Author: Lisa Mungovan

Today is Pickle Day. Whether it’s a giant crunchy dill pickle or a tiny sweet gherkin, sliced on a sandwich, or fried on a stick, pickled cucumbers are delicious! Would you try one dipped in squashed avocado? It’s also Spicy Guacamole Day, so this would be the day to see how it tastes!

21-year-old Chris Nikic, didn’t have the fastest time during his first Ironman Triathalon, but he did make history. He was the first athlete with Down’s Syndrome, to ever complete the race. An Ironman consists of swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles, then running a 26.2-mile marathon, in under 17 hours. He gave his medal to his mom.

Tractor beams are used in plenty of sci-fi stories, to trap an enemy spaceship and pull it in. But scientists are working on a real-life tractor beam, that could change the direction of lightning bolts. The laser system could guide the lightning to safe targets, to avoid starting devastating bushfires and wildfires.

If you’ve ever tried to eat around a flock of seagulls, you know they’re bold. They’re also smart. Seagulls in Bristol England, know when the schoolkids take their lunch break, and have planned accordingly. They show up just before lunch, as well as before school and during the snack break. They must’ve hated lockdowns!

There’s a new record shop in Sweden, but you can’t go in. Ricotta Records is for mice! An art collective named Anonymouse, created the tiny store, along with a mouse-sized barbershop, Italian restaurant, and pharmacy. The record store carries albums by artists like Destiny’s Cheese, Kesella Fitzgerald, and Dolly Parsley.

Today is World Kindness Day. Try to think about each thing you do, and make sure you’re being kind. Then go out of your way to do one nice thing for someone. Can you do that every day? Think how great the world would be, if everyone treated each other with kindness!

A gas station convenience store in California, became a little bit too convenient for a black bear. He frequently wandered into the store, to steal snacks. The videos of his raids, made him an online celebrity. The Department of Fish and Wildlife decided to relocate him to a wild area, more suitable for bears.

Spain seems to have a problem, with people who aren’t very good at fixing art. A sculpture of a smiling woman, looks like a potato-head, after a disastrous repair job. In recent years, restorations of valuable paintings of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, ended up looking like badly-drawn cartoons. Step. Away. From. The art.

How would it feel to whoosh through a vacuum tube, at groundbreaking speeds? The Virgin Hyperloop carries passengers in a pod, at up to 671 miles-per-hour. Researchers were worried that it could become a “barf ride”, but the passengers reported no discomfort on the first manned test run. They said it was exhilarating.

Today is Pizza With The Works Except Anchovies Day. Top your pizza with everything but little fish! How about candy corn, bananas, and french fries! Speaking of french fries, it’s also French Dip Day. It’s a roast beef sandwich dipped in meat juice, but french fries dipped in french vanilla ice cream sounds better!