Celebrating National Days all over the World

jtrylch13

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Since no one has listed American holidays, I thought I'd take a crack at it. I wasn't entirely sure what would make the calendar Sara, so I listed a whole bunch and you can pick what counts. There are a lot more than I listed, but I was geting bored, so skipped some less important ones.


New Year's Day – January 1 – Party all night, get a day off work and watch footbal all day. What could be better? Oh, and that's not soccer, though in my house, we'd rather watch some real futbol than American football.


MLK Day - 3rd Monday in January – Honors Martin Luther King Jr., Civil Rights leader. MLK was a great man who influenced all aspects of American life through his non-violent civil protest against racial discrimantion in the US.


President's Day/Washington's Birthday - 3rd Monday in February – Originally celebrated George Washington's birthday (our first president) but now honors all presidents.


Memorial Day – Last Monday in May – Rememberance day for those who gave their lives from the Civil War through all wars of today


Independence Day – July 4th – Celebrates the signing of the Decleration of Independence from British rule.


Labor Day - 1st Monday in September – Celebrates achievements of labor movement


Columbus Day - 2nd Monday in October – Honors Christopher Columbus, traditional discoverer of the Americas


Veterans day – November 11 – Honors all Veterans of the USA armed forces


Thanksgiving Day - 4th Thursday in November – American celebration of the first feast of the Pilgrims with the Native Americans after the first hard winter and first real harvest at Plymouth. Huge American holiday for giving thanks, spending time with family, more American football (Detroit Lions every year), and of course huge feast with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatos, bread, sweet potatos and many more foods.


Christmas and Easter are big here too, but I suppose almost everyone has those as well.


Here's a few more:


Mardi Gras – date based on Easter – Carnival – Starts the penitential season of Lent


Groundhogs Day – February 2 – Everyone gathers around the home of a Pennsylvania groundhog, Puxatawney Phil. If he comes out and sees his shadow, there's six more weeks of winter. If not, early spring. I think he's 50% accurate, which is about as good as a weahterman! I pretty much only observe this holiday in order to watch Bill Murray's classic Groundhog's Day on TV.


Valentine's Day – February 14 – Honors St. Valentine. I think he was a priest in Roman times who secretly married soldiers to their sweethearts when such a thing was forbidden by the emporor. He was locked up and possibly executed. Can't remember.


St. Patrick's Day – March 17th – A celebration of Irish heritage, and pretty much, we all have Irish heritage somewhere in our bloodlines. I've got it down the line on both sides of my family. Of course, you don't need to have Irish blood to drink green beer and act stupid all day. On March 17th, everyone's Irish in America! Most of us just wear green and feel a little pride in our Irish heritage. (On second read, I realize it sounds like I am saying the Irish drink a lot and act stupid. I didn't mean that. It's just that is how some Americans honor this day. There's no accounting for taste.)


Earth Day – April 22


Mother's Day - 2nd Sunday in May


Father's Day - 3rd Sunday in June


Halloween – October 31


Pearl Harbor Day – December 7th
 

jtrylch13

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Not quite everyone knows what 4th of July means to Americans. Though I've met more than one American in Hong Kong who was surprised at first when they found out it isn't a holiday there. I suppose that's conditioning, since we Americans are raised to believe that the entire world either is or desperately longs to be American.
.

I'm a little offended by this post, though I guess you call them as you see them. I suppose some Americans feel this way, but I certainly never thought everyone everywhere knows our holidays or wants to be American. I do think we are the best country in the world, but I also believe that many, many other countries feel the same way about themselves. It's a little like thinking your kids are the best ever. We are all prejudiced in their favor.
 

SaraP

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Since no one has listed American holidays, I thought I'd take a crack at it. I wasn't entirely sure what would make the calendar Sara, so I listed a whole bunch and you can pick what counts. There are a lot more than I listed, but I was geting bored, so skipped some less important ones.

First, thanks for such a great post. :)

Second, Mac had already done the 4th of July.

Third, many of those holidays exist in other countries, even if on a different date. We have Labor day, Mother's Day and Father's Day on completely different days, for example. Other dates you listed are not really holidays celebrating the USA as a country, like Halloween or St. Valentine's.

What I'm looking for here are days where the country as a whole is celebrated, its heritage and independence. The 4th of July is an obvious example. I'm tempted to add Thanksgiving as well. As for the other dates, you'll have to tell me just how big a holiday they are.
 

crazynance

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Here's a few more:
Mardi Gras – date based on Easter – Carnival – Starts the penitential season of Lent

Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) is the day before Ash Wednesday. It is Pancake Tuesday in Canada... A day to use up all the fats and sweets in the house before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday.
Canadians also head up to the Sugar Bush around this time for the Sugaring Off (related to the collection of sap for making maple sugar), Pancake Breakfasts, sleigh rides, and sometimes Lumberjack displays.
 

Purple Rose

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Please add Indonesia Aug 17. Celebrated by 240 million Indonesians who inhabit nearly 1,000 islands (out of 17,000!). This is a great initiative, thank you!
 

shelley

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Besides March 25th and October 28th we also celebrate in Greece:


August 15th: one of the most important religious holiday for Greeks. It's in honor of Panagia ( Virgin Mary ) who's ascent to the heavens is commemorated during this day.

May 1st: International Worker's Day.
 

shelley

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Valentine's day is big here also. ( for money purposes, of course - but isn't that worldwide? )
 

efslattery

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Just wanted to add a few holidays from my adopted/other home country, the Czech Republic (in case of updates to this sticky).

May 8: end of the Prague Uprising, 1945 (and the day before the Red Army rolled in)

July 5: celebrates Saints Cyril and Metoděje, who arrived in the Czech Republic as missionaries around 860 AD and are credited with creating the Slavonic alphabet and language

July 6: commemorates when philosopher and reformer Jan Hus was burned at the stake in the 15th century

September 28: Saint Wenceslas' Day / Czech Statehood Day

October 28: creation of the Czechoslovak state, 1918

November 17: commemorates the student uprising of 1939 and the student uprising on the same day fifty years later (which sparked the Velvet Revolution).

December 5: Saint Nicholas ("Mikuláš," in Czech) Day (On this day, Saint Nicholas--accompanied by a devil and an angel, or at least teenagers dressed up like them--visits children and reads from a book of names, identifying good and bad children. Good children get chocolate. Bad children do not. Teenagers love the holiday because they get paid to roam around the city dressed as Saint Nicholas, an angel, or as a devil, visiting various children and motivating them to shape up.)

December 24: Christmas. (Celebrated only when you can see the golden pig and three stars in the sky!)

Not technically a public holiday but still of importance:
January 16: anniversary of student Jan Palach's death by self-immolation in 1969 in protest of the Soviet invasion; the twentieth anniversary of Palach's death sparked demonstrations against the Communists that resulted in the Velvet Revolution. Palach's grave in Olšanská cemetery always has flowers on it.

Finally...if the Czech team wins gold, silver, or bronze in the world ice hockey championships, the effect is more or less that of a major national holiday. :D

(This is not a complete list--anyone else should feel free to add dates.) :)
 

SaraP

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Awesome!

Thanks everyone. I love to see our Calendar growing and it's fascinating to learn a bit of history from other countries. :)
 

caspermac

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Does 'Burn's night' count? It's not really a National day but it does celebrate the famous Scottish poet Robert Burn's birthday. 25th January. And where I come from it's celebrated more than St Andrews day. You cant beat haggis neaps and tatties on a cold winters night ;-)
 

!MeMa!

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would you add these dates for Oman please :D

23ed july our national day
17 October Omani woman's day<----- our sultan declared this day as Omani woman's day on 2010
and finally
18 Novmber out national day
 

benbradley

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While perhaps not comprehensive, Google Doodles often celebrate national days of different countries), and usually only in that country (Google knows what country you're in by your IP address). And of course the doodles are usually quite colorful, incorporating the flag or its colors of the country:
http://www.google.com/logos/
 

SaraP

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*googles*

(You gotta love the fun of googling google. :roll: )

Oooooh, it is! Gorgeous!
 

Jolly-Boo

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Although I'm Russian, it's not really one I celebrate. Since I live in Norway, I guess you can add:

17th of May - Norwegian Constitution Day
 

Nimram

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Hey Sparks,

National day of Romania on 1st of December (the second unification of all Romanian principalities and the birth of modern Romania)

Obrigado