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'Towel Day' is celebrated every May 25 as a tribute by fans of the late author Douglas Adams^[1]. The commemoration was first held in 2001, two weeks after his death on May 11, and since then has been extended to an annual event.^[2] On this day, fans carry a towel with them throughout the day^[3]. The towel is a reference to Adams's popular science fiction comedy series ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''.
Towel Day coincides with Nerd Pride Day, another holiday also celebrated on May 25.

Contents

Origin

Alternative dates

Towel Day in the news

Notes

External links

Origin

The original article that began Towel Day was posted at "Binary Freedom", a short lived open source forum.^[4]
Towel Day was an immediate success among the fans and many people sent in pictures to show off themselves with their towels.
'People ask ''Why a towel?''' and the answer is found in the third chapter of the first book. This and any further questions are answered at the Towel Day website where there also is a forum and a wiki. Please proceed with any trivial additions there instead of here.

Alternative dates

Other possible dates were 11 February (42nd day of the year), 11 March (Birthday), 2 April (4/2 using American date-writing conventions) or 4 February (4/2 using British date-writing conventions), 11 May (his death), 22 June (42 days after his death), and 18 October (42nd Thursday of his year of death). 25 May was chosen because it was as close to his death as expedient notification of fans could allow, and kept by custom although there were some attempts to switch to one of the alternate dates.

Towel Day in the news

Several news sources around the world have mentioned Towel Day, including the major Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, National Public Radio, Los Angeles and NRK Nyheter, another major Norwegian newspaper.
Towel Day was also recognized by several smaller members of the media, especially Swedish newspapers and news sites on the web.

Notes

1. BBC
2. USA Today reports on the first Towel Day Hitchhiker, grab your towel and don't panic!
3. Worldwide fans on Towel Day 2005
4. Clyde ponders the passing of an incredible mind. Reprint by The Binary Freedom Project

External links

★ Towel Day website

★ Fan posting proposing the idea on h2g2

★ Discordian version The holyday described in

★ People around the world celebrate Towel Day (in pictures)

★ Industrial Market Trends newsletter