Honesty Day

Honesty Day is celebrated on April 30th in the United States to encourage honesty and straightforward communication in politics, relationships, consumer relations and historical education. It was invented by M. Hirsh Goldberg, who chose the last day of April for two reasons. First, since the first day of that month, which is April Fools' Day, celebrates falsehoods. Second, it is the anniversary of the First inauguration of George Washington on April 30th, 1789.

History

M. Hirsh Goldberg, who was a former press secretary of Maryland and writer of many novels, created the holiday in the early 1990s while writing the first draft and researching for his book The Book of Lies: Fibs, Tales, Schemes, Scams, Fakes, and Frauds That Have Changed The Course of History and Affect Our Daily Lives. People can ask each other questions and expect radically honest answers on Honesty Day, provided each of them are aware of the holiday.

Honesty Day is a campaign for prevention against political lies, and serves to increase awareness of the most deceitful lies in history such as the 1972 Richard Nixon Watergate Scandal, France’s Dreyfus Affair, and Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme. It is to urge politicians to stay away from lies and tell the truth. Every April 30th, Goldberg himself gives out honesty awards to companies, organizations, groups, and individuals that have remained truthful to their people.

Trivia

According to Times Dispatch, a recent Gallup poll found that nurses are the most honest people. In contrast, lobbyists, salesmen, and members of Congress are supposedly the least honest people.

According to Goldberg’s book The Book of Lies: Fibs, Tales, Schemes, Scams, Fakes, and Frauds That Have Changed The Course of History and Affect Our Daily Lives, the average person lies about 200 times a day with lies including omission and white lies.

According to a poll conducted by London’s Science Museum upon 3,000 British citizens, the average British man tells three lies a day, while the average woman tells two lies a day. The average lie for a man is “I didn’t drink that much!” and for a woman it is “Nothings wrong, i'm fine”. Also according to the poll, people are more than likely to lie to their mothers.

Worldwide

Italy also observes national truth day in December on the Sunday before Christmas . Like Honesty Day in the United States, the purpose of the holiday in Italy serves as a day to protest against commercial manipulation and exploitation as well as unfulfilled promises. It is celebrated on October the 23 in Australia.