National Hugging Day!

Everyone deserves a hug especially today because it’s National Hugging Day.  This day is observed annually on January 21st.

National Hugging Day started in 1986 by Kevin Zaborney.  Giving someone a hug has benefits to us like releasing oxytocin, which is a hormone associated with happiness.  It alleviates stress helping to lower the heart rate.  It stimulates the thymus gland, which relates the production of white blood cells which helps keep us healthy.

Everybody needs a hug especially when you are feeling down.  Remember the little boy, who became famous in social media giving an unconditional hug to everyone he was around, even to strangers.  The country is so divided right now with all the different political views and hatred rising.

The purpose of this day is to show unconditional emotion to everyone to encourage peace and love.  Give everyone a hug without judgment and remove the hatred in our hearts.  Let us embrace everyone even a stranger to make the world better.  If a child could give a hug why can’t we?  Hugs are free it won’t cost you anything but friendship expressing love to one another.

So, today, celebrate this day by giving everyone a big hug.  Let us share the love with everyone to encourage peace.  Share on social media the awareness using #NationalHuggingDay.

1990 John McEnroe disqualified from the Australian Open

On January 21, 1990, at the Australian Open in Melbourne, American tennis player John McEnroe becomes the first player since 1963 to be disqualified from a Grand Slam tournament for misconduct.

A left-handed serve-and-volleyer with a masterful touch, McEnroe was a dominant force in professional tennis in the early 1980s, winning three Wimbledon and four U.S. Open titles between 1979 and 1984, against such formidable opponents as Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, and Ivan Lendl. Over his career, he would win 17 total Grand Slams, including nine in men’s doubles and one in mixed doubles. His Davis Cup record was 41-8 in singles and 18-2 in doubles, and he helped the United States win five Cups. McEnroe’s masterful play was often overshadowed, however, by his explosive temper. Always a fan favorite, McEnroe was dubbed “Superbrat” by the British tabloids at the age of 20 and was famous on the tour for his constant arguments and badmouthing of umpires and linesmen.

At the 1990 Australian Open, the 30-year-old McEnroe was trying to win his first major tournament since the 1984 U.S. Open. On January 21, he took on Sweden’s Mikael Pernfors, a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion, in the fourth round. McEnroe won the first set easily, but Pernfors lifted the level of his game to win the second set.

(excerpted from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-mcenroe-disqualified-from-the-australian-open)