Author: Lisa Mungovan

Today is Wright Brothers Day. Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first flight in a mechanically propelled airplane, near Kitty Hawk North Carolina, in 1903. That flight only lasted 12 seconds, and went 120 feet. The wingspan of a 747 is longer than that! It’s also Maple Syrup Day. Boiled tree sap sure does taste delicious!

Watch where you stand during the holiday season, because there’s a tradition called kissing under the mistletoe. The plant was essential to a recent event in Washington DC, where 1,435 couples gathered to set a world record, for most couples kissing under a giant 600-pound ball of mistletoe.

An alligator in Florida may have needed a quick snack, when it wandered up to a 7-Eleven store, but it didn’t get the chance to make any purchases. Sheriff’s deputies safely relocated the 10-foot-long gator, to a more suitable habitat. Too bad swamps don’t serve Slurpees!

Capybaras are the world’s largest rodents, native to Colombia. They’re related to guinea pigs, and notoriously friendly. The Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center, in Costa Rica, is holding a naming contest for its 4 newly-arrived capybaras. They were seized from illegal wildlife traffickers, and will now live the good life at the sanctuary.

Holiday lights are popping up on houses, businesses, and even a few cars. But police are warning people that covering their cars in lights, while beautiful, is illegal in most states. Check your local laws before decking your vehicle with any lamp displaying a red or blue light. Try window-chalk snowflakes instead!

What are you eating for breakfast? Cover it in chocolate! Are you having a peanut butter sandwich for lunch? Dip it in chocolate! How about spaghetti for dinner, with chocolate syrup for sauce! Today is Chocolate Covered Anything Day, so it’s your chance to see if chocolate covered brussel sprouts are gross, or delicious!

Today is Cupcake Day, and more specifically, Lemon Cupcake Day. Bake a batch, and give everyone their own little cake. And what goes better with a tiny cake, than a cup of tea? Celebrate International Tea Day, with your favorite blend. Be like Captain Picard, and have Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

Pearls form when a parasite or grain of sand, gets into an oyster or clam. The animal surrounds the irritant in a coating, called nacre, to protect itself. Many layers of nacre, form a pearl. Today is Wear Your Pearls Day, reminding us that we can create beauty, from the annoying stuff in life.

Have you ever tried to get a bunch of cats to obey you? They tend to ignore you, do what they want, and make a mess. So when someone’s having a hard time getting a group of people to do something, they say, “it’s like herding cats.” Happy Cat Herders Day!

Yesterday at sundown, Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, began. The Jewish holiday commemorates an ancient miracle in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. A one-day supply of oil lit a menorah, which is a type of candelabra, for 8 days. Hanukkah is celebrated for 8 days by lighting the menorah to prayers, songs, food, gifts and games.