'1-4-3 Day': Pennsylvanians celebrate kindness in honor of Mister Rogers and his favorite number

Fred Rogers and King Friday.
The number 143 was very special to Fred Rogers. To the star of “Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,” it meant, I love you. “It takes one letter to say I and four letters to say love and three letters to say you. One hundred and forty-three,” he was fond of saying.
He even tried to maintain the weight of 143 pounds by swimming every day at a pool in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Three years ago, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf declared May 23, the 143rd day of the year, to be 1-4-3 Day in the state, celebrating Rogers’ commitment to kindness. “Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person,” Rogers once mused.
Rogers grew up in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and his television show was produced at WQED Pittsburgh.
The governor’s office recommends that the state’s residents celebrate in three ways:
- Embrace the spirit of the kindest Pennsylvanian, Fred Rogers
- Do something kind for your neighbors
- Spread the love by using hashtag #143DayInPA

In its third year, the holiday seems to be catching on, especially in Pennsylvania schools, where one class celebrated by wearing cardigan sweaters, just like Mister Rogers did. It was also celebrated by incarcerated individuals at SCI Laurel Highlands, who raised over $7,000 for Cambria County Children and Youth Services.
Here's how other people celebrated throughout the state on May 23, 2022.
Today is 143 Day, a statewide day of kindness in honor of Mister Rogers! Wyland Elementary students wore cardigans — a tribute to our special neighbor’s iconic attire ❤️ #143DayinPA pic.twitter.com/GGlE7Jadmq
— Hampton Township SD (@Hampton_Talbots) May 23, 2022
Today is 1-4-3 Day --- A Day meaning “I Love You”, that was made popular by PA's very own Fred Rogers, better known throughout the neighborhood as Mr. Rogers!
— Senator John Kane (@SenatorJohnKane) May 23, 2022
We decided to share our most recent 1-4-3 act from our volunteer day where we partnered with “Good Works”! #143DayinPA pic.twitter.com/AzXImMEOV5
Happy #143DayInPA, SCI! 🤗 Take some inspiration from Mr. Rogers himself and celebrate kindness today! pic.twitter.com/xOuO6Wp0hh
— School of Computing and Information (@SciPitt) May 23, 2022
In honor of #143DayInPA, incarcerated individuals at SCI Laurel Highlands donated $7,000 to Cambria County Children and Youth Services from money raised through various hoagie, pastry, soda, protein and ice cream sales. pic.twitter.com/d5JzXTeGBj
— PA Department of Corrections (@CorrectionsPA) May 23, 2022
Fogelsville is celebrating 143 day! I came back to my gym to find some great messages that made my day. #fvfoxes #143DayinPA pic.twitter.com/jcBhbv1ngc
— Mr. Webster 🦊 (@MrWebsterPE) May 23, 2022
Happy 1-4-3 Day, world! Today, I will strive to do at least 143 acts of kindness throughout my day, and let me just start by saying, "You look marvelous!" #143DayinPA #143Day #FredRogers #MrRogers pic.twitter.com/afVX8gNul5
— Noel Sufrin (@NoelSufrin) May 23, 2022
#143DayInPA ❤️ https://t.co/5LU7HmjEKs
— visitPA (@visitPA) May 23, 2022
Happy #143DayinPA, neighbors! Happy #143Day, everyone! pic.twitter.com/yhiPPUC8Pl
— Gregg Behr (@greggbehr) May 23, 2022
Ready for #143dayinpa ... pic.twitter.com/54mfvBqnJi
— Dr. Shelly Bucci (@bucci_shelly) May 23, 2022
Fred Rogers is one of the most admired Americans of the past century and his message of kindness is sorely needed now more than ever. That’s why some are advocating for making 1-4-3 Day a national holiday so that Rogers’ values will be celebrated in communities across the country.
Gregg Behr and Ryan Rydzewski, co-authors of “When You Wonder, You're Learning: Mister Rogers' Enduring Lessons for Raising Creative, Curious, Caring Kids,” made a compelling case for 1-4-3 Day becoming a national holiday in Time.
A recent study by Pew Research shows that Americans believe we could use a lot more neighborliness, too.
At a time when Americans' trust in each other and its institutions is waning, 86% of us still believe it can be rebuilt with greater community cooperation. Who better to inspire us to reach that goal than America’s favorite neighbor, Mister Rogers?
While many of us look at Washington for solutions to our country’s problems, so much could be fixed if we simply took action in our local communities. A 79-year-old woman polled by Pew offered a simple but powerful solution to the country’s problems. “Seek common ground that engages as many as possible in the community and organize around a project that addresses that common concern,” she said.
“Mister Rogers' Neighborhood” first aired nationally on PBS in 1968 and just about every child born since was taught about simple human kindness by Fred Rogers. Sadly, some of us have forgotten that lesson as we’ve grown older, so a national 1-4-3 holiday would be a perfect way for every American to reflect on those important values and to recommit to being the neighbors that Mister Rogers taught us to be.
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Can a warm cup of tea help you sleep better? If you believe it, then yes. Photo by 
A woman is getting angry at her coworker.via
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Three women sit on a blanket in the park. 
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Resurfaced video of French skier's groin incident has people giving the announcer a gold medal
"The boys took a beating on that one."
Downhill skiing is a sport rife with injuries, but not usually this kind.
A good commentator can make all the difference when watching sports, even when an event goes smoothly. But it's when something goes wrong that great announcers rise to the top. There's no better example of a great announcer in a surprise moment than when French skier Yannick Bertrand took a gate to the groin in a 2007 super-G race.
Competitive skiers fly down runs at incredible speeds, often exceeding 60 mph. Hitting something hard at that speed would definitely hurt, but hitting something hard with a particularly sensitive part of your body would be excruciating. So when Bertrand slammed right into a gate family-jewels-first, his high-pitched scream was unsurprising. What was surprising was the perfect commentary that immediately followed.
This is a clip you really just have to see and hear to fully appreciate:
- YouTube youtu.be
It's unclear who the announcer is, even after multiple Google inquiries, which is unfortunate because that gentleman deserves a medal. The commentary gets better with each repeated viewing, with highlights like:
"The gate the groin for Yannick Bertrand, and you could hear it. And if you're a man, you could feel it."
"Oh, the Frenchman. Oh-ho, monsieurrrrrr."
"The boys took a beating on that one."
"That guy needs a hug."
"Those are the moments that change your life if you're a man, I tell you what."
"When you crash through a gate, when you do it at high rate of speed, it's gonna hurt and it's going to leave a mark in most cases. And in this particular case, not the area where you want to leave a mark."
Imagine watching a man take a hit to the privates at 60 mph and having to make impromptu commentary straddling the line between professionalism and acknowledging the universal reality of what just happened. There are certain things you can't say on network television that you might feel compelled to say. There's a visceral element to this scenario that could easily be taken too far in the commentary, and the inherent humor element could be seen as insensitive and offensive if not handled just right.
The announcer nailed it. 10/10. No notes.
The clip frequently resurfaces during the Winter Olympic Games, though the incident didn't happen during an Olympic event. Yannick Bertrand was competing at the FIS World Cup super-G race in Kvitfjell, Norway in 2007, when the unfortunate accident occurred. Bertrand had competed at the Turin Olympics the year before, however, coming in 24th in the downhill and super-G events.
As painful as the gate to the groin clearly as, Bertrand did not appear to suffer any damage that kept him from the sport. In fact, he continued competing in international downhill and super-G races until 2014.
According to a 2018 study, Alpine skiing is a notoriously dangerous sport with a reported injury rate of 36.7 per 100 World Cup athletes per season. Of course, it's the knees and not the coin purse that are the most common casualty of ski racing, which we saw clearly in U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn's harrowing experiences at the 2026 Olympics. Vonn was competing with a torn ACL and ended up being helicoptered off of the mountain after an ugly crash that did additional damage to her legs, requiring multiple surgeries (though what caused the crash was reportedly unrelated to her ACL tear). Still, she says she has no regrets.
As Bertrand's return to the slopes shows, the risk of injury doesn't stop those who live for the thrill of victory, even when the agony of defeat hits them right in the rocks.