Happy Spreadsheet Day 2026!
Happy Spreadsheet Day 2026! And a very happy 47th anniversary to VisiCalc!
Celebrate Spreadsheet Day Year 17
The first time that we celebrated Spreadsheet Day was on October 17, 2010, so this is our 17th year of spreadsheet celebrations.
- Note: We celebrate world-wide, so it’s “Spreadsheet Day”, not “National Spreadsheet Day” .
Today is Saturday, so you might be celebrating at home this year, instead of at work. Here are a few non-work Excel files on my Contextures site that you could use while celebrating today:
Or, make a bowl of popcorn, and watch one of these spreadsheet-themed movies, that got good ratings from critics and audiences.
How Spreadsheet Day Started
Back in February 2010, I proposed that we celebrate Spreadsheet Day, and asked for suggestions for an appropriate date.
In March 2010, I set up a poll, based on the suggested dates, and the winning date was October 17th.
That date is a tribute to VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet for personal computers. It was released on October 17th, 1979, according to Peter Jennings’ notes.
- Note: To read more about how Spreadsheet Day got started, you can go to the About page.
VisiCalc Creators
In my 2010 blog post, there was a photo of VisiCalc creators, Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston, who were wearing grid-patterned clothes!
- Bob Frankston (standing) and Dan Bricklin, co-founders of Software Arts, Inc.
- Credit: © www.jimraycroft.com 1982
Video: Dan Bricklin TED Talk
To learn more about VisiCalc, and its development, watch this TED Talk by VisiCalc co-creator, Dan Bricklin.
Tag Your Tweets
Have fun with your spreadsheets today, and if you tweet about it, you can include this hashtag:
- #SpreadsheetDay
That way, I can find your contributions, when I do the Spreadsheet Day 2026 roundup later.
To see the tweets from last year, go to the Spreadsheet Day 2025 Roundup post.
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Happy Spreadsheet Day 2026!
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