April 8 Holidays

National Empanada Day celebrates the filled pastry whose name comes from the Spanish empanar — to coat in bread — and whose fillings range from beef and olive in Argentina to tuna and peppers in Galicia to sweet pineapple in the Philippines. Pygmy Hippo Day raises awareness for the critically endangered pygmy hippopotamus found only in West Africa, weighing approximately 275 kilograms compared to the common hippo’s 1,500. International Romani Day marks April 8, 1971, when the first World Romani Congress convened in London, establishing an international flag and anthem for the Roma and Sinti people. Draw a Bird Day was created in the 1940s by a British girl named Dorie to cheer up her uncle hospitalized during World War II, and is now observed annually as a simple act of creative kindness. Pastry, pigmy mammal, a flag, and a bird sketch.