Tag Archive | Birthday

Most Popular Birthdate

Sep18

How Do YOU celebrate?

September 18, 2018

One needs only to know a little about human gestation to proffer a guess as to why the most popular dates for babies to be born are in mid-September.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) the most common day for births in 2017 is September 9th. The previous most popular day, from 1973 to 1999 according to a Harvard study, was September 16th.heatmapbirthdays1

In fact, in the 2017 numbers, we discover the most common days to be:

  1. September 9
  2. September 19
  3. September 12
  4. September 17
  5. September 10
  6. July 7
  7. September 20
  8. September 15
  9. September 16
  10. September 18

The Infallible Wikipedia offers the following explanation:

“According to a public database of births, birthdays in the United States are quite evenly distributed for the most part, but there tend to be more births in September and October. This may be because there is a holiday season nine months before (the human gestation period is about nine months), or because the longest nights of the year also occur in the Northern Hemisphere nine months before. However, it appears the holidays have more of an effect on birth rates than the winter: New Zealand, a Southern Hemisphere country, has the same September and October peak with no corresponding peak in March and April. The least common birthdays tend to fall around public holidays, such as Christmas, New Years Day and fixed-date holidays such as July 4 in the US. This is probably due to hospitals and birthing centres not offering labor inductions and elective Cesarean sections on public holidays.

Based on Harvard University research of birth records in the United States between 1973 and 1999, September 16 is the most common birthday in the United States and December 25 the least common birthday (other than February 29, because of leap years). In 2011, October 5 and 6 were reported as the most frequently occurring birthdays.”

retro_kissing_christmas_couple_postcard-r4661dfa97e2e4cb59c6edd2e92557d9c_vgbaq_8byvr_512It is duly noted that the approximate conception dates for 9 of those 10 dates is between December 17th and December 28th… apparently a lot of people commemorate Christmas and New Years with their own personal celebrations.

Chances are good that you know someone who has a birthday this week. In the past week alone I’ve had Facebook inform me of at least 4 ‘friends’ on every single day with birthdays.

Last year I noted this trend on Facebook and my niece, whose birthday is September 30th, commented that she was teasing one of her friends about being born on the 16th because of ‘when’ she was likely to have been conceived. And then the light went on for my niece… who was a week late… Can you say Happy New Year?!

And, finally, is another friend of mine whose birthday is September 18th. For years, he told me, they would rib their Dad about the link between that date and Christmas. Dad finally had enough and blew up one day, exclaiming, “Okay! It was Christmas Eve! Now drop it.”baby in christmas present

In the world of irony it’s even more delicious that my friend’s daughter was born… on September 18th. Merry Christmas, everyone.

A couple of links to amuse you:

http://thedailyviz.com/2016/09/17/how-common-is-your-birthday-dailyviz/ (a cool interactive map where you can see how popular your birthday is and where it ranks. Mine is the 37th most popular date)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday (because it’s the Infallible Wikipedia, right?)

…Jake The Alligator Man

Aug1

Happy Birthday!

August 1, 2017

Happy Birthday to that northwest icon, symbol of blatant commercialism, and

Jake the Alligator Man

Long Beach, Washington’s most famous resident: Jake the Alligator Man

resident of Long Beach… Jake the Alligator Man!

How fun it was, on August 1, 2014, to be at Long Beach and join in the parade for Jake’s 75th birthday, be given free cupcakes and really celebrate this once in a lifetime event.

Or not. As it turns out the town of Long Beach celebrates Jake’s 75th birthday EVERY year and has been doing so for the past 11 years. So maybe it’s really Jake’s 86th birthday? Call me cynical but I’m starting to think that this is all a ploy for tourists to spend more money on Jake gear and at local motels and restaurants.

And his birthday is not always on August First but seems to coincide with whichever date the first Saturday in August might fall.

Jake’s murky beginnings are just that, murky. What we do know is that Jake was purchased in 1967 for $750 from an antique dealer. He has ‘lived’ at Marsh’s Free Museum ever since.

Jake with creepy doll

Jake The Alligator Man inspecting the Creepy Dolls.

Sandy Meets Jake.jpg

Sandy The Creepy Doll inspecting Jake.

I feel pretty certain that I probably saw Jake that first year as my family spent many a summer on the Peninsula. Shopping at Marsh’s during a Long Beach visit is a must. Although Jake was once relegated to a dusty corner along with the two-headed calf and the shrunken head, he now has a whole display area with a variety of t-shirts, bumper stickers, posters, key chains and glassware dedicated to the Gatorman. And Creepy Dolls like him also.

The Infallible Wikipedia has done a poor job of telling the whole history of Jake.  What’s up with that?

So I will skip them this week and instead share the article which catapulted Jake into legend status back in 2008 when the World Weekly News published an article titled “Manigator Found.”

“MIAMI, Florida — The discovery of a bizarre half-human, half-alligator in the Florida Everglades has flabbergasted scientists who say the creature is alive, at least moderately intelligent and possibly even a distant ancestor of modern man!

That’s the world from paleontologist Dr. Paul Ledbrader, who studied the creature in his laboratory for almost three hours before state wildlife officials seized the 5-foot, 11-inch, 180-pound beast and airlifted it to a research facility just west of Miami.

Nobody at the state wildlife commission is talking. But Dr. Ledbrader says the U.S. Forest Service sent no fewer than five experts to the facility to study the reptile in the hope of determining exactly where it came from — and what it might be.

‘I know what it isn’t — and that’s an ordinary alligator,’ said Dr. Ledbrader.”

To read more of their amazing discovery, click here:

http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/1717/manigator-found/

Be sure to make plans to attend Jake’s 12th annual 75th birthday party in 2018: http://jakethealligatorman.com/

*2020 Update!*

Sadly, Jake’s birthday celebration – scheduled for Saturday, August 1st – was cancelled. But that did not stop Mr. Gator from donning a birthday hat, a couple feather boas, and celebrating with friends and fans who might happen to stop by his house. Of course, HE was NOT socially distancing but this friend was.  Perhaps next year. Be sure to mark your calendars for August 7, 2021. It’ll be a party.

20200802_120921

2021 Update – Jake’s birthday celebration has been cancelled for this year. Man, poor Jake is not feeling the love these days.