International Friendship Day is celebrated today
The International Friendship Day is celebrated on July 30, 2013. It is a day for celebrating friendship and takes place annually. Friendship Day was originally created by the greeting card industry. It was promoted by Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark cards in 1919, intended to be the first Sunday of August and a day when people celebrated their friendships by sending cards.
Friendship Day celebrations occur on different dates in different countries. The first celebration of this day was proposed for 30 July 1958. On 27 April 2011 the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 30 July as official International Friendship Day. However, some countries celebrate the day on the first Sunday of August. This day once was chosen because of the largest lull between holiday celebrations.
The exchange of Friendship Day gifts like flowers, cards and wrist bands is a popular tradition. The day is enthusiastically celebrated in a number of countries across the world. In 1998, Nane Annan, Secretary-General Kofi Annan, named Winnie the Pooh as world's Ambassador of Friendship at the United Nations, according to Cute Calendar.