April 11, 2021 – NATIONAL PET DAY – NATIONAL SUBMARINE DAY – NATIONAL EIGHT TRACK TAPE DAY – NATIONAL CHEESE FONDUE DAY – NATIONAL BARBERSHOP QUARTET DAY – National Day Calendar

NATIONAL PET DAY National Pet Day on April 11th dedicates the day to those pets who may not always get the companionship and attention pets deserve. While loving our pets is something we do every day, the observance encourages helping out orphaned pet companions. It will improve their health and enhance their opportunities for adoption. Sometimes their human companions aren’t well.  Making sure their forever furry friends are receiving the best of care will help relieve stress and worry. National Pet Day is an excellent time to do a few checks for your pets. HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalPetDay Take supplies to those pets in shelters. Help a friend with pets who is recovering from an illness.  Adopt a pet. Give your pets extra love with a bath and rub down. Use #NationalPetDay on social media. NATIONAL PET DAY HISTORY Celebrity Pet Lifestyle Expert & Animal Welfare Advocate Colleen Paige founded the day in 2005. NATIONAL SUBMARINE DAY National Submarine Day, on April 11th, honors the day the United States Navy acquired its first modern commissioned submarine. On April 11, 1900, the Holland VI became the Navy’s first modern submarine. Designed by Irish-American inventor John Phillip Holland in 1896, he launched the Holland VI on May 17, 1897, at Navy Lt. Lewis Nixon’s Crescent Shipyard in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  The United States Navy later purchased the Holland VI on April 11, 1900. As the Navy’s first commissioned submarine, it was renamed USS Holland (SS-1).  The U.S. Navy’s first submarine was the Alligator, 1862. Submarine history runs deep in the United States. During the Revolutionary War era, David Bushnell built America’s first submarine, the Turtle. The submersible made several attempts to sink British ships but never succeeded. At the time, the U.S. Navy did not exist so, the Turtle is not the Navy’s first submarine. The first known U.S. Navy submarine was the USS Alligator. It’s also the fourth United States Navy ship of that name. The Alligator was active during the American Civil War.  Elsewhere in the world, Submarine Day is celebrated on March 17th. HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalSubmarineDay Learn more about the U.S. Navy’s use of submarines. Take a tour of a U.S. submarine. Download and print the submarine coloring sheet. Use #NationalSubmarineDay to post on social media. NATIONAL SUBMARINE DAY HISTORY In 1969, Senator Thomas J. Dodd (D-Conn.) introduced a bill (S. 2690) to the U.S. Senate to designate April 11th as National Submarine Day. While the bill may have passed the Senate, and introduced to the House in 1970 (H.R. 7998), no record of a proclamation from President Richard Nixon is found. Despite that, beginning in 1970, veteran organizations, U.S. Navy service members and many other organizations recognized the day, commemorating the Navy’s first modern commissioned submarine.  NATIONAL EIGHT TRACK TAPE DAY National Eight Track Tape Day on April 11th recognizes an era that was here and gone in a short 20 years. It is a day to remember listening to great music of the sixties and seventies on eight-track tapes. Popular from the mid-1960s through the early 1980s, eight-track tapes are a magnetic tape sound recording technology. In 1964, Bill Lear of Lear Jet Corporation along with Ampex, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Motorola and RCA created the eight-track tape. Also known as Stereo 8, the first player was released in 1965. In September of 1965, Ford Motor Company introduced factory-installed and dealer installed eight-track tape players as an option to buyers on three of its 1966 models – the Thunderbird, Mustang, and Lincoln.  All of Ford’s vehicles offered this tape player upgrade option on the 1967 model. Through the 1980s optional eight-track players were available in many cars and trucks. Eight track cartridges were phased out in the retail stores in the United States by late 1982.  Some titles were still available as eight-track tapes through various mail-order clubs until late 1988. Many of the late period eight-track tape releases are highly collectible today. HOW TO OBSERVE #EightTrackDay Do you have a collection of eight-track tapes and a player? Be sure to listen to them and share your favorite track. Share your enthusiasm for eight-tracks and what makes you collect them. Do you know someone who would enjoy this celebration? Be sure to let them know using #EightTrackDay to post on social media.  NATIONAL EIGHT TRACK TAPE DAY HISTORY Our research was unable to find the creator of National Eight Track Tape Day. NATIONAL CHEESE FONDUE DAY Observed annually on April 11th, National Cheese Fondue Day recognizes a food holiday many enjoy. Fondue is a dish of melted cheese or other ingredients, served in a communal pot (caquelon) over a small portable stove (réchaud).  Participants then dip the bread into the cheese using long-stemmed forks. Cheese fondue consists of a blend of cheeses, wine, and seasoning. A 1966 book published in Zurich, under the name “Kass mit Wein zu kochen” is known for having the earliest known cheese fondue recipe. It calls for grated or cut up cheese melted with wine and for the bread dipped into it. The first known recipe with cheese and wine was published under the name “Cheese Fondue” in 1875. Cornstarch may be the reason the Swiss became so fond of fondue. In 1905, the thickener was introduced to the land of Switzerland. As many may know, cornstarch thickens liquid and makes smooth and creamy gravies. It also creates a smooth and stable emulsion of the wine and cheese. HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalCheeseFondueDay Whip up a cheese fondue. Invite friends and family (near and far) to join you with their own versions. Host an online celebration and catch up with friends. Discover how they celebrate with cheese fondue and make a toast to good times. Share recipes, and if you don’t have one, we found a recipe for you to try.  Enjoy this delicious Creamy Cheese Fondue recipe. Use #NationalCheeseFondueDay to post on social media. NATIONAL CHEESE FONDUE DAY HISTORY National Day Calendar continues researching the origins of this dairy food holiday.  NATIONAL BARBERSHOP QUARTET DAY On April 11th, toes start tapping to four-part harmony thanks to National Barbershop Quartet Day. Barbershop quartets have a way of making the heart flutter. Very often, they transport us back to a simpler time or at the least make it standstill.   Barbershop quartets are a style of a cappella or unaccompanied vocal music.  Their music features songs with understandable lyrics and easily singable melodies.   Between 1900 and 1919, barbershop music found its popularity. In the 1920s, it began to fade into obscurity. However, the barbershop quartet saw a revival when the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America was founded. This tongue twister of a men’s organization quickly grew, as did other similar organizations promoting barbershop music as an art form.  Today, just under 25,000 men in the United States and Canada are members of the SPEBSQSA. But men aren’t the only ones singing four-part harmony. Across the country, organizations like the Sweet Adelines bring women of all ages together, melding their voices together and making crowds swoon to fun tunes. Much like the men’s organizations, the women also compete. They tune their voices and rehearse while also performing locally.  HOW TO OBSERVE #BarbershopQuartetDay What a fun day to celebrate! Music, harmony, singing. There are so many ways to participate, too!  Use #BarbershopQuartetDay to post on social media. Educators, visit the National Day Classroom for more information designed for the classroom. NATIONAL BARBERSHOP QUARTET DAY HISTORY The Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America is April 11, 1938, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded by Rupert I. Hall and Owen Clifton Cash, prospective members were not even required to be able to sing.  According to an article in a June 13, 1938, issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cash was quoted as saying, “All we ask is just that said prospective member THINK he can sing.”