May is a beautiful month. The rains of April have largely ceased. The smell of the summer to come is in the air. Baseball season really begins to take off. Basketball and hockey players engage in their final rounds of playoffs. And at the end of the month, we celebrate the glorious day (or really weekend) of Memorial Day. What more could you want from this month?
It turns out May has a lot more of her sleeve. What we mean by that is that the month of May is home to a number of rather odd, off-beat and lesser known holidays. Here we’ve compiled some of our favorites of May’s unusual holidays.
Scurvy Awareness Day-May 2
We live in a society largely devoid of scurvy. Back in the day, however, scurvy was a serious problem. It was extremely significant in limiting the capabilities of ships at sea. Crew members and passengers alike suffered from scurvy on long voyages, killing many unfortunately. Though known since ancient times—Hippocrates mentions it—it wasn’t until 1932 that doctors realized scurvy was caused by a lack of Vitamin C. Luckily, before its caused was figured out, naval captains like James Cooke had figured out eating fruit and vegetables could stem development of the disease.
Clean Up Your Room Day-May 10
This is an unfortunate day for children. Cleaning their rooms is one of the great banes of existence for kids. For adults, May 10 offers a great jumping-off point for taking on all those tasks you drew up for spring cleaning. This seasonal exercise—spring cleaning—dates back to pre-industrial times, when only sun and candlelight illuminated homes. Thus with the longer days of spring, people finally had the ability to see how dirty their homes had become and the time of day to clean.
National Twilight Zone Day-May 11
It seems fitting that the Twilight Zone, a legitimate cultural phenomenon, should have its own day of celebration. What individual doesn’t recognize the eerie music that plays when an episode begins, followed by Rod Sterling’s monologue? It was a show that featured some of the era’s well established actors, but also young ones who’d blossom years later:
- Veronica Cartwright
- Bill Bixby
- William Shatner
- Leonard Nimoy
- Robert Duvall
- Mariette Hartley
- Burt Reynolds
- Lee Van Cleef
- Dennis Hopper
- Robert Redford
With a list like that, how could you not celebrate National Twilight Zone Day?!?! There are many more quirky May holidays for you to discover and celebrate yourself.
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