June 8 Holidays

World Oceans Day was proposed at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and officially recognized by the UN General Assembly in 2008 to drive awareness that the ocean produces half of Earth’s oxygen, absorbs a quarter of CO₂ emissions, and supports the livelihoods of more than 3 billion people. National Best Friends Day was created to celebrate friendship and to encourage people to reach out to their closest friends — the ones you call from a hospital waiting room, a moving truck, or a midnight parking lot. Columbia Corpus Christi Holiday is a Colombian public holiday on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday, observing the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi — the celebration of the Eucharist as the real presence of Christ. Thomas Paine Day marks June 8, 1809, the death date of Thomas Paine, the Anglo-American writer whose 1776 pamphlet Common Sense is credited with turning public opinion toward American independence. The ocean, a best friend, a consecrated host, and a pamphlet.