Calendar of Topical & Holiday & Birthday Links

M A Y

May is Mental Health Awareness Month [est. 1949] • see also M.H.A. website
May is National Bike Month [est. 1956], promoted by the League of American Bicyclists [est. 1880].
May is National Barbecue Month, started by The Barbecue Council in 1963 - more info on Spirit of America Bookstore's Art of Barbeque Cooking Pages.
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month [week est. 1978, month est. 1990]
May is National Military Appreciation Month: officially recognized by Congress in 1999; includes several key dates pertaining to our soldiers: Loyalty Day (May 1), Military Spouse Appreciation Day (May 7), VE Day (May 8), Armed Forces Day (May 15), and, of course, national holiday Memorial Day (May 31).
May is National Hamburger Month {see also May 28th & September 18th}.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month [est. 2006].
May is Volcano Awareness Month in Washington State [est. 2023] (Hawai'i Volcano Awareness Month [est. 2010] is in January).
First Week in May: Children's Book Week [est. 1919] is sponsored since 1945 by Children's Book Council.
First Week in May: National Small Business Week [est. 1963] in U.S.A. is sponsored by the Small Business Administration [est. 1953].
First Week {usually} in May: Teacher Appreciation Week℠ sponsored by National Parent Teacher Association® [est. 1897, merged 1970] since 1984.
First Thursday [1st-7th] in May is World Password Day [est. 2013] to remind everyone to strengthen their passwords to make them more secure and more difficult to guess.
First Saturday [1st-7th] in May is the Kentucky Derby horse race [est. 1875]; the annual "Run For The Roses" takes place at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.
First Saturday [1st-7th] in May is World Naked Gardening Day • watch G-rated video [upload 5/2016; 1:14] online at YouTube
1st
- Traditional International Workers' Day and May Day are being supported in 2017 by the Resistance Movement in America; expanded events include rallies & parades
  in locations around the world, pledges for no purchases that day, and wearing white in solidarity with immigrants and working families.
- Birthday of Afro-American writer Prof. Sterling Allen Brown [1901-89] in Washington, DC.
- Birthday of author Joseph Heller [1923-99] in Brooklyn, New York.
- Law Day in U.S.A. [est. 1958], declared by President Eisenhower as an alternative to the Communist celebration of May Day.
- Birthday of oddball American filmmaker Wesley Wales 'Wes' Anderson in Houston, Texas [1969].
- National School Principal's Day.
2nd = Birthday of master filmmaker Satyajit Ray [1921-92] in Kolkata (Calcutta), Bengal, India.
2nd = World Tuna Day [est. 12/2016] - sponsored by the United Nations.
3rd = Birthday of politician & philosopher Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli [1469-1527] in the Republic of Florence {now in Italy}.
3rd = World Press Freedom Day [est. 1993] was declared by the United Nations.
4th
- Birthday of British scientist Thomas Henry Huxley, PC FRS FLS [1825-95] in Ealing, Middlesex, England.
- Birthday of Irish-American poet Thomas Kinsella in Inchicore, Dublin, Ireland [1928].
- Ohio National Guardsmen at Kent State University opened fire on antiwar protesters, killing four students and wounding nine others [1970].
- International Firefighters’ Day [est. 1999]
- National Orange Juice Day {origin unknown}.
- National Star Wars Day: "May The Fourth Be With You".
5th
- Birthday of Karl Marx [1818-83] in Trier, Prussia.
- Cinco de Drunko, which uses an obscure military victory over French forces in Puebla, Mexico in 1862 as excuse to 'celebrate' Mexican heritage by drinking alcohol to excess; popularity of the holiday jumped in the 1980s when beer companies began to promote Cinco de Mayo in marketing campaigns.
- Birthday of Elizabeth Jane Cochran [1864-1922] in Cochrans Mills, Pennsylvania; she was later famous as the globe-trotting journalist Nelly Bly.
- First printing of a color Sunday comic strip, "Hogan's Alley" starring the Yellow Kid, in Joseph Pulitzer's New York World newspaper [1895]. For several years [ended 2007], this was celebrated by members of the National Cartoonists Society as [U.S.] National Cartoonists Day, where cartoonists drew strips in the style of other cartoonists, past & present.
- Birthday of Pulitzer Prize-winning philosophy co-author Ariel Durant [1898-1981] in Ukraine, Russia.
- National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Awareness Day [est. 2018].
6th
- National Day of Reason.
- Birthday of Silent Era sex symbol Rudolph Valentino [1895-1926] in Castellaneta, Italy.
- Birthday of actor / filmmaker Orson Welles [1915-85] in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
- National Nurses Day [est. 1954] begins National Nurses Week.
- Birthday of actor-director-producer George Clooney in Lexington, Kentucky [1961].
Second Monday begins American Craft Beer Week [est. 2006] which celebrates all of the beers made in the U.S.A.
Second Week: Root Canal Awareness Week [est. 2007] is sponsored by the American Association of Endodontists [est. 1943].
7th
- Birthday of English poet & playwright Robert Browning [1812-89] in Camberwell, London, U.K.
- Birthday of radio & television news host Thom Hartmann in Grand Rapids, Michigan [1951].
- National/International Masturbation Day [est. 1995], first declared by sex-positive retailer Good Vibrations [est. 1977] of San Francisco.
8th
- Birthday of Harry S. Truman [1884-1972] in Lamar, Missouri.
- Birthday of author Thomas Pynchon in Glen Cove, New York [1937].
- World Ovarian Cancer Day [est. 2013] to raise awareness about ovarian cancer.
9th = Birthday of British author Sir J.M. Barrie [1860-1937] in Scotland; he is most famous as the creator of Peter Pan.
10th
- Completion of the U.S. transcontinental railroad: driving of the 'Golden Spike' at Promontory, Utah [1869].
- Birthday of movie producer David O. Selznick [1902-65] in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- Birthday of Dr. Eric Berne [1910-70], the creator of Transactional Analysis psychotherapy, in Montreal, Canada.
- Celebration of National Shrimp Day {origin unknown} recognizes America's favorite seafood.
- National Train Day in USA; see also the American Railroads Pages at Spirit of America Bookstore
11th
- Birthday of composer Irving Berlin [1888-1989] in Tyumen, Russia.
- Birthday of quantum physicist Richard P. Feynman [1918-88] in Queens, New York.
- Celebration of the unofficial National Twilight Zone Day holiday [origins unknown].
- Celebration of National Eat What You Want Day { see cartoon }
12th = Birthday of Florence Nightingale [1820-1910], which ends National Nurses Week.
13th
- National Frog Jumping Day, inspired by Mark Twain's 1865 short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".
  The story is celebrated each year since 1893 at the Calaveras County Fair and Angels Camp Jumping Frog Jubilee [3rd weekend in May].
- Birthday of English author & playwright Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE [1907-89] in London, U.K.
- Birthday of writer Armistead Maupin in Washington, DC [1944].
14th
- Birthday of movie mogul George Lucas [1944].
- Birthday of Mark Zuckerberg [1984], co-creator of Facebook, Inc. [est. 2004].
- National Dance Like a Chicken Day: Began from an oompah-polka tune written by an accordian player in Switzerland in 1963,
  went thru many revisions, became a sudden hit in America in the late 1980s.
15th
- Feast Day of San Ysidro [c1070-1130], Patron Saint of Farmers in Spain & Honduras & New Mexico (may be celebrated on closest weekend).
- Birthday of author L. Frank Baum [1856-1919], the creator of "The Wizard of Oz", in Chittenango, New York.
- Birthday of Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov [1891-1940] in Kiev/Kyiv (now in Ukraine).
- Birthday of author Denne Bart Petitclerc [1929-2006] in Washington State.
- National Nylon Stocking Day [est. 1940].
- National Chocolate Chip Day {established some time after the 1941 manufacture of chocolate chips for cookies}
- National Pickle Day was first celebrated in 1949, initiated and supported by the Pickle Packers Association [est. 1893]. {See also October and November.}
16th
- Birthday of broadcast journalist Louis 'Studs' Terkel [1912-2008] in New York City.
- Birthday of feminist poet & essayist Adrienne Rich [1929-2012] in Baltimore, Maryland.
- Birthday of children's author Bruce Coville in Syracuse, New York [1950].
- Birthday of actress Debra Winger in Cleveland Heights, Ohio [1955].
- National Check Your Wipers Day [est. 9/2021] for Latin American countries - see also November 16th for North American countries; both originated & sponsored by Michelin® [est. 1889].
Third Weekend: National Polka Festival in Ennis, Texas.
Third Friday (15th to 21st): National Pizza Party Day {origin unknown}.
Third Saturday (15th to 21st): Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Day [2012 = #15].
17th: Founding of the New York Stock Exchange, signed by 24 brokers and agents under a buttonwood tree in front of 68 Wall Street in New York City [1792].
{ See Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore's Wall Street Page }
17th = Birthday of YA author Gary James Paulsen [1939-2021] in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
18th = Birthday of philosopher Bertrand Russell [1872-1970] in Monmouthshire, Wales.
18th = Birthday of movie producer-director Frank Capra [1897-1991] in Bisacquino, Sicily, Italy.
19th
- Birthday of activist Malcolm X [1925-65] in Omaha, Nebraska.
- Birthday of Afro-American author Lorraine Vivian Hansberry [1930-65] in Chicago, Illinois.
- Birthday of author Nora Ephron [1941-2012] in New York City.
20th
- Birthday of French author Honoré de Balzac [1799-1850] in Tours, France.
- Birthday of Norwegian author Sigrid Undset [1882-1949] in Kalundborg, Denmark; she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928.
- Birthday of children's author Mary Pope Osborn in Fort Sill, Oklahoma [1949]; she is most famous for the Magic Tree House Series [est. 1992].
- World Bee Day, officially designated by the United Nations in 2017.
21st
- Birthday of Italian poet Dante {nee Durante degli Alighieri} [1265?-1321] in Florence.
- National Strawberries and Cream Day {origin unknown}
- International Tea Day [est. 2005] is sponsored by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and celebrated along with Global Tea Conferences in tea producing countries India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Uganda and Tanzania. {see also December 15th}.
- biannual Comic Relief Red Nose Day [USA #1 = 2015] charity events {expanded from Red Nose Day U.K. held in March}.
22nd = Birthday of author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [1859-1930], creator of detective Sherlock Holmes.
22nd = Harvey Milk [1930-78] Day in California, in memory of the assassinated gay rights leader who became one of the first openly gay people to be elected
to public office in the U.S. when he won the race for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.
23rd
- Birthday of botanist Carl Linnaeus [1707-78] in Sweden.
- Birthday of silent movie star Douglas Fairbanks [1883-1939] in Denver, Colorado.
- Birthday of children's author Margaret Wise Brown [1910-52] in Brooklyn, New York.
- Birthday of singer-songwriter Jewel {Kilcher} in Payson, Utah [1974].
- World Turtle Day [est. 2000] is sponsored by American Tortoise Rescue [est. 1996].
24th
- Birthday of Britain's Queen Victoria [1819-1901].
- Opening of the Brooklyn Bridge over the East River between Manhattan Island in New York City and Long Island in New York State. [1883]
- Birthday of music legend Bob Dylan {nee Robert Allen Zimmerman} in Duluth, Minnesota [1941].
- National Brother’s Day [est. 2005] was first organised by C. Daniel Rhodes of Alabama, USA.
25th
- Birthday of transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson [1803-82] in Boston, Massachusetts.
- Birthday of Afro-American tap dancer & actor Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson [1878-1949] in Richmond, Virginia.
- Birthday of Afro-American author Raymond Carver [1938-88] in Clatskanie, Oregon.
- Birthday of Afro-American author Jamaica Kincaid on the Caribbean island of Antigua [1949].
- National Missing Children's Day was first proclaimed by President Reagan in 1983; International Missing Children's Day was established in 2001.
- National Tap Dance Day: legislated once by Congress in 1989, celebrated here and there on a local basis since then.
- National Wine Day {origin unknown}
- International Pork Pie Hat Day [est. 2011]
- The murder of George Floyd [1973-2020] in Minneapolis by a policeman over a suspected counterfeit $20 bill;
  subsequent protests restarted the Black Lives Matter! activism movement. [2020]
Last Monday (25th to 31st): Memorial Day [U.S.A.]: Hug a military veteran (any war, any country), or thank two veterans.
26th = Birthday of actor John Wayne [1907-79] in Winterset, Iowa.
26th = National Day of Healing [est. 1998] in Australia, also known as National Sorry Day; acknowledges the mistreatment of the country's indigenous population, specifically marking the forcible removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families in an effort to assimilate them into white Australian culture.
27th
- Birthday of mystery author Dashiell Hammett [1894-1961] in St. Mary's County, Maryland.
- Birthday of mystery author Tony Hillerman [1925-2008] in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma.
- Birthday of author Marijane Meaker in Auburn, New York [1927]; she writes fiction
  under the pen names Ann Aldrich, M.E. Kerr, Mary James, Vin Packer & Laura Winston.
28th
- Birthday of British author Ian Fleming [1908-64], creator of Agent 007 James Bond.
- National Hamburger Day {see also September 18th} is promoted by the Burger King fast food chain [est. 1954]; many burger vendors have free sandwich deals on the day.
- World Hunger Day [est. 2011] was founded by The Hunger Project [est. 1977].
29th = Birthday of Frederick Schiller Faust [1892-1944] in Seattle, Washington; his primary pen name was Western author Max Brand.
30th = Birthday of movie director Howard Hawks [1896-1977] in Goshen, Indiana.
Last Weekend: World Science Festival [est. 2008] in New York City area
31st = Birthday of poet Walt Whitman [1819-92] in Huntington, Long Island, New York.
31st = Birthday of movie star Clint Eastwood in San Francisco, California [1930].

J U N E

June is Audio Book Month: "Embrace The Spoken Word"
June is Gay/L.G.B.T.Q. Pride Month [est. 1994] to honor the 1969 Stonewall Inn uprising.
June is P.T.S.D. Awareness Month sponsored by the Veterans Administration.
June is National Candy Month sponsored by The National Confectioners Assn.
June is National Camping Month.
June is National Ocean Month, sponsored by National Ocean Service [est. 1970] of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration [est. 1970] of the U.S. Department of Commerce [est. 1903].
First Friday (1st to 7th) = National Doughnut/Donut Day was created by The Salvation Army in Chicago in 1938 as a fund-raiser to help those in need during the Great Depression,
as well as to honor the Salvation Army 'lassies' of World War I, who served doughnuts to soldiers. {see also November 5th}.
First Friday (1st to 7th): National Gun Violence Awareness Day [est. 2013] is sponsored/promoted by Wear Orange, Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund,
Courage To Fight Gun Violence, and others.
First Saturday (1st to 7th) = National Trails Day sponsored by the American Hiking Society [est. 1976].
First 3-Day Weekend (1st to 9th) = National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange Weekend are in honor of the survivors of gun violence.
1st
- Children’s Day [est. 1925] is celebrated in many countries on June 1st; International Children’s Day [est. 1960] is celebrated worldwide on November 20, the anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of The Rights of The Child.
- Birthday of Australian author Colleen McCullough [1937-2015] in Wellington, New South Wales; she is most famous for the 1977 novel "The Thorn Birds".
- Beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season, which peaks in August and September and ends November 30.
2nd = Birthday of British poet & novelist Thomas Hardy [1840-1928] in Stinsford, Dorset, England.
3rd
- Birthday of French film director Alain Resnais [1922-2014].
- Birthday of Beat poet Allen Ginsberg [1926-97] in Newark, New Jersey.
- Birthday of author Larry McMurtry [1936-2021] in Archer City, Texas.
- Birthday of Jill Tracy Jacobs in Hammonton, New Jersey [1951]; she married Sen. Joe Biden in 1977, served as Second Lady of USA 2009-2017,
  and also as Dr. Jill Biden, First Lady of the USA, 2021-2025.
4th = Birthday of writer Jacques Roumain [1907-1944] in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
4th = Chinese army troops stormed Beijing's Tiananmen Square to crush student-led pro-democracy demonstrations, killing unknown thousands [1989].
5th
- Birthday of economist John Maynard Keynes [1883-1946] in Cambridge, England.
- Birthday of children's author Richard McClure Scarry [1919-94] in Boston, Massachusetts; he created the "Busytown" books & TV franchise.
- Birthday of novelist Ken Follett in Cardiff, Wales [1949].
- World Environment Day [est. 1974] is sponsored by the United Nations.
- An unarmed Chinese civilian was photographed facing down army tanks in Tiananmen Square. [1989]
6th
- Birthday of German writer Thomas Mann [1875-1955] in Lübeck; he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929.
- 'Operation Overlord', the WWII invasion by Allied forces of Normandy's beaches in France, began; the event is referred to as 'D-Day' [1944].
- National Yo-Yo Day [est. 1990] is the birthday of yo-yo toy tycoon Donald F. Duncan, Sr. [1892-1971].
7th
- Birthday of Afro-American poet Gwendolyn Brooks [1917-2000] in Topeka, Kansas; she won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950
  and was the Poet Laureate of Illinois from 1968 until 2000.
- Birthday of Afro-American writer & poet Nikki Giovanni [1943-2024] in Knoxville, Tennessee.
- Birthday of Native American author Louise Erdrich in Little Falls, Minnesota [1954].
- National Chocolate Ice Cream Day
Second Saturday {8th to 14th} = National Rosé Day [est. 2014] is sponsored by Bodvár House of Rosés Winery of Sweden.
8th
- Birthday of architect Frank Lloyd Wright [1867-1959] in Richland Center, Wisconsin.
- Birthday of mystery author Sara Paretsky in Ames, Iowa [1947].
- Birthday of Gabby Giffords in Tucson, Arizona [1970]; she survived an assassination attempt in January 2011
  and has since been an advocate for gun control thru the Giffords PAC: Courage To Fight Gun Violence [est. 2013]
- International/National Jelly-Filled Doughnut Day {sometimes June 9th}.
- World Oceans Day [est. 1992]: visit World Ocean Network or The Ocean Project
9th
- Birthday of author Eleanor H. Porter [1868-1920] in Littleton, New Hampshire, which is celebrated as Pollyanna Glad Day.
- Birthday of mystery author Patricia Cornwell in Miami, Florida [1956].
- Birthday of actor Johnny Depp in Owensboro, Kentucky [1963].
10th
- National Iced Tea Day originated in the 1910s; iced tea became popular during the hot summer of the 1904 World’s Fair.
- Birthday of author Saul Bellow [1915-2005] in Quebec, Canada.
- Birthday of Frances Ethel Gumm [1922-1969] in Grand Rapids, Minnesota; she later became famous as entertainer Judy Garland.
- Birthday of award-winning children's author Maurice Sendak [1928-2012] in Brooklyn, New York.
11th
- King Kamehameha [1732-1819] established the Kingdom of Hawai'i, reigning from 1782 to 1819; he united the Hawai'ian Islands in April 1810; King Kamehameha Day [est. 1872] is a major state holiday {why on June 11th is unclear}, with celebrations that include the Kamehameha Festival in Hilo on the Big Island.
- Birthday of Japanese writer Yasunari Kawabata [1899-1972] in Osaka, Japan; he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968.
- Birthday of South African playwright & author Athol Fugard [1932].
12th
- Birthday of George H.W. Bush in Milton, Massachusetts [1924-2019]; he was the 41st President of the United States, 1989-93.
- Birthday of diarist Annelies Marie 'Anne' Frank [1929-45] in Frankfurt, Germany; her family was arrested in Amsterdam, Netherlands by the German Gestapo in August 1944; Anne died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in early 1945.
- Women Veterans Appreciation Day [est. 2018], so far celebrated in only 14 states - including California (2015), Hawai'i, Indiana (2020), Kentucky (2020), Michigan (2019), New Jersey (2019), New Mexico, New York (2008), Ohio (2019), Oregon (2019), South Carolina (2019), Tennessee, Texas (2017), Wisconsin (2018) - while efforts continue to make it a national day.
mid-June: 3-day A.C.L.U. Membership Conference [2018 = first in ten years] in Washington, DC
13th = Birthday of Irish poet William Butler Yeats [1865-1939] in County Dublin, Ireland.
13th = Birthday of British mystery author Dorothy L. Sayers [1893-1957] in Essex, U.K.
14th
- Birthday of author Harriet Beecher Stowe [1811-96] in Litchfield, Connecticut; she is most famous for her abolitionist novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" [1852].
- Birthday of idiot dictator billionaire Donald John Trump in Queens, New York City [1946].
- National Bourbon Day {origin unknown}.
15th = King John of England affixed his seal to the Magna Carta treaty, agreeing to reforms demanded by rebel barons of northern England & Wales [1215].
15th = Birthday of silent movie comedy star Harry Langdon [1884-1944] in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
16th
- Birthday of economist Adam Smith [1723-90] in Scotland.
- Birthday of movie comedian Stan Laurel [1890-1965] in Ulverston, Cumbria, England.
- Birthday of author Joyce Carol Oates in Lockport, New York [1938].
- Celebration of Bloomsday [est. 1954] by fans of James Joyce [1882-1941], and especially of his masterpiece "Ulysses" [1922].
Mid-June: Amazon Prime Days [est. 2015] {sometimes in July}.
17th
- Bunker Hill Day in Boston, commemorating the early Revolutionary War battle of 1775.
- The deadline for U.S. citizens living and working abroad to file their annual tax returns.
- Five burglars were arrested inside the Watergate Building in Washington, DC in 1972, leading to the resignation of President Nixon twenty-six months later.
18th = Birthday of musician Paul McCartney in Liverpool, England [1942].
18th = International Picnic Day {origins unknown}.

19th

Juneteenth holiday, celebrating the end of slavery in the U.S.A in 1865; made a federal holiday in 2021.
So far, 24 states have made Juneteenth an official state holiday, while 26 states have not.

On Juneteenth book by Annette Gordon-Reed

"On Juneteenth" [2021] New York Times bestseller
by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed
included on many Best Books of the Year lists; recounts the holiday's origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that Afro-Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and beyond, a new and profoundly-truthful narrative of the author's home state, with implications for us all
Kindle Edition from Liveright [5/2021] for $8.61
Liveright 7½x4¾ hardcover [5/2021] for $12.99

Birthday of Elbert Hubbard [1856-1915] in Bloomington, Illinois.
Birthday of Moe Howard [1897-1975], member of 'The Three Stooges' comedy team.
Birthday of American author Tobias Wolff in Birmingham, Alabama [1945].
Birthday of British-American author Sir Salman Rushdie in Mumbai, British India [1947].

20th
- Birthday of playwright & author Lillian Hellman [1905-84] in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Birthday of actor Errol Flynn [1909-59] in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
- Birthday of mystery author Lilian Jackson Braun [1913-2011] in Massachusetts; she wrote 29 novels of the "The Cat Who ..." series.
- World Refugee Day [est. 2001] is sponsored by United Nations High Commission for Refugees [est. 1950].
21st
- Birthday of existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre [1905-80] in Paris, France.
- Birthday of British author Ian McEwan in Aldershot, England [1948].
- United Nations International Day of Yoga [since 2015]
- World Giraffe Day [est. 2016] is sponsored by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation [est. 2016].
Third Sunday (15th to 21st): Father's Day holiday in U.S.A. [est. 1910]; the local celebration in Spokane, Washington is credited to Sonora Louise Smart Dodd [1882-1978], and later went national.
Third Weekend: Winlock, Washington Egg Days Festival [2013 = #70]
Third Week: National Cinema Week™ [est. 2021] in support of the exhibition industry & moviegoing culture.
22nd
- Birthday of bank robber John Dillinger [1903-34] in Indianapolis, Indiana.
- Birthday of author & aviator Anne Morrow Lindbergh [1906-2001] in Englewood, New Jersey.
- Birthday of movie writer-director Billy Wilder [1906-2002] in Austria-Hungary.
- Birthday of award-winning sci-fi author Octavia E. (Estelle) Butler [1947-2006] in Pasadena, California.
- Birthday of Elizabeth Ann Herring Warren in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma [1949]; after an academic career, she became a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts in 2013.
- World Rainforest Day [est. 2017] is sponsored by Rainforest Partnership [est. 2007]
24th
- Birthday of rebel filmmaker Robert John Downey, Sr. [1936-2021] in New York City.
- Birthday of mystery author Lawrence Block in Buffalo, New York [1938].
- Birthday of political economist Robert B. Reich in Scranton, Pennsylvania [1946].
- National Praline Day {origins unknown}.
25th
- Birthday of writer George Orwell [1903-50] in British India; he is most famous for the novels "Animal Farm" [1945] and "Nineteen Eighty-Four" [1949];
  he died in London, England at age 46.
- Birthday of children's author Eric Carle [1929-2021] in Syracuse, New York; he was most famous for "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" [1969].
- Birthday of TV food/tour guide Anthony Bourdain [1956-2018] in New York City; date is celebrated as Anthony Bourdain Day [est. 2019] by his many fans.
26th = Birthday of writer Pearl S. Buck [1892-1973] in Hillsboro, West Virginia; she won both the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel (1932)
and the Nobel Prize in Literature (1938).
27th
- Birthday of Helen Adams Keller [1880-1968] in Tuscumbia, Alabama; proclaimed as Helen Keller Day in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter.
- Birthday of economist Ravi Batra in India [1943].
- Birthday of American writer Alice McDermott [1953].
- National Ice Cream Cake Day {origins unknown}.
- National Bingo Day celebrates America's love of the game bingo [copyrighted 1933].
28th
- Birthday of philosopher & polymath Jean-Jacques Rousseau [1712-78] in Geneva {now in Switzerland}.
- Birthday of comedy writer-director-actor Mel Brooks in Brooklyn, New York [1926].
- Some people use a value for 'tau' (τ) as twice π – 3.14 x 2 = 6.28 – thus, June 28th shows up randomly (mostly on college campuses) as a day of celebration called Tau Day.
- International LGBTQ Pride Day commemorating the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
29th
- Birthday of French political economist Frédéric Bastiat [1801-50]; also the deadline for entries in the annual Bastiat Prize for economics journalism [est. 2002].
- Birthday of aviator & author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry [1900-44] in Lyon, France; he is most famous for writing the illustrated novel "Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince)" [1943].
- Birthday of special-effects maestro Ray Harryhausen [1920-2013] in Los Angeles, California.

J U L Y

July is National Hot Dog Month; see also mid-July.
July is National Grilling Month - more info on Spirit of America Bookstore's Art of Barbeque Cooking Pages
July is National Picnic Month - founded in 1952 by The American Bakers’ Association [est. 1897].
July is National Ice Cream Month [est. 1984]
July is National Disability Pride Month
1st
- Happy Fiscal New Year's Day
- Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 as Britain's North America Act took effect; since celebrated as the Canada Day national holiday.
- Birthday of French cinema pioneer Alice Guy-Blaché [1873-1968] in Paris, France.
- Birthday of William Strunk, Jr. [1869-1946], who achieved posthumous fame when in 1959 E.B. White [1899-1985], an editor at The New Yorker Magazine,
  revised & updated Strunk's 1920 grammar guide as "Strunk & White's Elements of Style".
- Birthday of author James M. Cain [1892-1977] in Annapolis, Maryland.
- Birthday of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jean Stafford [1915-79] in California.
- Publication of the classic novel "Lassie Come Home" [1940] by English-American author Eric Knight [1897-1943], which begat
  the long-running Lassie the Dog movie & television franchise.
2nd
- Birthday of Nobel Prize-winner Hermann Hesse [1877-1962] in Germany.
- President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, preventing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.
- World U.F.O. Day [est. 2001]: A day/night for people to gather together and watch the skies for unidentified flying objects;
  the date commemorates the supposed U.F.O. crash in the 1947 Roswell U.F.O. Incident.
3rd
- Birthday of showman George M. Cohan [1878-1942] in Providence, Rhode Island.
- Birthday of author Franz Kafka [1883-1924] in Prague, Austria-Hungary.
- Birthday of Julian Assange in Townsville, Queensland, Australia [1971]; he co-founded the WikiLeaks whistleblower website in 2006.
- Independence Day [U.S.A.]: July 4th Fireworks Shows site • fireworks safety site
- Birthday of Nathaniel Hawthorne [1804-64] in Salem, Massachusetts.
- Birthday of movie mogul Louis B. Mayer [1884-1957], head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios [est. 1924], in Minsk, Russia.
- Birthday of playwright Neil Simon [1927-2018] in The Bronx, New York.
5th = Birthday of American showman P.T. Barnum [1810-91] in Bethel, Connecticut; he elevated the circus to entertainment extravaganza and died at age 80.
5th = International Bikini Day is the anniversary of the launch of the bikini bathing suit in 1946 by Parisian fashion designer Louis Reard.
6th = Birthday of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo [1907-54] in Coyoacán, DF, Mexico.
6th = Birthday of George W. Bush in New Haven, Connecticut [1946].
7th
- Birthday of movie director George Cukor [1899-1983] in New York City.
- Birthday of science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein [1907-88] in Butler, Missouri.
- Birthday of Native American writer Louise Erdrich in Little Falls, Minnesota [1954].
- Birthday of 'New Weird' writer Jeff VanderMeer in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania [1968].
8th = Birthday of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anna Quindlen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [1952].
Second Friday (8th to 14th) = National French Fry/Fries Day {origins unknown}.
9th
- 9th/10th = Birthday of genius inventor Nikola Tesla [1856-1943] in Smiljan, Croatia.
- Birthday of actor-producer Tom Hanks in Concord, California [1956].
- Nunavut Day in Canada, celebrating the creation of the territory of Nunavut in 1993, separate from the Northwest Territories.
Mid-July Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference for media moguls [July 2024 = #42] in Idaho.
10th = Birthday of French author Marcel Proust [1871-1922] in France.
10th = Global Energy Independence Day declared by Los Angeles County Supervisors in 2005, in honor of Nikola Tesla's birthday.
11th
- The Burr–Hamilton duel took place in 1804 at dawn in Weehawken, New Jersey between Aaron Burr, the third Vice President of the United States,
  and Alexander Hamilton, the first & former Secretary of the Treasury; Hamilton died the next day; Burr was vilified and his political career ended.
- Birthday of writer E.B. White [1899-1985] in Mount Vernon, New York.
- Birthday of award-winning Russian-American-Swiss actor Yul Brynner [1920-85] in Vladivostok, Far Eastern Russia; he is most famous for his roles in
  "The King and I" on stage & screen and in the classic Western movies "The Magnificent Seven" [1960] and "Return of The Seven" [1966 sequel].
- Birthday of literary critic Harold Bloom [1930-2019] in South Bronx, New York.
- J.B. Lippincott & Co. published the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee [1960].
- World Population Day [est. 1989] seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues.
- National Mojito Day celebrates the traditional Cuban highball made from white rum, sugar, lime juice, sparkling water, and mint.
- National Swimming Pool Day
Second week (8th-15th): Amazon Prime Days [est. 2015] {sometimes in June}.
12th
- Birthday of transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau [1817-62] in Concord, Massachusetts.
- Birthday of inventor / thinker R. Buckminster Fuller [1895-1983] in Milton, Massachusetts.
- Birthday of Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda [1904-73] in Chile.
- Birthday of Curly-Joe DeRita [1909-93], member of 'The Three Stooges' comedy team.
- Birthday of Donald E. Westlake [1933-2008], author of comic crime novels, in Brooklyn, New York; he died at age 75 in Mexico.
14th
- Bastille Day is formally called Fête Nationale and celebrates the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789.
- Birthday of American folk music legend Woody Guthrie [1912-67] in Okemah, Oklahoma.
- Birthday of cinema master Ingmar Bergman [1918-2007] in Uppsala, Sweden.
- Birthday of mystery author Laura Childs {real name Gerry Schmitt} in Minnesota [year unknown].
15th = Birthday of Anglo-Irish author Dame Iris Murdoch [1919-99] in Dublin, Ireland.
15th = Amazon, Inc. launched the Prime Day 24-hour sales event in 2015 in Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S. to celebrate Amazon's 20-year anniversary.
Third Wednesday (15th to 21st): National Hot Dog Day was founded in 1994 by the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council [est. 1994].
Third Saturday (15th to 21st): National Woodie Wagon Day.
Third Sunday (15th to 21st): National Ice Cream Day [est. 1984].
16th
- Congress declared Washington, DC as the new capital of the United States in 1790.
- The first atomic explosion in history occurred in 1945 at Trinity Test Site at White Sands Missile Range [est. 1942] in New Mexico, USA.
- Publication in 1951 of the novel "Catcher In The Rye" by J.D. Salinger [1919-2010].
- Future retail behemoth Amazon, Inc. opened for business in 1995.
17th = Birthday of mystery author Erle Stanley Gardner [1889-1970] in Malden, Massachusetts; he was the creator of fictional lawyer Perry Mason.
17th = World Emoji Day [est. 2016]: celebrating all the little symbols used in texting, et cetera on the internet.
(This date was chosen because it is the date showing on Apple's calendar emoji.)
18th = Birthday of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson [1937-2005] in Louisville, Kentucky.
19th
- Birthday of animator Max Fleischer [1883-1972] in Kraków, Austria-Hungary; he was head of Fleischer Animation Studios [1921-1942] in New York City.
- Birthday of pulp mystery author Robert Leslie Bellem [1902-68] in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- National Daiquiri Day; the drink was invented in Cuba in 1898; why or when this day was chosen is unclear.
20th
- Birthday of Cormac McCarthy [1933-2023] in Providence, Rhode Island; he recently lived near Santa Fe, New Mexico.
- Birthday of Afro-American poet Henry L. Dumas [1934-68] in Sweet Home, Arkansas.
- Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong & Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin in the lunar lander 'Eagle' touched down on the surface of the moon at 4:18 p.m. EDT; Aldrin & Armstrong were the first men to walk on the moon's surface; astronaut Michael Collins remained overhead in the orbiter module. [1969]
- National Lollipop Day - 'celebrating the hard candy that we are suckers for!'; commercial manufacture of lollipops began in 1908.
21st
- Birthday of author Ernest Hemingway [1899-1961] in Oak Park, Illinois.
- Birthday of children's author Franklin Folsom [1907-95] in Boulder, Colorado; he wrote over 80 books, mostly for children, and died at age 88.
- Birthday of mystery author Michael Connelly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [1956].
22nd
- Birthday of painter Edward Hopper [1882-1967] in Upper Nyack, New York.
- National Grilling Day [est. 2015]
23rd
- Birthday of mystery author Raymond Chandler [1888-1959] in Chicago, Illinois.
- Birthday of movie mogul Harry Cohn [1891-1958] in New York City; he was co-founder of Columbia Pictures [est. 1919].
- Birthday of novelist John Nichols in Berkeley, California [1940]; he has lived in Taos, New Mexico for many years.
- Birthday of comic book hero Batman™ in 1939. (Declared as Batman Day for 75th anniversary in 2014 by D.C. Comics.)
- National Vanilla Ice Cream Day {origins unknown}
Fourth Saturday = National Day of The American Cowboy [2011 = #8]
and-or the competing National Day of The Cowboy [2011 = #7]
24th
- Birthday of author Alexandre Dumas, père [1802-70] in France.
- Pioneer Day in Utah, a state holiday celebrating the arrival of the Mormons in 1847.
- Birthday of British poet & author Robert Graves [1895-1985] in London, England.
- Birthday of aviator Amelia Earhart [1897-1937] in Atchison, Kansas; she disappeared in the South Pacific Ocean while attempting an around-the-world flight.
- Birthday of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald [1900-48] in Montgomery, Alabama.
- Birthday of mystery author John D. MacDonald [1916-86] in Sharon, Pennsylvania.
- National Tequila Day {origins unknown}
- National Cousins Day {origins unknown}
25th = National Wine and Cheese Day was created by freelance writer Jace Shoemaker-Galloway in 2014.
25th = National Hire a Veteran Day.
26th
- Birthday of playwright George Bernard Shaw [1856-1950] in Dublin, Ireland.
- Birthday of author Aldous Huxley [1894-1963] in Surrey, England.
- National Disability Independence Day on the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed in 1990.
- National Aunt and Uncle’s Day {origins unknown}
- National Buffalo Soldiers Day {origins unknown}
28th = Birthday of children's author Beatrix Potter [1866-1953] in London, England.
28th = National Milk Chocolate Day was created by the National Confectioners Association [est. 1884]
29th
- Birthday of silent movie actress Theda Bara [1885-1955] in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- Birthday of silent movie actress Thelma Todd [1906-35] in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
- Birthday of Elizabeth Short [1924-1947], in Boston, Massachusetts; she achieved fame as the victim in the still-unsolved Black Dahlia Murder Case.
- Birthday of documentary filmmaker Ken Burns in Brooklyn, New York [1953].
- National Lasagna Day - seems to have been started in 2011.
30th
- Birthday of novelist & poet Emily Brontë [1818-48] in Yorkshire, England.
- Birthday of sociologist / economist Thorstein B. Veblen [1857-1929] in Cato, Wisconsin.
- Birthday of Xicano author José Antonio Villarreal [1924-2010] in Los Angeles, California.
- National Whistleblower Appreciation Day [est. 2013] { see also the Working Minds / Privacy Page / Whistleblowers Dept. }
31st
- Birthday of J.K. (Joanne Kathleen) Rowling, creator of the Harry Potter books, in Gloucestershire, England [1965].
- Birthday of fictional character Harry Potter in Godric's Hollow, West Country, England [1980].
- National Avocado Day - founded by startup Model Meals, an organic meal delivery service established in 2015.
- Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, which marks how long into the year that an Afro-American woman has to work in order to match the prior year's wages of her white male counterpart.

A U G U S T

August is National Peach Month [est. 1982] in USA.
1st
- Birthday of author Herman Melville [1819-91] in New York City.
- Emancipation Day [1834] when the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 went into effect in most of the British Commonwealth.
- Birth/baptism of American labor leader Mary Harris 'Mother' Jones [1837-1930] in County Cork, Ireland; she was labeled 'the most dangerous woman in America' for her success in organizing mine workers and was a co-founder of the I.W.W. labor union.
- Birthday of Canadian author & poet Anne Hébert [1916-2000].
1st-7th: World Breastfeeding Week [Aug 2013 = #22]
2nd
- Birthday of movie mogul Jacob Leonard 'Jack L.' Warner [1892-1978] in London, Ontario, Canada; he was head of Warner Bros. Studios [est. 1923].
- Birthday of author James Baldwin [1924-87] in Harlem, New York City.
- Birthday of author Isabel Allende in Lima, Peru [1942]; she currently lives in San Rafael, California.
- National Ice Cream Sandwich Day {origins unknown}
- National Coloring Book Day [est. 2015] sponsored by Dover Publications [est. 1941] of Long Island, NY.
3rd
- Birthday of journalist Ernie Pyle [1900-45] in Dana, Indiana.
- Birthday of British mystery author P.D. James [1920-2014] in Oxford, England.
- National Watermelon Day is promoted by National Watermelon Promotion Board of Florida.
4th = Birthday of musician Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong [1901-71] in New Orleans, Louisiana.
4th = Birthday of Barack Obama [1961], 44th President of the United States, in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
5th = Birthday of movie writer-director John Huston [1906-87] in Nevada, Missouri.
5th = National Underwear Day was founded in 2003.
6th
- National Root Beer Float Day - event origin unknown; invented as 'Black Cow' in Colorado in August 1893 • see also A&W's event page
- Birthday of British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson [1809-92] in Somersby, Lincolnshire.
- Birthday of pioneer anthropologist Adolph Bandelier [1840-1914] in Bern, Switzerland.
- Birthday of Lucille Désirée Ball [1911-89] in Jamestown, New York; she is, of course, most famous for
  the CBS-TV sitcoms "I Love Lucy" [1951-57] and "The Lucy Show" [1962-68].
- Birthday of British-American scifi author Piers Anthony in Oxford, England [1934].
7th
- National Purple Heart Day [est. 2014] honors recipients of the Badge of Military Merit for American soldiers, begun by Gen. George Washington in 1782; the award evolved over time and has been awarded to soldiers wounded or killed in battle as the Purple Heart Medal since World War II.
- Birthday of radio entertainer Garrison Keillor in Anoka, Minnesota [1942] - or maybe in Lake Wobegon, Minnesota.
- Birthday of author Ann Beattie in Washington, DC [1942].
First Sunday (1st to 7th) = National Sisters Day.
First Saturday (1st to 7th) = Mead Day [est. 2002] is promoted by the American Homebrewers Assn. [est. 1978]
so that members have an excuse to show off their homecrafted products to friends.
8th = International Cat Day
9th
- Henry David Thoreau published "Walden" [1854].
- Birthday of mystery author Jonathan Kellerman in New York City [1949].
- National Book Lovers Day [origin unknown].
2nd Weekend: Kool-Aid® Days in Hastings, Nebraska – where Edwin E. Perkins invented the powdered drink in 1927.
10th
- Pueblo Independence Day, the anniversary of the successful 1680 revolt of the Native Americans of New Mexico against the Spanish colonists, who retreated to El Paso.
- Birthday of Brasilian author Jorge Amado [1912-2001].
- Production began of plastic Lego™ Blocks® construction toys at Lego A/S [est. 1932] in Billund, Denmark [1949].
- Birthday of author Suzanne Collins in Hartford, Connecticut [1961]; she is best known for "The Hunger Games" dystopian books & TV series.
- Agent Orange Awareness Day to honor victims of the deadly toxin manufactured by Monsanto [est. 1901];
  sponsored by The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund [est. 1979]. { see also October] }
- Alaska Wild Salmon Day [est. 2016]
11th
- Birthday of author Alex Haley [1921-92] in Ithaca, New York; he is most famous for the historical novel "Roots" [1976].
- Birthday of writer Andre Dubus II [1936-99] in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
- Birthday of Stephen Gary 'Steve' Wozniak in San Jose, California [1950]; known as 'Woz', he is co-founder of Apple, Inc. [est. 1975].
12th
- Birthday of classical scholar Edith Hamilton [1867-1963] in Dresden, Germany.
- Birthday of Cecil B. DeMille [1881-1959] in Ashfield, Massachusetts.
- Birthday of Joe Besser [1907-88], member of 'The Three Stooges' comedy team.
- Birthday of movie writer-director Samuel Fuller [1912-97] in Worcester, Massachusetts.
- United Nations International Youth Day [est. 1965].
- World Elephant Day [est. 2012] is sponsored by the World Elephant Society and by Conservation International [est. 1987].
13th = Birthday of movie director Alfred Hitchcock [1899-1980] in London, England.
13th = International Left Handers Day [est. 8/1992].
14th
- Birthday of Western legend John Henry 'Doc' Holliday [1851-87] in Griffin, Georgia.
- Birthday of environmental writer William Kittredge in Oregon [1932].
- President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law [1935].
- Birthday of author Danielle Steel in New York City [1947]; she is one of the top-selling writers of romance novels.
- National Navajo Code Talkers Day, proclaimed by President Reagan in 1982; declared a state holiday in Arizona in 2021. { watch 7/2018 video [3:06] at YouTube }
15th
- Birthday of author Sir Walter Scott [1771-1832] in Edinburgh, Scotland.
- Birthday of author Edith Nesbit [1858-1924] in London, U.K; she is most famous for the 1906 novel "The Railway Children".
- Birthday of adventurer T.E. Lawrence {of Arabia} [1888-1935] in Wales.
- Birthday of posthumous bestselling author Stieg Larsson [1954-2004] in Sweden.
15th-18th = seminal three-day Woodstock Music and Art Fair [1969].
16th
- Birthday of sci-fi pioneer Hugo Gernsback [1884-1967] in Luxembourg; he is often called 'The Father of Science Fiction', and the Hugo Award is named after him.
- Birthday of Afro-American writer Wallace Henry Thurman [1902-34] in Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Birthday of poet & author Charles Bukowski [1920-94] in Andernach, Germany.
- National Roller Coaster Day - see the Roller Coaster Database [est. 1999] for coasters near you.
17th
- Birthday of 'Black nationalist' leader Marcus Garvey [1887-1940] in Jamaica.
- Birthday of Trinidadian-British author V.S. Naipaul [1932-2018]l in Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago.
- National Thrift Shop Day is dedicated to celebrating the art of thrifting { origin unknown }
18th = Birthday of Robert Redford in Santa Monica, California [1936]; he is an Oscar-winning actor-director, and a businessman.
Third Saturday = World/National Honey Bee Day [est. 2009]
Third Week = National/Intl. Book Week [est. 1980] and parallel National Children's Book Week
19th
- Birthday of humorist & poet Ogden Nash [1902-71] in Rye, New York.
- Birthday of inventor of television Philo T. Farnsworth [1906-71] near Beaver, Utah.
- National Aviation Day was established in 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- Birthday of Bill Clinton in Hope, Arkansas [1946].
- National Soft Ice Cream Day: Tom Carvel of Hartsdale, New York received several patents for soft ice cream equipment
  and opened his first retail store in 1953; the origin of this special day is unknown.
- World Humanitarian Day, declared by the United Nations in 2009 as a global celebration of people helping people.
20th
- Charles Darwin [1809-82] published his theory of evolution. [1858]
- Birthday of horror/fantasy writer H.P. Lovecraft [1890-1937] in Providence, Rhode Island.
- National Radio Day [est. 1990s].
21st = National Senior Citizens Day [est. 1988 by President Ronald Reagan].
22nd
- Birthday of author & wit Dorothy Parker [1893-1967] in Long Branch, New Jersey.
- Birthday of sci-fi author / poet Ray Bradbury [1920-2012] in Waukegan, Illinois.
- Birthday of author E. Annie Proulx in Norwich, Connecticut [1935].
- [U.S.] National Punctuation Day® [est. 2004]
22nd = National Voter Registration Day [est. 2012]
23rd = Birthday of movie cowboy star Hoot Gibson [1892-1962] in Tekamah, Nebraska.
23rd = Execution of unjustly-convicted anarchists Nicola Sacco & Bartolomeo Vanzetti in Massachusetts [1927]
24th
- Birthday of author Earl Derr Biggers [1884-1933], creator of police detective Charlie Chan, in Warren, Ohio.
- Birthday of activist Howard Zinn [1922-2010] in Brooklyn, New York.
- Birthday of Dame Antonia Susan Drabble Byatt Duffy, DBE [1936] in Sheffield, England; she is known as author A.S. Byatt.
- Birthday of author John Green in Indianapolis, Indiana [1977]; he is most famous for the bestseller "The Fault In Our Stars" [2012].
25th = Birthday of poet & author {Francis} Bret Harte [1835-1902] in Albany, New York.
Last Wednesday {25th to 31st}: The small town of Buñol, Spain has trucks haul in more than 100 tons of tomatoes to serve as ammo for the world’s largest food fight, known as La Tomatina; the festival draws a crowd of 20,000 tomato-flingers {origins unknown}.
26th
- Anniversary of certification of Amendment 19 to the U.S. Constitution which granted the right to vote to women in America. [1920]
- Women's Equality Day [est. 1971] which celebrates the 19th Amendment and promotes a new Equal Rights Amendment.
- National/International Dog Day was first established in 2004.
27th = Birthday of author Theodore Dreiser [1871-1945] in Terre Haute, Indiana.
28th
- Birthday of polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe [1749-1832] in Frankfurt, Germany.
- Birthday of cinematographer James Wong Howe [1899-1976] in China.
- Birthday of sociologist C. Wright Mills [1916-62] in Waco, Texas.
- Birthday of documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald in New York City [1945].
- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. [1929-68] delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech to 200,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. [1963]
- National Bow Tie Day
29th
- Birthday of filmmaker Preston Sturges [1898-1959] in Chicago, Illinois.
- Birthday of jazz artist Charlie 'Bird' Parker [1920-55] in Kansas City, Kansas.
- Birthday of Western author Max Evans [1925-2020] in Ropes, Texas; he lived in New Mexico.
- Launch of Netflix in 1997 as a mail-order movie rental service; it is now also a movie & TV & video streaming service and a movie production company.
30th = Birthday of Mary {Wollstonecraft Godwin} Shelley [1797-1851] in London, England; she is most famous as the author of "Frankenstein" [1818].
30th = Birthday of capitalist Warren E. Buffett in Omaha, Nebraska [1930].
31st
- Birthday of French journalist & critic {Pierre Jules} Théophile Gautier [1811-72].
- Birthday of physician & educator Maria Montessori [1870-1952] in Italy.
- Birthday of author {Edwin} DuBose Heyward [1885-1940] in Charleston, South Carolina; he is best known for his 1925 novel "Porgy",
  which was adapted as a 1927 play, a 1935 opera by George Gershwin, a 1959 musical feature film directed by Otto Preminger, and the
  2013 performance & film by the San Francisco Opera.
- Birthday of author William Saroyan [1908-81] in Fresno, California.
- National South Carolina Day { why & when date chosen not found }
- International Overdose Awareness Day [est. 2013]
Aug-Sept: weeklong Burning Man Project in the Nevada desert [est. 1986]

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G.E. Nordell'sTopical & Holiday & Birthday Calendar

G.E. Nordell's
Topical & Holiday & Birthday Calendar