Author: Lisa Mungovan

It’s Niagara Falls Runs Dry Day! Each minute, more than 6,000,000 cubic feet of water gushes over Niagara Falls, a group of 3 waterfalls on the border of United States and Canada. On this day in 1848, the rivers feeding Niagara Falls froze and the water completely stopped for the only time in recorded history!

You could say 79-year-old Bob Kurtz, loves golf. He already held a world record, for golfing 1,850 holes in one week. Golf’s Ironman added another record to his title, at the TopGolf driving range. He hit 1,050 drives, in less than 12 hours. The drives had to stay in a 35-yard grid, and reach over 200 yards.

The UK has a new £50 bank note, featuring Alan Turing, the famous computer scientist, mathematician, and codebreaker. In honor of his skills, the money has a series of 12 puzzles on the back. Some riddles involve binary code, or symbols representing Turing’s work. If you want to try solving them, search Turing Challenge, at gchq.gov.uk.

Today is Black Forest Cake Day. The German dessert is a chocolate cake, layered and topped with whipped cream and cherries. If you make one, be sure to offer a piece to your neighbors, since it’s also Neighbor Day. By the way, did I mention I’m your new neighbor? Save a slice for me!

Spring is here, and so are the weeds. Luckily, it’s Weed Appreciation Day! Instead of putting weed-killer on your lawn, welcome weeds like dandelions and clover. They are some of the first flowers to bloom, and bees depend on them! You can eat dandelions, wild onions, chickweed, and purslane. Pick your own salad!

Put your forks away. It’s Something On A Stick Day! Pierce your peas with a toothpick, freeze your juice on a popsicle stick, and skewer your entire dinner on a kebab. Dip strawberries on a chopstick in chocolate fondue. Then roast marshmallows on a stick over a campfire. Everything’s better cooked on a stick!

Sometimes it takes a village to raise a bird. Potthakudi in India, only has 120 homes and 35 streetlights. When a robin built her nest in the village’s main lighting switchboard, the residents decided to go without lights until the eggs hatched, and the hatchlings grew up. The town’s kindness gained them a happy robin family.

Millions of years ago, a huge flightless bird called a mihirung roamed Australia. Known as the demon duck of doom, they weighed 1000 pounds and had gigantic beaks. To make room for the big bill, they had flattened skulls and squished brains. They stuck around for 25,000,000 years, going extinct 20 to 50,000 years ago.

At 8:30 pm today, turn off all your lights for Earth Hour. People around the globe will participate at 8:30 in their time zone, creating a wave of darkness sweeping across the Earth. Earth Hour was created to bring attention to each person’s part in protecting our planet. What will you do to help?

Here’s a fun activity to do with someone, for Scribble Day. Each person draws a scribble on a piece of paper. Now exchange papers, and turn the line into a drawing! Scribbles can become works of art. Just look up the famous artist, Cy Twombly, for inspiration. Time to scribble a masterpiece!