Evening, how are you? Tomorrow Charlie and I have a event to attend on top of Homeschooling and David is off. I wasn’t sure how much work I would be able to accomplish with Charlie and David both being home and this is why I wanted to bring you our series sharing Unique Holidays: September 23rd, 2021 with you this evening.
Checkers Day / Dogs in Politics Day
Charlie and I would like to ask you to get out the Checker Board because today is Checkers Day. My question for you is do you want the red checkers? Or, the black ones? Charlie says never mind he will chose first and he would like the Black Checkers. I hope you don’t mind.
Now, I have a surprise to share with you that you might want to know that its also Dogs in Politics Day. To find out why you will need to read on, and we will explain.
History and Origin of Checkers Day:
In 1952, Richard M. Nixon was a candidate for Vice-President of the United States, running with Dwight D. Eisenhower. Media speculation centered around an $18,000 campaign contribution, and speculation that Nixon may have used some for his personal use. In a brilliant political maneuver, Nixon took his case to the American people.
On September 23, 1952, Richard Nixon gave a speech that directly addressed and explained the issue. Richard Nixon assured the public that he did not use any of the funds for personal use. Towards the end of the speech, he stated that his daughters had received a dog, which they named “Checkers”, as a gift and Richard Nixon said they would keep the dog.
This speech quickly became known as the “Checkers” speech, and went on to be one of the better speeches in American political history.
With “Checkers” the dog included in the speech, this day was sometimes referred to as Dogs in Politics Day.
UK’s National Fitness Day – Fourth Thursday in September
Today is National Fitness Day in the United Kingdom and the Holiday was created to celebrate the fun of fitness and physical exercise. According to the creators, this day is intended to “inspire people to commit to changing their routines by adding physical exercise and workouts for a lifetime of better health”.
Most people know full well, that physical exercise and a regular routine of working out leads to a healthier, more energetic life. Perhaps best of all, exercise can extend your life by many, many years. So, why is working out so hard to do? Why is it so easy to slip and get away from taking the best of care of our bodies?
For one thing, working out takes time and dedication. We all have busy schedules and it is an easy “cop out” to say we’re too busy to go to the gym. Secondly, going to the refrigerator to grab a bite to eat or a bottle of beer, is much easier than working out or jogging for a half hour or so. And, walking back and forth to the refrigerator is exercise, isn’t’ it!?
The excuses must stop and this means today is a call to action, and a call to help you to live years longer and to live healthier for longer. Put on your jogging shorts and shoes and hit the pavement. Or, head off to the gym and begin to tone up those muscles, while you improve your lung capacity and heart health.
Before your head hits the pillow tonight, you have one more task that you must perform. Pull out your calendar for the month and pencil in a regular and routine time on your calendar to continue what you’ve started today. Better still, mark it on your calendar in ink, so you can’t erase it!
Did you know there are two “National Fitness” days. One in the U.S. in May and the other is in the United Kingdom, and is celebrated in September. It is great to have a day in these two Countries to promote physical health and well being.
However, this is an issue for all human beings all over the Planet and we might suggest that the creators of these two important Holiday events, get together to expand this to an International Holiday held on a single date. Short of that, we encourage people all over the world to celebrate both of these Holidays by doing things to get healthy and to stay healthy.
Related Holidays:
History and Origin of UK’s National Fitness Day:
This Holiday event in the United Kingdom was created in 2014 and the Holiday was initiated by Sanofi and PPP Health Care. This Holiday is the biggest celebration of physical activity in the United Kingdom.
This day is referred to as a “National” Day unfortunately, we can not confirm this as we have no access to Historical records of British Parliament. and we also have not heard of any proclamation from the Queen Mum about this day.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
