July 17, 2016

Today we celebrate:

National Tattoo Day - This is a day to celebrate tattoos. A lot of people have them or are planning to have them. I’m not a fan of marking up my body, even with art, but I respect the right of everyone else to do so and I enjoy admiring other people’s tattoos. Some of them are really beautiful in design and intent. I have a friend who had the names of his children tattooed on his arms. That actually might come in very handy for me since my memory is shot and I can’t even remember my own name anymore some days.

World Day for International Justice - You may also see this day called Day of International Criminal Justice or International Justice Day. It is the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute which is a treaty that created the International Criminal Court. So today we participate in events that promote and support international criminal justice.

World Emoji Day - On some platforms, the iOS Calendar Emoji shows this as the date all the time. So that is why this is the date chosen for celebration purposes. So have fun with this day, use your favorite social media and share your favorite emojis with the whole world. Use one or use 100, whatever makes you happy.

National Ice Cream Day – Celebrated on the third Sunday in July, this day was created by former President Ronald Reagan who saw how popular ice cream was (and still is) in this country. His direction was that this day should be observed with “appropriate ceremonies and activities.”  I’m pretty sure that this means that you should eat some ice cream today.

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.

National Peach Ice Cream Day – It works out perfectly this year that this day falls on the same day as National Ice Cream Day. That means you can celebrate two things at once. 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.

Anne Hutchinson Memorial Day – Celebrated every July on a Sunday near Anne's baptism day, July 20, 1591. This is a day to honor this incredible woman who had somewhere around 15 children, was a religious leader and spiritual leader for women in Boston. She helped lay the groundwork for the free speech and religious tolerance that we Americans hold so dear. It didn't go over so well with the Puritans she lived with at the time. Some consider her to be the first American feminist.