LISTEN: Creator of the ‘National Day’ Calendar Visits Billings

If it seems like there is a National Day for just about everything, there pretty much is. You have probably heard your favorite DJs mentioning whatever wacky day it is on the on the radio from time-to-time, because... well, it's interesting. I mean, just about everybody can get behind National Pizza Day or Donut Day or Pet Day or whatever.

So, who is behind all the National Days? Obviously, there are some that come from elected officials or are proclaimed by the president (National Day of Prayer, for example) but for some of the more obscure days (National Paper Airplane Day on 5/26) you might wonder, "how did paper airplanes get their own day?"

When a representative of the National Day Calendar recently reached out with an opportunity to interview the man behind the calendar, I jumped on it. Marlo Anderson is from Mandan, ND and was passing through Billings this week. I had a great time chatting with him about the National Day calendar, how it was created, how to get on it and more. Take a listen below.

Anderson, an outgoing, middle-age man with a shock of red hair, started the website in 2013, after a search for the origin on National Popcorn Day didn't bring up any useful information. His blog about Popcorn Day initially got around 1,000 views. Six months later the site had reached 100,00 views.  Since then, the website has exploded and now reaches an average of 250,000 visitors per month. Pretty impressive for a little website started in North Dakota.

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Got an idea for a National Day? Great! But be prepared to state your case. Anderson said National Day Calendar receives nearly 20,000 applications each year and only around 25 get added to the list. Each must be unanimously approved by a four-member board. Companies have attempted to buy their way in. Despite the temptation to take the cash bribes, a place on the National Day Calendar can't be bought.