Tomorrow, on June 19th, the USA will celebrate Juneteenth as a federal holiday for the first time ever. Since it falls in a Saturday this year, many federal workers will have the day off today on Friday, June 18th while other companies will offer Monday, June 21st off. But what is Juneteenth? It is a…
Tag: holiday
April Fools’ Pranks – History & Best April Fools’ Pranks
Yesterday I wrote an article about a mushroom beer brewery opening in Rhode Island, and it was one of my favorite April Fools’ pranks of all times! It was fun because not only did many people fall for it, but it promoted some existing local businesses in the meantime. To avoid spoiling the joke, I…
St. Patrick’s Day: Everything You Want to Know
Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, and here in the USA, that would typically mean parades, wearing green, shamrocks, and lots of beer. Then there are leprechauns, mythical green men, that I was taught about in first grade. Saint Patrick’s Day is also known as the Feast of Saint Patrick. The short story is that it…
Valentine’s Day Origins: Feast of Saint Valentine
Today is Valentine’s Day and many people, including my husband, like to mock it for being a Hallmark holiday. Despite Hallmark having one of it’s most profitable days around this holiday, they did not invent the holiday. There is a lot of history to Valentine’s Day and not all of it is hearts and roses….
Cupid: Who is He? Origins of Modern Valentine’s Traditions
Have you ever wonder who Cupid really is? I sure have. And I refuse to go another Valentine’s Day without knowing why a baby wants to shoot me in the butt with a heart-shaped arrow. Hilariously enough, I have written about how snails are what cupid is based on, because they shoot love darts to…
Groundhog Day: What Is It & Who Is Punxsutawney Phil
Groundhog Day has come and gone, unlike the movie where it keeps happening over and over again. This North American holiday is perhaps one of the most unusual. It is tempting to jokingly mock Americans for this illogical yet adorable and somewhat controversial holiday. But it turns out that they are not the only ones!…
Imbolc: What Is It & How to Celebrate?
Imbolc is also known as Imbolg and sometimes also called Brigid’s Day. It is a Gaelic traditional festival marking the beginning of spring. Traditionally, it is held on February 1st and it lands about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It is celebrated throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man –…
National Absurdity Day: November 20th
While social media is full of arguments on whether it is too early to decoration for Christmas, let’s spend today celebrating National Absurdity Day! How does one embrace this absurd holiday? Absurdly… duh! Put on that silly hat, dance around your home naked, do all those crazy things you’ve always wanted to do. As long…
10 October Celebrations From Around the World
There are many October celebrations that people all over the world enjoy. In the western world, the most well-known is probably Halloween. In the USA, Halloween is all about children dressings up and going around their neighborhoods asking for candy and saying, ‘trick or treat?’ It may seem like a silly tradition but the roots…
National Make Your Bed Day: September 12th
National Make Your Bed Day seems like a very silly holiday. To be honest, I only make my bed when I have company over. At a Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program, participants learn that the sleep environment is a major component of a restful night’s sleep. In a survey conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, people…
Labor Day: History of the Holiday
Tomorrow, Monday, September 7th, people all over the USA will celebrate Labor Day. In fact, the entire long weekend is festive and companies use this occasion to offer sales on their products as well as services. But what do you really know about the history of this holiday? Other than the fact that it takes…
World Emoji Day: July 17th Holiday
Today is world emoji day and I hope that you spent it sending emojis. You may wonder why we are celebrating emojis. They are unprofessional and can be confusing, right? Meh. Was it unprofessional for the Egyptians to use hieroglyphics? Is it confusing to add an emoticon at the end of a ambiguous sentence to…
Jan Hus Day: Anniversary of Martyrdom
The name Jan Hus may not ring a bell to too many people who haven’t lived in the Czech Republic. Every year on July 6th, Czechs celebrate the day that he was burned at the stake in 1415. As shocking as it sounds, Czech history is full of macabre stories and holidays. To be fair,…
July 4th: Fun Facts About America’s Biggest Holiday
July 4th is arguably the biggest holiday in America. It celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Essentially, it is the birthday of the United States of America as an independent nation. The declaration was signed on July 4th in 1776, a reminder of just how young this country really is! But I’m not…
Burning the Witches on April 30th: Czech Holiday
Burning the Witches is a popular holiday in the Czech Republic that takes place on April 30th. Despite the negative connotation, it is a happy holiday where many participants like to dress up as said witches. Although a large bonfire is a necessity for this event, no humans are burned during this event, even if…
What do Snails, Cupid & V-Day have in common?
Valentine’s Day is based on St. Valentine who secretly married couples to spare the men from going to war. So how did snails or cupid become involved? Turns out that when snails mate, they use love darts that they shoot at their love interest. Some believe that this bizarre mating ritual is where the idea…
Sankta Lucia – Christmas in Sweden
St. Lucia’s Day is also known as the Feast of Saint Lucy or Sankta Lucia in Sweden. It is a Christian feast day that commemorates her sainthood. Her feast day also coincides with the shortest day of the year prior to calendar reforms. Scandinavians celebrate it. “In Scandinavia, where Saint Lucy is called Santa Lucia…
Traditional Ukrainian Halloween: Veles Night
Ukrainian Halloween is all about Veles, the pagan god of art, music, poetry, beauty, talent, happiness and love.
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