We've all heard of Mother's Day, and most of us are familiar with celebrated days like Human Rights Day or World Animal Day. But did you ever hear of the following ten bizarre national and international holidays?
January 16th: National Do Nothing Day
On National Do Nothing Day, everyone is free to… well, do absolutely nothing. Although a great number of people would consider it sheer laziness, psychologists claim it can be actually be healthy, for one day. National Do Nothing Day was introduced in 1973 by the American reporter Harold Pullman Coffin, what's in a name.
Almost all countries have a national no-smoking-day. The international World No Tobacco Day is celebrated the 31st of March. Less commonly known, and also a bit recalcitrant, is the International Pipe-Smoking Day on the 20th of February, when pipe-smokers from around the world take a breather and celebrate the noble art of pipe-smoking.
March 1st: National Beer Day
If you happen to be somewhere around the North Atlantic Ocean on March 1st, make sure you visit Iceland. National Beer Day celebrates a 75 year long prohibition of beer which ended on March 1st, 1989. To make up for lost time, all Icelanders take part in highly festive celebrations which, off course, include drinking mass quantities of beer. March 2nd is commonly called National Hangover Day.
March 20th: Interstellar Alien Abduction Day
Members of the alien abduction community "celebrate" Alien Abduction Day annually on the 20th of March. There is no need for panic on this day. It is said the aliens will stay away, until the day becomes a national holiday.
April 29th: International Dance Day
Every year, since 1982, April 29th marks International Dance Day, created by UNESCO. The date commemorates the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), the creator of modern ballet. Every year a message form a well-known dance personality is circulated throughout the world. Sounds nice, but how about we all go Dancing in the Street?
May 2nd: Nessie Day
The Loch Ness Monster Fan Club has written to the United Nations in New York with a proposal that May 2 should become "Nessie Day". The date was chosen because it was on May 2, 1933, that the first Loch Ness Monster story was reported in the press, beginning what has become a major industry. The Fan Club says that the purpose of Nessie having her own day would be to highlight that some mysteries still have no answers, despite decades of research.
Fans of the Californian speed metal band Slayer founded the National Day of Slayer Task Force to promote the (Inter) National Day of Slayer on June the 6th, 2006, 6/6/6. The day was a success and made international headlines, and so the celebration is repeated each year on June the 6th. The Taskforce invites people to listen to Slayer at full blast in their car, at home and in public places.
According to uncyclopedia, a nice parody on wikipedia, June 21st is the International End of the World Day. While the exact year that the world will end is unclear, most people just take it to heart and celebrate the event each year just in case.
System Administrators don't get a lot of respect for 364 days a year. Yet, they keep this very site and so many others maintained. Some public acknowledgement on the last Friday of July, SysAdminDay, would be nice. Only, make sure no computer crashes during the celebration…
Got Pirattitude? Then talk like a pirate on September 19th. The International Talk Like a Pirate Day is a parodic holiday since 1995. On this day, you are advised to say “Ahoy, me haarrty!” instead of “Hello”. The initiative is quite successful. A great number of websites like this one offer lists of pirate phrases.
