If you’ve no idea why the #TowelDay hashtag has overwhelmed the Internet today, have no fear: We’re here to help.
First, let’s be clear it’s nothing to do with a pot-smoking anthropomorphic towel on South Park.
Since 2001, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy fans have celebrated the life of legendary sci-fi humorist Douglas Adams by carrying around a towel.
The first Towel Day was held two weeks after his death on May 11, 2001 and was first suggested on a short-lived forum called Binary Freedom.
In Douglas’ hugely popular Hitchhiker’s universe, the importance of towels can’t be overstated. As Adams wrote, a towel, after all, is “about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.”
The Towel Day website notes some of the more unusual events taking place around the globe, from an emergency drill for would-be galactic hitchhikers in Brasilia and flash mobs in Toronto, to poetry readings in Finland and teachers giving lectures while wearing towels around their necks in a Slovenian school.
This year’s edition of Towel Day was celebrated in force by the Web’s citizens too. If you’ve yet to get involved in the festivities, there’s still time. Don’t panic.
Photo by kzuka
