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FUN FACTS

November | Special Days of the Year

November is the month where House Stark of Game of Thrones are finally right. Winter is no longer coming, winter is here.

Always starting on the same day of the week as March, and always ending on the same day of the week as August, November is the only month never mentioned in any of Shakespeare’s works.

Known by the Anglo-Saxons as ‘Blotmonath’ (Blood Month) after the blood of slaughtered cattle, November was once famously described as “the most disagreeable month of the year” – a sentiment shared by the cattle of the Anglo Saxons!

But for us the only slaughtering taking place is that of the cake on November 26^th, Cake Day. But November holds so much more than just Cake Day, let’s dive straight in with…

1^st November – Author’s Day. 

Possibly one of my favorite days of the year so far, or at all. Author’s Day celebrates the visionaries whose imagination is given to us in the form of a book for us to become lost in.

Have a minute spare for 5 random facts?

Without authors we’d live a very, very boring life. So today lose yourself in your favorite book and celebrate this day, and all authors, with zeal.

2^nd November – Deviled Egg Day.

If you’ve never heard of a deviled egg, then today is the day to educate yourself.

A deviled egg is basically a hard-boiled egg, cut in half, with the yolk scooped out and mixed into some mustard and mayo, to be placed back in the hard-boiled egg.

So if that sounds tasty to you then get to the kitchen and try it, today’s the perfect excuse.

3^rd November – Cliché Day.

The word cliché itself was originally used as an onomatopoeic word to describe the sound made by a printing plate.

Over time the word’s meaning was changed and adapted to mean something ready-made that requires no thought.

How do you celebrate today? Well that’s up to you, but I’m going to spend it watching old-school Schwarzenegger and Stallone films!

4^th November – Use Your Common Sense Day.

This day was originally thought up by Bud Bilanich, a career mentor known as ‘The Common Sense Guy’, and is all about taking a step back from a situation to think it through rationally and use your common sense.

Rather than assume, think and deduce. That is a great lesson to take into life.

5^th November – Gunpowder Day.

Remember remember the 5^th of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. Known as Bonfire Night in the UK, on this day in 1605 one of the world’s biggest ever terror attacks was thwarted.

Guido Fawkes had planned to obliterate the ruling King James I during his visit to the English Houses of Parliament with an incredibly large amount of, you guessed it, gunpowder.

Whilst some think him a terrorist, others think him as a freedom fighter and visionary.

Regardless of your opinion or thoughts of Guy Fawkes, set some fireworks off tonight and if you have the chance to make sure you watch V for Vendetta, if for no other reason than because it’s an awesome film.

6^th November – Nachos Day.

Nacho day celebrates possibly the best case of winging it ever in history. The nacho comes from an incident where restaurant owner Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Anaya had to serve a set of American customers just after closing time.

All he had were some left over tortillas, some cheese and pickled jalapenos. He cut the tortillas up, sprinkled the remaining ingredients on them then served them up.

When asked what they were called by the greatly gratified customers he simply replied “Nacho’s especiales”.

Word traveled fast and the snack became quickly famous.

So today celebrate this beautiful brainwave and make sure you eat some nachos.

7^th November – Hug A Bear Day.

For the safety of all you readers I’ll say this up front: DO NOT go out there today and try to hug a Grizzly Bear! Nope, today is all about cuddling your cute fluffy teddy bears.

Regardless of how old you are, or what walk of life you come from, you’re going to have a teddy bear handy, so today give it a big hug!

8^th November – X-Ray Day.

Today celebrates the same day in 1895 when Willhelm Röntgen discovered that treated cardboard used in routine experiments glowed in certain situations as a result of radiation hitting the surface.

This lead onto the invention of the x-ray, and all the incredible life savings applications of this.

So today just take time to appreciate the healthcare benefits of the x-ray but also the less known uses such as the improvement of crop germination within the food safety industry.

9^th November – Chaos Never Dies Day.

Today is a day opposite to those days dedicated to stress relief. Today is a day to point out that all the world’s chaos will never die.

Chaos never stops, chaos never takes a day off, and chaos will never die.

So no matter what faces you today dive into the fireworks with the knowledge that the chaos surrounding life will never die, even long after you have.

10^th November – Sesame Street Day.

First established in 2009, this day celebrates the long-running adventures of Big Bird and co.

I’m not quite sure how you celebrate today, but I think I’m just going to eat my body weight in cookies.

Either that or hang around in a bin shouting at people.

11^th November – Origami Day.

Origami, to most people like myself, when done properly is a god-like artistic skill.

Originating in Japan many centuries ago, the practice of origami takes great patience, discipline, and a lot of practice.

So today give it your best shot to make something origami, even if all you can make is just a paper airplane like me!

12^th November – World Quality Day.

Established in 2008, this day is all about cutting out unpleasant experiences in everyday life, like broken packages and useless customer service.

However this day can also hold a deeper meaning when taken into everyday life.

Rather than doing a shoddy job of something why not take those few extra minutes to ensure real quality that you yourself wouldn’t be disappointed with?

13^th November – World Kindness Day.

This day comes from a “Declaration of Kindness” made by a collection of humanitarian groups back in 1997.

The whole idea of this day is to make the world a better place by showing just a little kindness to everybody.

Kindness can go a long way, and is often paid forward, so to cut a bad attitude for the day and start to show a bit more kindness really could change the world.

14^th November – Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day.

Today is a day that encourages us to all de-stress a little.

Everybody often flies through life caught up in unavoidable dramas and stresses, so today aims to give people an excuse to just relax, and lighten up a little!

15^th November – I Love to Write Day.

Founded in 2002 by Delawarean author John Riddle, today is all about celebrating the creative practice of writing. I choose this day because much like Mr. Riddle, I love to write.

So the best way to celebrate today is to write something – a poem, a short story, a letter, a love note, anything really.

Because writing is therapeutic, it’s good for the soul and for the mind, and without writers the world would be a drab and boring place.

16^th November – Button Day.

Founded in 1938 by the Button Society, this day is a day of celebration for all those who love to craft with buttons.

I’m a button hoarder, so I’m not sure I’m the best person to be celebrating this day, but you can rest assured any buttons that fall off my clothing today will certainly join the pile!

17^th November – Unfriend Day.

Today was founded as soon as 2014, by talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel as a way de-cluttering our online lives.

The best way to celebrate today is to look through your Facebook and unfriend anybody who you’ve not spoke to in a year or longer. Simple.

18^th November – Mickey Mouse Day.

Mickey Mouse is probably one of the most globally recognized icons ever. Today is about celebrating this globe-trotting rodent and all his cheery Disney propaganda.

Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me? M-I-C-K-E-Y- M-O-U-S-E!

19^th November – Have A Bad Day Day.

Founded by days of the year giants Thomas and Ruth Roy, today is all about going against the ‘have a nice day’ grain.

So today, in the nicest possible way, please make sure you tell everybody to have a bad day!

20^th November – Name Your PC Day.

A lot of people, especially office workers, spend a lot of time sat at a PC.

So today give your PC a name! I’m going to call mine JaMoA (Jack’s Machine of Awesome).

21^st November – World Hello Day.

Founded in 1973 this day aimed to show the people of the world that conflict can, and always should, be avoided by communication.

In fact, World Hello Day was created as a direct response to the Yom Kippur War that had just finished in October 1973.

The peace discussion at the end of the war was the first time that Arab and Israeli officials had even met for a direct discussion in 25 years.

Celebrated in 180 countries worldwide, today is all about breaking down that first contact barrier and just saying hello.

22^nd November – Go For A Ride Day.

This day celebrates the various developments of modern transportation, and the readiness of such transportation.

So whether or not your ride is a car or a bike, or in my case a bus, just go for a ride and think about how great it is not having to walk everywhere.

23^rd November – Fibonacci Day.

Invented by Leonardo of Pisa, also known as Leonardo Fibonacci, is a pattern of counting where each number is the sum of the previous two.

This form of counting occurs quite often in nature but is widely used in electronic data storage, and today aims to celebrate the ways it is used in the modern world.

So take today to read up about Fibonacci and Fibonacci Numbers and how they affect your everyday life.

24^th November – Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day.

Everybody has a unique talent, whether it’s something such as being able to mimic accents or do impressions, or something like being able to do circus skills like diabolo.

Today is a day to celebrate your unique talent and flaunt it. So if you that’s pulling funny faces, make sure you pull funny faces at every stranger you see today!

25^th November – Shopping Reminder Day.

This really is a day for all of those hopeless men out there who, like me, are useless at remembering to shop for gifts.

With Christmas only one month away today is the perfect reminder to stop you from making that Christmas Eve petrol station-present run!

26^th November – Cake Day.

Throughout the year there are many different cake days, yet today just aims to celebrate the cake as a whole.

The word itself originates from the Old Norse word ‘kaka’, so it’s safe to say cakes are as historical as the Vikings!

There are plenty of cakes to choose from, so make sure today you have your cake and eat it!

27^th November – Pins and Needles Day.

Today isn’t about celebrating that tingling feeling when you sit on your arm too long.

Today celebrates the opening of the 1937 historical Pro-Labour Broadway play called Pins and Needles by a host of collaborative authors.

28^th November – French Toast Day.

French toast is the incredibly tasty lovechild of an egg and bread.

Known in England as Eggy-Bread, this delicious treat brings a lot of people joy around the world – not just in France!

Easy to celebrate, but at this rate we’re all going up one jean-size!

29^th November – Electronic Greetings Day.

As a man who’s a true socialist at heart, I must say I despise greeting cards.

They cost money and only end up getting thrown away days later, so today is the perfect day to break against the capitalist card convention and send an electronic greeting card to your friends – all for free!

30^th November – Computer Security Day.

If you haven’t guessed it yet, Computer Security Day is a day to check your antivirus! Computer security is something many of us tend not to spare a thought to, but without it we’d be living in a world of incessant pop-ups and weapons-grade malware.

So today take time to think about all the security measures in place surrounding any piece of tech you own.

Did you know that November is also known as American Heritage Month? Why not visit a museum this month?

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