World Friendship Day (http://www.friendshipday.org/) (or International Friendship Day) is the first Sunday of August, which of course floats, like the friendship in our lives, and can be any day from Aug 1 through Aug 7. We humans are social creatures. We recognize the value of friendship, the invisible thread connecting our hearts. In 1935 the US Congress proclaimed […]
Ingersoll Day marks the birthday of Robert Green Ingersoll (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_G._Ingersoll), honoring the life and work of one of the most noted freethinkers in US history. Ingersoll was also the most successful orator in nineteenth century America, heard by more Americans than any human before the advent of motion pictures and radio. A leading political figure, he campaigned […]
National Ask an Atheist Day (https://www.wheniscalendars.com/national-ask-an-atheist-day/) is a movible secular holiday that occurs twice each year -- first on the 3rd Thursday of April (which can be anywhere from April 15 to April 21), then on the 3rd Thursday of September (from Sept 15 to Sep 21). As if atheists don't have enough to do […]
In the United States, World Cleanup Day (https://www.worldcleanupday.us/) (WCD) is the third Saturday of September, which due to calendar vageries can drift from Sept 15 to Sept 21. But eco-groups urge us to think of all of September as World Cleanup Month. And that's a great idea. The idea of WCD began in the small country […]
Avast ye lubbers. International Talk Like a Pirate Day (http://talklikeapirate.com) is a day to show your Piratude. Created in 1995 by John Baur and Mark Summers, promulgated to worldwide popularity by humorist Dave Barry in a syndicated column, this is a secular holiday we can celebrate in many ways: garb like pirates, talk like pirates, […]
The September Equinox is one of two days in the calendar year when day almost equal the night hours. In the northern hemisphere it is also the first day of Autumn or Fall (Gregorian calendar), called the Autumnal Equinox. (In the southern hemisphere it is the first day of Spring.) The Autumnal Equinox marks when green things begin […]
(http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/) September's end marks Banned Books Week, a celebration of the Freedom to Read, established by the American Library Association in 1981 in response to growing attempts to ban books in public libraries across the country. First observed in 1982, we celebrate it each year during the last week starting in September, to remind our fellow citizens not to take […]
Secularists and freethinkers worldwide celebrate International Blasphemy Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_Day) or "Blasphemy Rights Day" to mark the anniversary of when images of Muhammad appeared in the Denmark newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005. Conservative Muslims reacted to the drawings with worldwide protests, riots, embassy burnings and death threats. Formally founded in 2009 by Ronald Lindsay, Directory of the Center of […]
Freethought Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freethought_Day), or "Freethought Coming-Out Day," is a day to give closeted freethinkers a platform from which to declare themselves. The formal calendar holiday is October 12, but many groups plan celebrations for the closest weekend. Some recognize the week as Freethought Week, or the entire month of October as Freethought Month. In this […]
International Skeptics Day is like a party for your brain, where doubt is the guest of honor! This special day lands on October 13th each year, inviting everyone to question the usual and embrace some healthy skepticism. But there’s a twist. This day also gets celebrated on January 13th and sometimes even on the first […]