Top 10 WEIRDEST American Holidays

Or, so we’ve heard. Celebrated on June 14, this day commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on the same date in 1777. It has been celebrated for 100 years, and while the flag is a great symbol for Americans, it makes some people wonder whether they really need a whole day to celebrate it. The day is celebrated by flying the flag, but Americans already do this on other days like it is going out of style. Regardless of your feelings towards Flag Day, we are pretty certain this is Michael Bay’s favorite holiday.

Being a middle child sucks. You don’t get away with everything your older sibling did, and it feels like you are always living in his or her shadow. At the same time, you don’t get the attention or protection your younger sibling gets. At least you can look forward to August 12 each year for the famous Middle Child Day! Or not so much. Middle Child Day may seem like a well-deserved day for those who may be overlooked, but we are willing to bet your parents don’t know about this day. And that pretty much sums up the life of a middle child.

William Shakespeare is arguably the greatest writer in English history. As an English-speaking nation, it only makes sense that Americans would have a day to celebrate the famous Bard… who was born in England. Of course, they couldn’t just have a National Shakespeare Day or anything like that; they had to go with Talk Like Shakespeare Day. Celebrated on April 23, the same date that’s traditionally observed as Shakespeare’s date of birth – and is also his date of death - Americans walk around town reciting famous Shakespearean sonnets or lines from his plays. Or they jump on social media and add the ending ‘est’ to every word. Something tells us Shakespeare would have loved Twitter.

We understand that there are positives and negatives to owning a cat, and we aren’t interested in starting a war between dog people and cat people. Regardless of your opinion on cats, however, we could all probably agree that having a day dedicated to hairballs is a bit ridiculous. Celebrated the last Friday of every April, the day is supposed to help raise awareness and encourage people to implement preventative measures to help their cats manage their hairballs. Still, this is certainly one of the stranger days that people celebrate. Perhaps a pamphlet would make more sense.

A day for people who love math or love eating pie, Pi Day is celebrated every March 14th, because 3, 1, and 4 are the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi. People celebrate this day in a variety of ways, although the most common tradition is eating pie. The first official celebration of Pi Day occurred in San Francisco in 1988 where people marched around in circles and ate fruit pies at the San Francisco Exploratorium. While perhaps not as strange as some of the other days on this list, it is still a bit weird to have an entire day dedicated to a mathematical constant. Although we aren’t complaining – any excuse to eat pie is fine by us.

Whether worn to show off your more stylish side or simply to keep your feet warm, we should all be appreciative of socks. Just not on this day. Celebrated May 8 every year, No Socks Day is a chance to let your feet have some fresh air and breathe. It was created by actor Thomas Roy and his wife, and is one of the many days that owe their existence to these two. If, by some chance, you happen to misplace your socks in your mad dash to take them off, however, have no fear – you can celebrate Lost Sock Memorial Day on May 9. Who would have thought we would have so many days dedicated to socks?

Fruit is delicious. Cake is delicious. Put them together and you get… a disaster. Realistically, not many people like fruitcake, and even those that do likely don’t pick it as their first choice for dessert. Regardless, at every Christmas party there’s that fruitcake there, sitting behind the other desserts being completely and totally ignored. If you host the party, the question remains – what do you do with the fruitcake nobody touched? You toss it out, of course! Celebrated the first Saturday in January, this day encourages people to get rid of their unwanted fruitcakes. We have to wonder why you need to wait so long, however – we recommend tossing it immediately after the end of the party.

People complain about Valentine’s Day as being nothing more than a holiday invented to sell products, but what about National Ex-Spouse Day? Observed every year on April 14, exactly two months after Valentine’s Day, this day is dedicated to recognizing one’s former life partner. Now – some people may find that they actually get along better with their ex once they are divorced, but it still seems a tad strange to have a day dedicated to a failed relationship. If your divorce was not friendly, however, we recommend skipping this holiday. A Happy Ex-Spouse greeting card could potentially do more harm than good.

Sharing the same date as National Hug Day, Squirrel Appreciation Day is observed every January 21. Regardless of how you want to celebrate, we recommend not combining the two events. Why do we need to appreciate squirrels you ask? We aren’t entirely sure. But we are sure that the best way to appreciate squirrels is to do so from a distance. One way to do so is to prepare a source of food for the squirrels in your area, especially in the northern parts of the world where squirrels may be running out of nuts and other delicacies.

Before we unveil our number one pick, here are a few honourable mentions:
- Be Late for Something Day
- Friendship Day
- National Tooth Fairy Day

Who doesn’t love a good barbershop quartet? What you may not have known is that there is an entire day dedicated to celebrating these ensemble singers, and that it has existed for decades! Celebrated every April 11, this day allows people to return to the early 20th century when barbershop music found its popularity. This day is mainly celebrated by members of the SPEBSQSA, also known as the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America. Trying saying that five times fast. Or singing it acapella.


Do you agree with our list? What do you think is the weirdest holiday? For more great Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.