June 5 Holidays

World Environment Day has been the UN’s principal vehicle for environmental public outreach since 1973, established by the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment — the date now rallies more than 143 countries around an annual theme chosen by the UN Environment Programme. National Donut Day is observed on the first Friday of June, established by the Chicago Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the “Donut Lassies” — female volunteers who served fried dough rings to U.S. soldiers in World War I France. Hot Air Balloon Day marks the Montgolfier brothers’ first public flight on June 5, 1783, when their smoke-filled paper-and-silk balloon rose 1,000 feet above Annonay, France, in a flight witnessed by a crowd including local dignitaries. Constitution Day is a Danish national holiday marking June 5, 1849, when King Frederick VII signed the constitution establishing Denmark as a constitutional monarchy — one of the world’s first democracies. Ozone, a fried ring, smoke and silk, and a Nordic signature.