noggin.

Some things really are in the last place you’d expect to find them. Like the Garden of Eden. It’s smack dab in the middle of Kansas. Okay, it’s not the actual Garden. But… should you find yourself in Lucas, Kansas, you’ll find one of the largest—and strangest—art installations in the United States. Built in 1907 by S.P. Dinsmoor, the Garden of Eden is a series of sculptures depicting scenes from American history and the Bible. It’s an oddity and would probably have been knocked down after Dinsmoor’s passing. But people were so weirded out by the place that no one ever did. Today is National Kansas Day, when we celebrate the Sunflower State and its peculiar attractions.

No one is right 100 percent of the time. Today, we pause to consider just how much we don’t know. It’s also a good day to scroll on by those social media posts that you would normally be tempted to correct. What comes around goes around and you may just get the same treatment from someone else. Besides, 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 that the Canary Islands were named after dogs and not birds? Or that only three countries in the world don’t use the metric system? Of course one of them is the United States. Put your hand down smarty pants. On National Everything You Think Is Wrong Day, give your noggin the day off. You can go back to knowing everything tomorrow.

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

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Welcome to March 14th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate endless possibilities in snacks and numbers.

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 more 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!

The number Pi is calculated by dividing the circumference of a circle by its diameter. Sounds easy, right? Not really. The approximate value of Pi is 3.14, but if you were to keep calculating the decimals, you’d be working a long time. Like forever. In 2021, a supercomputer attempted to calculate Pi and made it to 62.8 trillion digits before running out of memory. Seems like the phrase “easy as pie” is a reference to the baked version, not the numerical one. If you’re a real Poindexter, you could spend National Pi Day doing math, or you can celebrate along with us over a piece of, well…pie. A la mode optional.

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

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Welcome to March 13th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate stolen beauty and a simple way to keep out the cold.

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. However, 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 or spring for your own gem and avoid the curse of bad karma.

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.

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Welcome to March 12th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate rare flowers and adventurous girls.

The Titan Arum is one of the rarest flowers on earth. It’s also the largest, with blossoms growing up to several feet tall. And seeing the flower is both a blessing and a curse. Blooms only appear every 7 to 9 years, so if you catch this amazing sight consider yourself lucky. But get ready to pinch your nose because the flower smells like something rotting. Specifically, a body decaying…which gives the flower its more well known name—the Corpse Flower. Why on earth would something so beautiful smell so bad? Self-preservation. This odor attracts lots of insects, which allows for greater pollination. On National Plant a Flower Day, plant something pretty that hopefully smells nice too.

Young Juliette Gordon Low was full of adventure. She rode elephants in India, climbed the Great Pyramid in Egypt and even went trout fishing with Rudyard Kipling. When she was grown, she organized the first Girl Scout meeting in 1912 with18 girls. Today that organization is a 3.7 million strong organization. Their motto is simple: Be Prepared and Do A Good Turn Daily. The Girl Scout program today builds courage, confidence and character in its young women, along with financial literacy with its cookie sales. Notable alumni include Lucille Ball, Sandra Day O’Connor, Sally Ride and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. On National Girl Scout Day, we celebrate the adventurous spirit of one young girl who has made a difference to millions.

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

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Welcome to March 11th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the circle of life and the seeds of wisdom planted by one man.

The Ancient Egyptians developed a system of mummification because they believed very strongly in the afterlife. According to their traditions, the spirit left the body after death. But it would come back shortly thereafter. So bodies had to be well preserved in order to give the spirit a place to come back to. Egyptians also placed their dearly departed in peaceful positions to appeal both to loved ones and the returning spirit. Several of these techniques are still used today, though they have evolved quite a bit over the years. On National Funeral Director & Mortician Recognition Day, we celebrate the people who help us complete the circle of life in a way that honors everyone.

There’s a theory that the apple was spread across Europe by bears. But here in the United States we give credit to a hero that is a folklore legend. For anyone who has ever eaten an apple from the orchard in Ashland County, Ohio, the story of Johnny Appleseed is all too real. In the years following the American Revolution, John Chapman was seen walking for miles from his Massachusetts home, planting apple seeds and tending orchards in states. He was welcome everywhere for his wisdom and pay it forward attitude. Though it’s not actually known if he traveled with a pot on his head, his legacy of kindness can be sampled from a tree that stands to this day. On National Johnny Appleseed Day, take a bite of American folklore and spread kindness wherever you go.

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

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Welcome to March 10th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate cool lunches and heroic plumbers.

In grade school, lunchboxes were such a status symbol. Who cared about the PB&J and apple inside? Star Wars and superhero branding didn’t make the food actually taste better, but it certainly felt that way. And if you’re lucky enough to own a certain collectible lunchbox, almost everything would seem better. A 1954 Superman lunchbox, featuring the Man of Steel battling a giant robot is worth a whopping $13,000. That would buy a lot of sandwiches for you and all your friends. On National Pack Your Lunch Day, celebrate by making your own meal to take to work or school. It’s bound to be healthier and certainly less expensive than eating out. Cool lunch boxes are optional.

If your name is Mario get ready to kick up your feet, this day has your name all over it. But just a heads up, the one we are celebrating has a brother named Luigi, and he has earned the day off for all his heroic feats. Jumping over barrels, stomping on killer turtles, racing go karts over rainbow highways. There’s not much this brave little plumber hasn’t done. Since his first appearance in Donkey Kong way back in 1981, Mario has become the most popular character in video game history. Today celebrates anyone named Mario, but this video game icon is the most famous of the bunch. On National Mario Day, dust off an old copy of Super Mario Brothers and spend a few hours saving the world from Bowser and his evil Koopa Troopers.

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

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Welcome to March 9th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a woman who has done it all and a forecast for cloudy with a chance for meatballs.

In 1959, the world was introduced to one of the biggest fashion icons ever. Her name is Barbara Millicent Roberts, though you probably know her as Barbie. Since making her debut, she’s become one of the most popular toys ever—Mattel claims that a Barbie is sold every 3 seconds. And she’s always out in front of fashion trends, with nearly a billion different outfits over the years. On top of that, she’s held over 150 different jobs, including doctor, astronaut, and pilot. Heck, she even ran for president once. On National Barbie Day, we celebrate an icon who’s seen and done it all.

National Meatball Day is a purely American celebration of a thoroughly American food. That’s right, you won’t find meatballs on the menu when you’re traveling through Italy, where they are called polpettes. But you will find them practically everywhere else. Even IKEA is known for their tasty Swedish meatballs and no you don’t have to assemble them yourself. More than one billion meatballs are served at the 430 stores every year. It is believed that the first meatballs were made in Persia and caught on as a convenient way to quickly cook up almost any type of meat. Celebrate National Meatball Day with your favorite pasta and sauce or make this world traveler the main event.

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

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