February 14, 2022 - National Ferris Wheel Day | Valentine's Day

Welcome to February 14th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate reaching new heights and what the birds teach us about love. The past few decades have seen an odd trend taking place. Cities trying to outdo one another with giant Ferris wheels. On New Year’s Eve 1999, the London Eye was unveiled and stood at a height of 443 feet. A few years later, China built one that was 525 feet tall. Then Singapore outdid them. That was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world until The High Roller in Las Vegas opened for business. It looks over the Strip from 550 feet up in the sky. But last year, Dubai raised the bar to ridiculous heights with a Ferris Wheel that towers over the city at a height of 820 FEET. On National Ferris Wheel Day, celebrate your own corner of the sky. Valentine’s Day has not always been about romance. For that we can thank the Medieval English author Geoffrey Chaucer. In his poem Parliament of Fowls, he tells the tale of a group of birds who come together each Valentine’s Day to find a mate. Three male eagles compete with one another to see which can claim a female’s love. This popularized the idea of the holiday being about love and romance. And the tradition lives on to this day. Spoiler alert, in the poem, none of the eagles gets the girl, so don’t feel bad if you haven’t found your true love just yet. Celebrate Valentine's Day with the one you love, even if it’s yourself. After all, this love thing can really be for the birds. I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices