ILLUSTRATES David Augustus
QUESTION João Vitor Martins Rosa, Campina Grande do Sul, PR
January 1st
Greetings of good years to their imperial majesties
WHERE Brazil
In the imperial period, his first duty at the new year was to say hello to Dom Pedro. The date was created in 1822 and motivated a great dance. The monarchy fell, but to this day this is one of our official commemorative dates.
January 15th
national adult day
WHERE Brazil
It emerged as a response (not at all mature) to Children’s Day. But it didn’t stick: until now, both the trade and the «honored» have let the date go blank. (After all, what is there to celebrate in adult life? Waking up early, paying the bill, declaring income tax and queuing?).
14th March
PI Day
WHERE USA
In English-speaking countries, the date is written with the month in front of it (3/14), which helps to remember the approximate value of this mathematical constant. The first party took place in 1988, at a museum in San Francisco, USA, but it spread throughout the world. The traditional dish is pie (“pie”, whose English pronunciation is the same as pi). Some places also celebrate “Pi Approximation Day” on 7/22, as 22 divided by 7 equals 3.14…
April 24th
State Samurai Day
WHERE Santa Catarina
If you are from Santa Catarina and know how to handle a katana sword, yay, you can take a day off! The 2012 bill justified the creation of the date due to the strong presence of Japanese-Brazilians in the city of Frei Rogério, in the interior of the state (but, obviously, there were no samurai there at the time).
may 9
city orgasm day
WHERE Esperantina (PI)
One of the slogans that former councilor Arimatéia Dantas used to make his bill official in 2001 was “Zero Hunger, Ten Orgasm”. Even using one of the social programs of the past decade to joke, the purpose of the date is to discuss sexual taboos, especially about female pleasure.
May 28th
masturbation day
WHERE USA
Since 1995, the entire month has been dedicated to the pleasurable practice back home. But the talk is serious: the celebration was instituted as an awareness campaign after the alarming rates of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s and 90s.
June 24th
world flying saucer day
WHERE All the world
Ufologists from all over the world chose one of the most emblematic dates for those interested in the subject. It was on that day, in 1947, that the US aviator Kenneth Arnold sighted nine unidentifiable aircraft. His case became very famous at the time, being one of the original study projects in the field of ufology.
July 13
Rock Day/Sertanejo Singer-Songwriter Day
WHERE Brazil
In clubs or concerts, it’s hard to imagine the rock and country crowd sharing the same space. But on the calendar, they are together! It is a typically Brazilian coincidence: only in our country is rock celebrated on that date.
august 1st
world middle finger day
WHERE All the world
The controversial date has not yet been made official anywhere – except on the internet, that den of idle people! According to the organizers, “it is a day to celebrate your freedom to oppose using the universal gesture: the middle finger”. Of course, it didn’t take much for the idea to go viral.
August 23rd
day of injustice
WHERE Brazil
You are allowed to be cruel and mean that day (Just kidding!). Despite the unfortunate choice of name, the “commemoration” was created by law to supposedly reflect on the injustices in our society. (In fact, no official body consulted by was able to properly explain the meaning of the date. Hey, Brazil!).
August 27
Municipal arm wrestling day
WHERE Belo Horizonte (MG)
Are you going to compete for the last cheese bread of the batch? Move the dishes away from the table, support your elbow and start a traditional arm wrestling, iau! The date was created to “encourage the practice” of this sport among people from Minas Gerais and to celebrate the anniversary of the Brazilian Confederation of Arm Wrestling (official name of the sport).
31 of December
return day
WHERE Brazil
If you needed a legal excuse to charge that friend of yours who never returned the game you borrowed, this is the time! The Day of Returns was instituted by law. The idea is that, by returning the loans, you will be ready to start the new year lighter.
SOURCES Books Commemorative Dates and Other Significant Datesfrom the Digital Library of the Chamber of Deputies, Collection of Laws of the Empire of Brazil – 1822several authors, and Civic Breviaryby Coelho Neto, and laboratory journal Zero (UFSC)