National Relaxation Day
Today's a day to just sit back, put your feet up and take it easy, because it's "National Relaxation Day." Set that "To-Do" list aside for 24 hours and see just how unproductive you can be! For a lot of people the epitome of relaxation is getting a professional massage. It's no wonder, since we've been using massage for healing and distressing for more than 5,000 years. The oldest known book written about massage was titled "Cong-Fu of the Toa-Tse." It was written in China around 3000 B.C.
If massage isn't your thing but you'd still like to take advantage of this relaxing day, try one of these ideas from Yahoo! Shine:
7 Easy Ways to Relax on the Job (without Getting Fired)
Hello Day
Hello, hello? Is anybody there? On this day in 1877, Thomas Edison wrote a letter to the president of the telegraph company in Pittsburgh. In that letter he recommended that the word "hello" be used when answering the telephone, as opposed to "ahoy," which had been previously recommended by Alexander Graham Bell.
Today the word "hello" has many different meanings in American English, depending on the inflection and context. You can spread a little cheer and celebrate Hello Day by saying "Hello!" to everyone you see today. Maybe you can even switch it up by saying hello in a few different languages, like Armenian (parev) or Zulu (sawubona).
National Lemon Meringue Pie Day
When was the last time you had a light and fluffy slice of lemon meringue pie? Well, if it's been a while, today's a good day to refresh your taste buds. Today is "Lemon Meringue Pie Day." Elizabeth Coane Goodfellow arrived in Philadelphia in 1806, and soon after invented the lemon meringue pie. Since then it has become one of the most enjoyed pies in America.
Why not celebrate by picking one up from your local bakery, or better yet - stir one up yourself with this fabulous no-bake recipe from Yahoo! Shine?
National Failures Day
Today we get to celebrate the fact that nobody's perfect with "National Failures Day." We've all had them -- some bigger than others. But instead of celebrating our own, it's much more fun (and easier on the ego) to celebrate the failures of others. Here are some of the most noteworthy failures in history:
* In 1958, Ford launched the Edsel, which immediately failed. In November of 1959 they pulled it from the market, after a loss of nearly $2 billion (adjusted to today's dollars).
* Remember Betamax? It's no wonder if you don't. This video recording machine technology by Sony lost out to VHS which left Betamax choking in its dust.
* Ponzi's Security Exchange Company was a pyramid scheme that only survived a meager six months. That was long enough, however, for clients of Italian immigrant Charles Ponzi to lose their life savings. Ponzi spent about eight years in prison and died penniless.
