4/20/26 - Dude! It's 4-20, Patriots Day and Marathons, and Sandwiches

Monday 4/20/26

1971 - Five friends at San Rafael High School in California coined the term "4:20" as a euphemism for smoking pot. (maybe) April 20th becomes a popular day to spark one up, as does 4:20 pm. Note that the Boston song "Smokin'" clocks in at 4 minutes, 20 seconds, and if you multiply the title numbers in Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 And #35," you get 420.

Celebrate:

Chinese Language Day

Doge Day - the cryptocurrency

Lima Bean Respect Day

National Cheddar Fries Day

National Cold Brew Day

National Look Alike Day

National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day

Patriots' Day

Volunteer Recognition Day

Today is Patriots' Day in Massachusetts and Maine, a state holiday commemorating the first battles of the American Revolution in Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. The holiday, observed on the third Monday of April since 1894, features reenactments of Paul Revere's midnight ride and the famous confrontations at Lexington Green and Concord's North Bridge—the site where Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote of "the shot heard round the world" . It's also Marathon Monday, with the 130th running of the Boston Marathon drawing thousands of spectators to the 26.2-mile course from Hopkinton to Boylston Street.

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Speaking of Marathons.

The 2026 Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon happened over the weekend.

A humanoid robot just ran a half-marathon faster than the world record holder. It might not seem impressive at first, but considering last year, the fastest robot at Beijing’s humanoid robot half-marathon finished in two hours and 40 minutes, this is a huge achievement. 

As reported by the Associated Press, the winning robot at this year’s Beijing half-marathon crossed the finish line in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, comfortably beating the human world record of 57 minutes recently set by Jacob Kiplimo. 

The only use for this in my eyes is if I could use one to take my place in a marathon! I'm not running it!

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The U.S. Census Bureau released a series of data tables of the most common first and last names reported in the 2020 Census.

Eight of the top 15 last names in 1790, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020 have stayed in the top 15 since the first census in 1790. The names are Brown, Davis, Johnson, Jones, Miller, Smith, Williams, and Wilson.

The most notable change over time in the top 15 surnames is the addition of predominantly Hispanic last names. Since 2000, six Hispanic last names have joined the top 15. They are Garcia, Gonzalez, Hernandez, Lopez, Martinez, and Rodriguez.

Even though the number of women exceeded the number of men in the United States in 2020, the top five most common first names were all predominantly male. This shows female names have more variety than male names.

In 2020, most first names were almost entirely male, such as Michael, John and James, or almost entirely female, such as Mary, Maria and Jennifer. There were also several first names among the top 1,000 that were close to a 50/50 split between males and females, such as Harley, Emerson and Quinn. For these names, the probability of an individual being male or female is nearly equal. 

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In the United States, the classification of a "sandwich" is a famous quirk of food regulation, as jurisdiction is split between the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) based on the sandwich's construction and meat content. The USDA doesn't usually get involved if there's no meat.

Some of the categories are for labeling and tax purposes.

Open-faced Sandwich - 

Must contain at least 50% cooked meat.

Closed-Faced Sandwich - 

Must contain at least 35% cooked meat.

Must contain no more than 50% bread.

Hot Dogs are sandwich-like and classified as sausage.

Stromboli is made by wrapping meat in a single sheet of dough and then baking it, it is legally classified as a meat turnover or meat-filled pastry.

Calzone is a meat turnover

Pizza is so appetizing in its classification, Meat Food Product.

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Google Trends shows a massive 18% spike in people switching from metal straws to glass straws this week. Apparently, we've collectively decided that the "clink" of glass is better than the "metallic" taste of the old ones.

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For those of you who didn't hate shop class in High School - 

Forget shopping malls — young consumers in China are flocking to DIY workshops instead. The trend reflects a broader shift from buying mass-produced goods to investing in "emotional satisfaction" and shared experiences. In Shanghai, weekend sessions are routinely full, with one workshop's one-hour bead-crafting session logging more than 11,000 purchases in a year.

Data from business registration platform Qichacha shows that 6,955 handicraft-related enterprises were registered in China last year, up 31 percent year on year. 

As economist Guan Qingyou explains: "Consumers are paying more attention to the overall process and the emotional satisfaction that comes with it, rather than simply owning goods" .

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Today's Useless Fact of the Day - Since we have been space crazy with the Artemis mission, On April 20, 1972, the lunar module Orion landed on the moon with the Apollo 17 mission. Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke spent nearly three days on the lunar surface, collecting 211 pounds of rock samples.