Holidays
History of September: The Start of Fall
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 year’s remaining months, as highlighted below: eight/oct,…
Read MoreHistory of Labor Day: What’s Work Got To Do With It?
HISTORY OF LABOR DAY Labor Day is when 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 Peter J. McGuire first proposed the holiday, the…
Read MoreHistory of the 19th Amendment: Women’s Right to Vote, 103 Years Ago
HISTORY OF THE 19TH AMENDMENT: WOMEN’S RIGHT TO VOTE Over a hundred years ago, on August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted. This prohibited both the Federal and State governments from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States based on sex. Effectively, this meant that the…
Read MoreHistory of Reek Sunday: The Legend of St Patrick Driving the Snakes from Ireland
HISTORY OF REEK SUNDAY: The Legend of St Patrick Driving the Snakes from Ireland Several years ago, at this time of the Summer, on one of my teaching trips to Ireland, I found myself on the west coast, where they have a saying, “Ahh… west o’ here, the next parish over is Boston.“ This Sunday,…
Read MoreHistory of St James Day: and the Camino de Santiago
HISTORY OF ST JAMES DAY: AND THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO July 25 is the Feast Day of St James, and Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and some Protestants accordingly celebrate St James Day. For Orthodox churches that follow the Julian calendar, it’s on April 30. Each summer, pilgrims walk the Camino de Santiago or the Way of…
Read MoreJerusalem in a Day, part 1
HISTORY IN JERUSALEM: CHRISTIAN TRADITION Is it possible to see Jerusalem in a day? I did. Twenty eight years ago, following a trip to Israel, I published three articles. I was speaking on technology in Tel Aviv and had only 24 hours to visit Jerusalem. The city may have changed, but the historical sites…
Read MoreHistory of Bastille Day: Its Relation to the French Revolution
HISTORY OF BASTILLE DAY Each year on July 14, Bastille Day is celebrated to commemorate the Storming of the Bastille in Paris on this date in 1789, an important date in the French Revolution. Also known as French National Day, it features feasting, fireworks, public dancing, and an address by the French President. However, the…
Read MoreHistory of Independence Day: Was the Declaration of Independence really signed on July 4, 1776?
HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE DAY Independence Day, or the Fourth of July, celebrates the adoption by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, of the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the severance of the allegiance of the American colonies to Great Britain. It is the most significant secular holiday in the United States, observed in all…
Read MoreHistory of John Adams
HISTORY OF THE 4TH OF JULY: JOHN ADAMS Before John Adams became the first Vice President of the United States (under George Washington,) the second President of the United States, the first resident of the White House, and a writer of the Massachusetts State Constitution… he had a role during the Revolutionary War period as…
Read MoreHistory of the 4th of July: Thomas Jefferson
HISTORY OF THE 4th OF JULY: THOMAS JEFFERSON Perhaps no one person is more associated with the 4th of July in American History than Thomas Jefferson, probably because his hand penned the immortal Declaration of Independence. As my friend Clay Jenkinson — who has been portraying Jefferson for over 20 years — says in his…
Read MoreHistory of Canada Day
HISTORY OF CANADA DAY As the U.S. will soon celebrate its Independence Day, Canadians have a celebration of their own. Canada Day (Fête du Canada) marks the anniversary of July 1, 1867, when the three independent colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into a single dominion. The British North American Act, known today…
Read MoreHistory of St. John the Baptist Day: Midsummer
HISTORY OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST DAY The Feast of St. John the Baptist, or the Nativity of St John the Forerunner, sometimes called St. John the Baptist Day, is celebrated on June 24 in many places worldwide, though not much in the United States, as we’ll see below. Celebration of the Feast of the…
Read More
