Black Friday

Today is "Black Friday" in America, so-called because it's the day that retail businesses go from the red to the black for the year. It's the biggest shopping day of the year; economists estimate that between midnight last night and midnight tonight, Americans will spend more than 27 billion dollars, or about $90 for every breathing homo sapiens sapiens in the land, the invalid, infant, and immigrant included. Naturally—although I'll eventually buy my loved ones Christmas gifts like everybody else—I'm celebrating the day by staying home and spending nothing.

Posted by: MIKE JOHNSTON, with thanks to Peter for the link

UPDATE: Turns out I'm wrong about Black Friday being the biggest shopping day of the year. It ranks among the top days in terms of shopping traffic, but the biggest day in terms of sales is more commonly the last Saturday before Christmas.

According to statistics published by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the top shopping days for the years 1993 through 2002 were:

• 2002: Saturday, Dec. 21
• 2001: Saturday, Dec. 22
• 2000: Saturday, Dec. 23
• 1999: Saturday, Dec. 18
• 1998: Saturday, Dec. 19
• 1997: Saturday, Dec. 20
• 1996: Saturday, Dec. 21
• 1995: Saturday, Dec. 23
• 1994: Friday, Dec. 23
• 1993: Thursday, Dec. 23

For those years, "Black Friday" held the following positions in the ICSC's rankings of year's busiest shopping days:

• 2002: #4
• 2001: #6
• 2000: #5
• 1999: #8
• 1998: #8
• 1997: #7
• 1996: #5
• 1995: #7
• 1994: #8
• 1993: #8

(Source: snopes.com)