National Let’s Laugh Day (March 19th)

Quick facts
When is it?	Every March 19th
Tagged as:	Attitudes & Emotions Life & Living Silly & Humorous
What's the hashtag?	#NationalLetsLaughDay
We first published this page on:	Nov 21st, 2022
We last updated this page:	Feb 17th, 2026

Contents

Some people believe that laughter truly is the best medicine! And the purpose of National Let’s Laugh Day is simply to bring out the best in everyone by reminding them to laugh together.

This day acts as a siren call to encourage everyone to bring out their giggles, chuckles, howls, roars and guffaws because taking things too seriously just can’t be tolerated on such a day.

It’s time to enjoy National Let’s Laugh Day!

National Let’s Laugh Day Timeline

c. 1900 BCE

Earliest Recorded Joke

A proverb from ancient Sumer, recorded on a cuneiform tablet, is considered one of the world’s oldest written jokes and shows humans using humor thousands of years ago.

c. 335 BCE

Aristotle Analyzes Humor

In the now-lost second book of his “Poetics” and in surviving works like “Rhetoric,” Aristotle attempts one of the first systematic philosophical accounts of comedy, wit, and why people laugh.

Late 5th century BCE

Greek Old Comedy Flourishes

Playwright Aristophanes stages political and social satires in Athens, demonstrating how public laughter and comedy can challenge leaders and bond audiences.

1530

“Praise of Folly” Popularizes Satirical Laughter

Desiderius Erasmus’s satirical essay “The Praise of Folly” circulates widely in Europe, using wit and irony to criticize social and religious abuses through laughter.

1895

Birth of Film Comedy

The Lumière brothers’ short films and, soon after, early screen comedians like Max Linder lead to cinematic slapstick, bringing shared laughter into motion picture theaters.

1950

Television Laugh Track Invented

Sound engineer Charles Douglass develops the “Laff Box,” a mechanical device that adds recorded laughter to TV shows, shaping how audiences experience televised humor.

1979

Gelotology and Humor Research Advance

Psychiatrist William F. Fry Jr., often called a founder of gelotology, publishes work on laughter as “internal jogging,” helping establish the scientific study of laughter’s effects on the body.

History of National Let’s Laugh Day

Laughter has a history that probably dates back as far as humankind. In fact, the world’s oldest written joke may come from as far back as 4000 years ago.

Because it is a reaction that brings about the release of hormones that keep people happy and healthy, laughter is not only mentally good for the human condition, but it is also healthy for the physical body.

In 2019, the candy company, Laffy Taffy, acted as a sponsor of National Let’s Laugh Day. The beloved candy company has been doling out jokes on its candy wrappers for around 50 years.

That year, the folks at Laffy Taffy took a survey of at least 1500 Americans where they aimed to learn all about laughter. Through the survey, Laffy Taffy discovered that 98% of the Americans surveyed enjoyed making other people laugh.

National Let’s Laugh Day gives everyone a special opportunity to not only be joyful themselves, but to spread joy to many other people in the world.

Tell a joke, share some comic relief through a meme online, or watch a hilarious comedy show or movie. Whatever way people choose to celebrate, there is tons of fun to be had for National Let’s Laugh Day!

How to Celebrate National Let’s Laugh Day

There are probably millions of fun ways that people could find to celebrate National Let’s Laugh Day! Come up with some of your own ideas or try out some of these:

National Let’s Laugh Day is a great day to wake up in a good mood and consider how that might be shared with other people.

Search online for some silly, one-liner ‘Dad jokes’ that can be shared at work or with the family. Watch a laugh-out-loud comedy movie or show with friends. Or book tickets to attend a live performance of a stand-up comic.

Learn Laughter Benefits

National Let’s Laugh Day is a great time to be reminded that humor is healthy!

Remember that laughter can bring stress relief, stimulate the organs, soothe tension, improve the immune system, relieve pain, improve mental health and so much more.

Practice Laughter Yoga

One great way to celebrate the day is by joining a group of people who are practicing laughter yoga.

Even forced laughter can be really good for people so this type of practice combines the stretching and poses of yoga with the delight of deep belly laughter. Join in on a Laughter Yoga class in celebration of National Let’s Laugh Day!

Facts About National Let’s Laugh Day

Laughter Changes Stress Hormones Within Minutes

Controlled experiments have found that genuine laughter can measurably shift stress chemistry in the body within a short time.

In one randomized study, people who watched a humorous video had significantly lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and higher levels of the “feel‑good” hormone beta‑endorphin compared with those who watched a neutral video, suggesting that laughter can quickly tilt the body’s response away from stress and toward relaxation.

Your Immune System Responds to a Good Laugh

Researchers have reported that hearty laughter is linked to short‑term boosts in several parts of the immune system.

In a classic study, people who watched a comedy showed increased activity of natural killer cells, higher antibody levels, and changes in immune cell counts, while those in a control group did not, indicating that positive emotional states may temporarily enhance immune defenses.

Laughter Alters Pain Perception Through Endorphins

Scientific evidence suggests that social laughter can raise pain thresholds by triggering the release of endorphins in the brain.

In one experiment, participants who watched comedy in groups were able to tolerate significantly more discomfort on a pain test afterward than those who watched neutral programs, and the effect was strongest when laughter was frequent and sustained.

Humans Are Not the Only Species That “Laughs”

Comparative research has identified laughter‑like vocalizations in at least 65 non‑human species, including chimpanzees, rats, and dogs, often during play.

These sounds are acoustically different from human laughter but appear in similar social contexts, which supports the idea that laughter evolved as a way to signal safety and playfulness long before language developed.

Laughter Predates Writing in the Historical Record

The oldest written jokes that survive today, including a Sumerian proverb about flatulence from around 1900 BCE, show that people were recording humorous thoughts thousands of years ago.

Scholars who have cataloged these early jokes note that many of the themes, such as bodily mishaps and social embarrassment, are still staples of modern humor, suggesting that what people find laughable has remained surprisingly consistent over millennia.

The Brain Handles Humor in Separate Stages

Neuroscience studies using functional MRI have found that the brain processes humor in at least two distinct steps: understanding the joke and then feeling amused by it.

The first stage engages regions such as the temporal and frontal lobes that handle language and incongruity, while the second stage activates reward and emotion centers like the ventral striatum and amygdala, which are associated with pleasure and motivation.

Laughing Together Strengthens Social Bonds

In social psychology experiments, people who share laughter during a conversation report feeling closer and more satisfied with the interaction than those who do not.

Moment‑to‑moment recordings show that shared laughter predicts greater feelings of similarity and support, which helps explain why people often use humor to build friendships, ease tension, and create a sense of belonging.

National Let’s Laugh Day FAQs

Is there scientific evidence that laughter is good for health?

Research suggests that laughter can have measurable benefits, though many studies are small and short term.

Laboratory and clinical studies have found that laughter is associated with short term drops in stress hormones, improved blood vessel function, and reduced measures of stress or pain in some participants.

However, major medical organizations caution that laughter should be seen as a complement to, not a replacement for, standard medical care, and that more rigorous long term research is still needed.

How does laughter affect the brain and nervous system?

When a person laughs, multiple regions of the brain are activated, including areas involved in emotion, movement, and cognition.

Laughter can trigger the release of neurotransmitters such as endorphins, which are linked to feelings of pleasure and pain relief, and it can reduce the body’s stress response by lowering levels of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.

These changes help explain why people often feel more relaxed and socially connected after a good laugh.

Is “forced” laughter, like in laughter yoga, actually beneficial?

Studies on laughter yoga and simulated laughter suggest that even when laughter starts as deliberate rather than spontaneous, it can still lead to physiological and psychological benefits.

Group sessions that combine breathing exercises, eye contact, and intentional laughing have been linked in small trials to reduced perceived stress, improved mood, and modest improvements in measures like blood pressure and quality of life.

Researchers note that many of these studies are limited in size and design, so findings should be viewed as encouraging but preliminary.

Why do people tend to laugh more in groups than when they are alone?

Laughter is strongly social and often functions as a form of nonverbal communication.

Observational studies have found that people are many times more likely to laugh in the presence of others than when by themselves, even when nothing obviously “funny” is happening.

In groups, laughter helps signal friendliness, reduce social tension, and reinforce bonds, so humans often laugh to show alignment and affiliation with those around them as much as to respond to jokes.

Do all cultures find the same things funny?

While the basic capacity to laugh appears to be universal, what people laugh at varies across cultures and contexts.

Comparative research shows that humor often reflects local history, social norms, and language, so jokes that rely on wordplay, taboos, or stereotypes in one culture may not translate, or may even offend, in another.

At the same time, many cultures share broad categories of humor such as teasing among friends, physical comedy, or making light of everyday frustrations, suggesting both diversity and common ground in how people use humor.

Can laughter really reduce pain?

Laughter is not a pain cure, but controlled studies indicate it can increase pain tolerance for short periods.

When people watch or experience something they perceive as genuinely funny, their bodies may release endorphins and they may become more relaxed, which can change how intensely they perceive discomfort.

Experiments using mildly painful stimuli have found that participants exposed to comedy sometimes tolerate the discomfort longer than control groups, although the effect is modest and temporary.

How does humor help people cope with stress or difficult situations?

Psychologists distinguish between different styles of humor, and some are more helpful than others in coping with stress.

“Affiliative” and “self enhancing” humor, which involve sharing lighthearted perspectives or finding comic relief without putting others down, have been linked to better psychological well being and resilience.

These styles can help people reframe problems, build support, and feel less overwhelmed. In contrast, humor that is hostile or harshly self critical is associated with poorer mental health in many studies.