http://www.thinkgeek.com/blog/2017/11/what-is-singles-day.html

Singles’ Day is a Chinese Holiday that originated in Nanjing University in 1993. In Chinese, it’s written 光棍节, and translates to “bare sticks holiday.” Get it? Ones? Bare sticks? As a holiday, Singles’ Day really took hold and grew on the Internet. While Singles’ Day originated as Bachelors’ Day, it’s grown to be fully inclusive and is widely embraced throughout China, and interest in the holiday has been spreading throughout the rest of the world!