Hmph! It’s always been a good day for me. I was the first grandchild on both sides of the family, so I’m sure my birth was an exciting event. To prove it, I literally had a silver spoon. We weren’t rich, so I also had paper plates making me a well-grounded person (at least that’s what I tell myself). When I was little, Mom and Dad would throw birthday parties and my mom would make a fancy Barbie doll cake. My friends and I loved these, not only did the cake look and taste wonderful, but Mom would wrap quarters, nickels and dimes in tinfoil and bake them in the cake. This meant that along with a lucrative surprise you also got the experience of biting on tinfoil. As a metaphor for life, you could do worse.

In fairness, I had to ask myself, Besides the wonder of my arrival on the planet, was April 11 truly THE most boring day? I suspected it might be because of our calendar. Let me explain.

Several years ago, I thought of a fun Christmas gift for my husband. He has a weird knack for remembering birthdays. Not just family and friends, but celebrities too. Wake him up from a sound sleep and ask him when Cher’s birthday is, and he can probably tell you (May 20). I looked up famous birthdays online for every day of the year and wrote them on a calendar.

He loved it. So much so that I’ve been stuck making one every year since. But I like it too. It’s fun to wake up and see that it’s Oprah’s birthday (Jan. 29) or M.C. Esher and Venus Williams birthday on June 17. I consider all these people to be friends even though I’ve never met them.

A funny thing that I noticed was that the birthdays didn’t distribute themselves evenly. For example, loads of interesting people were born on Nov. 30: Woody Allen, Billy Idol, Winston Churchill, Clay Aiken, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Jonathan Swift, Colin Mochrie, Ben Stiller, Dick Clark and Mark Twain to name just a few.

But for some reason, the only person I care about who was born on Nov. 18 was Alan Shepard, the astronaut.

April 11? Absolutely nobody. Just as well, I want all the attention to myself anyway.

But what about history? Has anything ever happened on April 11? Yes and no. The world doesn’t stop existing on that day after all.

Most of the events are forgettable except to those concerned. Henry Ford married Clara Jane Bryant and President Carter once hosted the White House Easter Egg roll on the 11th. But a few important events happened despite the date. The civil rights act was signed into law, dictator Idi Amin (aka “The Butcher) was overthrown, Napoleon surrendered, and the Apple one computer was released.

My favorite fun fact is that the famous Apollo 13 spacecraft was launched. This was the one that was meant to go to the moon, but major parts of it blew up along the way. Miraculously, NASA managed to get the three astronauts back home, thus paving the way for my favorite movie, Apollo 13, starring Tom Hanks (July 9).

But whatever anyone says (or doesn’t say, more likely) April 11 is a great day even though it usually rains. Actually, any day where I get to sleep in and eat cake is a great day.

And just think, all over the world babies are being born on April 11 who will grow up to be brave, kind and talented men and women.

This is our day.

Anneli Byrd is an academic adviser in Weber State University’s Student Success Center.