The calendar was getting crowded.
Coffin had an idea.
In 1972, humor columnist Harold Pullman Coffin proposed a day when Americans could sit without celebrating or honoring anything. The first observance followed on January 16, 1973.
His joke was about the growing number of special days. In a 1977 Associated Press story, Coffin explained that he wanted Americans to have one day free from the demand to observe or celebrate anything.
Today, people also use the day as an excuse to rest. That's fine by us. Stay a while. Or don't.
How do you celebrate nothing?
There's no required routine. Leave a little time unplanned, enjoy the joke, or carry on with your day.
People were putting it on their calendars early. The January 11, 1974 issue of The Roundup, the newspaper at Reese Air Force Base in Texas, listed National Nothing Day at its recreation center for January 16. Even a day about nothing gets a calendar entry.
In 2022, 200 people signed up for a Swap-bot exchange with instructions to send nothing and expect nothing.
In WBZ's 2026 Boston street interviews, some people welcomed the idea of a break. Others weren't especially interested. A Nothing Day can survive a little indifference.
Is it an official day off?
No. National Nothing Day is an unofficial U.S. observance, and it isn't on the federal holiday calendar. Work and school don't automatically stop.
Other occasions still matter. In some years January 16 is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Taking a quiet moment doesn't ask you to set those observances aside.
History sources: National Day Calendar and Associated Press, Midland Reporter-Telegram, January 21, 1977.
An independent tribute to National Nothing Day. Research updated October 3, 2026.