July 6 Holidays

National Fried Chicken Day celebrates the Southern tradition of pressure-frying or pan-frying breaded chicken in fat — a technique documented in Scottish and West African culinary traditions that enslaved Africans adapted and elevated into one of America’s most copied cooking methods. International Kissing Day was created in the UK to encourage physical expressions of affection and to celebrate the science of the kiss — one kiss activates up to 34 facial muscles and five cranial nerves. Jan Hus Day in Czech Republic marks July 6, 1415, when Czech theologian and church reformer Jan Hus was burned at the stake at the Council of Constance for challenging papal authority and the sale of indulgences — a martyrdom that predated Luther’s Reformation by a century. Caribbean Community Day marks July 4, 1973, when the Treaty of Chaguaramas established CARICOM, the Caribbean Community — a 15-member trade bloc that coordinates economic, social, and political policy for 18 million people. Fried birds, a burning heretic, and an island trade agreement.