TODAY’S NATIONAL DAY, 9/16/25 – MAYFLOWER DAY!

On September 16, 1620, a ship set sail from Plymouth, England. On board were 102 men, women and children, pilgrims to an unknown New World, mostly English Separatists and Puritans, which makes today

NATIONAL MAYFLOWER DAY!

We can thank the Mayflower for America’s Puritan streak, best described by H.L. Menken as “the haunting fear that somewhere, someone was having fun.”

The Puritans did not flee religious persecution in England, but instead stalked out in a huff because there wasn’t nearly enough religious persecution to suit their tastes.

Before you could say “throw him in the stocks,” New England was Scarlet Letter Central, burning witches, shunning fornicators and outlawing bowling on Sundays.

It wasn’t until Roger Williams restored sanity in Rhode Island that America got a taste of religious freedom and Separation of Church and State.

Tolerance had arrived, and the Puritans went underground, surfacing only for opportunities to not dance. It’s a thankless job, but someone’s got to be the Puritans. Just be grateful it’s not you.

*Suggested Activities: Being scandalized, praying for plagues.