Showing posts with label dates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dates. Show all posts

Saturday, June 30, 2012

July: Holidays & Days of Note

July 1. Canada Day (Canada) Which is a logical enough place to have such  a day, however there is a Canada themed day later this month that takes place elsewhere. / Build a Scarecrow Day (U.S.) / it was on this day that the Unification Church had its first public mass wedding. 2, 075 couples, most of whom were meeting each other for the first time.

July 2. Visitation of the Virgin Mary Day (Catholic)



                       What are the Dog Days of Summer?


July 3. Dog Days of summer begin as the Dog Star Sirius rises from behind the Sun, perhaps it’s these hot days being one of the main reasons perhaps why there are so few holidays, or holidays with any meat on them, and so many revolutions in July. See the 4th, 14th (twice,) & 31st. / Green Corn Dance (Cherokee) given in thanksgiving for the maize harvest; honoring maize Goddess Selu.

July 4. Independence Day (U.S.) / Filipino-American Friendship Day / Tom Sawyer  Fence-Painting Day (from the novel) / Varmakeldustevna (Faroe Islands) Norwegian boating festival..... I think. Anyway has something to do with them just being glad its summer and they aren't frozen any longer. / Apache Girls' Sunrise Ceremony (Apache Nation) Coming of age ceremony for Apache girls, it can be held at any time, and traditionally goes for 4 day, however  there are public ceremonies which outsiders may attend, which involve several girls that occur on the Fort Apache reservation and the Mescalero reservation in New Mexico and other places starting on the 4th.


July 5. Tynwald (Isle of Man) I found something about this, but, while a hoot for them I'm sure, didn't do anything for me, so I'm leaving the explanation out. / X Day (Church of the SubGenius)
July 6. Khao Phansa Day (Thailand) the so-called Buddhist Lent. / Ludi Apollinares (Ancient Rome) starting in 208 B.C.E. games in honor of Apollo start. / Happy birthday Delhi Lama also the birthday of George W. Bush jr. can you say that? Ironic? Sure I knew you could.
July 7. Tanabata: Star Festival & Weaver's Festival (Japan) Said to be a Chinese tradition with altered with beliefs peculiar to Japan. Celebrates the meeting, once a year, of two lovers. Kengyu (the star Altair) and Shakujo (Vega) who are separated by the Milky Way for the rest of the year. / Festival of the Giants. (Douai, France) / Fiesta de San Formin (Spain.) / Rath Yatra (Puri, India. Hindu) Also known as the Chariot Festival, in mid-summer Lord Jagannath with his elder brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra go on vacation traveling on grand chariots. This is also the etymological origin of the English word "Juggernaut".
July 8. Annual Soapy Smith Wake in the Gold Rush Cemetery (Alaska) for  Jefferson Randolph ("Soapy") Smith II (1860 - July 8, 1898) a con artist, gangster the number one "sure-thing" bunko man of the old west who had a major hand in starting organized criminal operations from Colorado to Alaska from 1879 to 1898. There you go, name 3 other countries that have a festival for a gangster. / Video Games Day (U.S.)
July 9. Caprotinia (Ancient Rome) feast for Juno Caprotina, only women  could assist in the sacrifices offered at this feast. / Martyrdom of the Báb (Bahá'í.) / National Sugar Cookie Day (U.S.)
July 10. Lady Godiva Day. (England) / Silence Day (followers of Meher Baba) / Septinu Bralu Diena (Ancient Latvia.) / Gandalf is imprisoned in Orthanc. (The Fellowship of the Ring.)
July 11. National Cheer Up the Lonely Day. (U.S.) ahh. / World Population Day (UN) / National Dance Day (Zimbabwe) / Bonfire Night (Northern Ireland)






July 12. National Pecan Pie Day (U.S.)
July 13 Feast of Kálimát (Bahá'í) - First day of the seventh month of the Bahá'í calendar. / Obon, also known as Ullambana Festival or Ancestor Day (Mahayana Buddhist) festival to honor the dead  goes until the 16th / Festival of the 3 Cows (Spain)
July 14 Bastille Day (France) / Revolution Day (Iraq) / It was on this  date in 1988 that the first of the current crop of crop circles appeared, it had been happening for years, just not in the news, later two Englishmen said they were doing them all. Any explanation in a storm.

July 15 Ice Cream Day. Lincoln made Thanksgiving official,  Woodrow Wilson did the same for Mother's Day, in 1984 Ronald Reagan made the 3rd Sunday in July officially Ice Cream Day, or as was said then
"NOW, THEREFORE, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim The 3rd Sunday of each year Ice Cream Day, I call upon all the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities." I jive you not, so far it hasn't made the splash the other two have. / Respect Canada Day (U.S.) See told you. (July first) / St. Swithin's Day / International Men's Day. (Brazil) / National Tapioca Pudding Day (U.S.) And yet still no tapioca ice cream!
July 16 Feast day for Saint Elvira (Catholic) as well as 22 other saints, translations and the like, I only bring up St. Elvira because I use to watch her show with the old horror movies when it was on TV.
July 17 Constitution Day (Korea) Commemorates the adoption of the Republic of Korea Constitution in 1948. / Rivera Day (Puerto Rico) / Cow  Appreciation Day ( U.S.) / Yama-boko Junk (Kyoto, Japan) day of the big parade that caps off the almost month long Gion Matsuri festival.


July 18. Ramadan starts / On this day in, 64 A.D., a fire breaks out in Rome, spreading rapidly throughout the market area in the center of the city. When the flames finally died out more than a week later, nearly two-thirds of Rome had been destroyed.
July 19. Flitch Day. Long ago on this day bacon was given to any married couple that could prove they had lived in harmony and fidelity for one full year, very few were able to "take home the bacon." I wonder how the 2,075 couples from the 1st did in 83?
July 20. Binding of the Wreaths (Lithuania) / Moon Day. anniversary of the voyage of Apollo-11 landing the first men on the moon. / International chess day / De del Amigo (Argentina & Brazil) Friendship Day, except in Brazil they call it by the Portuguese words for Friendship Day. / Umi No Hi "Ocean Day" (Japan) A recently introduced national holiday to celebrate the ocean. The day marks the return of Emperor Meiji from a boat trip to Hokkaido in 187. / Peace and Freedom Day (Northern Cyprus)
July 21 Racial Harmony Day (Singapore) Started because of race riots between Chinese and Malay citizens in 1965. / Founding Day (Scientology) For the incorporation in 1955 of the Founding Church of Scientology in Washington DC, and the opening of the first Academy of Scientology.
July 22.  Parents Day (U.S.) A little known legal holiday set on the forth Sunday  in July, white it sounds innocuous enough, the holiday was championed and pushed through congress by the "friends" of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon who insisted the day was only intended to honor hard-working parents, Moon's long-range goal however is that all religions are to merge under a theocratic state headed by Moon himself and his wife, the "True Parents. " or if barring them due to death his last son still in his good graces.  / Panathenaea (Ancient Greek) Festival of Goddess Athena as daughter of Wisdom (Goddess Metis) and font of reason, it goes until the 28th.  / Rat Catcher’s Day (Medieval England) A once noble profession that I would not care to have. / Mary Magdalene's Day.
July 23. Sun Festival (Mayan) Honoring Sun God Ahau Kin; celebrated with devotional offerings of food, song, prayer, and a ritual procession that symbolically travels to the four quarters of the universe. / Neptunalia (Ancient Rome) held in honor of Neptune. / Ancient Egyptian New Year’s / Celebration of the birthday of Emperor Haile Selassie (Rastafari movement.) Whom I understand is making resurgence in his home nation after years of suppression.
July 24. Pioneer Day (Mormon) / Amelia Earhart Day (U.S.) / Simon Bolivar’s Day (Ecuador) / National Tequila Day (U.S.)


July 25. Inca festival in honor of the thunder god Ilyap'a / Furinalia (Ancient Rome) have I mentioned before that the Romans were festival throwing sons of guns? / Eve of Revolution Day (Cuba)
July 26 Day of the National Rebellion (Cuba) or Revolution Day too I guess, because it would be kind of a cheat to have Revolution Day Eve and then NOT have a Revolution day, goes till the 27th / Vijay Divas (India) for the end of the Kargil War.
July 27. Sleepyhead Day (Finland) Traditionally on this day, the last person in the house to wake up is woken up using water, either by being thrown into a lake or the sea, or by having water thrown on them/ Iglesia Ni Cristo Foundation Day (Philippines) / Memorial Day for War Martyrs. (Vietnam) / José Celso Barbosa Day. (Puerto Rico) / Septinu Guletaju Diena (Ancient Latvia) Does modern Latvia have any festivals?
July 28. Hurricane Supplication Day (Virgin Islands)



July 29. Pardon of the Birds (France) / Olsok Day (Norway) / In 1588 the invincible Spanish Armada is defeated by the British Naval force under the command of Lord Charles Howard & Sir Francis Drake with the aid of a whelping big storm, which according to legend Drake helped rise with the aid of a coven of Witches the night before the battle.
July 30. Metageitnion Noumenia (Ancient Greek) Festival honoring all the Gods and Goddesses.
July 31. Hari Pahlawan (Malaysia) Warrior's day. / La Hae Hawai'i (Hawaii) State Flag Day, while I'm sure the other 49 states also have state flag days, Hawaii is the only one to give it a funky name so they get noted. / Upswing of the Revolution. (Republic of the Congo.) / Happy Birthday Harry Potter.




Sunday, July 31, 2011

August: Holidays & Days of Note



Aug. 1. Lammas or Lughnasadh. The wheel of the year begins to shift from growing time to harvest time. / Swiss National Day (Switzerland) / Civic Holiday (Canada) / Girlfriend's Day (U.S.) How serious can this one be if Mega-Omni Corp hasn't latched on to it to squeeze money out of us yet? / World Scout Day (Scouting). / As of today, MTV is 30 years old, if we had know than what we know now.

Lammas

Aug. 2. National Pretty is As Pretty Does Day (U.S.) Okay, whatever. / as of today the Lincoln penny is 102 years old.

Aug. 3. . National Watermelon Day (U.S.)

Aug. 4. Sunset Festival of the Dead (Ancient Egypt)

Aug. 5. National Mustard Day (U.S.) / on this day in 1924 the comic strip Little Orphan Annie premiered.

Aug. 6. Toro Nagashi (Japan) Floating lantern ceremony held to honor those killed by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on this day in 1945 / Festival of Nut & Ra and the Chief Festival of Thoth (Ancient Egypt) / In the film Gojira, released in November of 1954, the day that the Lucky Dragon was sunk by the monster that we know as Godzilla, which in the original version was a statement against the use of atomic weapons, which is why the film was set between the 6 and 9th of August.

Aug. 7. Sister's Day. Held the first Sunday in August

Aug. 8. Father's Day (Taiwan) Held on this day because Ba Ba (father) also means 8 8 so it's held on the 8th of August. / Peace Day (Iraq)

Aug. 9. National Women's Day (South Africa) / International Book Lovers Day.

Aug. 10. National S'mores Day (U.S.) / Opalia (Ancient Rome) First of two festivals held in honor of Ops, fertility goddess and wife of Saturn.

Aug. 11. Not much going on today, however it seems today was a busy one for the Beatles with: "A Hard Days Night" opening in 1964, "Help" opening in 1965, their last concert tour in US starting in 1966, the launch of Apple Record in 1968. Gear!

Aug. 12. Feast of The Lights of Isis (Ancient Egypt) / Queen's Birthday and Mother's Day (Thailand) / International Youth Day (United Nations) /Sea Org Day (Scientology) Special events day for all Sea Organization members, with rank and rating promotion ceremonies.

Aug. 13. Hecate's Day. (Ancient Rome) / Vertumnalia (Ancient Rome) Festival held in honor
of Diana and Vertumnus god of the season and change. / International Lefthanders Day. In honor of the day I'm typing this left-handed. At least for the A's T's E's and such.



Aug. 14. National Navajo Code Talkers Day (U.S.) Day to honor the code talkers of World

War II who supplied the one unbreakable code of the war, the Navajo language. / National Creamsicle Day (U.S.)

Aug. 15. National Relaxation Day (U.S.) / National Failures Day (U.S.) At last a day I can call my own. / Assumption of Mary (Roman Catholic) / World Day of Reiki.

Aug. 16. Raksha Bandhan (Hindu) festival celebrated mainly in northern Indian states, Rakhi is a special occasion to celebrate the chaste bond of love between a brother and a sister / The roller coaster is 111 years old today.

Aug. 17. Rituals in the Temples of Ra, Horus & Osiris. (Ancient Egypt)

Aug. 18. On this date in 1587 Virginia Dare the first white child of English parents is born in America. She later becomes the first such child to go missing during the first American mystery as she and the rest of them disappear. / International Bad Poetry Day & International Lighthouse Day. As for Bad Poetry Day, perhaps these will help:

Make a Poem

Poem Generator


Aug. 19. National Aviation Day (U.S.) / Vinalia Rustica (Ancient Rome) Festival held in honor of Venus Libitina, the Venus of death, corpses and funerals, which today I guess would make her the Goddess of spooky chicks.

Aug. 20. World Union Day / Lover's Day (Taiwan) / and a gibbous eldritch 121th birthday to H. P. Lovecraft.

Aug. 21. Spumoni Ice Cream Day (U.S.) / The first Lincoln - Douglas debate started 151 years ago today

Aug. 22 Be An Angel Day. (U.S.) / Take a Look at Other Points of View Day (U.S.) A day to make an effort to look at things the way other people see them.

Aug. 23. Umhlanga Day "Reed Dance Day" (Swaziland) / Charlie Brown's sister Sally is 52, having been born on this day in 1959. / Vulcanalia (Ancient Rome) On this day in the old Roman Empire small fish were tossed into large fires to appease Vulcan and ask him to restrain wild fires and volcanoes.

Vulcan

Aug. 24. Krishna Janmaashtami (Hindu) festival celebrating the birth of Krishna. / Knife Day (U.S.) / It was 1930 years ago that Mt. Vesuvius erupted destroying Pompeii, Staviae & Herculaneum. See what happens when you skimp on your Vulcanalia observances?

Aug. 25. Opiconsivia (Ancient Rome) Another festival held in honor of Ops.

Aug. 26. Women's Rights Day (U.S.) / On this day in 1920 the 19th Amendment giving women the vote in America was passed. On the stands 40 years ago this month

Aug. 27. Volturnalia (Ancient Rome) feast held in honor of Volturnus, the god of the East wind.

Aug. 28 National Heroes Day (Philippines) / Assumption of Mary (Eastern Orthodox Church)

Aug. 29.More Herbs, Less Salt Day. (U.S.) At least the second one has a theme. / First day of Thoth (Ancient Egypt) / Chop Suey invented in America in 1896. / 71 years later, in the same city, the Beatles give their last public concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, the two events however are not otherwise related.

Aug. 30. International Day of the Disappeared. / National Toasted Marshmallow Day (U.S.) / It was on this day in 1146 that a conference of European leaders outlawed the crossbow, thinking to end war for all time. Nice try.

Aug. 31 - Sept. 9. Ganesh Chaturtai (Hindu) Time to cleanse the household and oneself leading to the reinstalling of the statue's 'presence' of Ganesh in the home.