April 26, 2021 – National Richter Scale Day | National Pretzel Day

This 550 Million Dollar Industry Started As A Little Reward For Kids Who Learned Their Prayers!

Welcome to April 26, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate big shakes up and little rewards. 

The West Coast of the United States is a beautiful place that has seen its fair share of earthquakes. In fact, the earthquake that rocked San Francisco in 1906 is one of the biggest on record. The state’s frequent seismic activity inspired Charles Richter to develop a way to measure them. This formula, which we know as the Richter Scale, records the magnitude of earthquakes and earth tremors. It’s roughly based on a factor of 10. In other words, a Category 4 earthquake isn’t a small increase from Category 3, it’s ten times the size. Thanks to his work, scientists are able to categorize and study the phenomenon that literally shakes things up. On National Richter Scale Day, we celebrate the guy who helps us get a grip on an otherwise rocky world.

Did you know that the shape of a pretzel was based on the folded arms of someone in prayer?  In 610 AD an Italian monk invented the snack as a reward for young children who learned their prayers.  He called them pretiola, which means little reward.  Hard pretzels originated in the United States in 1850 and today, 80 percent of both kinds are made in Philadelphia.  Maybe that’s why folks from this state eat 12 times as many pretzels as the rest of us.  They even boast a pretzel museum which opened in 1993. Little did that first monk know that his little reward would be served to rowdy sports fans at ballparks and malls.  Or that pretiola would become an annual 550 million dollar industry.  On National Pretzel Day celebrate the little reward with big returns.  

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.


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