10 Obscure October Holidays Worth Celebrating

My favorite thing about October is that the heat of summer is finally moving away and the coolness of fall is finally moving in. But there are plenty of obscure October holidays that also dot certain points of the calendar. Here’s a sampling of what’s waiting to be celebrated this month.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s also National Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month. (I owned a shelter dog up until a few years ago; it was a wonderful experience and if you ever have the opportunity to give a home to a dog or cat in need of one, please consider doing so.)

I’m late in posting October’s list, considering that we’re already six days into the month. And I’m posting later than normal today because of an unexpected death of a friend of mine. But I made a commitment back in the spring to post daily, so I didn’t want to skip past that obligation.

Here are 10 events that won’t likely appear on your desk calendar’s October holidays listings.

But though Labor Day is likely the only holiday many of us will be given off from work, there are plenty of lesser-known occasions that workplaces should consider adding to that list. Note that I have chosen not to add September 11th Remembrance Day to the list below, because I consider it far too solemn a day to be included among the more amusing, at times whimsical days listed below.

Here, then, from Holiday Insights, where you’ll find even more holidays than the ones I’ve chosen, are my picks:

October 7th: World Smile Day

I know, I know, that silly looking smiley face we see a hundred times a day thanks to the invention of the emoticon may make us want to punch it in the face. But that little graphic has a day named after it on which we’re supposed to do something kind to evote yet another smile, preferably on the face of a real person rather than on a round yellow circle.

October 9th: Fire Prevention Day

By the time October 9, 1871 rolled around, the Great Chicago Fire was finally out after burning 27 hours. It destroyed a major chuck of the city, and as legend tells it, began when a cow kicked over a lantern. This day is designed to remove similar fire hazards in our homes. And it’s not a bad idea to check the batteries in your smoke detector and make sure your family knows how to get out of your home safely in the event of a fire.

October 11th: World Egg Day

The “incredible, edible egg”&nbsp gets its own day on the second Friday of October. I prefer my eggs scrambled, so I may have to make sure I have eggs as part of my breakfast that day. (The scrambled egg on a McDonald’s Sausage Egg McMuffin counts, right?

October 12th: Moment of Frustration Day

What has you frustrated right now? Wait! Don’t tell me, yet. You’ll have to wait until Saturday, October 12th, because that’s the day you’re supposed to let go of whatever’s bothering you. For some of us, though, it might take more than one day to get it all out of our system!

October 14th: National Dessert Day

Now we’re talking! This is the day we’re encouraged to forget about the calories and just pig out on the dessert of our choice. Then again, considering the latest statistics on obesity, it’s a safe bet that many of us are already doing this all 364 other days of the year, as well.

October 19th: Evaluate Your Life Day

“Where do you see yourself five years from now?” Take the answer to that question from five years ago and compare it to where you actually are today. As Dr. Phil might say, “How’s that workin’ for ya?”&nbsp On the bright side, we have five days between National Dessert Day and Evaluate Your Life Day to spend knocking those additional calories off, so at least we can be grateful for that much.

October 21st: Count Your Buttons Day

You read that right: count your buttons, not blessings. Holiday Insights wasn’t clear on the origin of this day, but I’ll throw in a guess: it was probably invented to challenge people to take note of their clothes to look for any missing buttons; there’s nothing worse at the end of a long stretch of laundry, to realize that the only shirt you have in the clean side of the closet is missing a critical button.

October 22nd: National Nut Day

If it’s true that “sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t”, then those Mounds lovers will just have to take a back seat to Almond Joy admirers, who are comparatively better prepared for this holiday. The idea is to pick the nut of your choice and eat plenty of it. (Or, you can take the alternate meaning of nut and pay tribute to your favorite screwball.)

October 25th: World Pasta Day

My favorite pasta dish, unfortunately, is one that a dietician’s handbook suggested that was equivalent to eating a tub of Crisco. (I think that was a bit of an exaggeration.) But this might be the day that I go for a plate of the Chicken Linguini Alfredo anyway. I will say that I’ve switched to using whole wheat pasta and rice, and I really like it, so at least I’m somewhat healthier in my pasta choices.

October 25th: Make a Difference Day

Here’s a nice occasion in which we are challenged to volunteer with a local non-profit agency to make life better for someone else. All of us have busy schedules these days, so it may be that taking the time, unfortunately, isn’t an option. If that’s true for you, you could always make a donation to a charity so that it can continue to do the work as well. There are plenty out there who’d appreciate your assistance, one way or the other.

Your Turn:

Do any of these stand out to you? What do you plan on celebrating in October?