Author: Lisa Mungovan

To celebrate French Fry Day this week, a restaurant in New York broke a world record. Serendipty 3 served up the most expensive plate of fries ever. Creme de la Creme Pommes Frites cost $200, and are made with truffles, Dom Perignon champagne, fancy cheeses, and a layer of gold dust. Those are fries worth stealing!

Nemo’s Garden in Italy, grows plants like basil, lettuce, tomatoes, and mushrooms, but it’s not like any other garden. These plants grow underwater! Just like the underwater Gungan city in Star Wars, biosphere domes keep things dry underneath. The gardens still get light, and evaporated seawater collects on the glass ceilings, to water everything.

Summertime means lots of people are going on vacation, and new strains of COVID-19 are even more contagious. Although kids under 12 still can’t get vaccinated, many places no longer require masks. Wear your mask anyway. Remember to keep washing your hands, practice social distancing, and encourage people to get vaccinated. Stay safe and healthy!

Today is Shark Awareness Day. There are over 400 species of sharks, from the 7-inch dwarf lanternshark, to the 60-foot whale shark. Only 34 shark species have ever made a rare attack on a human, but humans kill over 100,000,000 sharks per year. You’re actually 20 times more likely to get killed by a cow, than a shark!

Chaos! Ruckus! Commotion! It’s all good on Pandemonium Day! Cause pandemonium by tying a tape measure in a knot, then celebrating Tape Measure Day. Measure the length of your cheesey noodles, since today is also Mac And Cheese Day. Then try to measure a wet dog with your cheese-covered ruler. That’ll cause real pandemonium!

The state of Uttar Pradesh in India, is great at planting trees. For the 5th year, volunteers have planted millions of trees, in one day! Last year’s 20,000,000 saplings were planted along the Ganges River. This year, they planted 250,000,000 trees across the state. The new trees will help lessen the effects of climate change.

You never know what you’ll find, tucked away in the back of a closet. It might be a painting by Pablo Picasso, worth $150,000! That’s what happened to a man in Maine, when he went to clean out his great-aunt’s house. She’d picked up the painting years ago, while studying in Europe.

Last week, 14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde won the Scripps National Spelling Bee, by spelling the word, Murraya. She’s the first African-American to win, but she’s no stranger to being the best. She also holds 3 world records for simultaneously dribbling basketballs! Spelling is only a side hobby for Zaila. She’d love to play for the WNBA!

Today is French Fry Day! In some countries, they’re called chips, and chips are called crisps. Eat your fries while looking for some cool rocks to celebrate International Rock Day. Are they igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic? Today is also Embrace Your Geekness Day, so feel free to share every detail of your latest obsession!

When you drive by a field full of cows, do you moo at them? Today is Cow Appreciation Day. The main part of a cow’s 4-chambered stomach can hold 50 gallons of food. That’s about the same as a big bathtub! Did you know a cow can walk up stairs, but not down? That’s crazy!