In addition to V-E Day, May 8 is...

In addition to V-E Day, May 8 is No Socks Day.

Yes, that's just a slight drop in importance from one observance to the next. Sort of like how Niagara Falls is a slight drop in the river.

But we here at The Blog of Days try and provide you with both the great occasions and the trivial -- and here's a good illustration. We only bring up No Socks Day because May 9 (and we're getting ahead of ourselves, a bit, admittedly) is National Lost Sock Memorial Day. Isn't it bad enough that your dryer eats socks without casually discarding your socks for some whimsical microminiholidayette?

Antoine Lavoisier

Usual Suspect Punchbowl.com offers Have a Coke Day as a suggestion for May 8. For our New York readers, just be careful how large a glass of Coke that you pour.

Usual Suspect Holiday Insights suggests that Wednesday is also National Receptionist Day.

Its the centennial of animator Bob Clampett (of Warner Brothers fame and, later, the creator of Beany and Cecil). Clampett was born on May 8, 1913 (he died in 1984). And in one of those utterly irrelevant ironies of history, President Harry S. Truman was born on May 8, 1884 -- V-E Day coincided with Truman's 61st birthday.

Antoine Lavoisier, the 'father of modern chemistry,' was guillotined on May 8, 1794 for reasons having nothing to do with his naming of hydrogen or oxygen. (In addition to his scientific work, Lavoisier became interested in politics, ultimately securing an appointment as a tax collector.)

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Last Year on TBOD: May 8 is V-E Day