National what day?

June 12, 2002

Everyone knows June 16 means oohing over Dad's new tie. But what else is special about today and the rest of the month? Consider these possibilities for family fun:

For floral types: Get out in the yard to celebrate Perennial Gardening Month and National Rose Month. While you're feeling festive, kick up your heels for National Accordion Awareness Month.

Or, if it's gustatory high jinks you're after, why not plan your party around those "famous" June events National Iced Tea Month, Turkey Lovers' Month, and Dairy Month? Or go all-out during the four-month celebration of Gazpacho Aficionado Time (June 1 to Oct. 31).

More independent-spirited revelers may want to celebrate Russian Independence Day and Philippine Independence Day, both June 12. And it's a good week for baseball fans: June 10 to 16 is National Little League Baseball Week, and June 12 is the 63rd anniversary of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

But if serious contemplation is what you're after, Wednesday is the 35th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, the US Supreme Court decision that made all state laws banning interracial marriage unconstitutional. It is also the birth date of young German diarist Anne Frank (June 12, 1929), as well as the birthday of former US President George Herbert Walker Bush.