Are we still here? Testing... Testing.... 1... 2... 3....

OK, yes, here we are. Fears of a Mayan Apocalypse seem to have been exaggerated; no rogue planetoid has apparently collided with our precious Planet Earth.

We could simply celebrate the first day of the rest of our lives, but isn't that really every day?

Several of the Usual Suspects suggest that today is Christmas Lights Day. We asked our crack research staff to inquire why December 22 should be selected for this honor.

According to a site called IdeaFinder.com, it was on this date in 1882 that a colleague of Thomas A. Edison's by the name of Edward Johnson got the bright idea to wire 80 red, white and blue bulbs around a rotating Christmas tree.

Now we know who to blame for the tangles every year.

No, not Mr. Johnson. Rather, the culprit, according to IdeaFinder, is Albert Sadacca. In 1917, after a terrible fire in New York City, the young Mr. Sadacca got the idea of selling strings of lights as an alternative to using candles on Christmas trees. Albert's brothers thought this a good idea, but the public was not interested at first. However, after Albert decided to paint the bulbs green and red and other colors, sales picked up nicely, and the brothers' business became NOMA Electric Company, for many years the largest supplier of holiday lights in the world. (Our crack research staff did, however, point out that the Wikipedia biography of Mr. Sadacca is somewhat skeptical about his claims about when and where he originated the idea of using Christmas tree lights.)

Today is also National Date Nut Bread Day and, for some reason, Haiku Poetry Day. We figured we were pushing our luck asking the crack research staff to solve two mysteries in one day. Maybe we'll investigate Haiku Day next year....