The holiday resulted from a sports injury. During a
racquetball game between Summers and Baur, one of them, in pain, said, "Aaarrr!" and the idea was born. The game took place on June 6, 1995, but out of respect for the observance of the
Normandy landings, they chose Summers' ex-wife's birthday, as it would be easy for him to remember. At first an inside joke between two friends, the holiday gained exposure when Baur and Summers sent a letter about their invented holiday to the American syndicated humor
columnist Dave Barry in 2002. and later appeared in a cameo in their
"Drunken Sailor" Sing Along A-Go-Go video. Michigan
filk musician
Tom Smith wrote the original "Talk Like a Pirate Day" song in 2003. Talk Like a Pirate Day is celebrated with hidden
easter egg features in many games and websites, with
Facebook introducing a pirate-translated version of its website on Talk Like a Pirate Day 2008 and publisher
O'Reilly discounting books on the
R programming language. In September 2010,
Reddit added a pirate theme to their website. In September 2023,
The Yorkshire Party, a regional political party in the UK, recognized International Talk Like a Pirate Day to highlight issues faced by coastal communities, including erosion and pollution. == See also ==