Author: Lisa Mungovan

Today, eat all your meals packaged in pastry, because it’s Empanada Day. To make empanadas, fold dough around the filling of your choice. You could use cheese, vegetables, fruit, or whatever else you’d like. The pockets are then baked or fried. They’re so popular, some cities even have empanada carts on the street corners.

What looks like a hippopotamus, but is even cuter? A pygmy hippo! Pygmy hippos are much smaller than regular hippopotamuses, weighing only 400-600 pounds. A full-size hippo can weigh 4000 pounds! There are fewer than 2,500 pygmy hippos left in their native habitat, the West African rainforests. They’re nocturnal, so tell them Happy Pygmy Hippo Day tonight.

Today is Zoo Lovers Day. Look for the A-Z-A logo, to show that a zoo is accredited. That means they take great care of their animals! It’s also Draw A Picture Of A Bird Day. Try to sketch unusual birds at the zoo’s aviary, common ones at home, or crazy imaginary birds!

Do you have any big-headed Funko Pop figures? A man in Tennessee has more than you. David Mebane holds the world record, for the biggest Funko Pop collection, with a whopping 7,095 different figurines. According to the Funko app, there are 8366 different Pops, so David is still on the hunt, to complete his collection.

A large stone slab found in France, might be the oldest map in Europe. The 13-foot-long Saint-Belec slab was first discovered in 19-hundred, and is carved with straight and curving lines. Archaeologists now believe it represents a map of the surrounding land and settlements, during the Early Bronze Age, 4 to 5,000 years ago.

Today is Beaver Day! Beavers are the national animal of Canada. The master engineers build dams and canals, and make lodges out of mud and sticks. Their dams create valuable wetlands. They can stay underwater for 15 minutes, and use their flat tails like rudders. Beavers eat trees for dinner, including the toothpick.

Forget the chores and cleaning. It’s No Housework Day! Today is also Make The First Move Day, which is about bullying. If you see someone being bullied, make the first move to stick up for them, and hopefully others will follow. Then keep the kindness going for the whole year!

Who wants to go for a walk? It’s Walking Day, so get those legs moving. Bring your dog along, and your family too. It’s a perfect way to exercise, since it’s also World Health Day. Be sure you continue social distancing, mask-wearing, and hand-washing, until everyone is vaccinated against COVID-19. Let’s all stay healthy.

As part of the Easter Surf Festival in Cocoa Beach Florida, a bunch of talented dogs showed off their surfing skills. A yellow lab named Lily, was the winner of the East Coast Dog Surfing Championships. There was also a pet runway model contest, for animals that didn’t want to mess up their hair.

Kerala is known as the Jewel of South India. The Indian state’s fishermen are helping to keep it beautiful, by cleaning plastic from the waters. All the plastic waste brought up in their fishing nets, is used to create roads. The shredded plastic is mixed with asphalt, to build stronger streets and cleaner seas.