The Pop, the Fizz, and the Buzz Pop the top of a cola can or uncap a bottle of fizzy cold brew and you’ll hear a gentle hiss and crackle—the sound of carbon dioxide escaping from a pressurized solution. That effervescent rush is what National Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day, observed every November 19, invites […]
Rolling the Dice on Fun and Strategy National Play Monopoly Day on November 19 invites families and friends to dust off their game boards, appoint a banker and embark on an epic journey of property deals and friendly competition. Monopoly has been a fixture on game night tables for nearly a century, teaching players about negotiation, […]
Honoring Lives Lost and Confronting Violence Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), observed every year on November 20, is a solemn day dedicated to honoring transgender and gender-diverse people whose lives were taken by acts of anti-trans violence. The day was founded in 1999 by activist Gwendolyn Ann Smith to memorialize Rita Hester, a Black transgender […]
A Sweet and Spicy Tradition Gingerbread has a long and flavorful history that spans continents and centuries. In China, ginger has been used medicinally for more than 4,000 years. Medieval […]
The Heart of the Holiday Table Stuffing—or dressing, depending on where you live—has been part of festive tables for centuries. Recipes for filled birds and baked breads span civilizations and […]
Uncorking America’s Heritage Grape Wine lovers sometimes speak of Zinfandel as though it were a person—a charismatic rogue with an adventurous past who somehow became a pillar of American culture. […]
Celebrating Alaska’s Most Improbable Creature Alascattalo Day, observed on November 8, pays tribute to one of Alaska’s great inside jokes: the mighty, mysterious, and entirely mythical Alascattalo. This fictional beast—a cross between a moose and a walrus—is a symbol of the state’s singular sense of humor and frontier spirit. Conceived in the mid-20th century as […]
The Bright Taste of Autumn Cranberries are one of the few fruits native to North America that have become an international symbol of autumn feasts. Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern […]
Gathering in Gratitude Thanksgiving in the United States is rooted in harvest festivals that humans have held since the dawn of agriculture. The holiday most often traced to 1621 in […]
Honoring a Legacy of Compassion Humane Society Anniversary Day, observed on November 22, celebrates the founding of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the global movement it helped inspire. Established in 1954, the HSUS began as a small group of advocates determined to protect animals from cruelty and neglect. Over the decades, […]
From Chaos to Commerce: The Evolution of Black Friday The term Black Friday originally had nothing to do with holiday bargains. In the 1950s and ’60s, police in Philadelphia used […]
The Art and Alchemy of Espresso There’s something inherently cinematic about the way a shot of espresso is made. The air fills with the scent of freshly ground coffee beans, […]