10-4, good buddy -- it's National CB Day

Hula hoops were for kids.

Coonskin caps were for kids.

More recently, Cabbage Patch Kids were for kids. Tickle Me Elmo was for kids.

As a kid, I wanted all sorts of fleeting, ephemeral things, some of which my parents got for me and most of which I don't remember.

But it was my dad who wanted the CB radio.

He already had a police scanner. He listened to it at night... he slept with it on all night... the better to keep up with what me and my idiot friends were up to, he told me.

CB radios are the one fad I can think of from my childhood that was for the grown-ups, not the kids. My dad sent into the FCC for a license to use it. Later, no license was required. But, originally, there was a license issued, albeit without any particular exam or credential.

The CB craze swept the country in the mid to late 70s, spawning movies (Smokey and the Bandit, for example... Sally Field... sigh... oh, and Burt Reynolds and Jackie Gleason, too) and a top hit song ("Convoy" by C.W. McCall), and adding 10-codes into the popular vocabulary ("that's a big 10-4, there, good buddy"). It is that once-ubiquitous phrase, 10-4, that makes today, October 4, National CB Day.

I never saw my father actually use the CB radio; I suppose he must have. He wasn't the sort to buy something and not use it. He did have it on, sometimes, when I was in the car with him. A local intersection that was always under construction was, I learned in this way, called "The Barrels." It took me awhile to figure out why.

In the law, we call that an admission against interest.

I have no idea if he had a "handle" when he was driving on his own. I can't imagine what it would have been.

October 15 is National Grouch Day

And in honor of this well-credentialed event, we present Oscar the Grouch himself, from the 1985 movie, Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird.

Sing along with Oscar now: "Don't let the sunshine spoil your rain/ Just stand up and complain/ Just stand up and complain."

And what is today besides Halloween?

Sure, Halloween dominates the calendar today, but did you know that today is also the anniversary of the proclamation of Romulus Augustus as Western Roman Emperor? He is judged by many historians to have been the last Western Roman Emperor. He was deposed by the "barbarian" Odoacer in 476, reigning less than a year.

The linked Wikipedia article says there is controversy about whether Romulus Augustus should be really considered the last true Western Roman Emperor since his reign was so short and because he was only a teenager (installed by his father, Orestes, a general, who really ran things, to the extent that they could be run in that time of collapse). Apparently, some historians would consider Romulus's predecessor, Julius Nepos, as a better candidate for the "last" emperor (even Odoacer claimed to be ruling in the name of Julius Nepos, at first).

But these historians have no sense of style. If Romulus Augustus hadn't existed, he'd have to have been invented: Named for the mythical founder (and first King) of Rome and for the first Emperor, poor little R.A. serves as a perfect punctuation mark for the end of classical Roman history and the start of Europe's Middle Ages. Sic transit gloria mundi.

Other observances today tend to tie more into Halloween.

For example, today is National Carmel Apple Day. It's also Magic Day -- and (probably related) today is the anniversary of the date on which Harry Houdini died (in 1926).

In what surely would have been his greatest escape, Houdini promised to communicate from beyond the grave -- if he could. So far... nothing.

It's a shame, of course, but magic is bunk.

How can we say this with such authority? Well, today is also National Knock Knock Joke Day. If magic were real, surely someone would have made knock-knock jokes disappear by now.

National Candy Corn Day, Mischief Night

Most of the Usual Suspects designate today as National Candy Corn Day. Usual Suspect Punchbowl.com explains that candy corn was invented in the 1880s by George Renninger of the Wunderle Candy Company. Candy corn "was made to mimic a kernel of corn and became instantly popular because of its innovative design."

It remains popular today -- and candy corn will be very popular tomorrow, of course, on Halloween, when it will show up in all sorts of trick-or-treat bags.

Candy Corn Day seems nice and harmless -- unless you're a stressed mom coping with kids on a candy-corn-fueled sugar high -- but when the Sun sets tonight things become a little more... sinister.

Tonight is Mischief Night -- a night originally for kids' pranks. For a number of years, Mischief Night was carried to its illogical extreme in Michigan -- Detroit in particular -- where it became known as "Devil's Night" -- a stupid, thoughtless festival of arson. Free advice: Leave the gasoline in the cars, kids.

And here's some more good advice: Shaving cream and TP are largely harmless, but eggs can permanently stain and otherwise damage roof shingles, brickwork, and good relations in the neighborhood.

Also, keep in mind that American Greetings proclaims today Bodybuilder's Day. Kids, don't be attempting any mischief tonight at the home of a bodybuilder, not if you want your teeth available to chew tomorrow night's candy haul....

Another one of those amazing calendar coincidences

Today is Internet Day (the anniversary of the day, in 1969, when the first-ever computer-to-computer link was established on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet). Although it would have made a great story, it is not true that the first computer-to-computer communication was a picture of a kitten and a silly caption.

If you'd rather wait until Al Gore's Birthday (March 31) to celebrate the birth of the Internet, almost all of the Usual Suspects suggest that today is also National Cat Day.

OK, that could be another Halloween tie-in -- witch's familiars and all that -- but then we noticed that today is also National Hermit Day. Now how appropriate is that?

Without the Internet, how would you find out about all these cool calendar coincidences?

Mother-in-Law Day and the Statue of Liberty

A number of the Usual Suspects declare today Mother-in-Law Day.

We'll let you at home decide whether Mother-in-Law Day belongs in the same category as Grouches Day, Sourest Day, and Cranky Co-Workers' Day. (Be careful where you vocalize any conclusions you might reach in this regard).

It was also on this day in 1886 that President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty. For this reason, some of the Usual Suspects consider today Statue of Liberty Day.

In addition, today marks the anniversary of the first college football game to be broadcast across the country on radio. The year was 1922, and the Princeton Tigers had traveled to the Midwest to play the University of Chicago Maroons. Princeton won. Unfortunately, we do not know if either team ran the Statue of Liberty play that day.

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Image obtained from Wikipedia.

Rerun Saturday... or the Battle of the Milvian Bridge

No, nobody has designated today as Rerun Saturday, not even us.

It's just... well, several of the Usual Suspects declare today to be Cranky Co-Workers Day -- after we've just had Grouch Day and, this week, Sourest Day.

Enough, already.

Besides, what are you going to do? Go to the home of some annoying co-worker on a day off to spend more time with someone who probably makes everyone in your whole row of cubicles miserable from Monday to Friday? Are you crazy?

And some of the Usual Suspects also declare today to be Navy Day.

Nothing against the Navy, mind you, but we just celebrated the U.S. Navy's Birthday two weeks ago today.

Some of the Usual Suspects proclaim today as Boxer Shorts Day because, supposedly, that rather personal garment was first marketed on this day in 1901. Well, semper ubi, sub ubi say we, but didn't we commemorate Underwear Day just this past August 5?

Why, yes, we did.

Punchbowl.com would have us believe that today is American Beer Day -- not that we have anything against beer, of course, and especially on a Saturday afternoon -- but International Beer Day was also commemorated on August 5.

Thus... in our opinion... Rerun Saturday.

Image obtained from Wikipedia

If you're looking for something more substantive, today is also the 1,700th anniversary of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.

Not ringing a bell? It was on this day in 312 that the Emperor Constantine defeated his co-emperor Maxentius, marking the beginning of Constantine's consolidation of power.

Now, true, Roman emperors and Roman wanna-be-emperors were constantly battling one another, around this bridge or that one, but this battle stands out in history because, supposedly, on the eve of battle, Constantine received a vision that if he fought in the name of Christ he would prevail (in hoc signo vinces). Whatever Constantine saw or may have seen, it is a matter of historical fact that, during his subsequent reign, for better or worse, Christianity would emerge from the catacombs to become the state religion of the Roman Empire.

You know we're getting close to Halloween when...

Today is Frankenstein Friday, Pumpkin Day, and Howl at the Moon Day.

All of these are observed today.

And, speaking of really scary stuff, today is also the anniversary of the day on which President Bush signed the Patriot Act into law.

Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, the terrifying (and inappropriately named) Transportation "Safety" Agency was not created by the Patriot Act, but rather by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, an entirely separate (if equally panicked) response by the President and Congress to the infamous crimes of September 11, 2001.

And, if you must know, the Department of Homeland Security wasn't created by the Patriot Act either: According to Wikipedia again, the Department was foisted upon the America public by the Homeland Security Act. And the Department was created in 2002 -- after most reasonable folks should have calmed down a bit.

Of course, we are talking now about politicians....

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Image obtained from Wikipedia.

If October 20 was Sweetest Day, can you guess what today is?

Most of the Usual Suspects proclaim today Sourest Day.

Why? Who knows? And didn't we just celebrate National Grouch Day here at The Blog of Days? (Why, yes, yes, we did.)

Image obtained from pablopicasso.org

Personally, we think the grouches and the sourpusses should get together and choose just one day that we could promote the heck out of. And, then, just as soon as we type that sentence, we realize how unlikely it is that grouches are ever going to agree with sourpusses.

Today has been designated as Greasy Foods Day in some quarters and World Pasta Day in others.

Today is also the Birthday of Pablo Picasso, if that's not too abstract a concept for you, and also National Denim Day. For you art students out there, Picasso had a "Blue Period," not a "Blue Jeans Period."

United Nations Day... and also Bologna Day

We couldn't make up these coincidences if we tried. Today really is United Nations Day, celebrated every year on October 24 because October 24, 1945 was the "effective date" of the U.N. Charter.

Some might argue that anyone who thinks the U.N. has ever been effective about anything must be full of bologna. And, wouldn't you know? Today is also National Bologna Day (although, as the link to Usual Suspect Punchbowl.com will reassure you, the Bologna Day observance is supposed to be about lunchmeat, not politics).

Photo obtained from Wikipedia

If you want to avoid any political entanglement, you may choose to remember instead that today is the anniversary of Annie Edson Taylor's successful 1901 plunge over Niagara Falls -- in a barrel.

You think that was a downer -- today is also the anniversary of "Black Thursday," the beginning of the Wall Street Collapse of 1929.

And the Concorde last flew on this date in 2003.

The United States, the alleged world leader in aviation and aviation technology, never did have a supersonic transport plane -- and now there are none in the world.

That's progress?

National Mole Day -- and TV Talk Show Host Day

National Mole Day refers not to the burrowing, worm-eating mammal but rather to a unit of measurement that we were supposed to have learned in Chemistry, all those years ago, namely, the "amount of a substance that contains as many elementary entities (e.g., atoms, molecules, ions, electrons) as there are atoms in 12 grams of pure carbon-12 (¹²C), the isotope of carbon with atomic weight 12. This corresponds to a value of 6.02214179(30)×10²³ elementary entities of the substance."

And today is 10/23, get it? And National Mole Day really only lasts from 6:02 am to 6:02 pm. Get it, huh, get it?

And every Mole Day has a theme. Last year's theme was "Moles of the Round Table" (you'd think with chemists, the theme might have been "Moles of the Periodic Table," but there are apparently boundaries even chemists won't cross). This year's theme is "Molar Eclipse."

If National Mole Day only has Avogadro's number, not yours, you may wish to consider National TV Talk Show Host Day as an alternative. Determining how this microminiholidayette grew from Johnny Carson's birthday has proved to be beyond the meager skills of our crack research department. You are therefore free to make up any explanation you wish.

Usual Suspect brownielocks.com says that today is also the day that the Swallows Depart From Capistrano. We've heard of the day the swallows return to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano, California (March 19 -- St. Joseph's Day -- in case you're planning ahead), but we were unfamiliar with the idea that there was also a specified departure date. So we learned something.

National Nut Day and CAPS LOCK Day

Sometimes these microminiholidayettes just seem to fit together so well.

CAPS LOCK Day was started to make fun of those whose passions so stir them that, when they send an email, or leave a comment on a blog, THEY JUST HAVE TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS. This, you presumably know, is a serious breach of Internet Etiquette (or 'netiquette). Typing in ALL CAPS is the Internet equivalent of shouting.

And then to discover that today is also National Nut Day -- well, the coincidence just seemed too wonderful.

And then came the buzzkill.

Turns out, Nut Day is all about the kind of nuts that grow on trees.

Today is also Knee Day and International Stuttering Awareness Day.

Reptile Awareness Day? Didn't we just celebrate Boss's Day?

No, wait, that comparison is probably unfair... to reptiles, anyway.

Yes, today really is Reptile Awareness Day.

It's also Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Day. Kids, just this one suggestion: Even if you don't much care for your Sunday School teacher, don't try and combine these observances by bringing a reptile to church today, OK?

Today is also National Dabbling Day. Dabble in something today; it may be your obsession tomorrow.

And, finally, today is Garbanzo Bean Day. What are garbonzo beans, you ask? Apparently, according to our crack research staff (which sometimes can figure out how to use Wikipedia), garbonzo beans are the same thing as chickpeas. What are chickpeas you ask? We know they're used in hummus, somehow, but The Blog of Days is not a food blog and our crack research staff was exhausted just giving us the little it did.

Beware: Today is Sweetest Day

The third Saturday in October (that's today, folks) is Sweetest Day, a sort of ooey-gooey, icky-sticky landmine along the lines of Valentines Day. (In other words, fellas, your sweetie will want some acknowledgment from you today -- and you better come across.)

We accused our crack research staff of all sorts of terrible things when they insisted that Usual Suspect Hallmark doesn't even cite Sweetest Day as one of its choices today. Sweetest Day would be the quintessential Hallmark Holiday, we thought. But -- and here is where we have to publicly apologize to our crack research staff -- Hallmark offers two completely different choices for today, World Osteoporosis Day and National Brandied Fruit Day -- and that's it. You could look it up.

Today is also Suspenders Day -- but if you tell your sweetie that's what you're looking to celebrate tonight, that may be what you're hung up by.

Our own top pick for a Sweetest Day alternative comes from Mental Floss: Today is Information Overload Day. The Internet giveth, and it keeps piling it on.

October 19 begins with Evaluate Your Life Day

Almost all the Usual Suspects are in accord. Today is Evaluate Your Life Day. Exactly how you should evaluate it, by what criteria, or what you should do with the insights you gain by means of this evaluation are not specified at all.

Usual Suspect American Greetings, however, suggests that today is Dress Like a Dork Day -- different, presumably, than the celebration earlier this week of Wear Something Gaudy Day -- although the same outfit may do for both occasions, don't you think?

Image obtained from Wikipedia

Today is also the Feast of Sts. Isaac Jogues, Jean de Brébeuf, and the other North American Martyrs. These Jesuits had done years of missionary work among the Huron Indians. But the Hurons were often at war with the Iroquois. In 1642, Jogues was captured by a party of Mohawk Iroquois and tortured. His hands were mutilated by his captors, but they kept him alive as a slave. In 1645, according to Wikipedia, Jogues was freed by sympathetic Dutch merchants and taken back to Manhattan. From there he returned to Europe, seeking -- and obtaining -- special permission from the Pope to celebrate Mass with his mangled hands.

After peace was supposedly worked out between the Hurons and Iroquois, Jogues went back to North America. In 1646, Jogues was sent as an ambassador to the Mohawks -- but when "when the double-calamity of sickness and crop failure hit the Mohawks," Jogues was blamed. On October 18, 1646, Jogues and another Jesuit priest, St. Saint Jean de Lalande, "were tomahawked in the neck (beheaded-not clubbed as some tell the story)."

Not all the North American Martyrs died in the same place or at the same time. St. Jean de Brébeuf was killed in 1649 when he was captured by the Iroquois along with a fellow Jesuit, St. Gabriel Lalemant. Their captors fastened them to stakes and tortured them to death "by scalping, mock-baptism using boiling water, fire, necklaces of red hot hatchets and mutilation. According to Catholic tradition, Brébeuf did not make a single outcry while he was being tortured and he astounded the Iroquois, who later cut out his heart and ate it in hopes of gaining his courage."

Here's a hot flash for you...

Today is World Menopause Day.

Well, it is.

And it's also National Chocolate Cupcake Day. That's probably enough, all by itself, for most folks.

But if you need something more, today is also No Beard Day. Shave the date.

(Oh, ouch.)

International Day for the Eradication of Povery or Wear Something Gaudy Day

Serious or silly.

Which will it be today?

If you're seriously inclined, today is The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, a United Nations observance since 1993.

For Craig Sager of TBS and TNT
everyday is Wear Something
Gaudy Day. Lots more images
available at this link.

If you're feeling frivolous, however, you may want to consider Wear Something Gaudy Day.

If you've been watching the baseball playoffs on TBS, you've no doubt noticed Craig Sager, a broadcaster for whom every day is Wear Something Gaudy Day.

If you've got stuff in your closet that can compete with Mr. Sager's wardrobe, Wear Something Gaudy Day is certainly a microminiholidayette for you.

A third alternative today is National Pasta Day.

For the artistically inclined, today is also Black Poetry Day (but be warned: Usual Suspect Holidays for Everyday thinks that Black Poetry Day is observed on the 18th).

Finally, Usual Suspect brownielocks.com says that today is also Get to Know Your Customers Day.

This makes us pause: When one is in business, shouldn't every day be Get to Know Your Customers Day?

Today is Boss's Day. Aren't they all?

Sure, your boss has a boss too. But your boss's boss isn't your problem. Your problem is that guy or gal in the corner office who holds your whole future in his or her tight little fists.

Today is the day you're supposed to make nice with your boss, get him or her a card and a coffee mug or maybe a gift certificate to some lunch place where you'll never, ever go... just in case. Does that seem like sucking up? Brown-nosing? Appeasement?

Well, heck yes. Folks gotta do what they gotta do to get by.

But... while The Blog of Days absolutely does not endorse this... some today will try a bolder course: Take the boss out for a couple of pops after work tonight. Get him or her tipsy. Keep the cell phone camera on standby and, well, you never know what you might get. Does this seem like dirty pool? Blackmail? Extortion?

Well, heck yes.

Maybe you should avoid Boss's Day altogether.

Instead, you might consider celebrating Dictionary Day today -- it's Noah Webster's 254th birthday, you see -- or perhaps World Food Day. Instead of trying to entrap your boss in an embarrassing moment, consider doing something positive today to fight world hunger.

Today is also the 219th anniversary of the day on which Marie Antoinette was guillotined -- but that probably has you thinking of Boss's Day again, and not in a helpful way either.

National Grouch Day!

We here at The Blog of Days do not understand why National Grouch Day has the status of a mere microminiholidayette. This one should be much more widely celebrated.

But, then, we're often grouchy.

And one of the many, many things that make us grouchy is disagreement over the proper dates for microminiholidayettes. We talked about this some last week. But here's another case in point: Brownielocks.com says today is National Cake Decorating Day -- but Punchbowl.com says it was last Wednesday.

Today is also National Mushroom Day. Insert your own 1960s reference here.

Chocolate-Covered Insects Day? No thanks!

Usual Suspect punchbowl.com insists that today is National Chocolate-Covered Insects Day. You're free to celebrate this one entirely on your own -- we will not partake.

Today has also been designated national lower case day. We wondered why. Our crack research staff discovered, sure enough, that today is the anniversary of the birth of American poet e.e. cummings (1894-1962) and has nothing whatsoever to do with the way kids text these days.

October 14 is also Be Bald and Be Free Day. The makers of Rogaine and Propecia would like you to forget that.

And since today is a Sunday, it's appropriate to note that today is Clergy Appreciation Day.

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Image obtained from the Audobon Nature Institute site. If you're in New Orleans today, you can click on the preceding link and get information on how you can chow down on your own chocolate covered bugs. Indeed, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Institute invites visitors today "to dip their edible insect in pink chocolate in support of the many families affected by the disease."

We won't see you there.