Some say the proper date is May 26, some say April 30, some say March 27th -- can you ever be sure? When someone says "Today is Opposite Day," he might be lying! Opposite Day is a day to say the reverse of what you mean, with a wink, with a nod; a day when "no" means […]
The Birthday of Science marks the day Thales of Miletus (in 585 BCE) correctly predicted a solar eclipse. A better choice might be the discovery of fire or the wheel, but we don't know exactly when that happened, or who did it. We do know about Thales. His prediction was significant because the idea of cause and effect (causality) applies to all […]
In 2009, freethinker William Bermudez started Hug an Atheist Day (http://www.weirdholiday.com/hug-an-atheist-day/) (June 1st) to poke fun at other groups popping up at the time to encouraged hugging. He called for people to run up and hug atheists or any nonbeliever in general, whether agnostic, skeptic, secular humanist, or with other heretical views. In the words of one […]
The goal of World Environment Day is to stimulate worldwide awareness of environmental issues, and to generate action for conservation. The United Nations General Assembly established World Environment Day (http://worldenvironmentday.global/) in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Each year World Environment Day celebrations occur at a different location around […]
Juneteenth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth), an unofficial American secular holiday but official in Texas, commemorates a major milestone: slavery's end in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the war was over and the enslaved were now free. This was two and a half […]
Called Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere, Winter Solstice in the southern, people have marked the June Solstice in some way or another for thousands of years. Many religions have seasonal holy days linked to this day. It is the day when the Northern Hemisphere has more daylight than at any other time of the year. In the […]
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Humanist_Day)World Humanist Day is a day to spread information and combat misinformation about humanism as a life-philosophy and a means to affect change in the world. This secular holiday dates back to the 1980s, when several local state chapters of the American Humanist Association (http://www.humanist.net/) (AHA) began celebrating World Humanist Day. Different chapters had different ideas […]
In 1997, the United Nations General Assembly passed resolution 52/149, establishing June 26 as the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_in_Support_of_Victims_of_Torture). The goal is the eradication of torture and the effective functioning of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (resolution 39/46, annex, 26 June 1987). […]
A presentation from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (https://www.smud.org/), undoubtedly about SMUD-ish issues. Details TBA.
Mainly a French observance, Chevalier de la Barre Day is for all who opposes religious oppression, marking the execution of the Chevalier de la Barre for impiety. On July 1, 1766, church authorities tortured and killed young Jean-Francois de la Barre (the "Chevalier de la Barre" because he held the title of Chevalier or "knight") […]