July 16 Holidays

National Cherry Day celebrates the stone fruit — tart Montmorency or sweet Bing — that ranks among the highest in antioxidant concentration of any food, with commercial production dominated by Michigan’s Door Peninsula and Washington State’s Yakima Valley. Guru Purnima is the Hindu and Buddhist full moon festival observed on the full moon day of the month of Ashadha to honor the spiritual teacher — the guru — whose guidance is considered essential to spiritual liberation. Artificial Intelligence Appreciation Day was created to celebrate the field of artificial intelligence and to encourage public engagement with AI tools, ethics, and implications. Guinea Pig Appreciation Day was established to celebrate the domesticated cavy — a rodent native to the Andes Mountains — as one of the world’s most popular small companion animals, kept as pets and raised as livestock in South America simultaneously. Tart red fruit, a full moon, a neural network, and a very small rodent from the Andes.