World Hello Day

World Hello Day
Observed by 180 countries
Date November 21
Next time 21 November 2017 (2017-11-21)
Frequency Annual

World Hello Day is a secular holiday observed annually on November 21, to express that conflicts should be resolved through communication rather than the use of force. Participants verbally greet ten people or more on that day as an expression of the importance of personal communication in preserving peace. The annual global event began to be celebrated in 1973 as a response to the Yom Kippur War.

Background

Every year, November 21 is World Hello Day.[1] The objective is to say hello to at least ten people on the day. The message is for world leaders to use communication rather than force to settle conflicts.[2]

In the spring of 1973, Michael Ingbar, an official write-in candidate for the 2016 Presidential election, was on a pilot TV show in Los Angeles, proclaiming the idea that there should be one day a year that people should say "Hello" to at least 10 people they've never spoken to before. Strangers or even people that live or work in the same building that pass by each other each day for years would all of a sudden say "Hello". This idea of a starting to create world peace by communicating just a "Hello" would be a great idea. Ingbar never did anything other than come up with the idea and is very thankful, due to the hard work of the McCormacks, that the idea has come to fruition.

World Hello Day was founded in 1973 by Brian McCormack, a Ph.D. graduate of Arizona State University, and Michael McCormack, a graduate of Harvard University, in response to the Yom Kippur War. The McCormack brothers mailed 1,360 letters, in seven languages, to government leaders worldwide to encourage participation in the first World Hello Day.[3] Since that time, World Hello Day has been observed by people in 180 countries.[1]

Any person can participate in World Hello Day simply by greeting ten people or more. This demonstrates the importance of personal communication for preserving peace. World Hello Day was begun in response to the conflict between Egypt and Israel in the fall of 1973. People around the world use the occasion of World Hello Day as an opportunity to express their concern for world peace. Beginning with a simple greeting on World Hello Day, their activities send a message to leaders, encouraging them to use communication rather than force to settle conflicts. In its first year, World Hello Day gained the support of 15 countries.[4] As a global event World Hello Day joins local participation in a global expression of peace.

Thirty-one winners of the Nobel Peace Prize are among the people who have noted World Hello Day's value as an instrument for preserving peace and as an occasion that makes it possible for anyone in the world to contribute to the process of creating peace. Other supporters include almost 100 authors, entertainers, and world leaders.[4]

Michael McCormack

Michael McCormack has recalled since a young age of seven that he enjoyed writing and acting. He graduated Harvard University in 1974 and, during the fall of his senior year in 1973, he and his brother, Brian McCormack, started World Hello Day. Throughout his college years, McCormack was editor of the first-year literary magazine and a writer for the Lampoon, a semi-secret organization that publishes a humor magazine. Since the creation of World Hello Day, Michael J. McCormack has written several novels including, Gandhi's Last Book and "The Quotations of Chairman Meow", as well as plays like "Farewell Fillmore High". After graduating from Harvard, McCormack moved to New York City. In 1999, Michael McCormack was accepted to the University of California at Los Angeles film school for directing and subsequently moved to LA from Nebraska to follow his directing aspirations.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Gulf News Link up with others with a greeting on World Hello Day, November 20, 2008
  2. ↑ USA Today Looking Ahead, November 20, 2008
  3. ↑ The [Baltimore] Sun, 'Hellos' circle world today, November 21, 1981, page A3
  4. 1 2 3 "Bonjour, Hola, Shalom: Michael McCormack, Founder of World Hello Day". The Crimson. Retrieved 2 May 2015.

External links

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