Author: Lisa Mungovan

What can help protect your heart, lower blood pressure, is made from a bean, and is celebrated today? Bittersweet chocolate! The bitter tasting flavonols that carry health benefits are removed from cacao beans to make sweeter chocolate, so if you want your chocolate to be good for you, bitter is better!

Today is Save The Eagles Day. It started in 2015, as a way to save a pair of bald eagles named Alice and Al, whose nest was threatened by developers. The day expanded, to raise awareness of the many eagles around the world. There are over 60 varieties, the largest with over 7-foot wingspans!

Today is Clean Off Your Desk Day. Find a few minutes at school, to organize your desk, and don’t forget to sanitize it! If you’re learning from home because of the pandemic, and don’t have a desk, clean off your workspace and make a clutter-free zone. Oh, you study from your bed? Make it.

Today is Peculiar People Day, in honor of those individuals who are a little strange. Do your own thing and be proud! It’s also Houseplant Appreciation Day. You might have even more houseplants in the winter, hiding out from the cold, so tell them thank you for giving you cleaner air!

Emma Timmis, a British woman living in New Zealand, took a little jog around the island. In fact, she ran from one end of New Zealand to the other, in less than 21 days! Her 1300-mile journey, set a world record. Emma’s run raised money for the mental illness charities Youthline, and Young Minds.

The most expensive property in the US, is for sale. A Los Angeles megamansion can be yours, for only $295,000,000. The estate is known as The One, and has 21 bedrooms, 42 bathrooms, 5 pools, a nightclub, movie theater, bowling alley, beauty salon, and gym. The garage holds 30 cars. It even has a moat!

The James Webb Space Telescope launched 2 weeks ago. On Tuesday, it deployed its massive heat shield, the size of a tennis court, but it just completed a final important step yesterday. The gigantic telescope unfolded a segmented mirror, 21 feet across. Webb is still traveling to its destination, almost 1,000,000 miles away.

In 17 93, the first balloon flight in North America took place, when the French inventor, Jean Paul Blanchard, demonstrated his hydrogen gas-filled balloon. He rode 1200 feet up into the air, astounding a crowd in Pennsylvania that included President George Washington! Balloon Ascension Day commemorates that event. Don’t release balloons to celebrate though. That’s littering!

Are you shocked to hear it’s Static Electricity Day? Static electricity is produced when the positive and negative charges of an atom become unbalanced. See static in action by rubbing a balloon against your head. It will stick! Shuffle around the carpet with rubber-soled shoes and try to zap someone. Yee-ouch!

A sea lion in California, got a little too adventurous. He was spotted several miles from the ocean, trying to cross the I5, a busy Interstate highway. Police kept an eye on the sea lion, until someone from the SeaWorld rescue program arrived. They’ll return him to the sea safely.