World Humanist Day, June 21

World Humanist Day is celebrated annually on June 21 throughout the world.

Marking the day is a way to spread information about the positive aspects of Humanism as a philosophical life stance and means to effect change in the world.

The origin was in the 1980s, when several state chapters of the American Humanist Association (AHA) began celebrating World Humanist Day. Different chapters had different ideas as to when that day should be. Some chapters, for example, preferred the anniversary of the founding of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), while other chapters celebrated a Humanist Day on different dates of significance. In the late 1980s-early 1990s, the AHA and then the IHEU passed resolutions declaring the Summer Solstice to be World Humanist Day. In both cases it was done as twin resolutions: the first to decide that there should actually be a World Humanist Day, the second to decide when that day should be.

At present, World Humanist Day is getting more and more celebrated each year. Groups and organizations are beginning plan events and activities. The Campus Freethought Alliance, for instance, holds its annual conference on World Humanist Day.