World Juggling Day is a holiday that encourages everyone to celebrate the art of juggling and is observed every year on the Saturday closest to June 17. Of course, how a person celebrates this holiday will largely depend on whether they know how to juggle. If they are a juggler, they will most certainly want to use their art on this day. On the other hand, if they are not a juggler, then they might want to learn more about juggling, learn how to juggle, or even just watch other people juggle.

The History of World Juggling Day

World Juggling Day was created by the International Jugglers’ Association as National Juggling Day. In 1995, they decided to give it a name that reflected its popularity around the world, so they renamed the holiday World Juggling Day. The date for this holiday was chosen because June 17 is when the International Jugglers’ Association was founded in 1947.

Some Amazing Facts About Juggling

We know that everyone reading about World Juggling Day is really into juggling, so we decided that we would put the work in and see if we could find out some facts about juggling. Fortunately, we were able to do just that and found the following amazing juggling facts that we think everyone is going to enjoy reading.

• It’s believed that juggling goes back over 4,000 years ago because paintings of people juggling have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs.
• The Chinese Book of Liezi gives a description of a warrior juggling seven different swords at the same time.
• Some Chinese warriors juggled before they went into battle to intimidate their enemies.
• Tagatus Ursus, a Roman juggler, is believed to have been the first person to ever juggle glass balls—at least, according to his tombstone.
• Norse mythology is full of stories of people juggling.
• During the 18th century, girls on the island of Tonga were often seen juggling nuts, limes, and gourds.
• During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Gentlemen Jugglers juggled while wearing formal evening attire.
• The greatest juggler of all time is Enrico Rastelli. He was born in 1896 and died in 1931 and was capable of juggling 9 balls at a time.
• During the 19th century, bounce juggling became popular among jugglers.
• Juggling is known to increase hand-eye coordination by at least 10%.
• Juggling burns up to 280 calories per hour.
• Juggling is an activity that engages both sides of the brain at the same time.
• St. Julian the Hospitaller is the patron saint of jugglers and has been since the 12th century.

Observing World Juggling Day

Grab yourself a few balls and let’s all take to the streets to do some juggling. If you’re an experienced juggler, you can amaze your friends and family with some advanced juggling methods, and if you’re inexperienced, then you can use this holiday to learn how to juggle. While you’re juggling, be sure to use the hashtag #WorldJugglingDay on your social media accounts to spread the word about it.