Author: Lisa Mungovan

On Pluto Demoted Day, we remember when Pluto was officially downgraded in 2006. Its status was changed to dwarf planet. Now the 8 planets in our Solar System are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, while the 5 known dwarf planets are Pluto, Ceres, Makemake, Haumea, and Eris. We still love you Pluto!

Today is Vesuvius Day. Mount Vesuvius is the volcano in Italy, that destroyed Pompeii in 79 AD. Create your own volcano and make it erupt, while listening to unusual music for International Strange Music Day! You can make music from anything. Today is also Waffle Day. What’s your favorite flavor, blueberry or chocolate chip?

An unusual race took place, in Washington state. The Emerald Downs racetrack, was covered with over 150 dinosaurs! People dressed in T rex costumes, competed to be the fastest in the pack. It’s tough to run in a giant T rex suit, but at least the race was only 1/16 of a mile long.

Ricardo Guimarães Cunha was paragliding in Brazil, 100 feet in the air. Paragliders sit in a harness, suspended from a fabric wing. While he was gliding over the treetops, a vulture flew alongside him, then landed in his lap! The huge bird relaxed for awhile, then flew away. I guess birds need a break sometimes.

Do you want to hear a black hole? Black holes are places where gravity pulls so hard, that not even light can escape. NASA has released a recording, of sound waves from a supermassive black hole. The video, called Data Sonification: Black Hole at the Center of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster, is hauntingly beautiful.

Today is Buttered Corn Day, and there’s nothing like biting into an ear of buttery sweet roasted corn. What’s the best way to cook corn? Look it up on the World Wide Web, because it’s also Internaut Day. An internaut is someone who knows all about how to use the internet.

Today is Sponge Cake Day. This light and airy cake is perfect with a cup of tea! Maybe it will make you feel light and airy enough to rise into the sky! It’s also Ride The Wind Day, so go hang gliding, take a hot air balloon ride, or maybe just fly a kite.

Tom Steury celebrated his 82nd birthday, by accomplishing a 17-year goal. He grabbed a basketball, and completed his 1,000,000th free throw. He takes at least 100 shots every time he goes on the court, making about 94% of them. His longest streak without missing, was 222 shots in a row.

Do you have a mullet? The distinctive haircut is known as business-in-the-front, and party-in-the-back, and a good one could win you $2,500. The USA Mullet Championships are open for adult registration until the end of August. Voting already ended for the Teens and Kids categories, so start working on yours for next year.

Mammals produce milk for their babies. Baby humans drink their mama’s milk, but older humans drink cow’s milk or goat’s milk. Milk can also be made from plants. For World Plant Milk Day, try some soy milk, almond milk, oat milk, or coconut milk. They’re delicious, and also great for people with dairy allergies.