October 10, 2014

Today we celebrate:

National Angel Food Cake Day – Light and airy, this is delicious with strawberries and whipped cream.

Naval Academy Founder’s Day – On this day in 1845, the Naval School (later known as the United States Naval Academy) opened in Maryland with 50 students and 7 professors.  It’s a little bit bigger these days with 4,536 students as of 2012 and a faculty of somewhere around 600 professors.

World Mental Health Day – The World Health Organization celebrates this day that was created by the World Federation of Mental Health. The purpose is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and help those who need it to find help for their issues.

World Porridge Day – This is a day that started in Scotland and has spread throughout the world as an effort to feed hungry children in poor countries. Porridge is a traditional dish in Scotland and it is easy to make for large groups of hungry people so Mary's Meals (a Scottish-based charity) has been working hard to use it to feed people all around the world.

World Egg Day – Created by the International Egg Commission at the IEC Vienna 1996 conference (Who knew there was an International Egg Commission? I certainly didn't.). This is a day to generate media interest about eggs and encourage people to eat more of them. It is celebrated on the second Friday in October every year.

Squid Day/ Cuttlefish Day – On this cephalopod day, we focus on the exciting squids and cuttlefish. Did you know there is a giant squid that lives in the deepest parts of the oceans? I'm not sure why it used to come up and attack the sailing ships of 3 or 4 hundred years ago and not the ships of today, but we'll count our blessings because those things are huge.  Maybe there were more of them then and they had more competition for food or maybe it had something to do with the size or shape of the ships.  Maybe they used to look more like food back then.  These are purely my speculations because I am curious about such things.

To celebrate everything in one day, have some eggs with your porridge for breakfast before you go to the Naval Academy to have some Angel Food Cake.  On the way back discuss your mental health with the squids at an Aquarium museum.