12/11/25 - Bagels, Apps, and Christmas Songs

Thursday 12/11/25

Celebrate:

International Mountain Day

National Noodle Ring Day

National Stretching Day

National Have a Bagel Day!

Popular Toppings and Fillings

Cream Cheese: The classic spread that goes with almost everything.

Smoked Salmon: A fancy touch, especially with cream cheese, capers, and red onion.

Butter and Jam: For a sweet twist, try butter with strawberry or raspberry jam.

Peanut Butter and Jelly: A quick and tasty option for kids and adults alike.

Egg and Cheese: For a breakfast bagel, scrambled eggs and melted cheese are filling and flavorful.

Veggie Toppings: Sliced cucumber, tomato, red onion, or sprouts add crunch and freshness.

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Today is National App Day. A 2025 study shows the average person has over 80 apps installed on their phone but uses only 9 of them daily. The most deleted app of the year is reportedly BeReal as the trend fades, while utility apps for "digital decluttering" are seeing record downloads.

Top 10 Most Popular Apps in 2025

Here’s a breakdown of the most downloaded and widely used apps this year:

1. TikTok – Still leading the short video game with AI-powered recommendations.

2. Instagram – Boosted by Reels and shopping integrations.

3. WhatsApp – Remains essential for global messaging and business communication.

4. Telegram – Rising in popularity due to privacy features and public channels.

5. CapCut – The go-to video editing tool for creators and influencers.

6. Facebook – Holding strong among older demographics and community groups.

7. Snapchat – A consistent hit among Gen Z with augmented reality features.

8. YouTube – Dominating long-form content and YouTube Shorts.

9. Spotify – The top platform for music, podcasts, and now audiobooks.

10.Threads – Meta’s rising star for real-time conversations and microblogging.

India: WhatsApp, Instagram, and YouTube top the charts.

USA: TikTok, Threads, and Snapchat are driving youth engagement.

Europe: Telegram and Spotify are increasingly dominant.

Apps and their Monthly Active Users

Facebook  2.9 billion

WhatsApp 2.6 billion

YouTube 2.4 billion

Instagram 2.2 billion

TikTok 2.0 billion

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Genologyexplained.com has a list of Christmas traditions that once defined the American holiday season (60s & 70s)—and then disappeared completely.

Christmas Club Savings Accounts

Every January, millions of Americans started depositing small amounts—$1 to $10 weekly—into special Christmas Club accounts.

By 1965, over 14 million Americans participated, saving over $2 billion annually.

Banks gave out payment books with 50 weekly coupons. Members got no interest, but banks mailed checks in early November.

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Who better to pick the best Christmas songs of all time than Billboard.com

1.  Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas is You (1994)

2.  Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (1963)

3.  Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song (1961)

4.  Wham! - Last Christmas (1984)

5.  Bing Crosby - White Christmas (1947)

6.  Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (1958)

7.  Jose Feliciano - Feliz Navidad (1970)

8.  Run-D.M.C. - Chrismas in Hollis (1987)

9.  Bruce Springsteen - Santa Clause is Coming to Town (1982)

10. Donny Hathaway - This Christmas (1970)

See their full list of 100 songs here.

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The 2026 Paddy Power World Darts Championship kicks off today (Dec 11) at Alexandra Palace in London. It has become a cult favorite event because the crowd dresses in insane costumes (traffic cones, bananas, nuns) and chants for hours while people throw tiny arrows.

Check out last year's crowd here.

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Ever have a hard time opening that candy cane???

The good people of BRACH's have some help for you this year!

They have devised The BRACH'S Cane Opener. This limited-edition, patent-pending holiday gadget is the only one of its kind specifically engineered to open candy canes. Using the tool is as simple as inserting the straight end of the candy cane into The BRACH'S Cane Opener and removing the cane.

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Today's Useless Fact of the Day - A Toilet Was Shown for the First Time in U.S. Cinema. The opening scene of Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller Psycho is set on December 11, 1959. More notably for useless trivia, this movie is the first American film to ever show a toilet flushing—when Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) flushes a note down the drain.

On TV, Leave It to Beaver was the first prime-time network program to show a toilet tank,  and the earliest programs to show a bathroom in any form.

All in the Family was the first show where you could hear a toilet flush. (1971)

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