Up and Atom! October 23rd is Mole Day

October 23rd is Mole Day. No, not the subterranean mammal. Nor the beauty blemish on Cindy Crawford's face. Not even the delicious Mexican sauce. Mole Day celebrates a unit of measure postulated by a 19th-century molecular theorist, Amedeo Avogadro.

Why is October 23rd Mole Day? Because in Avogadro's Law, the unit of a mole is calculated as having 6.02 times 10 to the 23rd power atoms within it. You might have snoozed through this lesson in high school chemistry, but if you wanted to do well on the exam, you would have to get really familiar with Avogadro's constant.

Mole Day is celebrated yearly on October 23, rain or shine, from 6:02 a.m. through 6:02 p.m. Mole Day was initially created as a way of spurning interest in chemistry, and most high school chemistry teachers dedicate the day to Avogadro's number in a variety of fun activities.

How does one celebrate a geeky holiday like Mole Day? For starters, you can tell some of the worst pun jokes imaginable. The National Mole Day foundation website, MoleDay.org, has a comprehensive list of Mole Day jokes to impress your friends and unimpress the opposite sex. There, you'll learn that Avedeo Avogadro's favorite genre of music is "Rock 'N Mole."

You could perhaps sing the Mole Day song, entitled "Happy Mole Day To You," made popular on YouTube, and feel inspired to write your own Mole Day poems.

Mole Day is a total nerd holiday. Somewhere, in some chemistry lab, around 6:02 p.m. tonight, there will be a tearful toast to Amedeo Avogadro, and then chemistry fanatics will drink champagne out of their flasks; the glass ones, not the metallic, hip versions.

Most choose to worship the mole on October 23 every year, and the American Chemistry Society recognizes it as a holiday, making Mole Day the central focus of their yearly National Chemistry Week. However, some choose to celebrate Mole Day on June 6th from 10:23 a.m. to 10:23 p.m.

The diehard chemistry junkies will likely jump on any excuse to celebrate Mole Day, whether it's in the spring or fall. Science nerds have had a full slate of holidays every year, from Pi Day on March 14th, to this year's Square Root Day, which occurred on March 3, 2009 (3/3/9). The next Square Root day won't be until April 4, 2016 (4/4/16).

So, live it up while you can. Enjoy Mole Day for all it's worth. Tell some great Mole Day jokes, visit some moles at your local zoo, accuse co-workers of being moles, or just head out to a Mexican restaurant and order up some mole enchiladas. With extra guaca-mole.

Sources:
Wikipedia, "Avedeo Avogadro"
National Mole Day Foundation
MoleDay.org, "Mole Day Jokes"
Wikipedia, "Mole Day"