July 17, 2015

Today we celebrate:

National Peach Ice Cream Day – This is the perfect time of year for some fresh peach ice cream. I love peach ice cream but really only in the summer when the peaches are so delicious.

Wrong Way Corrigan Day – Douglas Corrigan, a pilot with a plane that seemed to be falling apart around him, flew nonstop from California to New York in July of 1938. Then, immediately after that, on this day in 1938, he filed plans to fly across the ocean but he was denied permission because authorities didn't believe his plane would be able to make the journey intact, so instead he was given permission to fly back to the West Coast over the relative safety of land in case he had to make an emergency landing. So he took off pointed west and then a few moments later turned 180 degrees and disappeared into the clouds. He landed in Ireland 28 hours later and claimed that he got lost in the clouds and his compass didn't work. The authorities were not amused and suspended his license but the public thought it was very funny, called him “Wrong Way” Corrigan and he became a national celebrity.

Yellow Pig Day – Possibly created by Michael Spivak and David C. Kelly, when they were college students in the 1960's. They began listing interesting properties of the number 17 and created the yellow pig with 17 eyelashes in the process. Michael Spivak has written several math books since then with yellow pigs contained in the illustrations. Mathematicians sometimes refer to yellow pigs and some even have collections of yellow pigs. Events celebrating this day have been held by mathematicians since the 1960's, although sometimes they are held on May 17th or September 17th.

Eid-Al Fitr – This day is an important Muslim holiday that marks the end of the fasting of Ramadan. This is a day for the Muslims around the world to be united. This day does vary in different localities based on local religious authorities but most celebrate it today. Muslims celebrate with special ceremonies and prayers.

To celebrate today, end your fast and make sure you go the right way to get some peach ice cream.  Keep your eyes peeled for a yellow pig along the way.