October 28 Holidays

National Chocolate Day celebrates chocolate — derived from the cacao beans of the Theobroma cacao tree that the Maya fermented, roasted, and ground into a sacred beverage at least 3,000 years ago, and that the Aztecs traded as currency — now a $130 billion global industry. National First Responders Day was established to honor the emergency medical technicians, firefighters, police officers, and dispatchers who respond to crises — the people who run toward danger when everyone else runs away. International Animation Day was established by ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation) in 2002 to mark October 28, 1892, when Emile Reynaud gave the first public presentation of animated pictures at the Musée Grévin in Paris — the first public screening of moving images. Ohi Day marks October 28, 1940, when Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas replied “Ohi” (“No”) to Mussolini’s ultimatum demanding the right to occupy Greek territory — Greece’s entry into World War II and a symbol of national defiance.