Author: Lisa Mungovan

Today is Learn A Word Day. Luckily, it’s also Dictionary Day, which is the best way to learn the meaning of a word. If you can’t think of a word to look up, just flip through the pages for one that sounds interesting, or search for Q- or X-words for your next Scrabble game.

Today is known as both Global Cat Day, and Feral Cat Day. Maybe it’s because if one feral, or wild, cat has kittens, and their kittens have kittens, and so on, in 9 years there would be 11,000,000 cats! Cats are awesome, but they would rapidly take over the world. Meow-za!

The hagfish is amazingly disgusting. Sometimes called the slime eel, the hagfish has no skull or jaws. It escapes predators by releasing up to 5 gallons of slime, clogging the attacker’s gills with mucous. It eats dead animals by crawling in through their mouth and eating the carcass from the inside out. Happy Hagfish Day!

The US National Park Service is celebrating National Fossil Day today. Fossils are prehistoric plants or animals, petrified and preserved in stone. Paleontologists study fossils, like dinosaur bones! You can download a Junior Paleontologist Activity Booklet online ,at nps.gov/subjects/fossils, to help you celebrate. Have you ever found a fossil?

Today is Mushroom Day. There are over 10,000 kinds of mushrooms, but only around 600 are edible. That means, if you see a mushroom in your yard, don’t eat it. It might be poisonous! Instead, choose a variety of mushrooms at the store, for your fungi feast. Save the wild mushrooms, for your photo album.

Do you have a little flat-faced dog? There’s a good chance you can celebrate Pug Day! The dog breed has been around for more than 2,400 years. It’s also Lemon Bar Day and Cheese Curd Day. Whether you prefer a sweet treat with a sour kick, or squeaky chunks of cheese, today’ll be tasty!

Go wash your hands. It’s Global Handwashing Day! Washing your hands is an amazingly easy way to stay healthy. Your hands might look clean, but they could still be covered with germs that can make you sick! It’s also Grouch Day. If you’re in a bad mood today, just say you’re celebrating.

When a Pennsylvania family took a vacation to New York City, they thought they were leaving their cat at home. However, about 100 miles into their drive, they stopped for gas and found Ray Ray, clinging to the luggage strapped on the roof. They continued their trip with the kitty adventurer tucked safely inside.

40 years ago, Lake Muskegon Michigan, was home to paper mills, foundries, petroleum storage, and sewage treatment plants. As a result, the lake and connecting streams were polluted and full of trash. After removing 58 swimming pools-worth of contaminated sediment and 110,000 tons of sawmill debris, Lake Muskegon is finally clean again!

Have you ever heard of Ada Lovelace? She was one of the first computer programmers. She and Charles Babbage, created an Analytical Engine, in 1833. Ada’s “Sketch of the Analytical Engine, with Notes from the Translator,” was published in 1842. 100 years later, it inspired Alan Turing’s work on the first modern computers. Happy Ada Lovelace Day!