Every Day Holidays

By Melody Elbel

Everyone has seen those silly everyday holidays at least once: National Talk Like a Pirate Day, Opposite Day, and so on. Have you ever wondered what national holiday falls on your birthday? That is the question I asked several Wheaton North students.

A sophomore named Grey said, "I've never really thought about it before, but now I'm kind of curious." Their birthday is on March 3rd, which happens to be National If Pets Had Thumbs Day. Grey has a dog named Odin, and she said, "If Odin had thumbs, I feel like he would open a lot of doors and probably get into his treats. It might make it harder to walk too if he just had thumbs on all of his paws." A senior named Elyse has a birthday on July 26th. "I knew that there were holidays every day, but I never thought to look up which one my birthday was on" Elyse said. After a quick search, we found out her birthday was on Liberia's Independence Day. Upon the adoption of its constitution in 1847, Liberia became the first African country to formally declare its independence, fourteen years before the United States declared independence. The most common birthday is September 9th. The national holiday on this day is "Care Bears Share Your Care Day." Apparently, it was first celebrated on March 3rd, 2015 (what a coincidence for Grey!) and was made by a company called American Greetings. They made the holiday to try and inspire people to spread the core values of the care bears: joy, compassion, and, of course, sharing and caring. If you have the time, it might be worth looking up what holiday was celebrated on the day you were born. Then you’d have twice the reason to celebrate! Unless, of course, your birthday is on National Underwear Day...