Referring to a person or a team as an underdog started in the late 19th century and it came from actual dog fights. Two dogs attacked each other and the loser was determined to be the underdog while the winner is considered the top dog.

Nowadays, the underdog is a person or a team who is expected to lose. An underdog is a person or group in a competition, who is popularly expected to fail. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog, just like the earlier terms for dog fights. An “underdog bet” is a bet on the underdog or outsider, the individual for which the odds are generally higher.

The term is used all over the world, near and far, in analytics and sports related comments. National Underdog Day, which is celebrated on December 18, was created so people can justify rooting for the underdogs in their lives.

This day is usually held on the third Friday of December and was established by Peter Moeller in 1976, according to www.NationalDayCalender.com. .He created it to celebrate unlikely heroes, those underdogs from movies, sports, romance and normal life.

In English speaking countries, underdogs are highly regarded. This harkens to core stories, such as that of Robin Hood, David and Goliath and more, according to https://en.linkfang.org/wiki/Underdog. The victory of the underdog reflects the ideal behind the American Dream, where someone who is poor and/or weak can use hard work to achieve victory.

National Underdog Day may seem like an unimportant day, but if you were an underdog you would want all that hype around you. Why not share a little encouragement with an underdog in your life today?