June 30, 2017

Today we celebrate:

Asteroid Day - This is a day to do whatever we can to protect our planet and our people from asteroid impacts. It is held on the anniversary of the 1908 asteroid impact in Siberian Tunguska, which is the largest impact in what scientists call “recent history”. It isn’t so recent that I remember it, even though my children think I should be old enough.

Social Media Day - This is a day that was begun in 2010 in order to recognize the tremendous impact social media has had on communication around the world. Thanks to social media, we can find out what is going on in the world almost instantly. It also has a downside because pictures or events that you don’t necessarily want to be public can also travel around the world in a matter of moments.

Drive Your Corvette To Work Day - Celebrated on the Friday closest to June 30th, or in this case, on June 30th, today dig that Corvette out of the garage, dust it off and take it for a spin to work today. It was on June 30, 1953 when the very first Corvette finished the manufacturing process and became ready for sale. It was made in Flint, Michigan and was a white convertible with a black canvas top and red interior.

National Meteor Day – Keep your eyes open for meteors tonight. You never know when you're going to see one. Sometimes astronomers can give us a heads up when we will get a meteor shower, but even if there is no shower expected, you could still see a stray meteor. These are also known as shooting stars.

Leap Second Time Adjustment Day – This is a day to make a one second adjustment to our time in order to stay close to the average solar time. Apparently our daily rotation is not exactly 24 hours but is a fraction of a second longer. Therefore, every now and then, at the end of June or December, we need to add a second to the clock so that we don't eventually have days when midnight comes sometime in the afternoon. There are scientists whose job it is to track the Earth’s rotation and they have told us that we do not have to add any seconds this time. The last time a second was added was December 2016.

NOW (National Organization for Women) – Founded on this day in 1966, by 28 women, this organization is about fighting for equality for women in all aspects of life.