MDBCs 14 Apr 2024

Entry posted by sandrewn in Bread Crumbs 987 April 14

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April 14th 2024 - Holidays and Observances

(click on the day for details)

Ambedkar Jayanti (India)
Bengali New Year (Bangladesh)
Black Day (South Korea)
Christian feast day:
- Anthony, John, and Eustathius
- Bénézet
- Henry Beard Delany (U.S. Episcopal Church)
- Domnina of Terni
- Lidwina
- Peter González
- Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus
- April 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Commemoration of Anfal Genocide Against the Kurds (Iraqi Kurdistan)
Day of Mologa (Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia)
Day of the Georgian language (Georgia)
Dhivehi Language Day (Maldives)
N'Ko Alphabet Day (Mande speakers)
Pan American Day (several countries in the Americas)
Takayama Spring Festival begins (Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan)
Vaisakhi (Since 2011)
Youth Day (Angola)
World Quantum Day

Observances (click on the day, BD, or week for details)

Anderson Silva

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Sun Apr 14th, 2024 - Sat Apr 20th, 2024

Animal Control Appreciation Week

National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week

Pan American Week

Fun Observances (3)

International Moment of Laughter Day

On April 14, stop, smell the roses, and laugh a little (or a lot), because it is International Moment of Laughter Day.

The unofficial holiday, created by humorologist Izzy Gesell, encourages people to forget the stresses of daily life and give into the healing and relaxing power of laughter.

Reduces Stress

Medical studies have shown that laughing reduces stress, increases blood flow, and lowers blood sugar levels. Some studies have found that people who laugh just before going to bed are much more likely to sleep better than those who did not.

Spreads Happiness

In addition to its health benefits, laughter also has social advantages. People who are jovial tend to be quickly accepted in social groups and have an easier time making friends. Laughter is a way to spread joy and happiness and bring cheer in the lives of other people.

How to Celebrate?

Take a moment in the day to read or watch something that would make you laugh.
Go with family and friends to watch a comedy show or comedy movie.
Collect jokes and share them with colleagues, friends, and family.

Did You Know…

…that human laughter has a specific acoustic structure? Laughter can have a ha-ha-ha or ho-ho-ho structure, but it is humanly impossible to have a ha-ho-ha-ho structure to laughter.

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Reach as High as You Can Day

April 14 is Reach as High as You Can Day, a day to expand your horizons and try to attain that dream that seems so hard and so far to reach.

Also known as National Reach as High as You Can Day in the United States, the holiday is a reminder that if you try hard enough, almost anything is possible.

How to Celebrate?

Start working on that big project you never thought you would start.
Try your hand at that thing you thought was impossible; you never know you may succeed. And if you don’t, at least you tried.
Take the day literally and spend some time playing on a trampoline. Or take a ride in a hot air balloon. Or start taking flying lessons.

Did You Know...

...that the record for the highest jump in recent history is held by Javier Sotomayor of Cuba? In 1993, he jumped 2.45 meters or 8.25 feet.

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Look up the Sky Day

On April 14, step out of your home or office and take a few minutes to look up at the sky because it is Look up the Sky Day.

Maybe this unofficial holiday, with unknown origins, aims to encourage people to go outdoors and enjoy the various bounties of nature.

Perhaps the anonymous creators also wanted people to ponder over the vastness of the sky and space and learn more about what lies beyond what we can see.

Different Definitions

While most of us use the term sky to refer to the blue dome above us, astronomers and meteorologists define it very differently. In astronomy, the sky is also called the celestial sphere or dome – an imaginary sphere that extends infinitely into space with the observer on Earth at its center. So, for astronomers, the sky includes much more than what most people can see.

Meteorologists, on the other hand, are primarily concerned with the weather. They define the sky as the upper atmosphere of the Earth.

Colors of the Sky

During the day, the sky looks blue because of a phenomenon called Rayleigh Scattering. Even though it looks white to the human eye, sunlight is made up of different colors, each of which has a specific wavelength. Some colors, like blue and violet, have short wavelengths, while reds and yellows have longer wavelengths.

When sunlight enters the Earth's atmosphere, the gas molecules in the atmosphere scatter some of the colors in different directions and let others pass through. During the day, when the Sun is high up in the sky, these molecules scatter the shorter blue and violet wavelengths. Because of this, the sky looks blue during the day.

In the early mornings and evening, around the time of twilight, sunlight has to pass through more of the atmosphere. The blue and violet lights tend to get scattered away much before the sunlight reaches us, leaving the yellow and red part of the light spectrum to light up the sky.

A Wonder to Behold

During the night, when there is no direct sunlight to illuminate the sky, one can see many celestial bodies, including the Moon, stars, meteors, and comets.

A number of atmospheric and optical phenomena can also be seen in the sky. Some of these include rainbows and moonbows, auroras, zodiacal lights, halos, sundogs, and light pillars.

How to Celebrate?

Take some time off during the day and go out to look at the sky. You never know what you may be able to see!
Before you step out, read up on different kind of clouds and constellations.
Play who spots the most types of constellations and clouds game with family and friends.
Join an astronomy club to learn more about stars and other celestial objects easily visible in the night sky.
Spend the day doing some bird watching. After all, birds are an integral part of the landscape of the sky.

Did You Know...

...the Earth's atmosphere scatters more violet light than blue? If it were not for how the human eye perceives colors – we are more sensitive to blue – the sky would look purple to us!

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After a day full of accidents and mistakes, my coworker had had it. "Why," she cried out in exasperation, "do things that happen to stupid people keep happening to me?!"

***

As I left my office at the National Cancer Institute, I passed one of our researchers by the front door puffing away on a cigarette.

"How can you smoke when you, of all people, know the harm caused by cigarettes?" I asked.

He took another draw, exhaled, and replied through the smoke, "Because it gives me more motivation to find a cure."

***

My mother taught for 11 years at a day-care center. One winter afternoon she was trying to show a young boy how to zip up his coat. "The secret," Mom said, "is to get this piece of the zipper to fit in the other side before you try to zip it up."

After struggling with the zipper for several minutes, the boy sighed and said, "Why does it have to be a secret?"

***

I was charged by the Coast Guard to buy a house near Station Rockland in Maine to be converted into military housing. But after many delays on our part, the owners' lawyer got antsy.

"I don't like working with the government," the man said. "I'm not sure I'd even trust one of your checks."

"I wouldn't worry," I replied. "Not only do we print our own checks, we also print the money to back them up."