Our entire year is cut-up into Days, not just Health
Awareness, but others like 'Mother's', 'Father's', 'Earth Day', and where the
West is concerned, can the ridiculous be far behind? 'Have a Bad
Day Day'(19th Nov.'13),'False Confession Day'(21st Nov'13),'Pi Day'-yes,
the famous 3.14 one! When it came to deciding which day would be marked as Pi
Day, it was decided that it would be 13th March because it was 3/14. It also
happens to be Einstein's birthday.
The story about how May Day came into being is a fascinating study of how a 'day' grew into a powerful movement. Workers had been in a constant struggle to shorten their working day from a 10 to 16 hour one to an 8 hour one. As they plaintively said, 'We want to feel the sunshine; we want to smell the flowers.' The national strike for the eight-hour day was called for on May 1, 1886--it was the first May Day. The movement was sought to be mercilessly suppressed by the powerful owners of factories, and climaxed in the hanging of four innocent agitating workers. Their final words before being publicly hanged were prophetic: "There will be a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today." Labour Day continues to this day.
Valentine's Day is essentially the Feast of St. Valentine, who lived in the third century. He is supposed to have been killed while trying to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons. There are many legends associated with this day, but this is the one I like. Emperor Claudius believed single men made better soldiers, and outlawed marriage for them. Valentine, a priest, felt this was unfair, and continued performing their marriages in secret. When he found out about this, the emperor ordered him to be killed.
All Fools' Day/April Fools' Day has 2 interesting stories about its origin. The Gregorian calendar is now observed worldwide. It was adopted by France in the 1500s so that the New Year would begin in January to match the Roman calendar instead of beginning at the start of spring, in late March or early April .Word of the change traveled slowly, so many people in rural areas continued to celebrate the New Year in the spring. These country dwellers became known as "April fools."
Another story has it the practice began during the reign of Constantine, when a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that they could do a better job than him,of running the empire. Constantine, amused, allowed a jester named Kugel to be king for one day. Kugel passed an edict calling for absurdity on that day, and the custom became an annual event.
So, in the middle of all the Days in this month, let's have a Day to beat all Days :)
The story about how May Day came into being is a fascinating study of how a 'day' grew into a powerful movement. Workers had been in a constant struggle to shorten their working day from a 10 to 16 hour one to an 8 hour one. As they plaintively said, 'We want to feel the sunshine; we want to smell the flowers.' The national strike for the eight-hour day was called for on May 1, 1886--it was the first May Day. The movement was sought to be mercilessly suppressed by the powerful owners of factories, and climaxed in the hanging of four innocent agitating workers. Their final words before being publicly hanged were prophetic: "There will be a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today." Labour Day continues to this day.
Valentine's Day is essentially the Feast of St. Valentine, who lived in the third century. He is supposed to have been killed while trying to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons. There are many legends associated with this day, but this is the one I like. Emperor Claudius believed single men made better soldiers, and outlawed marriage for them. Valentine, a priest, felt this was unfair, and continued performing their marriages in secret. When he found out about this, the emperor ordered him to be killed.
All Fools' Day/April Fools' Day has 2 interesting stories about its origin. The Gregorian calendar is now observed worldwide. It was adopted by France in the 1500s so that the New Year would begin in January to match the Roman calendar instead of beginning at the start of spring, in late March or early April .Word of the change traveled slowly, so many people in rural areas continued to celebrate the New Year in the spring. These country dwellers became known as "April fools."
Another story has it the practice began during the reign of Constantine, when a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that they could do a better job than him,of running the empire. Constantine, amused, allowed a jester named Kugel to be king for one day. Kugel passed an edict calling for absurdity on that day, and the custom became an annual event.
So, in the middle of all the Days in this month, let's have a Day to beat all Days :)
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