By Rosemary Harper
When you think about March, you probably think about the weather warming up, or getting spring fever. Sometimes Easter falls in late March, and, of course, we have good old Saint Patrick’s Day and lots and lots of green. But March is actually so much more than that. I did some digging, and I actually found a whole bunch of interesting, crazy, random, and sometimes ridiculous “holidays” in March, along with some fun stats on each. Take a look!
March 1- National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day: We eat a lot of peanut butter: estimations say 700,000,000 pounds of it is eaten in the US every year. Around half a billion dollars worth of Reese’s Cups are bought every year, and you’ll eat around 1500 classic peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before you go to college. Wow. And did you know that about 1 in every 100 Americans has a peanut allergy?
March 2- Vermont Town Meeting Day: I have no idea why this day exists. I went looking for some stats on this “holiday”, and all I could find is that the population of Vermont is 623,000 (via the US Census Bureau). You’re welcome.
March 2- World Teen Mental Wellness Day: polaristeen.com says that, “Approximately one in five teens (aged 12 to 18) suffer from at least one mental health disorder,” including things like depression, anxiety, ADHD, psychosis, and substance abuse. Don’t look at that number and let it depress you; instead, use it as a reminder that none of us is alone in what we’re going through, and that we need to be kind to everyone because we have no idea what may be going on in someone’s life.
March 2: Dr. Suess’s Birthday, National Read Across America Day: Dr. Suess was born March 2, 1904. His real name (in case you didn’t know) was Theodor Suess Geisel. He wrote the classic The Cat in the Hat after someone challenged him to write an entire book using 225 words or less. And upwards of 600 million copies of his children’s stories have been bought to date.
March 7- National Cereal Day: The top ten cereals in America (according to wate.com) are 1. Cheerios 2. Honey Nut Cheerios 3. Frosted Flakes 4. Honey Bunches of Oats 5. Cinnamon Toast Crunch 6. Lucky Charms 7. Froot Loops 8. Frosted Mini Wheats 9. Life 10. Fruity Pebbles
March 9- National Meatball Day: I am so glad that this holiday is an actual thing. We all need to properly celebrate meatball day. Ok, so we all know that IKEA, the furniture store, sells really gross food, right? And that their meatballs are so horrible? Well, it turns out that each day, across the globe, IKEA customers consume 2,000,000 meatballs. Every. Day. How?!
March 9- National Get Over It Day: Ok, between this and the meatballs, March 9 is now my favorite day of the whole entire year. I don’t have any stats for this one, since no one really makes it clear what we’re supposed to get over. Just it, you know? Get over it. It’s also just really satisfying to say firmly to people, “Get over it!” so maybe that’s how I’ll honor this amazing day.
March 10- National Oreo Cookie Day: More Oreos have been sold than any other cookie in the world: ½ a trillion in total. The origin of the name “Oreo” remains a mystery, and the cookie of perfection takes almost an entire hour to make. And the “double stuff” Oreos? Well, there isn’t really double the stuffing. Horrible, I know. One last thing- did you know that more women split apart their Oreos than men?
March 11- National Promposal Day: I’m pretty sure this day exists solely as a reminder to the guys to get on it.
March 14- Pi Day: If you want to find out all about this awesome day, go check out Vivian’s article.
March 16- National Artichoke Day: You want to know some artichoke facts? Of course you do! Artichokes have 64 calories, 3.5 grams of proteins, 7 grams of fiber, and 0.4 grams of fat. Is any of that going to make you want to eat artichokes? Of course not. They’re artichokes.
March 18- Awkward Moments Day: I love how they think this is just one day. No, awkward moments are, like, a continuous thing. Life is just one big awkward moment, people.
March 20- International Day of Happiness: This is a day that is 100% worthy of existence and not ridiculous at all. We all need a happiness day in our lives :)
March 21- World Down Syndrome Day: Did you know that, in the US, Down syndrome is the single most common genetic/chromosomal disorder? 6,000 babies are diagnosed with it annually, which equates to about 1 baby in every 700 born. Take this day to educate yourself about this unique condition and remove some of the stigma around it!
March 21- French Bread Day: Who comes up with this stuff?!
March 25- International Waffle Day: Waffles are forever, undeniably linked with Waffle House, right? So, for your information: According to countryliving.com, “There are more than 2,100 Waffle House locations spread across the U.S….Georgia has more locations that any other state”.The breakfast restaurant even owns its own record label.
March 26- Make up Your Own Holiday Day: Well, if you ever had the undeniable urge to make up your own holiday, March 26 is your chance. I bet you can’t come up with anything more ridiculous than Vermont Town Meeting day.
March 26- Purple Day: Clearly someone took Make Up Your Own Holiday day to heart, and that’s how we wound up with Purple Day. Wear lavender and eat plums, y’all.
March 30- National I Am in Control Day: We’re humans. We kind of treat every day like it’s I Am in Control Day. But, you know, if it makes you feel empowered to have an official day, here you go.
March 31- National Crayon Day: Ok, so this is going to ruin some lives, but did you know that Crayola crayon’s trademark scent is actually produced from beef fat? Or that the famous art supply company manufactured toothpaste at one point? And, “Crayola produces nearly 3 billion crayons each year, an average of twelve million daily,” according to their website.
Sources:
calendarr.com/united-states/calendar-march-2021/
thespruce.com/special-days-and-observances-in-march-1448890
peanutallergyfacts.org/2020/06/23/how-many-people-have-a-peanut-allergy-the-curious-case-of-determining-prevalence/
spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/every-lidl-product-you-need-for-back-to-school
mentalfloss.com/article/68724/11-delicious-facts-about-reeses#:~:text=By%20some%20estimates%2C%20they're,%2C%20you're%20not%20alone.
nationalpeanutboard.org/news/peanut-butter-jelly-by-numbers.htm
polaristeen.com/articles/teen-mental-health-stats/#:~:text=Approximately%20one%20in%20five%20teens,health%2C%20academic%20performance%2C%20etc.
seussville.com/dr-seuss/
wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Seuss#:~:text=Most%20were%20published%20under%20his,into%20more%20than%2020%20languages.
oddsshark.com/nfl/super-bowl/props/national-anthem
statista.com/statistics/232330/us-military-force-numbers-by-service-branch-and-reserve-component/
southfloridareporter.com/2-million-meatballs-are-eaten-daily-at-ikeas-340-worldwide-stores/
https://www.ibtimes.com/national-oreo-day-2016-15-interesting-facts-about-cookie-cream-delight-2330500
https://www.verywellfit.com/artichokes-nutrition-facts-calories-and-their-health-benefits-4117550
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/downsyndrome.html#:~:text=Down%20syndrome%20remains%20the%20most,1%20in%20every%20700%20babies.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/65779/13-colorful-facts-about-crayola