You've probably not heard this one before, but May 16th is National Piercing Day.

The first thing to remember is that like every other holiday in the history of the world that came before it, this holiday got started by some fans of piercing who decided it would be fun to declare a new holiday in honor of body piercing. ALL holidays start out this way. Think about Pi Day (March 14) which honors that which makes calculating circumference possible, or Talk Like A Pirate Day (September 19) which is pretty self-explanatory. However, just because it's newly made-up doesn't mean you can't celebrate it if you choose to do so.

National Piercing Day got its start in 2007. A web site called GoofyAuctions.com was the one to get the ball rolling and just by posting to MySpace with their declaration of a day for body piercing, a baby holiday was born. No word yet on how or why May 16th was picked, but that's the "holey" day. Thanks to the viral nature of the internet and the strange phenomena of young people automatically believing everything they read on it, word of this proposed holiday spread as though it were the gospel.

Like all unofficial holidays, this one is not recognized by any official government agencies or institutions, so trying to get the day off from work or school for it isn't going to work. BMEzine doesn't even seem to recognize it yet, and they are the largest online body arts community around, so that tells you something. However, if you're lucky, your local body piercing studio might think it's a cute idea and offer discounts on that day.

How To Celebrate National Piercing Day

When May 16th rolls around, here are some ways you can mark the occasion.

• Offer support to organizations working to help people who've suffered piercing discrimination at their places of work
  
• Lobby your state for fair and balanced piercing health regulations and laws
  
• Support your local body piercing shop and get a new piercing or some nice new jewelry