National Sea Monkey Day
Sea-Monkey, the tiny brine shrimp, is better known by its brand name. Many of us commemorate fond childhood memories of National Sea Monkey Day each year as we look back to our aquariums stocked with these magical little creatures that hatched and grew before our eyes on the 16th of May.
#nationalseamonkeyday
Sea Monkeys are a form of Artemia (brine shrimp). They were given their name because of their monkey-tail appearance.
In 1957, Harold von Braunhut invented the "Sea Monkeys" and hatching kits in response to the ant farms' success. He did the bulk of his advertising through comic books. "I think I bought something like 3.2 million pages of comic book ads a year," he said. "It's been a pleasure to me" says the website.
These little crustaceans have made their appearances on television shows including Spin City, Roseanne, Night Court, South Park, The Simpsons, It's Garry Shandling's Show, and Desperate Housewives.
On October 29, 1998, aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, Sea Monkeys also went into space with astronaut John Glenn. They returned to Earth after nine days in space, and the eggs hatched eight weeks later, apparently unaffected by their travels.
How to celebrate national sea monkey day
Describe your Sea Monkey encounters. Is there any swimming in the area right now? To post on social media, post a snapshot using #NationalSeaMonkeyDay.
