White Cane Day is an international awareness event to celebrate the importance of the long cane and to promote a safe environment for users (Blind People). The day will be celebrated on October 15. The traditional white cane, also known as Hoover' cane, after Dr Richard Hoover, is designed primarily as a mobility tool used to detect objects in the path of a user. The length of the cane depends upon the height of the user.

Blind people have used canes as mobility tools for centuries, but it was not until after World War I that the white cane was introduced.

In 1921 James Biggs, a photographer from Bristol who became blind after an accident and was uncomfortable with the amount of traffic around his home, painted his walking stick white to be more easily visible.

In 1931 in France, Guilly d'Herbemont launched a national white stick movement for blind people.
In the United States, the introduction of the white cane is attributed to George A. Bonham of the Lions Clubs International [2]. In 1930, a Lions Club member watched as a man who was blind attempted to cross the street with a black cane that was barely visible to motorists against the dark pavement. The Lions decided to paint the cane white to make it more visible. In 1931, Lions Clubs International began a program promoting the use of white canes for people who are blind.

The first special White Cane Ordinance was passed in December 1930 in Peoria, Illinois granting blind pedestrians protections and the right-of-way while carrying a white cane.

In 1931 in France, Guilly d'Herbemont launched a national white stick movement for blind people and in the USA, President Lyndon Johnson was the first to make this proclamation.

White Cane Safety Day is a United States national observance, celebrated on October 15 of each year since 1964. The date is set aside to celebrate the achievements of people who are blind or visually impaired and the important symbol of blindness and tool of independence, the white cane. On October 6, 1964 a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress, HR 753, was signed into law as 36 U.S.C. § 142. This resolution authorized the President of the United States to proclaim October 15 of each year as “White Cane Safety Day.” President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the first White Cane Safety Day proclamation within hours of the passage of the joint resolution.

White Cane Day remains largely unknown to the general public