Top 5 Random Holidays in September
Welcome back everyone! We have five more random holidays you can celebrate in September while we start a new school year!
September 9 – International Sudoku Day
9, 6, 7, 3, 8, 1, 5, 2, 4… can you fill out all the numbers?
The classic brain teaser known as Sudoku spread across the globe after gaining interest in the 1980s. If you have not played it before, you’re missing out! Make sure to complete a puzzle soon because The World Puzzle Federation has designated Sept. 9 as International Sudoku Day. The game does not require a brilliant mathematician only a rational analysis. Sudoku is a puzzle game consisting of 81 empty squares spaces that make a grid of nine boxes. The goal is to write the numbers 1-9 once in each column, row, and box. The game first started appearing in Dell Puzzle Magazines around 1979 and began to pick up interest steadily. It was called the Number Place puzzle until a Japan publisher made a few improvements and renamed it Sudoku. The game became world-renowned when Wayne Gould designed a computer program that could create new Sudoku arrangements instantaneously.
September 13 – National Grandparents Day
Just like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, our country has a Grandparent’s Day!
This special holiday is annually observed the first Sunday after Labor Day. Having a national holiday to celebrate grandparents was West Virginian housewife Marian McQuade’s dream, and she fought hard for this dream. As a young girl, McQuade loved to spend time with her grandma and the elderly. McQuade never lost this love, and when she was a mother to 15 children at age 40, she instituted the “Past 80” party. This event celebrated everyone in the community who was over 80-years-old. As the years passed, McQuade continued organizing and hosting different events for the elderly including crafts, theater, exercise, and times to record nursing home patients’ favorite recipes so they wouldn’t be forgotten. In an effort to get kids involved with nursing homes, McQuade began lobbying for a National Grandparent’s Day. She fought for years to get the holiday nationally recognized and annually observed by the United States president.
She believed, “People should realize that grandparents are the backbone of the American family life because youngsters gain so much wisdom and knowledge from them.” McQuade continued to fiercely fight for the holiday by writing to every governor and Congressional member as well as hundreds of influential public figures until the bill was finally passed through the House and signed by President Carter in 1978. McQuade had 14 grandchildren of her own by that time.
September 19 – International Talk Like a Pirate Day
Ahoy mateys! This is the most hilariously thought up holiday, and if you are not going to read the following, at least read Dave Barry’s take on it!
Yes, it is true! International Talk Like a Pirate Day is a holiday, and it is all because of two good friends and humor columnist Dave Barry. The holiday began as a joke when young John Baur and Mark Summers played racquet ball on June 6, 1995. During their game, the two boys decided to start talking like pirates, starting with the famous “Arrr!” of a pirate. As they walked off the courts, the boys decided that there should be an international day to commend talking like a pirate. Since their current date was taken as WWII’s D-Day, they agreed on Sept. 19, Summer’s ex-wife’s birthday. Additionally, they believed that Dave Barry was the perfect man to advocate for their holiday; however, they soon forgot that detail. Seven years passed of celebrating (sometimes forgetting the date), until Baur happened across Barry’s email address. The boys decided to send him an email just for fun, not expecting Dave to email back a few days later, applauding the idea and asking if they had done anything to promote it. Barry wrote the column and the two friends found themselves as the inventors of one of the most hilarious and playful holidays of the year.
September 22 – Hobbit Day
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” – The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The literacy phenomenon known as The Hobbit has captured many individuals’ heart and minds over the decades. It has been turned into movies, acted out by children, and added to school’s reading lists. In honor of the cherished story that J.R.R. Tolkien published in 1937, Hobbit Day was established in 1978 according to The American Tolkien Society. This celebration is observed on Sept. 22 to mark the birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, who are the lead characters in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. A few of the best ways to celebrate Hobbit Day are by dressing up as hobbits, drinking tea, enjoying a second breakfast, and reading the book or watching the films.
September 26 – Johnny Appleseed Day
“The sun and rain and an apple seed.” – Johnny Appleseed Song
Would it surprise you to learn that the pioneer hero Johnny Appleseed was a real man named John Chapman? Well, you better believe it, because it’s true! Chapman was born on Sept. 26, 1774. Like the stories say, Chapman became a famously good-natured nurseryman who provided the Midwest region with apple trees. As he traveled, Chapman became renowned for his generosity to others, kindness toward animals, his unique appearance, and missionary work. Contrary to the carefree man who threw apple seeds to wherever the wind might blow them, Chapman established nurseries throughout the Midwest by selling or donating apple tree seeds to 19th-century pioneers. When he died in 1845, Chapman owned approximately 1,200 acres. One great way to celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day is to drink some apple cider, and read one of the many tales written about him.
It turns out there’s so much to celebrate in the month of September, so whether you start with a game of Sudoku or a call to your grandparents, enjoy September to the fullest!
