JUNE 5: NATIONAL GINGERBREAD DAY
‘Tis the season to celebrate National Gingerbread Day, when gingerbread lovers across the country celebrate by sampling their favorite recipes and gingerbread treats. Whether in the form of bread, cakes, bars, biscuits, or cookies, they’re delicious any time of year.
The term “gingerbread” originally referred to preserved ginger. Later, it typically used honey or molasses rather than just sugar and was flavored with ginger. It is believed that gingerbread was first brought to Europe in 992 by an Armenian monk. He lived there for seven years teaching gingerbread cooking to the French priests and Christians until his death in 999. Sources indicate that in 1444, Swedish nuns were baking gingerbread to ease indigestion. In the 17th century, gingerbread biscuits were sold in monasteries, pharmacies and town square farmers markets. During the 18th century, gingerbread became widely available. And today it is available at the drop of a cake, cookie, or muffin tin.
JUNE 6: NATIONAL YO-YO DAY
If it seems like yo-yos have been around forever, that’s because they have; we’re talking over 2,000 years! Some believe it all started in ancient Greece, but modern yo-yos likely came from the Philippines. In fact, the word “yo-yo” first appeared in a Filipino dictionary in 1860. But they didn’t become popular stateside until the 1930s. Pedro Flores (of Filipino descent) began mass producing yo-yos in 1928. After holding some promotional competitions, he caught the eye of Donald F. Duncan Sr, who thought these yo-yo things were awesome! Duncan bought Flores out, hired him to run the marketing campaigns, and the rest is National Yo-yo Day history.
Today the Duncan Toy Company is synonymous with this iconic toy. However, it wasn’t Duncan’s or Flores’ idea to hold a National Yo-Yo Day. No, that honor goes to Daniel Volk — a yo-yo pro whose talent helped spread the toy’s popularity. After all, he starred in “The Yo-Yo-Yo Man Instructional Video” alongside the Smothers Brothers (which can still be found on youtube).
National Yo-yo Day has been held on June 6 since 1990. It’s a day to channel your inner child and start celebrating!
JUNE 7: NATIONAL CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM DAY
To observe National Chocolate Ice Cream Day, all you need is chocolate ice cream. Why stop there? You can have it in a cone or make it from scratch. Add sprinkles or syrup or whipped cream.
Chocolate ice cream is the second most common flavor, surpassed only by vanilla. It has been in existence well over a hundred years and has been popular in the United States since the late 19th century. In producing it, cocoa powder is blended in with eggs, cream, vanilla, and sugar. Other flavors, such as rocky road or triple chocolate chunk, use chocolate ice cream in their creation.
While you can enjoy this day with a scoop or two, you could also explore the variety of chocolate ice creams available, too. How many kinds of chocolate ice cream could there possibly be? For starters, of course, there’s dark chocolate and milk chocolate. But then we can add peanut butter or marshmallow. Rocky Road is chocolate-based. And don’t forget all the kinds of fudge. Some people like chocolate and mint mixed together, too. The list goes on and on.
JUNE 8: BEST FRIENDS DAY
Whether they’re near or far, old or new, best friends help to carry us through our lives. National Best Friends Day is time to tell them how much we appreciate their company. As the Mayo Clinic reports: “Friends help you cope with traumas, such as divorce, serious illness, job loss, or the death of a loved one. They also encourage you to change or avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as excessive drinking or lack of exercise.” Today’s the day to enjoy a little one-on-one time with the people who never fail to catch us when we fall.
We have our own country to thank for this lighthearted holiday. In 1935, the U.S. Congress gathered to devote a day each year in tribute to close friends. They chose June 8, which is usually a balmy day in all regions of the country—perfect for outdoor activities. Since then, many other countries have adopted the practice. Some even throw festivals to celebrate their chosen family. While the holiday seems to have lost popularity through the years, it has seen a recent upsurge in engagement since the advent of social media.
JUNE 9: DONALD DUCK DAY
Donald Duck made his cartoon debut in “The Wise Little Hen” back in the summer 1934. He didn’t meet Mickey Mouse until his second appearance in “Orphan’s Benefit” later that year. From there, it wasn’t long before Daisy Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie were introduced. In spite of their superior diction, they weren’t able to steal the spotlight from Donald. You can’t replace his grumpy, nearly incomprehensible charm, and it’s why the Donald has been in more movies (200+) than any Disney character.
More or less starting off as a comic-book character, he remains the most published non-superhero ever. Such is his popularity that Donald Duck is a national hero in Finland!
With his signature blue sailor suit (no pants), Donald Duck has appeared in more short films and feature films than any other Disney character. Walt Disney conjured up the idea for Donald Duck to introduce an edgier character to balance out the goody-goody jolly Mickey Mouse.
Another defining feature of Donald Duck is his voice. Clarence Nash, the original voice actor for Donald, created a distinct voice achieved by ‘buccal speech,’ a form of vocalization that utilizes the inner cheek to create sound instead of the larynx. Nash first discovered this while trying to mimic his pet goat.
In the 1940s, Donald Duck overtook Mickey Mouse with over 128 independent short animations. This was truly the decade of the Donald, as he soared to popularity faster than any other Disney figure. During World War II, despite having to halt most of its production, Donald Duck was featured in several American propaganda films. One of these animations earned Disney an Academy Award for Best Short Film. Other than his success in films, Donald also got his own comic in the 1940s that branched into an entire series of independent Donald Duck comics, which are circulated and enjoyed by adults and children until today.
JUNE 10: NATIONAL BALL POINT PEN DAY
Before 1943, anyone who wanted to write a letter or scribble some notes on a piece of paper used a fountain pen or pencil. Now the dominant writing instrument is the ballpoint pen, originally conceived and developed as a cleaner and more reliable alternative to the quill and fountain pens. In earlier years, many attempts by inventors led to failed patents. Their inventions did not deliver the ink evenly. They also had overflow and clogging issues.
In June of 1943, the brothers Laszlo and Gyorgy Biro obtained their patent for the ballpoint pen, revolutionizing how many write letters and conduct business. Today, manufacturers produce ballpoint pens by the millions and sell them worldwide. As a promotional tool, ballpoint pens find their way into our hands from advertisers of all sorts assuring that we always have a ballpoint pen handy, too.
JUNE 11: CORN ON THE COB DAY
The founder or creator of National Corn on the Cob Day is still unknown. That doesn’t make chowing down on this special treat any less delicious.
Corn on the cob is a treat in the summertime that people from all corners of the US look forward to as we start the picnic season. There are several names for this summer treat, among them corn stick, pole corn, sweet pole, long maize, or butter-pop. Corn on the cob can be served as a side dish by boiling, grilling, or roasting the corn.
The proper dinner protocol for eating corn says it is proper to hold the cob at each end with your fingers. Or save your fingers by those cute plastic corn on the cob handles—or any design of corn holders.