Every once in a while, you come upon a special day that just defies definition. Punch the Clock Day is one of those days. Despite all of our research, we found no content information on the Internet to define the purpose or meaning of this January 27 holiday. And, you won’t find information about today in an old Encyclopedia either. 

Do you want to get paid? Of course, you do! Many of us punch in and out of work on a time clock.  This records how many hours we worked down to the minute. It allows our company to calculate our wages and to pay us. (I’m all for getting paid.) That makes punching the clock a day worth celebrating.

Not ones to give up easily, we put our thinking caps on regarding the creation of this special day, and we pondered the meaning of this holiday.  We quickly determined that this day is not intended to encourage people to punch their clocks or their watch. This is destructive, serves no logical purpose, and may result in personal injury. But, it just might be a fun thing to do.

Smart as we are (tee hee), we quickly surmised that Punch the Clock Day is a day to celebrate the punch clock or time clocks we use at work. Now, we wondered why celebrate the punch clock at work. This left us bewildered and dumbfounded.

Opposite Day is a topsy, turvy January 25 holiday when everything you say, do, see, and hear is the opposite. Look into a mirror. You are looking at your opposite image. If you say go left, you mean to go right. When you say look up, it means to look down. If you see your left foot…is it your right?

Yesiree, Bob. Opposite Day can be a whole lot of fun. It can also be very, very confusing. This special day is celebrated primarily among schoolchildren. Sponge Bob Square Pants even got into the act, with an episode containing the whimsical nature of this day.

Today’s Motto: Opposites attract.

National Pie Day is today, a January 23 holiday.  Today is a special day that is set aside to bake all of your favorite pies. On this day, you are also encouraged to bake a few new pie recipes. And most importantly, it’s a day to eat pies! The American Pie Council created this day simply to celebrate them.

A great way to celebrate National Pie Day is to bake some pies and give them away to friends, neighbors, and relatives. You never know, you may be starting a tradition of pie giving between your friends and family.

The American Pie Council sponsors the National Pie Championships. Some of the best pie makers in the world enter their pies.  Perhaps you will enter and win the “American Pie Council’s Best Pie in America” award.

It is very fitting that the Tin Can has its very own special day of recognition. Made of tin-coated steel or aluminum, the humble tin can is perhaps one of the greatest inventions in history. It revolutionized the storage of perishable foods. Tin cans are part of virtually everyone’s lives. It changed the way we store food and allowed for safe, long-term storage of so many foods. So, enjoy National Tin Can Day, a January 19 holiday.

The tin can was invented in the early 1800s. Several people claim to be the inventor and/or the holder of the first patent. The first tin cans were produced in England. Philippe Henri de Girard of France is the original creator. French Inventor Nicholas Appertin came up with the canning concept in 1809. Peter Durand of England patented the tin can in 1810. On January 19, 1825, Ezra Daggett and Thomas Kensett received the U.S. tin can patent. The celebration of National Tin Can Day is in recognition of this event.

While the tin can was invented in early 1800, it wasn’t until 1858, nearly 50 years later, that Ezra Warner invented the can opener. Before that, tin cans were hacked, chopped, and chiseled open. 

The Tin Can Day Motto: Yes, we can!!

For many decades, the tin can was used and then discarded. A precious few cans had a second use as target practice. Today, the tin can receives the respect it is due. It is a valuable commodity that is now recycled, keeping it from the waste stream.

Did You Know? Tin cans were once sealed with lead, causing many cases of lead poisoning.

Celebrate National Tin Can Day by enjoying meals that come from tin cans.

Just look around at all of the people you see today. It’s pretty clear that Americans are not getting enough exercise. Would you like to get into peak shape and improve your health? Do you want to live longer? Are you looking for an amateur sport that you can participate, in and even compete in? Then, National Take the Stairs Day is for you!  If taking the stairs is a little foreign to you, set an initial goal to always walk up one flight and down two flights. While you get the most benefit from walking upstairs, walking downstairs is good for you, too. 

The primary goal of this special day is to encourage you and me to improve our health, by leaving the elevator behind, and walking up the stairs. Walking up and down stairs, instead of using the elevator or escalator, is a non-impact activity that most of us can do. It helps us tone our muscles, maintain or even lose weight, and contribute to cardiovascular health.

Most smartphones have an app that counts stairs. If your phone does not have it, you can download a stair-counting app.

Stair Climbing Factoid: A 160-pound person who climbs for 3 minutes, expends approximately 30 calories.

Did You Know? Stair Climbing, either walking or running, is an organized, amateur competitive event!

Discover and enjoy the health benefits of taking the stairs today. Then, make it a daily habit.

Today is National Spaghetti Day, a January 4 holiday. Grab a big bowl, fill it with spaghetti, top it with a generous helping of your favorite sauce, and dig in. And, don’t forget the meatballs and parmesan cheese! Spaghetti is one of over 600 shapes of pasta. It is by far, the most popular shape. Spaghetti is topped off with any one of 15 types of sauce. Marinara sauce is the most popular.

Many people think of Italy and Italian cuisine, as the birthplace of spaghetti. In reality, pasta or macaroni dates back to ancient times. Ancient cultures were cooking pasta noodles well before they were introduced to Italy and other parts of Europe. Marco Polo is erroneously credited with bringing spaghetti and pasta to Europe. But, records show Europeans cooking pasta well before Marco Polo began his travels. Peering even farther back in time, Arab cultures were selling dried spaghetti-like noodles in open markets in the early 1200s. The Chinese were cooking pasta noodles as far back as 5,000 B.C.

While ancient cultures were making and eating spaghetti and other pasta well before it came to Europe, it’s the Italians who popularized it in cuisines. It was introduced into the United States through the travels of Thomas Jefferson, who brought it back from Naples, Italy in 1789. Italian immigrants also brought it over with them to the U.S., where its popularity quickly spread. 

Spaghetti in Italian means thin string or twine.

Did you Know? Americans consume about 20 pounds of pasta per person per year.

We hope you thoroughly enjoy your bowl of Spaghetti today. To more completely enjoy this special day, make the spaghetti noodles yourself. It’s a cinch. All you need is flour, water, and a pasta maker.

The holidays are over, and things have certainly slowed down. The snow is piling up outside. Somewhere out there, your garden is under inches, if not feet of snow. Spring is so, so far away. What’s a gardener to get excited about!? If you plan on planting a garden this spring, the last Saturday of January is a huge holiday, It’s National Seed Swap Day!

People have been swapping and trading seeds, since man, or woman, first tilled the soil of this planet. Centuries ago, seeds and even flower bulbs have been used as a form of currency or to barter. Gardeners are always anxious to acquire varieties of seeds they’ve never grown before. We cherish uncommon and heirloom seeds, the varieties you can’t buy in stores.

On National Seed Swap Day, garden groups and organizations, hold a seed swap for their members. It allows them to trade rare, uncommon, unique, and heirloom seeds. Garden hobbyists enjoy the challenge of growing something they haven’t grown before. So, this is both a fun and valuable event.

On National Seed Swap Day, make plans to bring some seeds to swap to your local garden club. If you don’t belong to a group or club, join or start one. You’ll be glad you did!

Participate in National Seed Swap Day, and spring will not seem so far away.

Also see:

The Gardener’s Network – learn how to grow a spectacular home garden.

Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the United States, behind only coffee. A cold January day or night is the perfect time to enjoy a steaming hot cup of tea. To most of us, tea is a delicious and relaxing beverage. Drinking tea is healthy for you. With these things in mind, it is only fitting that today is National Hot Tea Day, a January 12 holiday.

It’s relaxingly easy to celebrate National Hot Tea Day. I’ve got a suggestion! Perhaps, you and I can have a cup of hot tea together today. Why we can even top the day off with a spot of tea during the evening hours.

This is a great day to stop drinking less healthy beverages and begin consuming healthy tea. Or, increase consumption if you already drink it. Tea is good for your health. It has been used medicinally for thousands of years. It settles the nervous system, helping you to relax. Tea is very soothing. Perhaps that’s why over 85% of Millennials drink tea. Tea has flavonoids and antioxidants. It is low in caffeine and has no sodium, fat, or sugar. And, tea has zero calories. Tea’s medicinal value is supported in many studies. It contributes to good health in many ways, including lowering the risk of heart attack, stroke, cancer, and diabetes. If this isn’t a good reason to celebrate National Hot Tea Day, I don’t know what is.

Did You Know? 75% to 80% of tea consumption in the U.S. is Iced Tea. How cool is that!? 

Test your knowledge about tea: See Tea Trivia

It’s ingrained in our culture, to bring in the New Year with a whole lot of optimism, anticipation, and alcohol. Millions of us partied last night, and we partied very hard. For many of us, the biggest drinking night of the year is followed by the biggest hangover of the year. For this very reason, National Hangover Day is the day after the biggest part yo of te year.

Fortunately, most of us have the day off, so we can nurse our hangovers by sleeping, in, taking aspirin, and tomato juice, and perhaps “a little bit of the dog that bit us”!

Normally, we think of ways to “celebrate” special days. For this special day, the goal is to just get through it.  

Other Names: This special day is also called “Bad Hangover Day”

Related Holidays: New Years’ Eve and Day

Cheese lovers, your day is here! Do you love cheese, all kinds of cheese? Splendid, as today is National Cheese Lover Day, a January 20 holiday. Enjoy the day by savoring any of the hundreds of varieties of cheese. There certainly is no shortage of varieties. Depending on what article you read, there are between 900 – 1,400 varieties of cheese, all classified by texture.

It’s easy to celebrate this special day. Set out a tray of several varieties of your favorite cheese and dig in. Having a cheese-tasting party with your friends will make this day a truly memorable one.  And, don’t forget the wine. Cheese goes great with cheese.

Eating cheese makes you feel good. So, don’t be bleu. Eat some cheese on National Cheese Lover Day.