National Bean Day

According to a number of online sources, National Bean Day was created by Paula Bowen. Some sources claim she chose the date because it is the birthday of Rowan Atkinson, the British comic who is best known for playing Mr. Bean, while others say she chose the date because it is the anniversary of the 1884 death of Gregor Mendel, a German-Czech geneticist and biologist who used legumes in his experiments and whose work forms the basis for modern genetics. Bowen is also said to have created the day because her father was a pinto bean farmer and she grew up eating a lot of the beans. Some sources also say she started the holiday because there "weren't many holidays in January to celebrate" and because "January is so bleak." Newspaper articles about the holiday from the 2000s don't mention Bowen, Atkinson, or Mendel, and simply state the holiday is for celebrating beans. In light of all this, National Bean Day may be for celebrating Mr. Bean, beans, or Gregor Mendel.

There are approximately 40,000 bean varieties, but only a small amount of them are cultivated for consumption. Some of the most common are garbanzo (chickpea), lima, soy, green, white, black, pinto, kidney, and navy, as well as black-eyed peas. Beans have many nutritional benefits. They are high in protein and an important source of it, especially for vegetarians. Beans are made up of complex carbohydrates and are fat-free. They are known for their fiber and are both soluble and insoluble. The former helps to lower blood cholesterol. Beans also have substantial amounts of potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and antioxidants, as well as folate, which helps lower the risk of heart disease. Beans have great versatility and are used to prepare many dishes. They are mixed in soups, are the heart of baked beans, are used in casseroles such as green bean casserole, are stuffed in tacos, and blended to make hummus. With such versatility, there are so many ways to celebrate with them today.

Rowan Atkinson was born on January 6, 1955, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He had a number of roles before playing Mr. Bean in Mr. Bean. In the 1970s, Atkinson delighted audiences at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with his schoolmaster sketch. He began to rise to fame and then entered into the homes of Britons in 1979 with the satirical Not the Nine O'Clock News. He played Edmund Blackadder in Blackadder, which he co-wrote with frequent collaborator Richard Curtis. Released in 1983, it was the first of four installments in the Blackadder series, with Blackadder II following in 1986. With Blackadder Atkinson became regarded as one of Britain's foremost comedic actors.

Then came Mr. Bean, in which Atkinson played the titular character, Mr. Bean. Again co-created by Richard Curtis, the British sitcom was the most popular comedy in the country for a time. The pilot episode, "Mr. Bean," aired on January 1, 1990. The final episode, the compilation episode "The Best Bits of Mr. Bean," aired on December 15, 1995. There were just 15 episodes during the show's five-year run.

Mr. Bean is a face-contorting buffoon, a bumbling and grunting man-child who is almost mute. He is immature, petty, selfish, and clumsy. Atkinson had honed Mr. Bean in the years before the character's television debut. For instance, he used him at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal in 1987. There he performed his routine on the French stage, wanting to test out how his physical comedy would be received by an international audience. In creating Mr. Bean, Atkinson was influenced by Monsieur Hulot, a character portrayed by French comic Jacques Tati, as well as by Peter Sellers, particularly by his roles in The Party and The Pink Panther films. The influence of early silent films are also apparent.

On the show, Mr. Bean repeatedly gets himself into problems while attempting to complete mundane, everyday tasks, and then tries to get out of those problems in unconventional, humorous ways. He usually is seen wearing a brown tweed suit jacket and a red skinny tie, he has a teddy bear named Teddy, and he drives a citron-green 1977 British Leyland Mini 1000 Mark 4. When asked by others what his name is, he answers "Bean" in a low-pitched voice. His birthday is sometimes given as January 6, the same date as Atkinson's.

Mr. Bean wasn't limited to the television program. He made the leap to the big screen in 1997 with Bean and followed it a decade later with Mr. Bean's Holiday. Mr. Bean also was the star of Mr. Bean: The Animated Series, which debuted in 2002. While he has had other acting credits, Mr. Bean remains Rowan Atkinson's most enduring and iconic role. Mr. Bean is celebrated today, on National Bean Day, along with beans and Gregor Mendel.

How to Observe National Bean Day

• Eat some beans! There are many bean centered-dishes you could make and try. Maybe you could even host a bean dish party potluck. Here are a few recipes to get you started:
  • three bean casserole
  • texas caviar
  • green bean casserole
  • black bean burgers
  • chili
  • soup
  • rice and beans
  • baked beans
  • hummus
• Watch episodes of Mr. Bean.
• Watch Bean or Mr. Bean's Holiday.
• Visit the Mr. Bean website, from which you can access content such as the Mr. Bean store and YouTube channel which has clips and episodes featuring Mr. Bean.
• Watch Mr. Bean: The Animated Series.
• Watch episodes of Not the Nine O'Clock News or Blackadder.
• Watch Rowan Atkinson take part in the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.
• Watch Happy Birthday, Mr. Bean, a documentary in honor of Mr. Bean's thirtieth anniversary, or a clip of Atkinson speaking about Mr. Bean and his other roles.
• Read a book about Gregor Mendel.
• Watch The Garden of Inheritance: Gregor Mendel.
• Read Beans: A History or another book about beans.

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