Holidays 2021-01-09
Hot air ballooning, a festival for the Roman god Janus, apricots, playing God, words, and static electricity are topics to think about today: Agonalia Ianuarias Balloon Ascension Day National Apricot Day National Static Electricity Day Play God Day Word Nerd Day The term "playing God" seems to typically be used when someone takes dangerous/arrogant actions. (It's unclear to me why there would be a day celebrating or encouraging that sort of behavior.) On this date in 1793 the first hot air balloon flight in North America took off in Philadelphia. Word Nerd Day is for people that like word-related puzzles (crosswords, cryptograms, etc), authors, poets, people who are trying to build their vocabulary, etymologists, and anyone else who loves words.