Archive for 2019
History of Ethiopian New Year: What is Enkutatash?
HISTORY OF ETHIOPIAN NEW YEAR: WHAT IS ENKUTATASH? Why is your friendly neighborhood historian writing about the Ethiopian New Year? A couple of years ago the Washington Post interviewed me for an article they were publishing on the subject. The Washington D.C. area has over 200,000 Ethiopian-Americans who celebrate the holiday this year on September 12. A group…
Read MoreHistory of Patriot Day: 9-11
HISTORY OF PATRIOT DAY: 9-11 With the following words and many others, President George W. Bush designated September 11 to be regarded as Patriot Day or America Remembers: By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation: On this first observance of Patriot Day, we remember and honor those who perished in the…
Read MoreHistory of Star Trek
HISTORY OF STAR TREK Star Trek premiered on NBC TV September 8, 1966… 53 years ago. It is my favorite show; I was glued to the TV for the first episode and every one after that. It had a significant influence on my life in my choice of a career in technology. It represented an…
Read MoreHistory of Labor Day
HISTORY OF LABOR DAY Labor Day is the day we celebrate the process our mothers went through to deliver us at birth. Sorry, wrong holiday. Labor Day in the U.S. is the day we celebrate the achievements of the American labor movement. While it is still disputed whether the holiday was first proposed by Peter…
Read MoreHistory of September
HISTORY OF SEPTEMBER You may have noticed that September sounds like the Latin word for Seven. And you’d be perceptive — septem is the Latin word for seven and this month used to be the seventh month of the ancient Roman calendar. This Latin numbering follows with the remaining months of the year, as I’ve…
Read MoreHistory of the Holidays
HISTORY OF THE HOLIDAYS Welcome to this year’s edition of the History of the Holidays. I’m Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian. From now through the Spring or vernal equinox, we celebrate most of the major secular and sacred holidays. This is a series that recounts the history behind the major American holidays, some of…
Read MoreHistory of the California Gold Rush
HISTORY OF THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH On August 19, 1848, the New York Herald reported the news along the American East Coast of the California Gold Rush. It was not new news to those further West, as the gold rush had started in January and was publicized in San Francisco in March. However, the New…
Read MoreHistory of Woodstock: 50 Years Ago
HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK August 15 marks the 50th anniversary of the “3-days of Peace & Music” held in 1969 at Max Yasgur’s 600-acre dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York, southwest of the village of Woodstock. I’d like to share with you what it was like to be there — the music,…
Read MoreHistory of Infinity Day: August 8
HISTORY OF INFINITY DAY: AUGUST 8 Infinity Day is also known as Universal & International Infinity Day, and is a day held on the 8th day of the 8th month of each year in order to celebrate and promote Philosophy and Philosophizing for the ordinary person. Why 8 is significant: 8 planets in the Solar…
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