Author: Lisa Mungovan

Today is Parents’ Day! I guess it’s for kids who forgot Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. It’s also Savvy Aunties’ Day. Your Auntie knows what’s up! An aunt is your mom or dad’s sister, but it could also be a nickname for a special family friend. Do something fun with everyone!

Nebraska grows a lot of corn. The state will also be known for cornhole, a game where people toss bags of corn at a wooden platform, with a hole in it. A group of Nebraskans broke the world record, after playing cornhole for more than 26 hours and 13 minutes. Time for a nap!

Scientists are studying the possibilities of using mussels, to get rid of microplastics. That’s not muscles as in strong arms, but as in the clam-like shellfish. Mussels can filter the tiniest pieces of plastic from the ocean, without any harm to themselves. After eating microplastics mixed with plankton, they excrete droppings suitable for biofuel.

Today is Amelia Earhart Day. She was the first woman to make a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, in 1932. In 1937, she planned to fly around the world. She completed 22,000 miles, but disappeared without a trace somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Amelia Earhart’s writings continue to inspire people today. “Adventure is worthwhile in itself.”

Today is Cousins Day. The kids of your mom and dad’s brothers and sisters, are your cousins, but you might also have step-cousins and half-cousins. You could have cousins once-removed, like your cousin’s kid, or second cousins, like your dad’s cousin’s kid. Confuse yourself, by figuring out who would be your 3rd cousin, twice-removed.

Knock knock. Who’s there? Boo. Boo who? Aw, don’t cry! It’s just Tell An Old Joke Day. Ask grown-ups to tell you their favorite old jokes, so they get passed on to the next generation. It’s also Drive-Thru Day. Be lazy and order dinner from the car! And tell the cashier an old joke!

Police in Vancouver British Columbia came to the rescue, when a woman found an alligator in her high-rise apartment building. She’d come around a corner of the stairwell and it was just sitting there. Fortunately, it was only a statue. She must’ve been too scared to look closely, because it was shiny gold!

If you go to the Riverside Park in New York City, don’t be surprised to find a bunch of goats. The park invited 2 dozen goats, to help them get rid of weeds and poison ivy. Ms Bo Peep, Chalupa, Skittles, Mallemar, and Buckles will stay on through August, to keep the grounds maintained.

A crab fisherman in Thailand, found an unexpected treasure. He had caught a large sea snail to eat for lunch, but discovered something hard inside. It was a rare orange-colored melo pearl! A similar pearl found in February, was worth $350,000. It’s a good thing he didn’t swallow it by accident!

Parrots are smart birds, and they’re pretty good teachers too! Wild cockatoos in Sydney Australia, are showing each other how to loot garbage cans for food. The big white birds have learned how to open the trash bins, despite homeowners weighing the lids down with bricks. They get their water from public fountains.