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| Flight into Egypt |
The donkey of Mediterranean lands is thought to be a descendant of the wild ass of Western Asia.
Stephen Foster Memorial Day is a United States Federal Observance Day observed on January 13. It was made law in November of 1966 and was first celebrated in January 1967.
Stephen Foster's first great musical success was "Oh! Susanna" which was first performed in the Eagle Ice Cream Saloon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 11, 1847. It became an anthem of the California Gold Rush.
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| Stephen Foster |
In the late 1840s Foster returned home to concentrate on being a songwriter. He signed a contract with the Christy Minstrels and it was during this period that Foster would write most of his best-known songs such as "Camptown Races" (1850), "Swanee River" ((1851) and "My Old Kentucky Home" (1853).
Foster was the first man to be paid a royalty on sheet music sales and the first American to make a career of writing songs.
Never very astute financially, in 1856 Stephen Foster sold all rights to future songs to his publishers for $1,900. Profits went largely to the publishers and performers. Four years later Foster moved to New York City, but separated from his wife, his fortunes decreased. Impoverished, he died in Bellevue Hospital, New York City on January 13, 1864 of alcoholism and a fall from his bed.
Stephen Foster Memorial Day commemorates the date that "the father of American music" died.
National Marzipan Day is celebrated every year in the United States on January 12th.
Made primarily of sugar or honey and almond meal (ground almonds), the confectionary has been used in all varieties of sweets and treats. Its dough-like consistency makes it an ideal material to make novelty shapes and figures.
Richard II of England once invited 2,000 of the country's rich barons to dine with him. 200 cooks prepared a menu, for which pudding was a three-foot high marzipan castle.
The first printed cookbook in 1475. In De Honesta Voluptate (On Right Pleasure and Good Health) recorded recipes for all kinds of food. Amongst the many recipes in De Honesta Voluptate were some for making marzipan and other candy. Confectionery regarded at the time to mainly be an pothecary's product, but they were also regarded as a luxury food, packaged in decorative boxes and offered as a gift to royals.
Galileo was fond of good food, for treats his nun daughter Sister Marie makes him marzipan shaped like little fish.
National Milk Day is celebrated on January 11th in the United States to honor the contributions of milk to society and highlight its importance as a dietary staple. The day is unofficial, and its origins are not tied to a specific event or organization, but it has grown in popularity to promote awareness of milk's nutritional benefits.
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| Rawpixel |
Milk is celebrated for being rich in calcium, protein, vitamin D, and other essential nutrients that contribute to bone health, muscle function, and overall wellness.
The introduction of milk in sterilized bottles in 1878 revolutionized milk distribution, making it safer and more accessible to the public. This innovation is a pivotal moment in food history, improving public health significantly. National Milk Day day also commemorates the first time milk was delivered in sterilized glass bottles in the U.S., a milestone in food safety and dairy distribution.
Every year on January 10th, we celebrate National Save the Eagles Day, a day dedicated to these magnificent birds that have become symbols of freedom, power, and resilience in many cultures.
The day reminds us of the crucial role eagles play in their ecosystems, keeping prey populations in check and maintaining ecological balance. It also highlights the threats they face, including habitat loss, pollution, illegal hunting, and even wind turbines. Lastly it educates the public about the amazing adaptations and behaviors of these apex predators, fostering appreciation and understanding.
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| Bald eagle by Andy Morffew, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org |
National Apricot Day is celebrated every year in the United States on January 9th. Apricots have been cultivated in Persia since antiquity, and dried ones were an important commodity on Persian trade routes.
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| Pixiebay |
Apricot trees spread by means of silk dealers from China to Italy and arrived in England in the late 12th century. However the Europeans were suspicious of the apricot fruit as they were thought to cause fever.
Franciscan friars brought apricots into American settlements in the 1800s, and they've thrived ever since.
World Typing Day is held on January 8 every year as one week after New Year is a good time to think through and write down plans for the year.
Orthodox Christmas Day is celebrated on January 7th by most Eastern Orthodox Churches. It marks the birth of Jesus Christ. The reason for the different date compared to Western Christmas (December 25th) lies in the use of the Julian calendar by many Eastern Orthodox Churches. The Julian calendar is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, which is used in most of the world.
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| Christmas-Serbian Ortodox Food.jpg Wikipedia |
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, also known as Theophany, is a Christian feast day commemorating the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. It is celebrated in the Catholic Church as well as the Anglican and Lutheran Churches on the Sunday following the Epiphany, which is observed on January 6th.
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| By Giotto - Giotto di Bondone, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org |
The Feast of Epiphany celebrates the revelation of the Christ child to the Gentiles, when the Magi or wise men visited Bethlehem to see Jesus, by following a star. It is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 2. The holiday is celebrated by Christians twelve days after Christmas on January 6.
The Magi is a general term for astrologers, seers, and fortune tellers. In their sole appearance in the Gospel of Matthew, they are never named, and hail from "the east."
Matthew does not say there were only three wise men. We assume that they were a trio because of the three gifts that were given: gold, incense, and myrrh.
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| Adoration of the Magi by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, 17th century |
The idea of Twelfth Night dates back to the Council of Tours in 567 where it was decided that the period from Christmas to Epiphany should be celebrated as Christmastide.
Epiphany is also known as Twelfth Day, and Twelfth Night precedes Twelfth Day and begins on the evening of January 5. The Monday after Epiphany is known as Plough Monday.
Simeon Stylites was a Syriac ascetic saint who achieved notability for living 37 years on a small platform on top of a pillar near Aleppo (in modern Syria). His feast day is commemorated on January 5 in the Roman Catholic Church.
By the 420s, pillar dwelling had become quite a fad amongst holy men. Simeon made the decision to spend the last part of his life on top of a pillar in Syria. His decision to build himself a nine-foot high column was prompted by the constant interruptions from curious crowds congregating outside the cave where he was residing, who had heard reports of his already extreme self-denying lifestyle.
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| Wikipedia |
In his later years, Simon Stylites was the foremost famous personality in his part of the world. The Emperor Theodocus and Leo 1, the Bishop of Rome, would often consult him and request his prayers and Marcian, another Emperor visited him frequently although in disguise.
Today is World Braille Day, an international day that raises awareness of the importance of Braille for approximately 1.3 billion people living with some form of distance or near vision impairment.
Braille was invented by Louis Braille, a Frenchman who lost his sight at the age of three. At a school for blind boys, Louis came across books whose words consisted of raised letters of the alphabet; the drawback was, they took a long time to decipher. In 1821 an artillery captain, Charles Barbier, visited the school, visited the school, bringing a 12-dot code he'd devised to help Napoleon’s soldiers communicate at night without light. The captain was reluctant to accept suggestions from a boy, so Louis began to experiment at night. Using an awl, he reduced the number of dots from 12 to 6 which, arranged in different positions, represented the letters of the alphabet, thus enabling the blind to both read and write.
The date for the event was chosen by the United Nations General Assembly via a proclamation in November 2018, and marks the birthday of Louis Braille. The first World Braille Day was celebrated on January 4, 2019.
Around the world, 39 million people are blind, and another 253 million have some sort of vision impairment. For them, Braille provides a tactical representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols so blind and partially-sighted people are able to read the same books and periodicals printed as are available in standard text form.
J.R.R. Tolkien Day on January 3 is The Lord of the Rings author’s birthday. Each year at 9pm local time on that date fans honor the legacy of The Professor with a Tolkien birthday toast. (Tolkien’s Birthday – January 3rd 1892).
Today is the second day of January. The Romans named January after Janus, the God of gateways. Janus had two heads so he could look in both directions, back at the old year and forward towards the new year, at the same time.
January is the coldest month in the Northern Hemisphere, and the warmest in the Southern Hemisphere.
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| Snow in the Northern Hemisphere in the month of January |
January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar, as the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period.
Although March was originally the first month of the Roman calendar, January became the new first month because that was when the Romans chose the new consuls.
The Anglo-Saxons called January "Wulfmonath" as it was the month hungry wolves came scavenging at people's doors.
Happy New Year! It is believed that celebrating the New Year dates back to the ancient Babylonians, who celebrated for eleven days with festivals and other fanfare 4,000 years ago.
The Babylonians also made New Year's Resolutions. They were spoken as oaths to the king—keeping them allowed the kingdom to stay in the gods' favor.
March 25th was the official New Year's Day in the UK and US until they switched to the Gregorian calendar in 1752.
Due to their time zones, Kiribati, an island nation in the Pacific, is the first country to ring in the New Year. Honolulu, Hawaii in the U.S. is among the last.
New Year's Eve, the last day of the year, is on December 31. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated at evening parties, where many people dance, eat, drink, and watch or light fireworks. Some Christians attend a watchnight service.
The first Times Square (then known as Longacre Square) New Year's Eve celebration was held in New York City on December 31, 1904. About 200,000 people celebrated New Year’s Eve with a fireworks display at the 24-story Times Tower.
"Auld Lang Syne" is a song, whose title means literally "old long since" or more idiomatically, "days of long ago". The Scottish poet, Robert Burns, restored the song based on fragments of an old ballad dating from over 150 years before. The American bandleader Guy Lombardo popularized the association of the song with the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve in the early 1930s.
Over two million people gather annually on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro on the night of December 31, making of it the world's largest New Year's Eve party.
Today is the first anniversary of the use of the word "radio" as a standalone word. The first person to theorize the existence of radio waves was the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell. His studies of light led him to the electromagnetic theory and in 1865 he proved that radio waves are possible.
The German scientist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz discovered the use of radio waves in transmitting information in the mid 1880s. However, with an uncharacteristic lack of foresight, while demonstrating electromagnetic waves in 1888, Hertz told his students, "I don't see any useful purpose for this mysterious, invisible electromagnetic energy."
Fortunately, others saw the potential in the technology and by 1890, French physicist Édouard Branley had found a way to convert incoming signals to direct current, an important development in radio reception.
In 1901, Guglielmo Marconi combined the equipment of Hertz and Branley to transmit a radio signal across the Atlantic. Marconi’s pioneering development of long-distance wireless telegraphy has led to him being widely regarded as the inventor of the radio.
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| British Post Office engineers inspect Marconi's radio equipment 1897. |
The term "radio" is derived from the Latin word "radius", meaning "spoke of a wheel, beam of light, ray". Although Hertz discovered the use of radio waves in transmitting information in 1886, the regular use of "radio" as a standalone word dates back to only December 30, 1904, when instructions issued by the British Post Office for transmitting telegrams specified that "The word 'Radio'... is sent in the Service Instructions." Before that, such transmissions were always referred to as “wireless telegraphy”.
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. His feast day is December 29th.
After being appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by King Henry II, Thomas Becket fell out with the king as the interests of the Roman Catholic medieval church conflicted with those of the crown. Four knights believing their King wanted the Archbishop killed, assassinated him on December 29, 1170 at Canterbury Cathedral.
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| Illumination from an English Book of Hours |
Becket's death caused a scandal in all of western Christendom. When the clothes were removed from his dead body, it was discovered that unbeknown to anyone, he was wearing a hairshirt riddled with lice and maggots, the skin on his chest ripped to shred. Becket was immediately a saint and martyr.
Soon after, the faithful throughout Europe began venerating Becket as a martyr, and little more than two years after his death—he was canonized by Pope Alexander III in St Peter's Church in Segni.
In the years following his death many miraculous cures were said to have occurred at Becket's shrine. Indeed 700 miracles were recorded in the decade after his assassination at the crypt.
After hearing news that the anointed King of the Jews had recently been born, King Herod, announced his intention of slaying all children aged two years or younger in the vicinity of Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph, along with the baby Jesus, fled to Egypt to escape the massacre. Holy Innocents Day on December 28th commemorates The Massacre of the Innocents, the biblical recount of Herod the Great's infanticide.
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| The Massacre of the Innocents at Bethlehem, by Matteo di Giovanni |
After Herod's death, Mary and Joseph returned to Palestine. From about the age of 6, Jesus would have received some education from a teacher paid for by the Nazareth synagogue, using used what we now know as the Old Testament as his textbook.
Holy Innocents Day is a day for pranks, equivalent to April Fool's Day in many countries including Spain, Hispanic America, and the Philippines. After somebody plays a prank on somebody else, the joker usually cries out, in some regions of Ibero-America: Inocente palomita que te dejaste engañar ("You innocent little dove that let yourself be fooled").
Saint Stephen's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Stephen, is a Christian saint's day to commemorate Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr or protomartyr, celebrated on December 26 in the Latin Church and December 27 in Eastern Christianity.
Saint Stephen was a deacon in the early Church at Jerusalem who aroused the enmity of members of various synagogues by his teachings. Accused of blasphemy at his trial, he made a speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him and was then stoned to death. His martyrdom in around 34AD was witnessed by Saul of Tarsus, who at the time was the most zealous, rigorous and careful of all Pharisees, one of the strictest Jewish sects. He later become the Christian apostle Paul.
Wenceslaus I became the duke of Bohemia in 921. Renowned for his Christian faith, he spent much of his time in acts of piety and prayer. So great was his devotion that he helped sow the corn and gather the grapes from which the bread and wine used at Mass was made.
Boxing Day is a British tradition, going back many centuries but only made an official holiday in 1871. Also known as St. Stephen's Day, it was customarily a time for giving to the poor.
In Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK, Boxing Day is the heaviest shopping day of the year. The picture below (Wikipedia Commons) shows the Eaton Center, Toronto, Canada on December 26th.
The Boxing Day name comes partly from the boxes kept in British churches to collect money for the needy. On the day after Christmas Day it became a custom of the nineteenth century Victorians for tradesmen to collect their "Christmas boxes" or gifts in return for good and reliable service throughout the year on the day after Christmas.
Today is Christmas! For the first few centuries the church paid little attention to the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Nevertheless as Christians increasingly commemorated the events of Jesus' life the issue of the date of his birth became more prominent. However as Scripture at no point mentioned the date of Christ’s birth, early Christian teachers suggested various possible dates.
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| "Adoration of the Shepherds" by Gerard van Honthorst, 1622 Wikipedia Commons |
In 350 Pope Julius I designated December 25th as the day to celebrate Christ’s birth. He did so mainly as a political move to counteract the effect of Saturnalia, the popular feast held in honor of the Roman god Saturn, which occurred at the time of the winter solstice, climaxing on December 25th, a Roman holiday. December 25th also was a celebration of the birthday of the Persian sun god Mithra. It was hoped that by picking this date Christianity would be more appealing to pagans.
Hanukkah in 2024 starts at sundown on Wednesday, December 25, 2024, and lasts until sundown on Thursday, January 2, 2025. Hanukkah (sometimes transliterated Chanukkah) is a Jewish holiday celebrated for eight days and nights. It starts on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev
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| Hanukkah table. By MathKnight |
Since the Jewish calendar is lunar based, every year the first day of Hanukkah falls on a different day – usually sometime between late November and late December. In 2023 Hanukkah falls between Sunset, December 7 and nightfall, December 15.
In Hebrew, the word "hanukkah" means "dedication." The name reminds us that this holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 BC.
The hanukkiyah is a nine-branched candelabra used during Hanukkah. There are at least 44 candles in each box of Hanukkah candles, enough for one person to light the hanukkiyah, according to tradition, every night. Some boxes include extra candles as they tend to break easily.
There is a custom of eating foods fried or baked in oil (preferably olive oil) to commemorate the miracle of a small flask of oil keeping the Second Temple's Menorah alight for eight days.
Today is Christmas Eve. Christmas celebrations in the denominations of Western Christianity have long begun on the night of the 24th, due in part to the Christian liturgical day starting at sunset. The practice of celebrating the evening before Christmas Day is an echo from ancient Jewish reckoning. Among earlier Jews, a day began at six in the evening and ran until six the following evening, based on the story of Creation in the Book of Genesis: "And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day".
The familiar image of Santa Claus with flying reindeer and entry down chimneys, began in America with poetry. On December 23, 1822, Dr Clement Clarke Moore, a university professor, wrote a poem for his children. He called it "A Visit from St. Nicholas." The work was never meant for publication, for he feared he would be ridiculed for writing children's verse. A friend, however, sent a copy to a newspaper and very soon the poem became famous across the United States.
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| Nast's Santa Claus on the cover of the January 3, 1863, issue of Harper's Weekly |
By the 1880's Santa Claus had evolved into the robed, fur clad form we now recognize.
In 1890, the first department store Santa appeared—James Edgar, a store owner, brought joy to his patrons by dressing up as the character.
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| Man dressed as Santa Claus fundraisingt in Chicago in 1902, |
Until the 1930s, depictions of Santa Claus had him wearing a green cloak. Santa Claus as we know him today, with white beard, red tunic, hat and trousers trimmed with white fur, was created by an American commercial artist, Haddon Sundblom for a 1931 Coca-Cola advertisement.
The Coca Cola American adverts portrayed Santa in a red suit because that was the color they used for their ads.
Today is the Winter Solstice. Solstice means "sun standing still" in Latin because the solstice is the time when the sun appears to stand still in the sky before daylight begins to increase. Daylight picks up speed in the spring, when we add about three minutes of daylight each day. The solstice is when the Sun is at its at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky during a year. The solstice itself is one moment, but many use the word to mean the day when the solstice happens.
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| By Tim Ereneta from Berkeley, CA - solstice gathering, |
The Roman Winter Solstice was celebrated by Brumalia, a festival which emerged in the 2nd Century AD to honor the rebirth of the sun god
While the Winter of Solstice is the day with the least light, the coldest week of the year is actually in late January. That's because for the next month or so the earth continues to lose more heat than the sun puts back in.
Should you see your shadows on the Winter Solstice it will be the longest shadow of the year. That's because the sun is as low in the sky as it's going to get.
Classical Arabic originated in the sixth century, but earlier versions of the language existed. These include the Safaitic dialect, an old Arabic dialect used by the pre-Islamic nomadic inhabitants of the Syro-Arabian desert, which dates back to the first century.
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| Al-ʿArabiyyah in written Arabic (Naskh script) |
December 18th was designated by the United Nations in 2010 as Arabic Language Day, as that was the day in 1973 when the General Assembly approved Arabic as an official U.N. Language.
Around 250 million people use Arabic for their first language. It is the fifth most spoken language in the world behind Mandarin, Spanish, English and Hindi respectively.
Standard Arabic, the Arabic taught in a majority of schools, is based off the language Prophet Muhammad spoke. It is a language that nobody naturally speaks, and is preserved through formal education and news broadcasts.
Egyptian Arabic is the first language of 92 million Egyptians. It is the most widely-understood dialect and is understood by almost all of the 300 million Arabic speakers in the world, thanks to the Egyptian cinema and media industry.
Orville and Wilbur Wright designed and built the first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air airplane in Dayton, Ohio. The brothers took to the air for the first time making two flights each from level ground into a freezing headwind gusting to 27 miles per hour (43 km/h) at Kitty Hawk Heights, North Carolina on December 17, 1903.
The Wright brothers didn't like to fly together in fear of both of them dying in an accident. They wanted at least one of them to survive to carry on research. They drew lots to see who would make the first powered flight and Orville won.
Orville Wright's first flight in his Wright Flyer One at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina was on December 17, 1903. It flew for 12 seconds at a height of 500 feet and covered 37,120 feet. The flight was witnessed by four men and a boy.
Orville Wright did not actually sit in the Wright Flyer during its first flight. Instead, he lay flat on the lower wing in the middle of the airplane.
After four flights by the Wright Brothers a gust of wind overturned and wrecked their wooden flier. However they stuffed all the pieces into barrels and shipped them back home to their bicycle shop. The original machine is now in The Science Museum, London.
On September 24, 1959 U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared December 17 to be Wright Brothers Day. Each year, a presidential proclamation invites the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
Bahrain is an archipelago of 33 islands, the largest being Bahrain Island in the Persian Gulf, between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
In Arabic, bahrayn is the dual form of bahr ("sea"), so al-Bahrayn means "the Two Seas". However, which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute. It is unclear when the term began to refer exclusively to the Awal islands, but it was probably after the 15th century.
In 1820, Bahrain signed a general maritime treaty with the British Empire. Following successive treaties with the British, Bahrain became a protectorate of the United Kingdom in the late 1880s.
After World War II, anti-British feeling spread through the Arab world and led to riots in Bahrain. In 1971, Bahrain declared independence. The United Kingdom recognized Bahrain's independence on December 16, 1971. This is commemorated annually as Bahrain's National Day.
The oil boom of the 1970s benefited Bahrain greatly; the country benefited further from the Lebanese Civil War in the 1970s and 1980s, when Bahrain replaced Beirut as the Middle East's financial hub after Lebanon's large banking sector was driven out of the country by the war.
Following the often bitter 1787–88 debate over the ratification of the American Constitution, Representative James Madison crafted a series of corrective proposals, Congress approved twelve articles of amendment on September 25, 1789, and submitted them to the states for ratification. Articles Three through Twelve were ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15, 1791, and became Amendments One through Ten of the Constitution. These first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified on December 15, 1791. Below is the first page of an original copy of the twelve proposed articles of amendment, as passed by Congress.
Martyred Intellectuals Day is observed on December 14 in Bangladesh to commemorate those intellectuals who were killed by Pakistani forces and their collaborators during the 1971 Liberation War.
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| Martyred Intellectuals Memorial at Rayer Bazaar, Dhaka |
The Bangladesh Liberation War began after the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan launched Operation Searchlight against the people of East Pakistan on the night of March 25-26 1971. It pursued the systematic elimination of nationalist Bengali civilians, students, intelligentsia, religious minorities and armed personnel and resulted in the flight of 10 million East Pakistani refugees to India.
The violent crackdown by the Pakistan Army led to Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declaring East Pakistan's independence as the state of Bangladesh the following day.
Over 200 of East Pakistan's intellectuals were executed by the Pakistan Army and their local allies on December 14, 1971. (The date is commemorated in Bangladesh as Martyred Intellectuals Day.)
The West Pakistani forces in East Pakistan surrendered after India intervened on the secessionists' side.
East Pakistan renamed itself Bangladesh on January 11, 1972. The republic of Bangladesh was proclaimed and rapidly gained international recognition.
In memory of those were killed, a memorial known as the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial (Badhya Bhumi Smriti Soudha) was built at Rayer Bazaar, in Dhaka.
Saint Lucy's Day is a Christian feast day observed on December 13. The observance commemorates Lucia of Syracuse, an early-4th-century virgin martyr under the Diocletianic Persecution.
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| Saint Lucy, by Francesco del Cossa (c. 1430 – c. 1477) |
Lucia brought food and aid to Christians hiding in the Roman catacombs, wearing a candle lit wreath on her head to light her way and leave her hands free to carry as much food as possible. She had vowed her virginity to God and when a disappointed suitor accused her of being a Christian, Lucia was executed.
Her feast day, known as Saint Lucy's Day, is celebrated in the West on December 13. She is a patron saint of the blind, martyrs, epidemics, throat infections, salesmen and writers.
Her feast day, which coincided with the shortest day of the year prior to calendar reforms, is widely celebrated as a festival of light. Falling within the Advent season, Saint Lucy's Day is viewed as a precursor of Christmastide, pointing to the arrival of the Light of Christ in the calendar on Christmas Day.
The Caribbean island of St Lucia was named after her. St Lucia is the only country in the world named after a woman.
The poinsettia, traditionally an American Christmas flower, was originally grown in Mexico. Poinsettia Day was officially declared by an Act of Congress on December 12.
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| A red Poinsettia. By André Karwath Wikipedia Commons |
The plant's association with Christmas began in 16th-century Mexico, where a peasant girl, commonly called Pepita or Maria, was anxious to bring a gift in celebration of Jesus' birthday to the Christmas Eve service. She had nothing of value, though, so she went empty-handed. On her way to the church she met an angel, who told her to gather weeds from the roadside and place them in front of the church altar. Miraculously, crimson blossoms sprouted from the weeds and became poinsettias.
Franciscan friars in Mexico started to include the plants in their Christmas celebrations from the 17th century and the Poinsettias became popular decorations for Mexican churches and homes during the Christmas festival.
The poinsettia is named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, who served as the USA's first ambassador to Mexico, from 1825 to 1829. During that time he came to admire a shrub with brightly-colored red leaves encircling small, greenish-yellow blossoms, which the Mexicans had adopted as their Christmas flower. He liked it so much that he sent specimens back to the USA, where they soon flourished.
Poinsett grew the beautiful plants in his Greenville, South Carolina plantation and gave them out as gifts to friends. Poinsettia Day was officially declared by an Act of Congress in honor of Joel Roberts Poinsett, who died on December 12, 1851.
International Mountain Day was established by the UN General Assembly in 2003 to encourage sustainable development in mountains. It is held each year on December 11.
Around one fifth of the Earth’s land is covered by mountain. They are home to 15% of the world´s population.
Mountains are home to 15% of the world´s population and host about half of the world's biodiversity hotspots.
More than half of humanity relies on mountain freshwater for everyday life.
The K2, the world's second tallest mountain, has no local name. It is so remote and inaccessible that very few local people knew of its existence, and thus why it retains its original surveying moniker given to it by British surveyors.
Source UN.
Alfred Bernhard Nobel (October 21, 1833 –December 10, 1896) was a Swedish chemist and millionaire, who invented dynamite and established almost 100 arms factories.
The Nobel Prizes came about when a brother of Nobel died and a French newspaper mistakenly printed Alfred's obituary under the headline: "The merchant of death is dead." Desperate to leave a positive legacy, he decided to bequeath his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes.
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| A golden medallion with an embossed image of Alfred Nobel facing left in profile Wikipedia |
Nobel signed his last will and testament, setting aside the bulk of his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after his death on November 27, 1895.
Nobel's will instituted the prizes in Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine. In 1968, Sweden's central bank added a prize for Economics in memory of Nobel.
The first Nobel Prizes were awarded on December 10, 1901.
Christmas Card Day honors its inventor Sir Henry Cole each year on December 9. The day serves as a reminder to get your cards, envelopes and stamps together so you can mail them out to family members and friends.
Christmas cards began with a lazy English aristocrat and publisher Sir Henry Cole who in 1843 sent cards with a short message instead of the common practice in the early nineteenth century to write seasonal messages on calling cards or in personal letters to relatives and friends. They were insulted because it seemed they didn’t warrant the usual full and affectionate Christmas letter.
Cole's cards were designed by an artist, John Calcott Horsley. His first Christmas card design had two panels showing people caring for the poor and a center panel of a family having a large Christmas dinner. About 1,000 of these cards were printed, and those not used by Sir Henry were sold by the printer for one shilling (see below).
The first Christmas card made in America was basically an advert for a department store. Issued between 1850 and 1852, the card’s seasonal illustrations were buttoned by a mention of Pease’s, a “general variety” store in Albany, New York.
Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, whose music such as his famous 1899 tone poem Finlandia helped establish Finland's national identity, was born on December 8, 1865, in Hameenlinna, Finland, which is 100 km north of the country's capital, Helsinki.
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| Sibelius in 1913 |
The strong nationalist sentiment conveyed in Sibelius' music was deemed an expression of patriotism in Finland. Finlandia was composed when his country was under Russian domination and premiered in Helsinki on July 2, 1900 with the Helsinki Philharmonic Society conducted by Robert Kajanus. The work was banned by the Russian rulers of Finland because it aroused much patriotic fervor among the Finns. In Berlin it was played as 'Vaterland'; in Paris as 'Patrie'.
Since 2011, December 8, Sibelius' birthday, has been a flag day in Finland known as "The Day Of Finnish Music".
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is observed annually in the United States on December 7, to remember and honor the United States citizens who were killed in the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941.
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| Arizona during the attack |
At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time on December 7, 1941, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appeared out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese aircraft followed, descending on the US Pacific Fleet as it lay in port in Pearl Harbor.
The Pearl Harbor attack was carried out by 353 Japanese warplanes. After just two hours of bombing, 2,403 Americans were dead, 21 ships were either been sunk or damaged, and more than 188 US aircraft destroyed.
The United States promptly declared war on Japan whose allies, Italy and Germany, in turn declared war on the United States.
On Pearl Harbor Day, the American flag should be flown at half-staff until sunset to honor those who died as a result of the attack on U.S. military forces in Hawaii.
Saint Nicholas Day is observed on December 6 in Western Christian countries, and on December 19 in Eastern Christian countries. It is the feast day of Bishop Nicholas of Myra with particular regard to his reputation as a bringer of gifts.
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| A 13th-century depiction of St. Nicholas from Saint Catherine's Monastery |
Many stories, some miraculous, are told about Nicholas. On one occasion he brought back to life three children, who had been killed by a malicious butcher during a famine. They had been placed in a barrel to be cured and sold as ham.
Saint Nicholas is also said to have helped three poor girls who couldn't afford a dowry to get married by throwing purses of money through their window. The idea of Santa Claus coming down chimneys to deliver presents has its origin in that story.
Saint Nicholas died on December 6, 343 AD. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting silver coins in the shoes of his followers, and during the Middle Ages, this practice was celebrated in many European countries on his feast day.
Saint Nicholas' feast day of December 6th was celebrated in Holland with the giving of gifts to children who behaved well. Dutch immigrants brought St. Nicholas, known to them as "Sinterklaas", and traditions of his feast day to their colonies in America. He became popularized there as Santa Claus and his gift-giving day moved from December 6 to Christmas Day.
World Soil Day (WSD) is held annually on December 5 as a means to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources.
An international day to celebrate Soil was recommended by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) in 2002. The Food and Agriculture Organization Conference unanimously endorsed World Soil Day in June 2013 and requested its official adoption at the 68th UN General Assembly. In December 2013, the UN General Assembly responded by designating December 5, 2014 as the first official World Soil Day.
The date of December 5 was chosen for World Soil Day because it corresponds with the official birthday of the late H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand, who was one of the main proponents of this initiative.
Soil is one of two main components of Earth — the other being oceans — where life is active. Human life depends on healthy soil.
Soil is not a renewable resource. Human life depends on healthy soil, just like it depends on clean air and clean water, but losses of soil cannot be regained within a lifetime.
December 4th is National Cookie Day, whose origins lie with a Sesame Street Monster. The Cookie Monster sums up their deliciousness with the phrase, "Num, num, num, num, num!" In 1976, Sesame Street included National Cookie Day on its calendar for the first time on November 26th. Then in 1987, Matt Nader of the Blue Chip Cookie Company a smallish company out of San Francisco, cooked up Cookie Day to promote their sweet treat. They chose December 4th as the day to celebrate their snack.
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| By Dezidor - Self-photographed |
The word “cookie” appeared in print for the first time in North America in 1703. The word came from Dutch settlers who introduced their recipes for various types of “koekje”, which means “little cake.”
Nabisco's "Oreo's" are the world's best-selling brand of cookie at a rate of 6 billion sold each year. The first Oreo was sold in 1912.
The average American will eat about 35,000 cookies in their lifetime.
International Day of Persons with Disabilities is an international observance promoted by the United Nations each year on December 3 since 1992. It aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.
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| A 28-year-old Iraqi woman who lost both of her legs during the Iraq War in 2005 |
About 15% of the world's population lives with some form of disability, of whom 2-4% experience significant difficulties in functioning.
Of the one billion population of persons with disabilities, 80% live in developing countries.
An estimated 46% of older people aged 60 years and over are people with disabilities.
An estimated 48.9 million people, or 19.4% of the non-institutionalized civilians, have a disability in the United States. An estimated 24.1 million people have a severe disability.
Today is the second day of December. The name of the month comes from the Latin decem for "ten". It was the tenth month of the year before January and February were added to the Roman calendar.
At the North Pole, the Sun does not rise in December; at the South Pole, it does not set.
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| Sunset over the North Pole |
More people suffer fatal falls in December in the UK than any other month.
People born in December have the best statistical chance of living past 100 years old.
Today is the first day of Advent. The Season of Advent, which begins on a Sunday about four weeks before Christmas Day, is celebrated by many western Christians. It is a time for people to prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus at Christmas and the second coming of Christ. Advent also marks the start of the new liturgical year.
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| Advent candles By Johann Jaritz |
The earliest authentic record of Advent was the Macon council held in 581, which stated that the season starts on the feast of St. Martin - November 11; this period is still observed in the Orthodox church.
About 600, Pope Gregory I decreed that the Advent season should start on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, but the longer period was observed in England for some years.
The shorter period is now observed in the Anglican, Episcopal, Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches, and the first Sunday of Advent is regarded as the commencement of the Christian ecclesiastical year.
Special Advent Calendars are made for children, with pictures or treats for each day of Advent. The first advent calendars were chalk lines made by German protestant families for every day in December until Christmas Eve.
In 1981 The New England Journal of Medicine reported a new rare and fatal disease that had killed 95 people, mostly homosexual men. The disease later would be called AIDS.
The Associated Press ran its first story about AIDS on July 3, 1981. "Doctors in New York and California have diagnosed among homosexual men 41 cases of a rare and often rapidly fatal form of cancer," Lawrence K. Altman’s article began. "Eight of the victims died less than 24 months after the diagnosis was made."
On October 8, 1981, public health nurse Bobbi Campbell became the 16th person in San Francisco to be diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma, when that was a proxy for an AIDS diagnosis. He was the first to publicly identify as a person living with what was to become known as HIV/AIDS.
The AIDS virus was officially recognized on December 1, 1981. World AIDS Day, designated on December 1 every year since 1988 is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease.
The red ribbon is the global symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS.
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| By Gary van der Merwe - graphics by Niki K Aids Awareness Red RibbonLapel pins |
As of 2019, AIDS has killed between 24.8 and 42.2 million people worldwide, and an estimated 38.0 million people are living with HIV,
Thanks to recent improved access to antiretroviral treatment in many regions of the world, the death rate from AIDS epidemic has decreased since its peak in 2005 (690,000 in 2019, compared to 1.9 million in 2005).
Today is St Andrew's Day. Saint Andrew was a fisherman and younger brother of Saint Peter. When they were called to serve Jesus, the Savior of the world said he would make them "fishers of men".
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| Artus Wolffort - St Andrew |
Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving and the most profitable shopping day of the year in the US, got its name from the old accounting practice of using red ink for debt and black ink for profit.
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| DC USA Black Friday By Gridprop at English Wikipedia |
The original "Black Friday" was Friday, September 24, 1869 when two notoriously ruthless Wall Street financiers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, worked together to corner the market on gold, buying as much of it as they could and driving up the price. On that Friday in September, the conspiracy finally unraveled, sending the stock market into free-fall and bankrupting everyone from Wall Street barons to farmers.
Police officers in Philadelphia were first to link Black Friday to the post-Thanksgiving period in the 1950s. Large crowds of tourists and shoppers came to the city the day after Thanksgiving for the Army-Navy football game, creating chaos, traffic jams and shoplifting opportunities. Not only would Philly cops not be able to take the day off, but they would have to work extra-long shifts dealing with the additional crowds and traffic.
Use of the phrase spread slowly, first appearing in The New York Times on November 29, 1975, in which it still refers specifically to "the busiest shopping and traffic day of the year" in Philadelphia. By the late 1980s, the term was commonly known across the nation and retailers soon linked it to their post-Thanksgiving sales.
Sources History, Daily Telegraph
Happy Thanksgiving Day! In America the first ever Thanksgiving Day was celebrated by the Mayflower colonists in 1621. It was an acknowledgement of God's provisions during the year.
When these pioneering Mayflower colonists first settled in Massachusetts the previous December, they'd faced starvation. However friendly Native Americans had shown them how to grow corn and squash and to catch the local birds, fish and shellfish. One Indian in particular, Squanto has been especially helpful as he just happened to speak fluent English. He'd picked up the pilgrim fathers' language after being carried off by visiting sailors and working as a house servant in the city of London before returning to rescue the ill-equipped, confused Pilgrims. These colonists went on to invite the Indians to a thanksgiving feast to celebrate their first successful harvest.
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| The First Thanksgiving 1621, oil on canvas by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1899) |
When George Washington was elected the first President of America, he announced the first national Thanksgiving Day, held on November 26, 1789. "Both Houses of Congress", he proclaimed, "have requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God especially by affording him an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."
Thanksgiving was held sporadically in America until 1863 when Sarah Josepha Hale, the author of "Mary Had a Little Lamb", suggested making Thanksgiving a more widely acknowledged holiday than it was in an effort to keep the nation from dividing over the issue of slavery. She persuaded Abraham Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving as an annual holiday on the last Thursday in November.
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| Traditional Thanksgiving meal. Wikipedia |
Thanksgiving is colloquially known as "Turkey Day." In fact, 45 million turkeys were consumed on Thanksgiving Day alone in 2015.
The dark meat of a Thanksgiving turkey offers a greater density of nutrients, like B vitamins and iron, than white meat.
Flag Day, or Independence Day, is celebrated every November 28, as a holiday in Albania, Kosovo, and the Albanian diaspora.
The Albanian flag is red with a silhouetted black double-headed eagle in the center(see below). The red stands for bravery, strength and valor, while the double-headed eagle represents the sovereign state of Albania located in the Balkans. The flag was adopted as the symbol of the new nation when the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on November 28, 1912.
The Ottoman Turks conquered Albania around 1400 and remained in power for the next five hundred years.
Gjergj Kastrioti, known as Skanderbeg meaning "Lord Alexander," was a member of the noble Kastrioti family who was appointed as sanjakbey (governor) of the Sanjak of Dibra in 1440. In 1443, during the Battle of Niš, he deserted the Ottomans.
Skanderbeg led his men to the mountainous stronghold of Krujë, where he arrived on November 28, 1443 and by the use of a forged letter from Sultan Murad to the Governor of Krujë he became lord of the city that very day. He raised a red standard with a black double-headed eagle on Krujë.
In 1444 Skanderbeg organized a group of nobles to form the League of Lezhë, an alliance of Albanian principalities that is regarded as the first unified Albanian state. For 25 years he held the Ottoman Empire at bay in Albania and weakened and harassed them in neighboring territories.
Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in Vlora on November 28, 1912, after the First Balkan War. Albanians celebrate their independence on November 28th.
On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris. In his will, he stipulated that the bulk of his vast fortune be used to establish a series of prizes to be awarded annually to those who have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The Nobel Prizes are now considered to be the most prestigious awards in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace.
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| Front side (obverse) of one of the Nobel Prize medals in Physiology or Medicine awarded in 1950. By Photograph: JonathunderMedal: Erik Lindberg (1873-1966) |
National Cake Day is an unofficial holiday celebrated on November 26th each year in the United States. It is a day dedicated to celebrating the deliciousness of cake, one of the most beloved desserts around the world.
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Isaac Watts, the "Godfather of English Hymnody," died on November 25, 1748.
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| Isaac Watts |
In 1692 the 18-year-old Isaac Watts complained to his father that the hymns sung at church were tuneless. His father suggested he provide something better. The result was "Behold the Glories of the Lamb," which is considered the birth of the English hymn.
Watts was the first to write hymn words based on personal feelings and testimony. When he used the word "I" in the opening line of his most famous hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," he was actually revolutionizing the way people express their faith in music.
Watts suffered from bad health most of his life and for many years he could do little more than write. He is credited with some 750 hymns, as well as many books. His joyful hymns expressed wonder, praise and adoration covering the whole range of Christian experience. They prepared the way for the great revival under the Wesleys and Whitfield.
Watts died on November 25, 1748 aged 74; he was buried in Bunhill Fields. Hanging in Westminster Abbey is a tablet picturing Watts writing at a table while angels whisper songs in his ear.
The Church of England and Lutheran Church remember Watts annually in the Calendar of Saints on November 25, and the Episcopal Church on the following day.
Evolution Day is a celebration to commemorate the anniversary of the initial publication of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin on November 24, 1859.
Charles Darwin was one of the first to formulate an argument for the scientific theory of evolution by means of natural selection, which he wrote about in his book On the Origin of Species. It was first published on November 24, 1859, priced at fifteen shillings with a first printing of 1250 copies. Though some intellectuals latched onto Darwin's work with great enthusiasm, it generally caused controversy and outrage among Victorian society and he was vehemently attacked and ridiculed by the church.
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| Origin of Species title page |
The first edition On The Origin Of Species did not contain the word ‘evolution’, though its last word is ‘evolved’. The sixth edition of On The Origin Of Species, published in 1872, mentions ‘evolution’ eight times, with another six uses of ‘evolve’ or ‘evolved’.
In the western world Darwinian evolution, despite being merely a theory, is treated as factual by most. Those who believe in a literal creationist interpretation of the Bible are considered to be intellectually lacking.
According to a 2019 Gallup poll, 68% f those who attend church at least once a week believe that God created humans in their present form. Meanwhile, 59% of those who do not identify with any religion believe in evolution without any intervention from God.
Islamic views on evolution are diverse, ranging from theistic evolution to Old Earth creationism In Egypt, evolution is currently taught in schools, but Saudi Arabia and Sudan have both banned the teaching of evolution in schools.
National Cashew Day is celebrated annually November 23 in the United States of America. This unofficial holiday was first observed in 2015.
Cashews are not nuts (according to botanical definition, they are a mixture of seeds and legumes). They are a close relative of mangos, pistachios, poison ivy and poison oak.
Originally native to northeastern Brazil, the cashew tree is now widely grown in tropical regions. Vietnam is the world's leading exporter, followed by India and Ivory Coast.
Raw cashews are 5% water, 30% carbohydrates, 44% fat, and 18% protein.
Saint Cecilia is the patroness of musicians. Her feast day is November 22nd, which is the occasion of concerts and musical festivals. The first record of a music festival in her honor was held at Évreux in Normandy in 1570.
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| Saint Cecilia playing the pipe organ |
A 2nd century Christian Roman maiden of patrician birth, Saint Cecilia was compelled to marry a young pagan, Valerian, despite a vow of celibacy. It is written that while the profane music was played at Saint Cecilia's wedding, she was "singing in her heart a hymn of love for Jesus, her true spouse" hence her association with music-making.
Saint Cecilia succeeded in persuading Valerian to respect her vow, and converted him to her Christian faith. They were both put to death for their beliefs.
Saint Cecilia is one of several virgin martyrs commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass in the Latin Church.
On November 21 and 22, 1996, the United Nations held the first World Television Forum, where leading media figures met under the auspices of the United Nations to discuss the growing significance of television in today's changing world and to consider how they might enhance their mutual cooperation. In December 1996 the United Nations proclaimed November 21 as World Television Day in recognition of the increasing impact television has on decision-making by bringing world attention to conflicts and threats to peace and security and its potential role in sharpening the focus on other major issues, including economic and social issues. It commemorates the date on which the first World Television Forum was held in 1996.
The word "television" comes from the words "tele" (Greek for far away) and vision (sight). It first entered the English language in 1907 at the start of attempts to transmit moving images.
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| The SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention |
Children's Day is a commemorative date celebrated annually in honor of children, whose date of observance varies by country. World Children's Day is celebrated on November 20 to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children's welfare. November 20th is an important date as it is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
India celebrates Children's Day on November 14th, exactly 9 months after Valentines Day.
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| Children performing for Independence Day, Alwar district, Rajasthan, India |
Children's Day is a Japanese national holiday which takes place annually on May 5 and is the final celebration in Golden Week. Until 1948, Children's Day in Japan was known as Boys' Day while Girls' Day was celebrated on March 3. It was renamed when the government decreed the holiday should celebrate the happiness of all children and express gratitude toward mothers.
Since 1950, Children's Day has been celebrated on June 1 in most Communist and post-Communist countries. In Poland it coincides with the beginning of meteorological summer and it is usually treated as a special day, free from lessons, as it takes place near the end of the school year. In Romania children often receive presents from parents and other family members.
World Toilet Day is an official United Nations international observance day on November 19. The day celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation. It is about taking action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and achieve water and sanitation for all by 2030. The UN General Assembly declared World Toilet Day an official UN day in 2013, after Singapore had tabled the resolution.
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| World Toilet Day 2015 in Pakistan By Kutoid - World Toilet Organization, Singapore, |
Not only did 43% of Pompeii's buildings have indoor toilets, some also had plumbing for toilets on the second floor.
Sir John Harington, author, courtier and godson to Queen Elizabeth I, invented the world's first flushing lavatory, called the Ajax, in 1589. Harrington had been banished from the court for telling risqué stories in front of the ladies. In the mansion he built at Kelston, in Somerset he installed the world's first toilet, which he called "a privy in perfection".
Yorkshire plumber Thomas Crapper perfected his flushing toilet valve in 1863. By drawing water uphill through a sealed cistern, it was both more effective and hygienic than previous lavatory systems.
Most toilets flush in E flat.
Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse! November 18th is the day we celebrate the lovable mouse and the magical moments he's brought to us over the years.
Mickey Mouse was originally called Mortimer. Luckily, Walt's wife, Lillian Disney, stepped in and convinced him that Mickey would be a more marketable name.
Mickey Mouse actually started off as a rabbit. Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, but after a disagreement over rights with Universal Studios, the film distributor, Disney refused a pay cut and created Mickey Mouse.
Mickey became an instant hit on November 18, 1928 with the release of Steamboat Willie, the first ever cartoon with synchronized sound. Directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, it featured the third appearances of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. November 18th is considered by the Disney corporation to be Mickey's birthday.
In 1978, on his 50th anniversary, Mickey Mouse became the first cartoon character to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his role in animated films.
International Students' Day is an international observance of the student community, held annually on November 17. It remembers the anniversary of the 1939 Nazi storming of the University of Prague after student demonstrations against the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. Germans closed all Czech universities and colleges, sent over 1200 students to Nazi concentration camps, and had nine students and professors executed on November 17.
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| Graduating students Pixiebay |
Bologna University in the Kingdom of Italy, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, was the first Western European institution generally considered a university. Founded in 1088, it was the first place of study to use the term universitas for a place of learning involving students and masters.
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. Two years after it was founded, Oberlin became in 1835 the first college in the United States to admit African-Americans. It was the first to admit women in 1837.
November 7, 2014 saw hundreds of thousands of students participate in demonstrations around the world on the occasion of International Students' Day. On that day students mobilized in over 40 countries to demand free education. In addition, commemorations were held for the anniversaries of Nazi repression of student activists in Prague of 1939, the Athens Polytechnic Uprising of 1973 and the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
Every November in South Korea, there's a day where everyone makes silence to help students concentrate for their most important exam of their lives. Planes are grounded, constructions are paused, banks close and even military training ceases. This day is called Suneung.
Founded in 1938, the National Button Society recognizes button collecting as an organized hobby. The society established National Button Day, which is celebrated on November 16th each year to honor the function of buttons and the hobby of button collection.
Buttons have been known to exist as far back as the Bronze age when they were worn as ornamentation. They were used to decorate belts and other metal objects.
The wearing of gold, silver, and ivory buttons in fourteenth century Europe was an indication of wealth and rank. Expensive buttons were also made of copper and its alloys. The metalsmith frequently embellished such buttons with insets of ivory, tortoiseshell, and jewels.
There was a button mania in the late Middle Ages, resulting, in some outfits adorned with thousands of buttons, all of them with accompanying buttonholes. Dressing and undressing became a laborious process, but created a niche for the employment of professional dressers.
Men's and women's buttons are placed on opposite sides because, historically, men have always dressed themselves and are mostly right handed. Women who wore ornate clothing had maids to help them dress and it was easier for the maids to fasten with the buttons on the left
America Recycles Day (ARD) is celebrated on November 15 each year across the United States to promote economic, environmental and social benefits of recycling.
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| By Coolcaesar at the English language Wikipedia, |
Recorded advocates of recycling date back to Plato who in the 4th century BC wrote about the importance of his fellow ancients making the most of their waste products
The Japanese were the first recyclers to use waste paper to make new paper. It was first recorded in 1031 that Japanese shops were selling repulped paper.
Started by the recycling sector organization National Recycling Coalition in 1997, America Recycles Day has been a program of national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful since 2009.
The energy saved by recycling one glass bottle will power a computer for 25 minutes.
Today is World Diabetes Day, the world’s largest diabetes awareness campaign reaching a global audience of over 1 billion people in more than 160 countries.
Canadian physiologist Frederick Banting was inspired to research the treatment of diabetes while preparing a class lecture on the pancreas, when he read a paper about the relationship between the pancreas and diabetes. He knew it was an accepted fact that diabetes was caused by a disorder of the pancreas that kept the body from making use of sugar, so Banting decided that if he tied off the pancreatic duct he could isolate the hormone causing the disorder.
In the spring of 1921, Banting traveled to Toronto to explain his idea to J.J.R. Macleod, who was Professor of Physiology at the University of Toronto, and asked Macleod if he could use his lab space to test it out. Macleod agreed and lent him Charles Best, a research student at the university.
After several months of experiments on laboratory dogs, Banting and Best prepared a solution containing the hormone insulin which they injected into the veins of a diabetic dog, and within a few hours the dog was walking again. Soon they were able to purify these extracts sufficiently to inject and treat diabetic patients.
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| Frederick Banting joined by Charles Best in office, 1924 |
537 million adults (20-79 years) were living with diabetes in 2021 (1 in 10 of the world\s population). The number of people living with diabetes is expected rise to 784 million by 2045.
Today the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the feast day of John Chrysostom.
John Chrysostom’s preaching talents came about through sheer hard work, He spent four years in the desert, and two as a hermit in Bible study, during which he practiced austerities.
The “golden mouthed” former Archbishop died on September 14, 407. In the Eastern Orthodox Church there are several feast days dedicated to him. one of them, November 13, is the date news of John Chrysostom's death reached Constantinople
Even outside the Christian world, Chrysostom influence has been great. After World War II, Charles Malik, a Lebanese Christian philosopher and board member of Harvard university, proposed that the social teachings of John Chrysostom be adopted as policy for the founding charter of the United Nations.
Pneumonia is an inflammation of the lungs due to bacterial or viral infection. It is characterized by a build-up of fluid in the small air sacs known as alveoli, where oxygen exchange takes place.
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| Häggström, Mikael (2014). |
World Pneumonia Day falls on November 12. The day provides an annual forum for the world to stand together and demand action in the fight against pneumonia. Its aims is to raise awareness about pneumonia, promote interventions to protect against, prevent and treat the disease and generate action to combat the illness.
More than 100 organizations representing the interests of children joined forces as the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia to hold the first World Pneumonia Day on November 12, 2009.
Pneumonia is one of the most solvable problems in global health and yet each year, pneumonia affects about 450 million people globally (7% of the population).
The combined effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and conflict is fueling a pneumonia crisis across the life course – placing millions more at risk of infection and death. In 2021, the estimated burden of deaths from respiratory infections, including COVID-19, is a massive 6 million. This makes pneumonia the number 1 killer of children under 5, claiming more lives in this age group than AIDS.
The armistice between the German Empire and the Allies for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, was signed at 5 am in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne of France on November 11, 1918. It came into force "at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month."
On November 11, 1918 on the last day of World War I , General Pershing sent American troops to fight the Germans to "teach them a lesson" even though he knew an armistice was signed. Over 3,000 Americans were killed, wounded, or captured.
The last soldier to be killed during World War 1 was at 10.59am on November 11, 1918 when American Henry Gunther charged a German road black. Knowing of the closeness of the ceasefire, the Germans tried to wave him away, but he went on firing, so the Germans shot him.
Armistice Day is commemorated every year on November 11 to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne,
The date is a national holiday in France, and was declared a national holiday in many Allied nations. However, many Western countries and associated nations have since changed the name of the holiday from Armistice Day, with member states of the Commonwealth of Nations adopting Remembrance Day.In the United States the memorial day was called Armistice Day and is now Veterans Day.
Australian journalist Edward George Honey first proposed the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate The Armistice of World War I in a letter to a London newspaper in May 1919, As a result in the United Kingdom and other countries within the Commonwealth, a two-minute silence is observed as part of Remembrance Day at 11.11 a.m. to remember those who lost their lives.
The United States Marine Corps was founded as the Continental Marines by a resolution of the Second Continental Congress on November 10, 1775 during the American Revolutionary War.
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| 2008 Birthday celebration at Camp Lejeune |
The Continental Congress' resolution stated that "two Battalions of Marines be raised" for service as landing forces for the recently formed Continental Navy. The resolution was drafted by future U.S. president John Adams.
Tun Tavern, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is regarded as the birthplace of the Corps as the location of the first Marines to enlist under Commandant Samuel Nicholas,
Serving on land and at sea the original U.S. Marines distinguished themselves in a number of important operations during the Revolutionary War.
The United States Marine Corps Birthday is celebrated every year on November 10 with a traditional ball and cake-cutting ceremony. During the ceremony, the first piece goes to the oldest Marine present and the second piece to the youngest. The formal cake cutting ceremony was first celebrated in 1952.
From 1949 to 1990, Germany was made up of two countries called the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) under a Christian Democrat coalition and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) under a communist regime.
During this time, Berlin was divided into a west and an east part. On 13 August 1961, East Germany started building the Berlin Wall between the two parts of Berlin.
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| East German border guard at Berlin Wall, 1988, By Neptuul |
On November 9, 1989, Communist-controlled East Germany opened checkpoints in the Berlin Wall allowing its citizens to travel to West Germany. This key event led to the eventual reunification of East and West Germany, and fall of communism in eastern Europe including Russia.
World Freedom Day is an annual observance in the United States commemorating the Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe. It was first declared in 2001 by President George W. Bush and is celebrated on November 9.
World Urbanism Day, also known as "World Town Planning Day" is an opportunity to unite planners and celebrate town planning around the globe. The day was founded in 1949 by Professor Carlos Maria della Paolera of the University of Buenos Aires, a graduate at the Institut d'urbanisme in Paris, to advance public and professional interest in planning. It is celebrated in more than 30 countries on four continents on November 8th.
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| Flag of urbanism |
In ancient China, towns were often arranged in patterns so that if seen from above, the whole community would resemble an animal or a symbolic design. Some were arranged to resemble dragons, snakes, stars and sunbursts.
Hippodamus of Miletus (498 – 408 BC), was an ancient Greek architect who is considered to be "the father of European urban planning". Hippodamus developed a new way of laying out the towns and cities of Greece. Using a rectangular grid, he brought together a number of large units, each of which was dedicated to some function of the town's life.
Nine days after the Great Fire of London in 1666, Christopher Wren prepared a plan for rebuilding the city which he presented King Charles II with. with. In it he removed the crowded alleyways which were a fire and health hazard. All new streets would have one of three widths - 90,60 or 30 feet.
The Inuit are a people of the Arctic who live in Greenland and Canada.
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| By Ansgar Walk - photo taken by Ansgar Walk |
The Inughuit of northwest Greenland are the world's northernmost people. When contact was made in 1818 they had been isolated for several hundred years and were completely unaware of the existence of other humans.
Although they live in a climate inhospitable to crop development, the Inuit do not suffer from vitamin C deficiency (scurvy) due to their diet of frozen and raw fish and mammal organs. By not cooking the food, the vitamin C is not broken down and can be absorbed by the human body.
International Inuit Day is a holiday that was created to celebrate Inuit and amplify their voices. It falls on November 7.
Catholic conspirator Guy Fawkes was discovered just after midnight on November 5, 1605. He was found hiding in a cellar beneath the Houses of Parliament guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder, a length of slow match and a lantern. Fawkes and his fellow plotters had planned to blow up the king during the opening of Parliament the following day. Fawkes was arrested and taken to the Tower of London where he was agonizingly tortured on the rack until he named his co-conspirators.
Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes night, is a British celebration whose origins go back to the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot on November 5, 1605. Since then the British have celebrated this escape from the Houses of Parliament being blown up. On November 5th every year, they light up bonfires, place effigies of Guy Fawkes on the fire and combine this with a firework display.
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| The fireworks display at South Street, during Lewes Bonfire 2013 |
Guy Fawkes is the only Englishman to have a day named after him (if you exclude St George).
Other traditions celebrate Bonfire Night on different days. Some of the most popular instances include Northern Ireland's Eleventh Night, a precursor to The Twelfth. Also a similar bonfire tradition survives in parts of Scandinavia and is known as Walpurgis Night.
November 4 is celebrated as Flag Day in Panama.
Today is the 3rd day of November. The name 'November' comes from the Latin for nine (novem), as it was the ninth month of the Roman calendar.
In Old English November was 'Windmonath' (wind month) or 'Blotmonath' (blood or sacrifice month) referring to the time of slaughter of farm animals.
The Dutch called it 'slachtmaand' (slaughter month); in Welsh it is 'Tachwedd', also meaning 'slaughter'.
The first Sunday of Advent is slightly more likely to fall in November than in December.
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| Advent wreath. By Micha L. Rieser - Wikipedia Commons |
In any given year, November starts on the same day of the week as March and ends on the same day of the week as August.
All Souls Day is a holy day set aside for honoring those baptized Christians who are believed to be in purgatory. The day is primarily celebrated in the Catholic Church, but it is also celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Anglican denomination.
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| All Souls' Day by William-Adolphe Bouguereau |
The Western celebration of All Souls' Day is on November 2 and follows All Saints' Day, which commemorates the departed who have attained the beatific vision.
According to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, Purgatory is a halfway house between heaven and earth where ones souls are cleansed so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. Protestants discount this teaching.
The Roman Catholic tradition of Purgatory has a history that dates back to the belief, found in Pre-Christian Judaism that prayer for the dead contributed to their afterlife purification. St Augustine of Hippo developed many Catholic doctrines including belief in purgatory, St. Ambrose of Milan spoke of a kind of "baptism of fire" which is located at the entrance to Heaven, and through which all must pass, at the end of the world and Pope St. Gregory the Great stated his belief in Purgatory adding however that the Purgatorial fire could only purify away minor transgressions, not "iron, bronze, or lead," or other "hardened" (duriora) sins.
The concept of purgatory was made official church doctrine at the 1274 Council of Lyons. The council wrote that Christians who had not shown sufficient repentance for their sin needed to be cleansed by purgatorial punishments. Furthermore, the council taught that these punishments could be relieved for oneself (or for those who had died) through “the sacrifices of Masses, prayers, alms, and other duties of piety.”
Today is All Saints' Day, a Christian solemnity celebrated in honor of all the saints of the church, whether they are known or unknown.
Below is All Saints' Day at a cemetery in Gniezno, Poland, the picture shows flowers and candles placed to honor deceased relatives.
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| By Diego Delso, Wikipedia |
In 609 Pope Boniface IV converted the Roman Pantheon into a Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and all martyrs. By the 7th century the commemoration of martyrs for the faith had become widespread and as time went on these celebrations came to include not only the martyrs but all saints.
In 837 Pope Gregory IV established the first celebration of All Saints' Day on November 1st to honor the saints, choosing the first day of November to counter a Celtic festival of the dead, known as Samhain celebrated the night before. However the festival did not die out and in medieval Britain it became known as All Hallows (All Saints) Eve, and later its Scottish equivalent Halloween became more widely used.
Today is National Bison Day Bison or buffalo are large, even-toed mammals. "Bison" is a Greek word meaning ox-like animal, while "buffalo" originated with the French fur trappers who called these massive beasts bœufs, meaning ox or bullock—so both names, "bison" and "buffalo", have a similar meaning.
The buffalo formed the mainstay of the economy of the Native Americans, providing them with meat for food, hides and fur for clothing and shelter, and sinew and horn for tools
In the 1800s, the westward-moving pioneers and railroad workers wantonly killed the huge animals by the thousands for food. Only the choicest pieces of the slaughtered buffalo, the hump and tongues, were cut out of the carcasses.
The near-extinction bison hunting in the 1800s was not only to gain food. The pioneers also wanted to restrict the American Indians' dominant food supply; herds were shot from trains and left to rot where they died.
By 1870s, the buffalo had been decimated east of the Mississippi River thus removing a major source of meat. The extension of railroads across the Great Plains had led to the destruction of the huge herds that foraged on the vast grasslands there.
The Buffalo Protection Act of 1894 was one of the earliest official recognitions of an endangered species problem in the United States. By the late 1880s fewer than a thousand bison were left on the continent, two thirds of them in Canada. The law to protect the few remaining in Yellowstone National Park was the first federal legislation that focused on conserving a once-vast wildlife resource.
The United States Senate has passed resolutions each year since 2013 making the first Saturday of November National Bison Day. The purpose of National Bison Day is to encourage celebration of the American Bison, also commonly known as the American buffalo. The species is acknowledged as the first American conservation success story, having been brought back from the brink of extinction by a concerted effort of ranchers, conservationists and politicians to save the species in the early 20th century. Bison can also play an important role in improving the types of grasses found in landscapes to the benefit of grasslands and hold significant economic value for private producers and rural communities.
President Barack Obama signed into law on May 9, 2016 the National Bison Legacy Act, which designated the bison as the official mammal of the United States.
Today is All Hallows' Eve. Hallow, in Old English, means "holy" or "sacred." Therefore, "All Hallows' Eve," or "Halloween" simply means "the evening of holy persons" and refers to the evening before All Saints Day celebrated on November 1.
The tradition of dressing up on Halloween originates from the Celts, who were known to wear costumes and masks to these festivals in an attempt to appease evil spirits, thought to bring problems to the living on Halloween.
To try and frighten off any superstitions, the Europeans began making lanterns from carved vegetables (predominantly turnips), lit by a candle inside. The "head" of turnips were used, with the belief that the head was the most powerful part of the body, containing the spirit and the knowledge.
The carving of pumpkins is one of Halloween's most prominent symbols today. However, it wasn't until the 1860s that the pumpkin became associated with Halloween - a tradition originating from North America, where pumpkins were readily available and much larger, making them easier to carve.
Halloween was brought to the USA by the Irish but the associations the Americans have with it such as black cats and witchcraft come from Africa.
Stroke is a condition where the blood supply to the brain is disrupted, resulting in oxygen starvation, brain damage and loss of function.
Hippocrates was first to describe the phenomenon of sudden paralysis that is often associated with a stroke. Apoplexy (an old-fashioned term for a stroke or stroke-like symptoms), from the Greek word meaning "struck down with violence", first appeared in Hippocratic writings to describe this phenomenon.
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| An image of Hippocrates on the floor of the Asclepieion of Kos |
Globally 1 in 4 adults over the age of 25 will have a stroke in their lifetime. 13.7 million people worldwide will have their first stroke this year and five and a half million will die as a result.
Stroke is leading cause of death and disability globally with 116 million years of healthy life lost each year to the disease.
Throughout the world, stroke is the second leading cause of death. It’s also the leading cause of disability.
World Stroke Day is observed on October 29 to underscore the serious nature and high rates of stroke, raise awareness of the prevention and treatment of the condition, and ensure better care and support for survivors
The first public performance of Reynaud's Théâtre Optique took place at the Grevin Museum in Paris on October 28, 1892. The show included three cartoons, the first of which was a 15-minute animation, Pauvre Pierrot, made from 500 hand-painted images, which was the first ever presentation of projected moving images to an audience.
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| A performance of Pauvre Pierrot as imagined by Louis Poyet |
National Peach Day is celebrated on August 27th every year. It is a day to celebrate the delicious and nutritious peach fruit, which is in season during the summer months.
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| White peaches |
Pit bull is a word used to describe several breeds of dog. They include the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American Bully and Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and dogs with a mix of these breeds. These dogs were bred by crossing bulldog and terrier breeds.
In 2007, National Pit Bull Awareness Day was created in the US to help undo the reputational damage done to pit bulls in the media. Each year, on October 26, American pit bulls are celebrated as loving, caring pets rather than the menacing, dangerous animals that they are mistakenly portrayed as.
Notable pit bulls include Pete the Pup, a character in the Little Rascals movies, Billie Holiday's companion "Mister", Helen Keller's dog "Sir Thomas", and President Theodore Roosevelt's Pit Bull terrier "Pete".
In August 2016, a stray pit bull in Georgia protected a woman from a knife attack. After his wounds healed, he was adopted and named Hero.
World Pasta Day was brought into existence as part of the World Pasta Congress on October 25, 1995. Each year on October 25, this organization uses World Pasta Day to promote the eating of pasta, along with its cultural and culinary importance.
There are over 600 different kinds of pasta available throughout the world. They are mostly available in two forms: fresh (like ravioli and canelloni) or dried (like spaghetti and penne).
The name pasta came from the Latin word for dough.
The first documented recipe for pasta is in the Italian book De arte Coquinaria per vermicelli e macaroni siciliani, (The Art of Cooking Sicilian Macaroni and Vermicelli) written by Martino Corno, chef to the powerful Patriarch of Aquileia in 1005.
Pasta that is sealed in the box can stay fresh for up to 10 years - Open pasta is only good for a few days.
The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO) took place between April 25, 1945 and June 26, 1945 in San Francisco. On the last day of the conference delegates from 50 nations signed a charter creating the The United Nations Organisation — later known as the United Nations.
The United Nations Organisation did not instantly come into being with the signing of the Charter, since in many countries the Charter had to be subjected to parliamentary approval. It was finally ratified and established on October 24, 1945.
In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly declared October 24, the anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations, as which "shall be devoted to making known to the people of the world the aims and achievements of the United Nations and to gaining their support for" its work.
President Harry S Truman laid the cornerstone at the United Nations headquarters and called it a workshop of peace on October 24, 1949. Construction was completed three years later.
Today the United Nations consists of 193 member states and two observer states. The mission of the United Nation is to maintain international peace and security.
World Polio Day was established by Rotary International on October 24 to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to develop a vaccine against polio. On this day, around the world, global organisations such as the Rotary International and other similar clubs and organisations host several events and fund-raisers, with an objective to raise awareness about polio.
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| Polio vaccination in Egypt |
Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, has existed for thousands of years, with depictions of the disease in ancient art. Outbreaks reached pandemic proportions in Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand during the first half of the 20th century. The 1952 U.S. polio epidemic was the worst outbreak in the nation's history. Of nearly 58,000 cases reported that year, 3,145 people died and 21,269 were left with mild to disabling paralysis, with most of its victims being children.
Worldwide, polio has become much less common in the past few decades. In 1988, there were about 350,000 new cases of polio across 125 countries. Most of those cases were children under the age of 5, and the virus paralyzed many of them for life. But within six years, polio was wiped out in both North and South America. By 2019 there were fewer than 40 polio cases a year. And they were just in three countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria.
Mole is the SI unit of measurement used to measure the number of things, usually atoms or molecules. One mole of something is equal to 6.02214078×1023 of same things (Avogadro's number). The Avogadro constant is named after the Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro (1776–1856), who, in 1811, first proposed that the volume of a gas (at a given pressure and temperature) is proportional to the number of atoms or molecules regardless of the nature of the gas.
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| Amedeo Avogadro |
October 22 was designated International Stuttering Awareness Day in 1998. The day is intended to raise public awareness of stuttering, which affects one percent of the world's population.
The day is known as International Stammering Awareness Day in the UK and Ireland.
Stuttering and stammering are not quite the same: a stutter is an involuntary repetition of one letter, while a stammer is any speech-slowing defect.
The ancient Greek Demosthenes stuttered and was inarticulate as a youth, yet, through dedicated practice, using methods such as placing pebbles in his mouth, became a great orator of Ancient Greece.
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| Greek orator Demosthenes practicing oratory at the beach with pebbles in his mouth |
Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, suffered from a stammer – a condition shared by most of his siblings. He was bullied mercilessly at Rugby School because of his speech disorder. Dodgson carried his stammer into adulthood. He referred to it as his "hesitation" and it continued to plague him throughout his entire life.
National Reptile Awareness Day is celebrated in the US each year on October 21. The day promotes education, conservation, and appreciation for reptiles.
The name "reptile" comes from Latin and means "one who creeps". All living reptile species are cold blooded, have scaly skin, and can lay eggs on land.
Reptiles come in four varieties: turtles and tortoises; crocodilia (including alligators); lizards and snakes; New Zealand tuatara.
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| Wikipedia |
Nearly all reptiles are incapable of running and breathing at the same time. This is one of the reasons why they are ambush predators. Komodo dragons can only dash 30 feet (10m) before having to rest for breathing.
The president of the World Association of Chefs Societies Billy Gallagher created International Chefs Day in 2004, which is celebrated each year on October 20th. The day focuses on educating kids around the world about eating healthy and for chefs to pass on their knowledge and skills to the next generation.
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| Chefs in training at chef school in Oxford, England By © Jorge Royan |
The word "chef" is derived (and shortened) from the term chef de cuisine, the director or head of a kitchen.
England's King George II took such an interest in his food that he ordered every dish served to him to be labelled with the name of the chef who had made it.
Before ascending to the English throne as King George IV, the prince employed the most celebrated chef around, Marie-Antoine Carême. The sumptuous food cooked for him gave Prince George almost permanent indigestion and his gargantuan excesses exceeded any other royals.
The self-taught French chef Raymond Blanc came to Britain in his early 20s after being fired as a waiter at the Michelin-starred Le Palais de la Bière in Besançon. Blanc had upset the head chef by questioning his cooking and was hit by him with a frying pan.
Mary Edith Keyburn passed away on October 19, 2010, at the age of 95 with a gin and tonic at her side. Her favorite tipple had been smuggled into her hospital room in a water bottle and served in a teacup.
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| Gin and tonic. By NotFromUtrecht |
In 2010 of Mary Edith Keyburn's favorite drink, her family and friends founded International Gin and Tonic Day in her honor. Each year on October 19th gin-lovers can enjoy their favorite drinks in the time-honored tradition.
Gin and tonic was used to prevent and treat malaria in the 1800s. Tonic containing the anti-malarial drug quinine was very bitter, so gin was added to make it tasty.
It’s the quinine in gin and tonics that makes them glow in ultra-violet light.
The United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million, or about 2 cents an acre on March 30, 1867.
The United States Senate ratified the treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska on April 9, 1867. It was passed by a single vote. The United States formally took possession on October 18, 1867, which is celebrated annually on October 18 in the state as Alaska Day.
Alaska's purchase was accomplished solely through the determined efforts of US Secretary of State William H. Seward. For many years afterward the land was mockingly referred to as "Seward's Folly" or "Seward's Icebox" because of its supposed uselessness.
It was not until after the discovery of gold that Alaska was given a governor and a local administration.
The first spreadsheet program Visicalc (for "visible calculator") was released for the Apple II on October 17, 1979. It was developed by Dan Bricklin of Software Arts, and was then produced for distribution by Personal Software.
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| An example VisiCalc spreadsheet on an Apple II |
Sales were initially brisk, with about 300,000 copies sold. It eventually sold over 700,000 copies in six years, and as many as 1 million copies over its history.
VisiCalc is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool, prompting IBM to introduce the IBM PC two years later.
Spreadsheet Day commemorates on October 17 every year the date that VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet program for personal computers, was released.
October 16th is World Food Day. It marks the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations on October 16, 1945.
Over 150 countries hold events each year marking World Food Day. One example is the World Food Day Sunday Dinners that Oxfam America sponsors in collaboration with several other non-profits
The day is celebrated widely by many other organizations concerned with food security, including the World Food Program and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Over 2 billion people do not have regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food.
Nearly 690 million people are hungry, up 10 million since 2019.
Only nine plant species account for 66% of total crop production, despite the fact that there are at least 30 000 edible plants.
Approximately 14% of food produced for human consumption is lost each year between the stages where it is grown or raised up to when it reaches the wholesale market. More food is wasted at the retail food and consumer stages.
Global Handwashing Day is celebrated every year on October 15th. It's a global advocacy day dedicated to promoting the importance of handwashing with soap as a simple yet effective way to prevent the spread of diseases.
Global Handwashing Day was initiated by the Global Handwashing Partnership (GHP) in August 2008 at the annual World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden with the first Global Handwashing Day took place on October 15, 2008. The date was appointed by the UN General Assembly.
Photo below shows Global Handwashing Day 2008 celebrations with celebrities at City Central School in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines.
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| By SuSanA Secretariat - https://www.flickr.com |
Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are more effective at battling some bacteria, like those causing staph infections. However, other bacteria are becoming more tolerant of such sanitizers, and regular hand washing with simple soap and water is the best solution for them. “It's the physical action of lifting and moving them off your skin, and letting them run down the drain.” said Lance Price, a professor at the George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health to NPR.
Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union on August 24, 1991. Over 92% of Ukrainian voters approved their country's independence as declared by the Ukrainian parliament.
In 1954, Crimea became part of Ukraine. 60 years later Russia was suspended from the G8 after its annexation of Crimea and military intervention in Eastern Ukraine. Ukraine is currently in a territorial dispute with Russia over the Crimean Peninsula.
A decree by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in 2014 decreed Defender of Ukraine Day to be a new holiday due to the Russian military intervention and decommunization in Ukraine. October 14 was chosen due to the Ukrainian historical tradition since the 12th century of honoring the Ukrainian army on that day. October 14 is also the Day of the Ukrainian Cossacks. Picture below shows President Poroshenko taking part in the events on the Day of the Defender of Ukraine
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| By Адміністрація Президента України, |
The United States Navy observes its birthday every year on October 13th
The Continental Congress established the Continental Navy (predecessor of the United States Navy) on October 13, 1775. With only two ships and a crew of eighty men, the main goal of the Continental Navy was to intercept shipments of British material and generally disrupt British maritime commercial operations during the Revolutionary War.
By the end of 1775, Congress had authorized the construction of 13 new frigates. Within a decade the war had ended and Congress had disbanded the Continental Navy and sold the remaining ships.
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| Continental ship Columbus with captured British brig Lord Lifford, 1776 |
To protect American merchant ships from Barbary pirates, Congress passed the Naval Act on March 27, 1794. It authorized the building of six frigates, which eventually became the U.S. Navy.
Two months after he set sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain to try to find a new route to the Orient, Christopher Columbus made his first first landfall in the Americas. The Pinta, Niña, and Santa María landed on an island of The Bahamas on October 12, 1492. Columbus named the newly discovered island, "San Salvador" meaning, "Saint of Salvation", to express his thankfulness at landing safely. Today it is known as Watling Island.
The landing is celebrated as Columbus Day in the United States on the second Monday in October. Actual observance varies in different parts of the United States, ranging from large-scale parades and events to complete non-observance.
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| Columbus Day in Salem, Massachusetts in 1892 |
In some Latin American countries such as Mexico, October 12 is known as Día de la Raza or (Day of the Race). Other countries such as Spain refer the holiday as Día de la Hispanidad and Fiesta Nacional de España where it is also the religious festivity of la Virgen del Pilar.
In South Dakota and Wisconsin, Native American Day is a holiday celebrated across the United States in lieu of Columbus Day on October 12. Native American Day is aimed at changing the way people view Native Americans as well as honoring the cultural contributions of their communities to the respective state’s history, as well as to the overall country.
Today is Friday 13th! The superstitions surrounding Friday the 13th stem from Jesus' crucifixion, which occurred on a Friday. According to the National Geographic, the fear of the number of 13 was fueled by Judas, the 13th apostle at the Last Supper, who betrayed Jesus.
Medieval Christians thought Friday unlucky as the day of the crucifixion, and 13 has been thought unlucky since pre-Christian times, but the two were not linked until the 19th century.
The first reference to an unlucky Friday the 13th came in an 1869 biography of the composer Gioachino Rossini who died on Friday, November 13, 1868.
On Friday January 13, 2017 Finn Air's flight 666 left for HEL (Helsinki) at 13:00 on a 13-year-old aircraft. They arrived safely.
On November 4, 1958 Angelo Roncalli was elected pope. He chose his father's name, John, and became Pope John XXIII thus making his views known on the disputed legitimacy of the 15th century Pope John XXIII. He was crowned wearing the 1877 Palatine Tiara.
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| Pope John XXIII |
He was aged seventy-six when elected and was considered a caretaker pope but instead he ushered in a new era in the Roman Catholic Church. Within three months of his election as pope, John XXIII proclaimed to the world his plan for a Vatican Council Two. The idea was inspired, he declared, by the Holy Spirit to "aggriornamento" (which means "bring up to date").
At the Second Vatican Council, which began meeting on October 11, 1962, great movements were set in train. Celebration in Latin was replaced by the use of the local language, relations with other denominations were relaxed, the role of the laity was enhanced, and the pope was made more 'one among equals'. Also evangelization and the reading of the Bible by the laity was encouraged.
Pope Francis approved Pope John XXIII for canonization without the traditional second miracle required. Instead, Francis based this decision on John XXIII's merits for the Second Vatican Council.
The date assigned for the liturgical celebration of John XXIII is not June 3rd, the anniversary of his death as would be usual, but October 11th, the anniversary of his opening of the Second Vatican Council.
World Sight Day is an annual event, that is always held on the second Thursday of October. The day aims to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment. It was originally initiated by the SightFirstCampaign of Lions Club International Foundation in 2000 and this year, World Sight Day is to be held on Thursday October 13, 2022.
The first guide dog training schools were established in Germany during World War I to enhance the mobility of returning veterans who were blinded in combat.
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| A blind man assisted by a guide dog in Brasília, Brazil. By Antonio Cruz |
Blind people smile like everyone else, even though they've never seen anyone else smile. It's just a natural human expression.
If you go blind in one eye, you only lose about one fifth of your vision, but all your sense of depth.
World Mental Health Day is observed on October 10 every year. It is an international day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma. The day was celebrated for the first time on October 10, 1992 at the initiative of World Federation for Mental Health Deputy Secretary General Richard Hunter.
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| Rally for World Mental Health Day 2014 in Salem, Tamil By Chinchu.c |
Mental disorders were described, and treatments developed, in Persia, Arabia and in the medieval Islamic world. The first psychiatric hospitals were was built by the Muslims including ones in Baghdad in 700AD, Cairo in 800 AD and in Damascus in 1270 AD. The physicians of the Islamic world invented and used a variety of treatments, including occupational therapy, music therapy, as well as medication.
The parents of Brazilian author Paulo Coelho were so concerned about his stated dream of being a writer that they put him in a mental institution three times. He wrote a book about it, Veronika Decides To Die, 35 years later.
13.6 million Americans live with a serious mental illness.
October 9th was first declared World Post Day at the 1969 UPU Congress in Tokyo.
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The Royal Mail was created by King Henry VIII of England in 1516. From then until 1840, postage in the UK was generally paid by the recipient rather than the sender.
Benjamin Franklin laid out the framework that would set up the American postal system. Franklin invested nearly 40 years to establish a reliable system of private communications in the colonies. He was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737 and then joint postmaster general of the colonies, a position he held until 1774 when he was fired for opening and publishing Massachusetts Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson's correspondence.
The United States Postal Service is the single largest employer of veterans (22% of the postal workforce) and nearly a third of the veterans are disabled.
Today is the fifth day of World Space Week, an annual holiday observed from October 4 to 10 in over 95 nations throughout the world. It marks the launch on October 4, 1957 of the first man-made satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit by the Soviet Union and the signing of the Outer Space Treaty on October 10, 1967.
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| Sputnik 1: The first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. |
World Space Week is officially defined as "an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition."
In 2020, the theme for World Space Week will be "Satellites Improve Life."
The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, originally known as the Feast of Our Lady of Victory and later as the Feast of the Holy Rosary, is celebrated on October 7th in the General Roman Calendar. This feast day was established to commemorate the Christian victory at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. During this battle, a fleet of Christian forces, led by the Holy League, defeated the Ottoman Empire's navy in the waters off the coast of Greece.
Pope Pius V attributed the Christian victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary through the rosary, and he subsequently instituted this feast day in her honor. The rosary is a form of prayer in the Catholic tradition that involves the repetition of prayers and meditation on specific events in the lives of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary.
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| Our Lady of the Rosary by Anthony van Dyck, between 1623 and 1624 |
Nederlanders and Germans fleeing religious persecution began settling in the colony of Pennsylvania at the invitation of William Penn, in 1683. German Quaker, and Mennonite immigrant families founded Germantown on October 6, 1683, marking the first major immigration of German people to America.
The settlement was inhabited by fifty-four German families who had accompanied Johan Printz to the Swedish settlement on the Delaware several years earlier and had resettled themselves.
Germantown was the birthplace of the American antislavery movement. The first anti-slavery petition in the New World was drafted in the home of Thönes Kunders of Germantown in April 1688. Kunders hosted the early Germantown Quaker meetings and the Christian group were already prominent in their condemnation of this inhuman trade, with the society's founder, George Fox, speaking strongly against it.
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| Thones Kunders's house at 5109 Germantown Avenue |
The founding of Germantown on October 6, 1683 was later to provide the date for German-American Day, a holiday in the United States, observed annually on October 6.
World Teachers' Day, also known as International Teachers Day, is an international day held annually on October 5 that acknowledges, evaluates, empowers, and appreciates teachers worldwide. First established in 1994, according to UNESCO, Teachers' Day celebrations are all about reminding society that "the right to education means the right to a qualified teacher.
‘Marking' was invented at Cambridge University in 1792 by a chemistry tutor called William Farish.
Before he became the frontman of The Police, Sting taught English, music, and football at St. Catherine's Convent School for two years in Cramlington, England. He wrote the hit single "Don't Stand So Close to Me" about a teacher who is attracted to one of his students.
Saint Francis of Assisi's feast day is observed on October 4th. Francis died on the evening of October 3, 1226 at the Church of St Mary of the Angels in Portinuncula Assisi. He was pronounced a saint by Pope Gregory IX 20 months later.
Many stories have been told of Francis' ability to charm wild animals. It was said that he would talk to the animals and they would talk back. In fact most of these stories originate from a book, The Little Flowers Of Saint Francis, which was written a century after his death.
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| Legend of St. Francis, Sermon to the Birds, upper Basilica of San Francesco d'Assis |
It was often reported that wild animals—rabbits, birds, even a wolf—became tame before Francis of Assisi. He especially cared for animals that were associated with Christ. If he saw a lamb being led off to slaughter, he would try to rescue it by pleading or trading for it.
In acknowledgement of his love for the countryside and wild creatures, Francis of Assisi was designated patron saint of ecology in 1980.
World Animal Day is celebrated annually on October 4, the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals.
World Smile Day was inaugurated in 1999 by Harvey Ball. It is held annually on the first Friday in October.
The catchphrase of World Smile Day is “Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile.”
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| Ball posing with a selection of Smiley merchandising Wikipedia |
An average woman smiles 62 times a day, the average man smiles only 8 times a day.
From 1949 to 1990, Germany was made up of two countries called the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) under a Christian Democrat coalition and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) under a communist regime.
During this time, Berlin was divided into a west and an east part. In 1961, East Germany started building the Berlin Wall between the two parts of Berlin.
On November 9, 1989, Communist-controlled East Germany opened checkpoints in the Berlin Wall allowing its citizens to travel to West Germany. This key event led to the eventual reunification of East and West Germany, and fall of communism in eastern Europe including Russia.
On October 3, 1990, The German Democratic Republic ceased to exist and its territory became part of the Federal Republic of Germany. East German citizens became part of the European Community, which later became the European Union.
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| The flag of unity at midnight of 3 October 1990 in front of the Reichstag |
October 3rd is now celebrated every year as German Unity Day.
Today is the second day of October.
The name "October" comes from the Latin oct for "eight". It was the eighth month of the year before January and February were added by the Romans to the beginning of the year.
The Anglo-Saxons called October Winterfylleth meaning the 'fullness' (not dirtiness) of winter. It signified the beginning of winter.
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| October, from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry |
The Welsh for October is Hydref (originally Hyddfref), a word signifying the distinctive sound uttered by cattle. In Catholic Europe in 1582, October had only 21 days. When countries changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, the days from 5-14 October were omitted.
Six US presidents have been born in October, more than in any other month.
Sake Day ("Nihonshu no Hi" in Japan) is an annual event held on October 1 as a tribute to sake. Sake Day used to be regarded as only a national event in Japan, but is now a worldwide occasion. October 1 is traditionally the starting date of sake production in Japan.
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| Sake served in a clear glass |
Sake is the national beverage in Japan. It is often served there with special ceremony – gently warmed in a small earthenware or porcelain bottle called a tokkuri, and sipped from a small porcelain cup called a sakazuki.
Most sake is made from rice, water, kōji, and yeast. Small amounts of pure alcohol can be added at the end of production.
Jerome of Stridon, commonly known as Saint Jerome, was a Latin priest, theologian, and historian. His feast day is September 30.
In 405, Jerome completed the most important of his works; a version of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew text, Prior to Jerome's Vulgate, all Latin translations of the Old Testament had been based on the Septuagint not the Hebrew.
His Vulgate Bible became the standard Bible of the western world throughout the Middle Ages and the basis for many translations.
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| Saint Jerome by Matthias Stom, 1635 |
Jerome died near Bethlehem on September 30, 420. He is recognized as the patron saint of translators, librarians and encyclopedists.
In art, Jerome is often represented as one of the four Latin doctors of the Church along with Augustine, Ambrose, and Pope Gregory I.
"World Heart Day" was founded by the World Heart Federation in 2000 to inform people around the globe that heart disease and strokes are the world’s leading causes of death, It is celebrated on September 29 every year.
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| By Blausen Medical Communications, Inc |
Worldwide, 17.3 million people die every year from heart disease or stroke, which account for 31 per cent of all deaths.
Shoveling snow is a known trigger for heart attacks. Some hospitals even prepare for more cardiac related visits after a large snowfall.
Wenceslaus' feast day is celebrated on September 28.
Wenceslaus I (the "Good King Wenceslas" of the Christmas carol) became the duke of Bohemia in 921. Renowned for his piety, he founded many churches in Prague, including a rotunda consecrated to St. Vitus at Prague Castle, which exists as present-day St. Vitus Cathedral.
Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia was murdered on September 28, 935, when he was killed by nobles on his way to Mass at the church door. The people were outraged and regarded the martyred duke as a saint.
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| Murder of Duke Wenceslaus, Liber viaticus (14th century) |
Wenceslaus was posthumously declared to be a king by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, and later came to be seen as the patron saint of the Czech Republic.
The September 28 Wenceslaus feast day has been a public holiday in the Czech Republic since 2000, celebrated as Czech Statehood Day.
Tourism gives rural communities the ability to protect and promote their natural surroundings, as well as their culture and heritage. The United Nations World Tourism Organization has celebrated World Tourism Day as international observances on September 27th since 1980. This date was chosen as on that day in 1970, the Statutes of the UNWTO were adopted.
The modern tourist industry began on July 5, 1841, when Thomas Cook organized a trip from Market Harborough to Loughborough in the English Midlands for a temperance meeting.
The word "tourist" for individuals travelling for recreation has been in the English language since at least 1772. "Tourism" came into use in 1811 and "package holiday" in 1959.
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| Englishman in the Campagna by Carl Spitzweg (c. 1845) |
Today is Johnny Appleseed Day, a day that commemorates the birth of John Chapman – a pioneer nurseryman that was responsible for introducing apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
John “Johnny Appleseed” Chapman was born in Leominster, Massachusetts on September 26, 1774. His birthplace has a granite marker, and the street is called Johnny Appleseed Lane.
John became a frontier missionary and pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to the Great Lakes area. After collecting apple seeds from cider presses in western Pennsylvania he embarked on a long trek westward, walking barefoot, planting a series of apple nurseries from Pennsylvania to central Ohio and beyond.
He preached the gospel as he traveled, and during his travels he converted many Native Americans, whom he admired.
Today is National Lobster Day. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King of Maine drafted a joint resolution in 2014 designating September 25th of every year as National Lobster Day in the USA. The day is designed to recognize not only the lobster industry but also the men and women who work so hard in that industry to bring lobsters to America’s tables.
In colonial America, lobster wasn't exactly a delicacy. In fact eating lobster was considered a mark of poverty and that people would bury the shells to hide the fact that they were eating it.
Lobster was so cheap and plentiful it was often served to prisoners. They also used lobster as yard fertilizer and fishing bait.
In the early 1900s, Lobster was considered the “cockroach of the ocean” and was synonymous with the poor – often eaten regularly by the homeless, slaves and prisoners. It wasn’t until after World War II that lobster became considered a delicacy and a food associated with the aristocratic classes.
September 24th is Republic Day in Trinidad and Tobago.
Trinidad was a Spanish colony from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498 until Spanish governor Don José María Chacón surrendered the island to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby in 1797.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, Tobago changed hands among Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlander colonizers.
Trinidad and Tobago were ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens as separate states and unified in 1889.
Trinidad and Tobago received independence from the United Kingdom on August 31, 1962.
Republic Day in Trinidad and Tobago, a public holiday celebrating their becoming a republic in 1976 and ceasing to be a Commonwealth realm. Actually they did that on August 1, 1976. September 24 was when their first parliament met.
Today is Saudi National Day. The day is celebrated in Saudi Arabia every September 23 to commemorate the renaming of the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by royal decree of King Abdul Aziz Al Saud in 1932.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire continued to control or have a suzerainty over most of the Arab peninsula. King Ibn Saud united the Arab peninsular into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud.
On September 23, 1932, the regions of Hejaz and Nejd merged to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with Ibn Saud as the first monarch and Riyadh as the capital city.
The September equinox is the moment when the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading southward. The September equinox usually occurs on September 22 or 23rd. Astronomers use the equinox to mark the transition from summer season to fall in the Northern Hemisphere, and the transition from the winter season to spring in the Southern Hemisphere.
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| Sunset at the equinox from the site of Pizzo Vento at Fondachelli Fantina, Sicily |
September 22 is the birthday of J.R.R. Tolkien's hobbit characters Bilbo and Frodo Baggins from his popular set of books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Bilbo was born in the year of 2890 and Frodo in the year of 2968 in the Third Age (1290 and 1368 respectively in Shire-Reckoning.) In recognition of these famous characters, this date has come to be known as "Hobbit Day."
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| Wikipedia |
J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit was published on September 21, 1937. The word 'hobbit' existed in English long before Tolkien, meaning a seed-basket or a local measure equal to two-and-a-half bushels
Peace Day, also known as the International Day of Peace, is observed annually on September 21. It was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly to promote peace and non-violence around the world. In 2001, the UN strengthened its commitment to peace by designating the day as a period of global non-violence and ceasefire.
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| Peace Day logo By http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org/, Wikipedia. |
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| Independence day decorations in Republic Square, Yerevan By Armineaghayan |
Today (September 20th) is National Punch Day. Punch is a general term for a beverage containing various mixed drinks, often including fruit, fruit juice, and/or alcohol.
The state funeral service for Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realmstook place at Westminster Abbey at 11:00 on September 19, 2022, followed by a committal service later that day at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. The Queen was interred in the King George VI Memorial Chapel at St George's.
International Talk Like a Pirate Day is celebrated on September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate. An observer of this holiday should greet friends not with "Hello, everyone!" but with "Ahoy, maties!" or "Ahoy, me hearties!" The day was born in 1995, when John Baur (Ol' Chumbucket) and Mark Summers (Cap'n Slappy), of Albany, Oregon were playing racquetball. One of them reacted to an injury with an outburst of "Aaarrr!", and the idea was born.
However, John Barrymore was the first Long John to use "arrr!" to mean "yes" back in 1934.
National Cheeseburger Day honors America’s favorite burger with a slice of cheese. It is celebrated each year on September 18th.
The first recorded sighting of the word 'cheeseburger' was on a 1928 menu for the Los Angeles restaurant O'Dell's. It listed a cheeseburger smothered with chili all for the price of 25 cents.
The trademark for the name "cheeseburger" was awarded to Louis Ballast of the Humpty Dumpty Drive-In, in Denver, Colorado in 1935.
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| A Burger King "Quad Stacker" cheeseburger, containing four patties and bacon |
On September 17, 1787, the Founding Fathers signed the American Constitution in Philadelphia. Constitution Day is an American federal observance that commemorates the adoption of the Constitution of the United States and those who have become United States citizens. It is normally observed on September 17.
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| Signing of the Constitution (1940 by Howard Chandler Christy) |
Today is Mayflower Day, which commemorates the day when the Pilgrim Fathers left Plymouth, England, and set sail on The Mayflower to the New World.
Today is Battle of Britain Day, the name given to the large-scale aerial battle that took place on September 15, 1940, during the Battle of Britain.
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| German Heinkel He 111 bombers over the English Channel 1940 |
Pope Gregory XIII introduced the modern calendar in 1582. In attempting to eliminate the difference between the date of the birth of Christ as it was then estimated and the errors that have been made and repeated ever since, the Pontiff removed all the days between the 4th and 15th of October of the current year. Roman Catholic countries including Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain quickly adopted the new system, but many people were upset as they felt the papacy has taken away 11 days of their lives.
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Two centuries later, the Gregorian calendar was adopted by Great Britain and the English colonies on September 14, 1752, skipping eleven days (the previous day was September 2nd).
The Gregorian calendar isn't perfect—its dates become one day off from Earth's seasons every 3,216 years.
Children's author Roald Dahl's birthday on September 13 is celebrated as "Roald Dahl Day" in Africa, the United Kingdom and Latin America in celebration of the author who wrote nearly 50 beloved books.
Roald Dahl was born in Wales on September 13, 1916. His sense of humor came early aged eight he and four friends got into trouble for putting a dead mouse in a jar of gobstoppers at the local sweet shop in a prank the boys named the Great Mouse Plot of 1924 .
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| Dahl in April 1954 |
National Video Game Day is a holiday that is celebrated on September 12th.
American physicists Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann were awarded a patent on December 14, 1948 for their "Cathode-ray tube amusement device," an oscilloscope featuring a set of knobs and switches. It was the first interactive electronic game.
Pong was commercially released by Atari, in November 1972. The first commercially successful video game, Pong was based on table tennis. Nolan Bushnell said it was a game ‘so simple that any drunk in any bar could play’.
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| Pong Pixiebay |
When the gaming industry was in its infancy during the mid 1970s, consoles were hard-wired to play one or two crude games such as Pong. Atari changed that in 1977 with the 2600, the first console to take an unlimited number of games cartridges, heralding the age of the PlayStation, Wii and the Xbox.
Patriot Day occurs each year on September 11 in the United States in memory of the people killed in the September 11 attacks of the year 2001.
Below, President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney lead a moment of silence on the South Lawn with White House staff and families of victims of 9/11 on September 11, 2004.
In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush proclaimed September 14, 2001, as a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001.
September 11 is now remembered as Patriot Day in the US in memory of those killed. The US flag is flown at half-staff at the White House and on all US government buildings and establishments throughout the world.
A moment of silence is observed to correspond with the attacks, beginning at 8:46 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time), the time the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
National TV Dinner Day is observed annually on September 10th.
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| A Swanson "Hungry-Man Country Fried Chicken" TV dinner. By Famartin |
C.A. Swanson & Sons of Omaha, Nebraska introduced the first TV dinner in 1954 to America. Executive Gerald Thomas came up with the idea when the company had half a million pounds of leftover turkey from Thanksgiving stored in ten refrigerated railroad cars. On a visit to a Pittsburgh distributor he noticed a box of metal trays that an airline was testing as a way to serve heated meals on international flights. He saw a future for the unwanted turkeys.
The Swanson TV dinner was roast turkey with stuffing and gravy, sweet potatoes and peas. It sold for 98 cents and came in an aluminium tray, so the diner could just open the box and heat the dinner in the oven. The cooking time was usually 25 minutes.
National Teddy Bear Day honors on September 9th the history of one of childhood’s favorite toys.
The teddy bear was named after Theodore Roosevelt. The American president's childhood nickname was "Teedie," but his adult nickname was "Teddy" (which he despised and considered improper, preferring "T.R.").
Theodore Roosevelt started the fashion for Teddy bears when during a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902, he refused to shoot a defenseless black bear that had been tied to a willow tree. Political cartoonist Clifford Berryman picked up on the story, drawing a cartoon showing President Roosevelt with a bear, which ran in the Washington Post two days later.
An alert Brooklyn shop owner Morris Michtom saw the cartoon and created a tiny plush toy bear cub with his wife Rose's help. He sent it to Roosevelt asking the president for permission to use the name "Teddy." Roosevelt replied: "I don't think my name is likely to be worth much in the bear business, but you are welcome to use it."
After receiving permission to use Roosevelt's name, Michtom put a plush bear in the shop window with a sign "Teddy's bear" The sale of the bears was so brisk that Michtom created the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company, which began making dolls in 1907 to complement its line of teddy bears.
Today is National Ampersand Day. National Ampersand Day is celebrated on September 8th each year to honor '&,' a Latin character and a logogram that depicts the conjunction 'AND.'
The symbol ampersand (&) was regarded as the 27th letter of the English alphabet, as taught to children in the US and elsewhere. It was seen as a ligature of the letters 'e' and 't' to form the Latin word 'et' meaning 'and'. So the alphabet would go X,Y,Z and And. An example may be seen in M. B. Moore's 1863 book The Dixie Primer, for the Little Folks. To distinguish it from the rest, children started to say 'and per say and' which later evolved into 'ampersand'.
On September 7, 1822, Prince Pedro declared the independence of Brazil from Portugal on the shores of the Ipiranga creek in São Paulo. After waging a successful war against his father's kingdom, he was acclaimed the following month as Pedro I, the first Emperor of Brazil. The Monument to Independence in São Paulo's Independence Park is located at the place where then-Prince Pedro proclaimed the independence of Brazil.
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| Prince Pedro declares the Independence of Brazi by Pedro Américo. |
Today is World Beard Day.
Today is the anniversary of The Victoria becoming the first known ship to circumnavigate the world.
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| A detail from a map of 1590 showing Victoria |
Today is the feast day of Mother Teresa.
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| Mother Teresa 1995 By Kingkong photo www.celebrity-photos.com |
Agnes Bojaxhiu (later to be known as Mother Teresa) was born on August 26, 1910 in Skopje (now the capital of the Republic of Macedonia), Ottoman Empire.
At the age of 12 Agnes Bojaxhiu already knew she wanted to be a missionary and her desire increased when local Jesuits, sent on missions of mercy to India, wrote enthusiastic letters back home about happenings in Bengal.
In 1928 the teenage Albanian arrived in India, where she joined the Loretto Convent in Darjiling. On September 10, 1946, while riding a train to Darjeeling, she experienced what she later described as "the call within the call", directing her to leave the convent and devote herself to the sick and impoverished.
She began missionary work with the poor in 1948 and two years later on October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity. Over the next decades Mother Teresa's organization established schools and opened centers to treat the blind, aged, lepers, disabled and dying throughout the world.
On March 13, 1997 Mother Teresa resigned as head of the Missionaries of Charity, and she died of a heart attack on September 5, 1997.
Pope Francis canonized Mother Teresa at a ceremony on September 4, 2016 in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. Tens of thousands of people witnessed the ceremony, including 15 government delegations and 1,500 homeless people from across Italy. The anniversary of her death (5 September) is her feast day.
Today is the anniversary of the beginning of the electrical age.
The consecration took place on this day in 590 of Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great).
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| By Meister des Registrum Gregorii. - Trier, Stadtbibliothek |
The Great Fire of London broke out on this day in 1666.
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| Ludgate in flames, with St Paul's Cathedral in the distance |
Today is the United States federal holiday Labor Day.
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| Illustration of the first American Labor parade held in New York City on September 5, 1882 |
Today is the first day of the month of September.
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| September, from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry |
Today is the anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Today is the anniversary of Hubert Booth patenting the first vacuum cleaner.
Today is the anniversary of Gottlirb Daimler patenting the first internal combustion motorcycle.
Today is the anniversary of Caleb B. Bradburn naming his beverage Pepsi Cola.
Today is the anniversary of the first play performed in the British North American colonies.
Captain James Cook set sail from England for the South Pacific on board HMS Endeavour on this day in 1768.
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| Cook's landing at Botany Bay in 1770 |
Today is the anniversary of Galileo demonstrating his first telescope.
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| Galileo showing the Doge of Venice how to use the telescope (fresco by Giuseppe Bertini) |
Today is the anniversary of the invention of potato chips (crisps in British and Irish English).
August 23 is celebrated as the Day of the National Flag in Ukraine.
King Charles I raised his standard in Nottingham on August 22, 1642, marking the beginning of the English Civil War.
On this day in 1921, AA Milne bought his son a teddy bear, which gave rise to his Winnie-the-Pooh stories.
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| Christopher Robin and Winnie-The-Pooh |
Today is Bernard of Clairvaux's feast day.
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| Bernard of Clairvaux, by Georg Andreas Wasshuber (1650–1732) |
National Aviation Day is celebrated each year on August 19 in the United States. The holiday was established in 1939 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who issued a presidential proclamation which designated the anniversary of Orville Wright's birthday to be a national observation that celebrates the development of aviation.
Orville Wright along with his brother, Wilbur Wright flew the first successful, albeit brief, "flying machine" in 1903.
Orville Wright's first flight in his Wright Flyer One at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina was on December 17, 1903. It flew for 12 seconds at a height of 500 feet and covered 37,120 feet. The flight was witnessed by four men and a boy.
In May 1896, Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Langley had successfully flown an unmanned steam-powered fixed-wing model aircraft. For years, Orville argued with officials of the Smithsonian Institute over whether the Wrights or Langley had built the first plane. In 1942 the Smithsonian officials made a public apology to Orville.
Orville Wright was still alive when the sound barrier was broken in 1947 by Chuck Yeager in his Bell X-1 airplane.
Neil Armstrong took the wood from the propeller of the Wright Brothers' first plane to the moon.
Today is the anniversary of the founding of the German multinational corporation Adidas.
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| An Adidas Store in Vaughan Mills |
Today is the anniversary of the first steamboat service being inaugurated.
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| Illustration from an 1870 book |
August 16 is celebrated by many people around the world as Roller Coaster Day.
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| Looping the loop, Atlantic City, circa 1901 |
Today is a national holiday in India. August 15 is Independence Day commemorating the nation's independence from the United Kingdom.
In the early 1900s, millions of people peacefully started to protest against British control. In 1915 the lawyer Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa to his country of origin, India, a hero, and begun the struggle for Indian independence by non-violent co-operation.
The national anthem of India, "Jana Gana Mana," was first sung on December 27, 1911 during the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress.
On August 15, 1947, India peacefully became free and independent from the British Empire.
Today is the anniversary of Pakistan gaining independence from the British Empire.
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| Pakistan flag |
Today is the 13th day of the month of August.
August is named after Augustus, first Emperor of Rome who chose it as it was the month of his greatest triumphs. He died in August AD 14.
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| The statue known as the Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st century. By Till Niermann - Wikipedia Commons |
Until 8 BC, the Romans called August 'Sextilis' as it was the sixth month of their year.
The Anglo-Saxons called August by the name Weod-monath (weed month) as it is the month when weeds grow most rapidly.
Today is the anniversary of Isaac Singer receiving a patent for his sewing machine.
Today is the birthday of hip-hop music.
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| Herc spins records at a 28 February 2009 event |
Today is the anniversary of the opening of The Louvre Art Museum.
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| The Cour Carrée of the "Old Louvre". By King of Hearts - |
Today is the anniversary of the patenting of the diesel engine.
Today is International Cat Day.
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| Pixiebay |
Today is the anniversary of IBM dedicating the first program-controlled calculator.
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| Daderot at en.wikipedia |
Dehomag, a German subsidiary of IBM, was the main provider of computing equipment in Nazi Germany. It provided the German government with machines to conduct censuses and gave the Nazis a way of tracing Jews. The technology was used by the Gestapo to locate and arrest its victims.
The Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I) was the first program-controlled calculator. It was developed and built by IBM at their Endicott plant and shipped to Harvard in February 1944. The ASCC began computations for the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships in May and was officially presented to the university on August 7, 1944.
IBM boasted in 1952 that each of their computers were equivalent to having 150 extra engineers with slide rules.
Today is the anniversary of the atom bomb being dropped on Hiroshima.
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| The mushroom cloud over Hiroshima |
Today is the anniversary of the first electric traffic signal system.
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| The first Electric Traffic Light in Bucharest c1924. |
Today is the anniversary of the opening of the first supermarket.
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| King Kullen headquarters in Bethpage. By Americasroof |
Today is the anniversary of Christopher Columbus setting sail on his first voyage to the New World.
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| Columbus' first voyage. By Keith Pickering |
Palos is also the site of the Rábida Monastery where Columbus consulted with the Franciscans about his plans for organizing an expedition of discovery.
He based his calculations for his 1492 journey on Biblical scripture, in particular the second book of Esdras in the Apocrypha.
Columbus’ mission was gold and the gospel, to fill up the Spanish coffers, (he was being sponsored by the Spanish monarchy) and convert the eastern people (he mistakenly though he had landed on an island near Japan).
The Pinta, Niña, and Santa María made their first landfall when they landed on one of the Bahamas islands, 71 days after leaving Spain.
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Cannae when the Carthaginian army led by Hannibal, defeated a numerically superior Roman army.
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| Hannibal and his men crossing the Alps |
The Second Punic War between Carthage and the Roman Republic broke out in 218. Hannibal marched an his army of 38,000 infantry and 8,000 cavalry over the Pyrenees and the Alps into Italy.
After crossing the Alps, Hannibal's army swept through North Italy winning three dramatic victories—Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae. The latter battle took place on August 2, 216 BC. The Carthaginian commander distinguished himself for his ability to determine his and his opponent's strengths and weaknesses, and to play the battle to his strengths and the enemy's weaknesses—and won over many allies of Rome.
Hannibal's army included 38 elephants. It was not unusual to use elephants in war in Hannibal's day. The big charging jumbos frightened the enemy and their height allowed the archers to survey the whole battlefield. In addition they were relatively speedy with a maximum speed of 18 mph and only needed around five gallons of water per mile.
Hannibal occupied much of Italy for 15 years, but a Roman counter-invasion of North Africa forced him to return to Carthage, where he was decisively defeated by Scipio Africanus at the Battle of Zama on October 19, 202 BC.
Hannibal caused great distress to many in Roman society. Hannibal became such a figure of terror that whenever disaster struck, the Roman senators would exclaim "Hannibal ante portas" ("Hannibal is at the gates!") to express their fear or anxiety.
Today is the anniversary of the discovery of oxygen gas
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| Equipment used by Priestley in his experiments |
In 1773, the Earl of Shelburne asked the scientist Joseph Priestley to serve as tutor for his children, and librarian for his Calne, Wiltshire estate. The position left ample free time for the research that would earn him a permanent place in scientific history.
On August 1, 1774 Priestley discovered a colorless, odorless tasteless gaseous element by heating mercuric oxide using the sun's rays, whilst staying at Bowood House in the capacity of Librarian to the Earl of Shelbourne. He christened it "Dephlogisticated air". Priestley speculated that one day "Dephlogisticaed air" might become a luxury.
Lavoiser named the chemical element from two Greek roots, “oxys” (acid) and “genes” (producer) as he thought mistakenly that all acids contained oxygen.
Priestley published his findings in 1775 in a paper titled "An Account of Further Discoveries in Air" which was included in the second volume of his book titled Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air. Because he informed the world first, Priestley is usually given priority in the discovery of oxygen.
Today is the anniversary of the last Volkswagen Beetle rolling off the assembly line.
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| 1949 Volkswagen "split rear window" Sedan |
The result was the Volkswagen ("people's car" in German) Beetle, which was designed by Ferdinand Porsche and a team of engineers. A handful were made, but by the time the Wolfsburg factory was finished in 1938, World War II was starting and the company concentrated on making military vehicles instead.
Mass production of the Volkswagen Beetle did not actually begin in Germany until after the war in 1945 when the United Kingdom army reopened the Wolfsburg factory.
Originally known as the Volkswagen Type 1, the car’s curves and rounded top led to its being nicknamed the 'Bug.' Volkswagen themselves started referring to the car as the VW Beetle in the late 1960s.
The last original Beetle, #21,529,464 was assembled and immediately retired on July 31, 2003, in Puebla, Mexico, at the Volkswagen de Mexico manufacturing plant. It can now be found at Volkswagen's AutoMuseum.
The Beetle was in production between 1938 and 2003, a whopping 65 years, the longest a vehicle has been produced in history.
National Cheesecake Day is observed annually on July 30th.
In Greece, cheesecake was considered to be a good source of energy, and there is evidence that it was served to athletes during the first Olympic games in 776 B.C.
Ancient Greek brides and grooms were known to use cheesecake as a wedding cake.
New York-style cheesecake, with its signature simple cream cheese and egg yolks make-up, was created in the 1900s by German immigrant Arnold Reuben.
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Gravelines when English naval forces defeated the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.
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| English ships and the Spanish Armada, August 1588 |
Philip planned to invade England, seize the throne from Elizabeth I and restore the power of the Catholic Church. He wanted to punish England for its support of Dutch Protestants fighting against the Spanish rule and for Francis Drake's plundering of Spanish possessions in America and Cadiz.
In late May 1588 a fleet of 130 ships under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia set sail from Lisbon with the purpose of escorting an army to invade England. The plan was to stop in the Netherlands and pick up an additional 17,000 troops from the Duke of Parma. Unfortunately half of the ships were heavy, badly equipped galleons that were difficult to maneuver and they had insufficient firepower. The English fleet consisted of 226 smaller more maneuverable vessels with a naval gun that was easier and faster to load.
On reaching the English Channel, the fleet was met by the English ships and caused them to scatter to north France. In the ensuing Battle of Gravelines on July 29, 1588 Lord Howard's tactics of sending in fireships forced the Spanish to break formation and abandon its rendezvous with Parma's army, who were blockaded in harbor by Dutch flyboats.
The Armada managed to regroup and withdrew into the North Sea with the English fleet harrying it up the east coast of England. The fleet was disrupted during severe storms in the North Atlantic and a large number of the vessels were wrecked on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. Of the initial 130 ships over a third failed to return.
The defeat of the Armada marked the beginning of the decline of Spanish power.
Today is the anniversary of the first potato being brought to the United Kingdom.
The 16th century Spanish invaders in South America first came across the potato when entering a Colombian village from which the inhabitants had fled. They originally thought they were truffles.
The Spanish introduced the potato to Europe. They became a standard supply item on the Spanish ships as it was noticed that the sailors who ate potatoes did not suffer from scurvy.
Thomas Harriot was credited with bringing the first potato to Britain on July 28, 1586. The mathematician, astronomer and translator had just returned from Sir Walter Raleigh’s English colony on Roanoke Island in modern-day North Carolina, where he had made detailed studies of the wildlife.
Despite their use by Spanish sailors most Europeans were originally suspicious of them, in part because people realized that the potato is a member of the nightshade family, all of which are very poisonous.
By the late 17th century the Irish had recognized the food value of potatoes and became the first country in Europe to plant them as a staple food crop rather than using it primarily as animal fodder. And in 1719 the first permanent potato patches in North America were established near Londonderry, New Hampshire.
Today is the anniversary of the maiden flight of the first commercial jet airliner
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| Comet prototype at Hatfield Aerodrome in October 1949 |
The German Hans von Ohain developed the concept independently. He wrote in February 1936 to aircraft designer Ernst Heinkel, telling him of the design and its possibilities. The first turbojet aircraft to fly was the Heinkel He 178 V1, first prototype of the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, in August 1939 in Rostock, Germany.
Developed and manufactured by de Havilland at its Hatfield Aerodrome in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, their Comet 1 prototype made its maiden flight on July 27, 1949 out of Hatfield Aerodrome. The flight lasted 31 minutes.
BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) operated the first commercial jet service with the de Havilland Comet jetliner. It made its maiden flight with fare-paying passengers and inaugurated scheduled service from London to Johannesburg in May 1952.
The Comet was a hit with passengers as flights were about 50 percent faster than on advanced piston-engined aircraft such as the Douglas DC-6 (490 mph for the Comet compared to the DC-6's 315 mph), and a faster rate of climb further cut flight times.
Today is the anniversary of Marie Curie's marriage to fellow scientist Pierre Curie.
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| Pierre and Marie Curie |
At first Marie hesitated before agreeing to marry Pierre. They eventually wed in a civil ceremony in Sceaux, France on July 26, 1895 as "Pierre belonged to no religion and I did not practice any" (she later wrote). Instead of a bridal gown, Marie chose a dark blue dress.
Throughout their marriage, the Curies were very much in love and had equal partnership in the laboratory. Like Marie, Pierre was obsessed with science and hard work.
Marie Curie along with her husband, Pierre, won the Nobel prize for physics for their discovery of radioactivity in 1903. Originally Marie's name was left off the winners’ list but Pierre insisted she be included. She thus became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.
Pierre Curie died in a street accident in Paris in April 1906. Crossing the busy Rue Dauphine in the rain, he slipped and fell under a heavy horse-drawn cart. He was killed instantly. Marie went into a deep mourning and took a long time to recover.
Today is the anniversary of the coronation of King James I of England.
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| Portrait after John de Critz, c. 1606 |
As Queen Elizabeth I was the last of Henry VIII's descendants, James was seen as the most likely heir to the English throne through his great-grandmother Margaret Tudor, who was Henry VIII's oldest sister. In March 1603, with the Queen clearly dying, her chief minister Sir Robert Cecil sent James a draft proclamation of his accession to the English throne.
After succeeding Elizabeth I on the English throne, James left Edinburgh for London, promising to return every three years (a promise he did not keep). Local lords received him with lavish hospitality along the route and James was amazed by the wealth of his new land and subjects. When he entered London just over a month later, he was mobbed by a crowd of spectators.
His English coronation took place on July 25, 1603, with elaborate allegories provided by dramatic poets such as Thomas Dekker and Ben Jonson. Below is "England and Scotland with Minerva and Love," an allegorical work of the Union of the Crowns by Peter Paul Rubens.
James had been a popular and successful monarch in Scotland, but the same was not true in England. He was unable to deal with a hostile English Parliament; the refusal on the part of the House of Commons to impose sufficiently high taxes crippled the royal finances. His taste for political absolutism, mismanagement of the kingdom's funds and cultivation of unpopular favorites established the foundation for the English Civil War.
Simón Bolívar Day is celebrated in Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, and Bolivia on July 24th commemorating the Birth Anniversary of the most powerful leader in South America.
When Simon was fourteen, Don Simón had to abandon the country, as he was accused of being involved in a conspiracy against the Spanish government in Caracas. Thus, Simon entered the military academy of the Milicias de Veraguas, which his father had directed as colonel years earlier. Through these years of military training, he developed his fervent passion for armaments and military strategy, which he later would employ on the battlefields of the wars of independence.
For a time Bolívar was part of Napoleon's retinue during which he witnessed the coronation of the French Emperor in Notre Dame, and this majestic event left a profound a impression upon him. From that moment he wished that he could emulate similar triumphant glory for the people back home in Venezuela.
Venezuela was the first country in the region to start the struggle against Spanish rule. A group of Caracas Creoles including Simón Bolívar deposed the Spanish colonial regime led by Captain General Vicente Emparán on April 19, 1810 and established the First Republic of Venezuela.
Bolivar freed much of South America from Spanish occupation. On December 17, 1819 he proclaimed the republic of Gran Colombia, comprising the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru, western Guyana and northwest Brazil.
America's first lighthouse was authorized on July 23, 1715.
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| Boston Lighthouse by Karl Bodmer, 1839 |
The first lighthouse in America was authorized for construction by the Massachusetts legislature at Little Brewster Island, to mark the entrance to Boston, Massachusetts, harbor on July 23, 1715. The Boston Light was ready for use by mid-September of the following year.
A tonnage tax of 1 penny per ton charged to vessels moving in or out of Boston Harbor, paid for maintaining the light.
The first keeper of Boston Light was George Worthylake. He was paid £50 a year to keep the beacon lit from sundown to sunrise. Worthylake drowned, along with his wife and daughter, when returning to the island in 1718.
The stone structure weathered 60 years of lightning strikes and gale-force winds before the British Army blew up the tower and completely destroyed it during the American Revolutionary War.
The current lighthouse dates from 1783, is the second oldest working lighthouse in the United States (after Sandy Hook Lighthouse in New Jersey).
Ratcatcher's Day is celebrated on June 26 or July 22, commemorating the myth of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Even though the Pied Piper of Hamelin is just a myth, the town of Hamelin's records state that many children disappeared from the town around the time of the story. The town chronicle even wrote in 1384 "It is 100 since our children left".
In the account of the story by the Brothers Grimm, June 26, 1284 was the day the rat-catcher led the children out of Hamelin. However, Robert Browning’s poem "The Pied Piper Of Hamelin" gives the date as July 22, 1376.
Belgian National Day is the national holiday of Belgium commemorated annually on July 21. It marks the anniversary of the investiture of King Leopold I, the country's first monarch, in 1831.
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| Celebrations for National Day in Brussels in 1856 |
International Chess Day is celebrated annually on July 20.
Chess had evolved in India by the 6th century AD as a game of war: to illustrate and rehearse army movements.
The Persians adopted the game of chess from India, and when the Arabs conquered Iran, they made chess part of their life and carried it wherever they went. That is how, with the spread of Islam, chess also extended as far West as Spain, as far North as Turkistan, as far East as the Malayan Islands, and as far South as Zanzibar.
The word "checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah-Mat," which means the king is dead.
The International Chess Day is celebrated on July 20, the day the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded, in 1924. The day has been celebrated by many of the 605 million regular chess players around the world since 1966 after it was established by FIDE.
The first Wimbledon lawn tennis final took place on July 19, 1877.
The inaugural Wimbledon Tennis Championship was held to raise money for repairs to The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis club's pony-drawn lawn roller. The competition was held July 9-19, 1877 and was solely as an amateur competition. Men's singles was the only event that took place with 22 men competing for a 12-guinea prize, plus a silver challenge cup valued at 25 guineas. Entrants had to pay a guinea (£1.05) each.
Just 200 peple turn up to the first Wimbledon lawn tennis final at the original venue in Worple Road. They paid a shilling each to watch Spencer Gore stroll past William Marshall 6-1, 6–2, 6–4.
The Wimbledon women's event began seven years later in 1884 with a a field of thirteen competitors. Playing in a white corset and petticoat, 19-year-old Maud Watson defeated her older sister Lilian Watson 6–8, 6–3, 6–3 in the final.
Nelson Mandela International Day (or Mandela Day) is an annual international day in honor of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on July 18.
Nelson Mandela International Day was officially declared by the United Nations in 2009 with the first UN Mandela Day held on his birthday, July 18, 2010.
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| Mandela in 2008 By South Africa The Good New |
He studied law at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and opened the first black legal firm in South Africa, with fellow lawyer Oliver Tambo in 1952. Mandela gave free legal counsel to many blacks.
Nelson Mandela was arrested in August 1962 near the South African town of Howick for conspiring to overthrow the state. He was detained wearing a chauffeur’s uniform — just one of the disguises he used while on the run, when he was dubbed the ‘Black Pimpernel.’
He served 27 years in prison and, upon his release in 1994, he became South Africa's first black chief executive, an office he served for five years.
Mandela was able to forgive those who allowed him to languish in a tiny prison cell for 27 years to which the up-and-coming lawyer had been sentenced because of his determination to win justice for South Africa's oppressed black community.
World Emoji Day is celebrated on July 17th each year.
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| A colored Emoji from Noto project, released under Apache license |
Scott Fahlman, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, was the first to suggest using emoticons in messages sent on computer networks. In September 1982, he posted the first documented emoticons :-) and :-( on the Carnegie Mellon University Bulletin Board System.
Emojis were first created in 1999 in Japan by Shigetaka Kurita for use in electronic messages and on web pages. He was part of the team working on NTT DoCoMo's i-mode mobile Internet platform.
In 2016, New York’s Museum of Modern Art added the original 176 emojis, designed in 1999, to its permanent collection
The word emoji has been used in Japanese since 1928 but according to the Oxford Dictionary was first seen in English in 1997.
The Amazon.com online shop was launched on July 16, 1995 by Jeff Bezos, originally selling only books, but has since extended to selling CDs, videos, DVDs, toys and games, computer software, electronic items, clothes, furniture and food.
The first book sold on Amazon.com was Douglas Hofstadter's Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought. Australian software engineer John Wainwright, who was based in California, was a friend of Amazon's first employee Shal Kaphan. In April 1995, he got the opportunity to place the first non-company order from Amazon.com for the book, which explores the mechanisms of intelligence through computer modeling. Bezos later named a building after Wainwright to honor the occasion.
By 2000 Amazon claimed 17 million customers in over 160 countries, and was one of the world's most visited Web sites, but had not yet made a profit. The company recorded its first net profit of $5 million in the fourth quarter of 2001 and reported profits of $359 million in 2005.
In 2015, Amazon surpassed Walmart as the most valuable retailer in the United States by market capitalization.
The first banknotes in Europe were issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco on July 15, 1661.
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| A Yuan dynasty printing plate and banknote with Chinese and Mongol words. |
The first banknotes in Europe issued by Stockholms Bancos became popular very quickly simply as they were much easier to carry than the large copper daler, especially for making large payments (a note could be sent in an envelope - previously the large coins had to be transported by horse and cart).
The colony of Massachusetts issued the first paper money in America in 1690. It was a temporary experiment of banknote issue carried out by Sir William Phips as the Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay to help fund the war effort against France.
Today is the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in Paris. It is commemorated each year on July 14 as Bastille Day, the national day of France.
The members of the Third Estate were angry that they were being taxed the most when they were the poorest group of people. The Third Estate decided to break away and start the National Assembly, their own assembly where every member would get a vote.
Many Parisians thought King Louis XVI, was going to try to shut down the National Assembly. At the Café de Foy in Paris, political journalist Camille Desmoulins while standing on a table brandishing two pistols, roused his countrymen with a cry of “Aux armes, citoyens”. Two days later, on July 14, 1789, the Bastille prison was stormed and fell, and the French Revolution begun.
Just seven prisoners were ‘liberated’ when the Bastille prison in Paris was stormed — four forgers, two lunatics and one sex offender.
The National Convention began the Reign of Terror, a ten-month period of systematic repression and mass executions by guillotine of perceived enemies within the country. The death toll ranged in the tens of thousands, with 16,594 executed by guillotine (2,639 in Paris), and another 25,000 in summary executions across France.
The French Revolution was the first attempt to introduce a secular state. As part of the revolutionaries wholesale attack on the Church, religious nursing communities were abolished and charities nationalized. The revolutionaries confiscated the finances of religious organizations, which affected many of the institutions ran by the church for the sick or injured.
National French Fry Day is celebrated each year on July 13th.
