Happy National OK Day, Okay?!

On this day in history in 1839, OK entered the national vernacular.

In the 1830s "OK" was part of local Boston slang and was propelled to national prominence when it first appeared in print in the Boston Morning Post. That happened on March 23, 1839. OK gained in popularity when it was picked up by politicians, thus securing its seat in history.

A bit of sleuthing by the late Allen Walker Read, a professor at Columbia University, fleshed out all the incorrect attributions to the origins of OK and Read's efforts led to uncovering OK's true origins and it's March 23 birthday.

Now, who is going to tell us when OK gained the correct spelling of “Okay?”

Read more on the History Channel's page: history.com/this-day-in-history/ok-enters-national-vernacular

What keeps Portland weird? A #happyday dance

Pharrell Williams an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, musician partnered with the United Nations (UN) Foundation on the International Day of Happiness. It's a feel good moment to encourage a happier, healthier world by donating to support the UN's humanitarian efforts.

The event launched last year, but is gathering momentum in year two with the addition of Williams' support.

As part of today's celebration, people were encouraged to take creative license and post a video to YouTube demonstrating their happiness against the background of Pharrell Williams' top-selling song “Happy.” Participating videos were registered and submitted to the website: 24hoursofhappiness.com.

Once on the 24 Hours of Happiness site, visitors are encouraged to make a donation to the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). The Fund was established to help the UN and its partners provide fast and reliable humanitarian assistance that directly supports critical aid operations for people affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts.

At noon, in time zones across the planet, 24hoursofhappiness.com will spotlight Pharrell Williams' top picks out of the massive list of submissions.

To promote the event and their own videos, producers, participants and friends are sharing their work across the web using the hashtag #HappyDay.

Expect to see #HappyDay a lot today, leading to videos spotlighting people acting happy, which means big smiles and jiggling all over the screen, i.e., goofy.

In our local area KGW Media Group produced this video showing news anchor Joe Donlon breakdancing as Tracy Barry cheers, Brenda Braxton showing us some very cool moves, Nick Allard photo bombing a very hip looking Russ Lewis, Stephanie Stricklen leading the crew at the KGW Square, Laurel Porter dancing down the hall and Drew Carney showing her how it should be done in his typical little-boy-joy mode only to be challenged in the goofball department by Matt Zaffino and his gold tie. Cameos by lesser known folks in the advertising department are interspersed with people on the street demonstrating what keeps Portland Portland, i.e., weird. 

Me? I'm #kgwhappy today.