At National Today, we believe it’s incredibly important to stand up for what you believe in and make the world a better place. We’re passionate about commemorating 96 cause holidays each year.
Where did cause holidays come from?
Throughout humanity, people have looked out for others and advocated for human rights. However, one of the first organized movements started with the publication of a fateful book called The Jungle. Upton Sinclair was a journalist who turned to fiction to portray the exploited conditions of immigrants in Chicago—and raise a public outcry.
When his book was published, it shocked and galvanized readers. But there's a twist: he wrote about the meatpacking industry as the backdrop to his story, and readers were most shocked at the health violations he revealed. This led to massive reforms like the Meat Inspection Act that we still hold dear today.
The Jungle was only one of the movements that made organizers realize if they caused a stir, people would listen. So they started creating entire days to bring attention to their causes, from animal rights days like World Spay Day (Jan. 23) to human-centric holidays such as World Cancer Day (Feb. 4).
Submit your favorite cause holidays
If you're passionate about a cause that's not listed on National Today, we'd love to hear from you. Head over to our holiday submission page to submit you special day, and make sure you've compiled a bit of information about the day for context. What is its track record of media coverage? Is it celebrated widely? We'd love to hear from you!
