National Nothing Day

Nothing Day
Date January 16
Next time 16 January 2017 (2017-01-16)
Frequency annual

Nothing Day is an "un-event" proposed in 1972 by columnist Harold Pullman Coffin and observed annually on January 16 since 1973, when it was added to Chase's Calendar of Events. It is not actually a "National Holiday," as that requires an act of Congress. [1] [2] [3] Its purpose is:

to provide Americans with one National day when they can just sit without celebrating, observing or honoring anything.

It is sponsored by Coffin's National Nothing Foundation, registered in Capitola, California. [4] [5] [6] [7]

The third Monday of every January has subsequently been inaugurated as Martin Luther King Jr. Day which falls between the 15th and 21st. This means that one-in-seven January 16's now fall on a public holiday (e.g. Monday, 16th Jan 2012), effectively usurping the very nature of Nothing Day.

In contrast, the Realist Society of Canada (RSC) has a religious holiday called THABS ( "There has always been something" Day, pronounced /ˈtæbs/). THABS is dedicated to the celebration of the "realization" that "if there was ever nothing, there would be nothing now". It is celebrated July 8 of each year.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Chase's Calendar of Events, 2011 Edition, McGraw-Hill Professional, 2010, p. 88, ISBN 978-0-07-174026-5
  2. ↑ Michele Humes, Harold Coffin, American Hero; Or, Every Day Is National Capitulate-To-Inane-Press-Releases Day
  3. ↑ Bob Symon, It’s Nothing Day; Celebrate in Earnest
  4. ↑ Newsweek (Newsweek, Inc.) 93, 1979: 127 http://books.google.com/books?id=Vd0mAQAAIAAJ&q=%22national+nothing+foundation%22 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ The Review of the News (Correction, Please) 15, 1979: 25–26 http://books.google.com/books?id=6I3xAAAAMAAJ&q=%22national+nothing+day%22+coffin Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ David Wallechinsky & Irving Wallace (1975–1981), The People's Almanac (series)
  7. ↑ Bruce Felton, Mark Fowler (1994), The Best, Worst, & Most Unusual: Noteworthy Achievements, Events, Feats & Blunders of Every Conceivable Kind, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., p. 335, ISBN 978-0-88365-861-1
  8. ↑ "The Realist Society of Canada Religious Holidays" http://www.realistsocietyofcanada.com/realism-holidays


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