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By: Piano Kaewchaiyo (7th)

Around the world, there are people who celebrate different holidays-- whether cultural, historical or fun holidays. From the Lunar New Year in Asia to Halloween originating in Ireland, holidays have been celebrated for hundreds of years throughout the world in history. While there are other holidays that are celebrated more often or more popular than others, some of these holidays seem… different. Let’s take a look at some “not-your-typical” holidays and see why they’re so important!

Holiday 1: Tortilla Chip Day

What is Tortilla Chip Day? National Tortilla Chip day is a day that celebrates these crunchy, delicious snack-foods worldwide! In 1940, the genius Rebecca Webb Carranza was credited for making the first ever tortilla chip! Rebecca was searching for ways to utilize misshapen tortillas rejected from the automated manufacturing machine for tortillas at her and her husband’s tortilla factory and Mexican delicatessen in Los Angeles. She used the discarded tortillas and made them into the first tortilla chips by frying them in triangular shapes. She then sold the chips for one dime a bag at the El Zarape Tortilla Factory-- making these tortilla chips transform into remarkably creative snacks worldwide today!

For many people, they celebrate the tortilla chip because the tortilla chip can be a fun and easy snack that people enjoy on any occasion-- especially with dipping sauces that complete the entire snack. Well, how is the tortilla chip made, and why is it important to people so much? As we take a deeper dive into the simple ingredients and process of the tortilla chip, tortilla chips are basically triangular fried or baked corn tortillas; these corn tortilla chips often consist of vegetable oil, salt, nixtamalized corn and water. Corn tortilla chips can be made with red, blue or white corn, even though yellow corn is most popular used among making tortilla chips. Originating from Mexican cuisine, there are so many different types of tortilla chips people can enjoy-- also many different brands of tortilla chips out there as well!

Therefore, not only are tortilla chips enjoyable, they can be very quick snacks that can brighten your day. They can be found in almost every Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurant in the U.S. being famous appetizers. In conclusion, because tortilla chips have come a long way and are tasty to almost everyone, it should be celebrated in the form of National Tortilla Chip day. The date for the next National Tortilla chip day is February 24, 2024! With this considered, the next time you spot a local Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurant, try their tortilla chips! Maybe, it’ll remind you of its history and its importance throughout the world.

Holiday 2: International Talk Like A Pirate Day

What is International Talk Like A Pirate Day? Although it seems to be a mouthful, International Talk Like a Pirate Day is a day that celebrates people talking like a pirate for a day. This was a parodic celebration that occurred annually every September 19th to make people speak like a pirate. In 1995 in Oregon, John Baur and his friend Mark Summers played a game of racquetball-- a racquet team sport played with a hollow rubber ball. Suddenly, Mark began speaking like a pirate out of frustration.

Because the friends enjoyed the sudden piratic sounds, they were on a mission to make it an annual tradition for folks around the world! Within the year 2002, Dave Barry popularized the movement of the annual tradition of International Talk Like A Pirate Day. So, how do you talk like a pirate? To celebrate this intriguing and silly holiday, the point of it was the speaking of a pirate-y accent! Talking like a pirate may mean occasionally saying “arr,” “ahoy,” or “matey.” Some people even celebrate International Talk Like A Pirate Day by attempting to adopt the mannerisms of a pirate to take a step even further into celebrating this tradition.

This may be drinking or eating like a pirate, or dressing like a pirate! Don’t get too carried away in this holiday, though it may be fun-- you may just be stuck sounding like a pirate! (only joking!)

Holiday 3: Collect Rocks Day

What is Collect Rocks Day? Collect Rocks Day is a day that celebrates the idea of collecting ROCKS! Each year on September 16th, this holiday inspires and encourages people to collect rocks. Collecting rocks supports the aspect of geology-- or the study of rocks and the earth in general. While this is controversial, geology is a significant idea to build on, and can later be a tool in understanding science and how the world works. On Collect Rocks Day, people young and old go out to simply collect rocks. Different rocks have different shapes, different forms, different textures and can even have different colors. Why this holiday is important to us is truly because it allows us to explore our world and see different types of rocks-- different types of earthy life! There are so many different types of rocks; from rocks such as agate, blue calcite, basalt, scoria and even more!

The main types of rocks are igneous, metamorphosis and sedimentary. What we can learn from rocks is that although they are abiotic, they can teach us about life as we know them-- that rocks are formed by physical changes in the world. Rocks are really interesting to research and collect since they continue to teach us about the rock cycle, and how it works. Thus, collecting rocks day is not just a silly kid’s holiday, but it teaches future generations about the world and the study of geology. Perhaps geology can even open future generations’ career paths and new ideas! In summary, Collect Rocks Day is a significant holiday that should definitely be celebrated around the world. Celebrating can just mean going outside to your front door and simply acknowledging a rock; look at its form and texture, and maybe you’ll find something fascinating you’ve never thought about.

Holiday 4: Penguin Awareness Day

What is Penguin Awareness Day? Penguin Awareness Day is a day that celebrates… you guessed it-- penguins!! This holiday is celebrated annually every year on January 20th. Gerry Wallace in 1972 invented this celebration in order to serve a critical purpose in recognizing penguins. Penguin Awareness Day is also called National Penguin Day. So, what are the basics of penguins? What do they eat, where do they live and what do they do? Penguins are flightless birds that usually are in colors of black and white. Some kinds of penguins are Emperor penguins, King penguins, Little penguins, Macaroni penguins (my favorite!), and many more varieties of penguins. Penguins typically live in the Southern Hemisphere, where it’s mostly cold! They eat krill, some fish and squids. So… why do people even celebrate penguins for Penguin Awareness Day?

The problem that the penguin population is decreasing overwhelmingly each year goes unnoticed around the world. Why people celebrate Penguin Awareness Day is because they want to make a difference in protecting the population of penguins and understanding why they are an important part of biodiversity. If you want to take the next step, what you can do is to simply visit your local zoo.

Simply observing the penguins in their exhibit can mean a lot to showing your appreciation for Penguin Awareness Day. These cute penguins should be sustained and adored for their place in the ecosystem! How do you celebrate Penguin Awareness Day fully you ask? Focus on the ideals of looking and caring for the planet to protect the habitat of penguins, use sustainability and even take an approach on climate change. What do you think? Will you protect penguins and observe them on National Penguin Day?

Holiday 5: Fruitcake Toss Day

What is Fruitcake Toss Day? For a silly name, comes a silly purpose; Fruitcake Toss Day is exactly what it sounds like! On Fruitcake Toss Day, people challenge themselves to throw fruitcake as far as they can. Although this seems like a waste of fruitcake, it’s purely for entertainment purposes as far as goofing off on a winter day. Celebrating Fruitcake Toss Day literally means finding or making fruitcake and throwing it! What’s interesting about this holiday is (everything) that the holiday changes the date annually. For instance, this year in 2024, Fruitcake Toss Day was celebrated on January 27, 2024. Wait, but what even is fruitcake? For those who may be wondering, let’s take a dive into history!

Fruitcake was invented by the ancient Romans; a delicious dessert that was made using pomegranate seeds, nuts, raisins, barley and more! Fruitcake plays a big part in European cuisine in the Western world, being eaten around the world annually. Usually, fruitcake is served during the Christmas season. Its dark, mouth-watering texture with its rich and sweet dried fruits can make anyone’s day! There are so many recipes for making fruitcake, so maybe you should consider trying out a recipe on Christmas! With all of this considered, you might be thinking why Fruitcake Toss Day is even a thing? Overall, for a delicious snack, it sure shouldn’t be wasted-- should it? As said before, it’s controversial, but the main point of Fruitcake Toss day IS to chuck fruitcake. In fact, the creators in Manitou Springs in Colorado invented it in order for people to dispose of their leftovers of fruit cake.

Even though Fruitcake Toss Day seems useless, it’s not. On Fruitcake Toss Day, we can learn about the history of the fruitcake and why it’s important to ancient civilizations-- the main one being the ancient Romans. Talking about the Ancient Romans even further, ancient fruitcake served as an energy bar for soldiers throughout battle to maintain their energy levels. This is crucial because without it, soldiers would have a bad performance-- and some of the wars and battles within the ancient Rome civilizations wouldn’t have been successful that we know of. To summarize, Fruitcake Toss Day isn’t just a fun and unique or wasteful holiday, it can remind people of the fruitcake and its past.

The next time you stumble upon a fresh fruitcake in the grocery store, think about its history and why it’s significant to not only people in the ancient world, but people today. 

In conclusion, now that you have learned about five different silly holidays around the world, you can make an impact by participating in these holiday traditions. Challenge yourself to learn about even more holiday traditions, and you’d be surprised how much you can learn from them! Remember: There is no such thing as a bad celebration, only a bad mindset. Go and celebrate new holiday traditions!