Hug and High5 Time-Line
September 11, 2001: My lifelong friend Kevin Bowser was killed in the World Trade Center attacks.
June 13, 2002: The first article done on me!
Summer 2002: Bicycled North America - Washington State to Philadelphia.
Winter 2004: Bicycled Africa - Cairo to Cape Town.
Spring 2006: - My documentary "Contribute2 the Experience" appeared in 20+ film festivals worldwide.
May 2006: An article on my encounters with the N-word runs in Essence Magazine.
September 2006: Seriously injured by a drunk driver.
January 6, 2007: My thoughts on a controversial store in Malawi
Fall 2007: - Bicycled Asia - Istanbul to Beijing.
January 2008: Wrote for ESPN.
Summer 2008: Bicycled North America - San Diego to NYC.
August 2008: Receive a proclamation from Nashville City Council.
September 2008: Become a Union League of Philadelphia employee.
Summer 2011: Bicycled North America - Minneapolis to NYC.
July 2011: Bicycled through Westby, Wisconsin
September 2011: Featured in Outside Magazine.
July 2012: Published "Traveling at the Speed of Life."
December 9, 2012: Book review for Traveling at the Speed of Life
April 2, 2014: Sharing good vibes at Virginia Tech- Go Hokies!
April 8, 2014: More good vibes at Va Tech
December 16, 2014: Bicycling across state lines in Australia
January 2015: Bicycled Australia from Sydney to Melbourne.
May 2015: Delivered Cal State-Northridge commencement address.
Christmas 2015: Delivered gifts to women/families at Penelope House DV Shelter in Mobile, Alabama.
December 31, 2015: My tips on how to make your New Year’s resolutions stick!
Summer 2016: My story pivots away from the bicycle.
June 2016: Hugged in Orlando after the Pulse Nightclub massacre.
July 2016: Staged Hug events at the RNC in Cleveland and the DNC in Philadelphia.
Valentine's Day 2017: Staged a Hug Party in Lebanon, Kansas, the nation's geographic heart.
April 2017: Staged a Hug Party in Olathe, Kansas, after a mass shooting.
Summer 2017: Partnered with Duke Cannon and Advantage Rental Car for the Big Dave Hugs America Tour and embraced 14K people in 77 days in 48 states.
July 13, 2017: Huggin’ in Houston
July 17, 2017: Offering hugs and happiness at Virginia Beach.
July 19, 2017: Returning to Mississippi with hugs and high5s
July 27, 2017: Offering hugs at the OKC Memorial
July 28, 2017: Hugging 200 people on a Friday in Scottsdale, AZ
July 30, 2017: Betting it all on Hugs and High5s in Las Vegas
August 13, 2017: Doing what I do in Bozeman, MT
August 23, 2017: Offering good vibes in Milwaukee
August 25 2017: Offering hugs on ABC Chicago
Black Friday 2017: Staged a Hugs for the Holidays drive around Las Vegas after the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival shooting.
December 20-24, 2017: Hugged people in Sutherland Springs, Texas, after the First Baptist Church mass shooting.
March 2018: Staged the first EVER Hug and High5 Festival in Nantucket.
April 2018: Hugged people in Nashville after the Waffle House mass shooting and hugged students in Benton, Kentucky, after the Marshall High School shooting.
September 11, 2018: walked around the White House hugging people with Kevin Bowser's son.
October 2018: Interviewed about leadership.
November 2018: Staged Hug event throughout 50th state, Alaska.
Thanksgiving 2018: Hugged Santa Clause at The North Pole!!
Valentine's Day 2019: Staged a Hug Party in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, the nation's other geographic heart.
April 2019: Hugged patients at Fox Chase Cancer Center as they rang the bell.
June 2019: Hugged people in Virginia Beach after VB municipal building shooting - meeting a woman I hugged twice- once after the VaTech shooting and now.
September 2019: Staged Big Dave Hugs Europe and Israel Tour - embraced 1006 people in 2 weeks between Dublin, Belfast, London, Paris, Rome, Vatican City, and Jerusalem.
Every Friday between Black Friday and Christmas 2019: Hugged in NYC's Times Square "Hug for the Holidays."
March 2020: The world shuts down, and I begin writing my second book "One Hug at a Time."
July 2020: Release "One Hug at a Time" as a PDF.
Thanksgiving 2020: Begin #SmileWithBigDave Tour of doing good deeds in each state.
January 5, 2021: After 40 days, 48 states, and 11,950 miles, the #SmileWithBigDave Tour is complete.
January 6, 2021: The chaos at the Capitol encourages me to put "One Hug at a Time" in print.
July 2021: Get a monthly column in the Belle Fourche Senior Center Newsletter.
August 2021: featured in Philadelphia Magazine's "Best of Philly issue."
September 10, 2021: ABC News New York
September 12, 2021: is recognized as National Hug and High5 Day.
November 1, 2021: My second book, "One Hug at a Time," is published.
February 2022: Appear in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
April 2022: Appear in The Guardian.
September 2022: "One Hug at a Time" is added to the Medical School of Hamburg, Germany collection by Prof. Sebastian Ocklenburg.
November 2022: "One Hug at a Time" wins a BookFest Award -Best Travel Memoir.
January 2023: Best Independent Book Award - Non-Fiction: Inspirational Winner for "One Hug at a Time"
November 14- January 1, 2023: Launched the nation's FIRST-EVER Hug Delivery Tour.
October 2023: contributed a kid's guide to hugging to Jamia Wilson's "A Year of Black Joy."
January 2023: After embracing half a million people in 42 countries -I'm going for ONE MILLION!!
March 23, 2023: Big Dave’s larger than life hugs- a podcast topic
July 2023: The Person You Want to Be Podcast
September 23, 2023: The first installment of 100 Hug Story Podcast for the last 100 days of 2023
November 10, 2023 : Earned my life coaching certificate
December 31, 2023: the last podcast installment of 100 Hug Stories for the last 100 days of 2023
January 2014: Established a playlist of hug stories
May 11, 2024: Selected to speak at TEDX DillworthPark Conference
