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National Bean Day (January 6)

Check out the weird holiday National Bean Day on January 6. Learn the history of National Bean Day, as well as get ideas on how to celebrate.

One weird holiday on January 6 is National Bean Day. Check out the other weird January holidays!

History of National Bean Day

In addition to being National Bean Day, today is also Dry Bean Day. Since the two are so similar, we’ve put them together in the same post.

In the late 1800s, the genetecist Gregor Mendel used bean and pea plants to develop theories on genetics in plants. He actually became known as the Father of Genetics, and his experiments on bean and pea plants led him to discover the laws of genetic inheritance.

January 6th is the day of his death (which occurred in 1884), so Bean Day is actually about celebrating the amazing science of beans rather than how good they taste.

The word “beans” is a term used for seeds of certain plant families (also known as legumes), and they are stuffed with proteins and complex carbohydrates. They’re also low in fat and high in iron and fiber as well.

There are about 40,000 bean varieties in the world! They have been used to feed civilizations for millenia, and today beans are one of the primary staples of diets through the world today.

One interesting thing about bean plants is that their leaves tilt towards the sun in midday and fold up during the night. Beans can also be dried for long-term storage very easily, and also have been used as currency (such as the cacoa bean) in historical times.

Ideas to Celebrate National Bean Day

Of course, making delicious bean recipes is one way to celebrate the weird holiday of Bean Day, but there are also so many other activities you can do with beans!

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