The passage in 1968 of Public Law 90-363, also known as the “Monday Holiday Law,” changed the observance of Washington’s Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February. Because it occurs so soon after Lincoln’s Birthday, many states—such as Hawaii, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Wyoming—combine the two holidays and call it Presidents’ Day or Washington-Lincoln Day. Some regard it as a day to honor all former presidents of the US. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Kamakura Matsuri is held in northern Japan in the Akita Prefecture, at the time of year when there is usually deep snow on the ground. In Yokote and other towns of the region, children build Kamakura, snow houses that resemble igloos. They furnish the huts with tatami mats and a wooden altar dedicated to Suijin-sama and have parties in them, while families gather to drink sweet sake and eat rice cakes and fruits. The rice cakes are made in the shape of cranes and turtles, traditional symbols of longevity, and of dogs called inukko, thought to guard against devils. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Each year on February 14, Frederick Douglass‘s birthday is commemorated with a ceremony at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in Washington, DC. The event features speakers on human rights, recitations of excerpts from Douglass’s speeches, music performances, and a wreath-laying ceremony. Activities, including lectures, readings from his works, and film presentations about his life, are also planned in New Bedford, in Rochester, New York, where Douglass’s grave is located, and in many other locations throughout the country. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
This was an ancient Roman festival held in honor of the manes, or souls of the dead—in particular, deceased relatives. It began a season for remembering the dead, which ended with the Feralia on February 21. This week was a quiet, serious occasion, without the rowdiness that characterized other Roman festivals. Everything, including the temples, closed down, and people decorated graves with flowers and left food—sometimes elaborate banquets—in the cemeteries in the belief that it would be eaten by the spirits of the deceased. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Also known as Oglethorpe Day, February 12 commemorates the day in 1733 when James Edward Oglethorpe and 120 other Englishmen landed in Savannah, Georgia, to establish a new colony. In 1965, the anniversary of the state’s founding was officially proclaimed Georgia Day. On February 12, there is a procession through the historic town of Savannah and a luncheon. Since 1966, there has been a reenactment of Oglethorpe’s landing, with costumed residents playing the roles of Georgia’s first European settlers and of the American Indians who greeted them upon their arrival. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Few world events during the late 20th century were as pivotal as the Iranian Revolution of 1979. On February 1, 1979, Ayatolla Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran to claim power after spending 15 years in exile. To memorialize the historic moment, a helicopter drops flowers on the ayatollah’s tomb, in the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery south of the capital city of Tehran. For the next 10 days, people attend film screenings, music performances, and exhibitions inspired by the revolution. The celebration on February 11 usually entails a mass rally and military parade in Tehran. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
This feast is a commemoration in Malta of the shipwreck of St. Paul on the island in 60 CE, an event described in the New Testament. Paul was a prisoner on a ship, and when storms drove the ship aground, Paul was welcomed by the “barbarous people” (meaning they were not Greco-Romans). According to legend, he got their attention when a snake bit him on the hand but did him no harm, and he then healed people of diseases. Paul is the patron saint of Malta and snakebite victims. The day is a public holiday observed with family gatherings and religious ceremonies and processions. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
St. Ia (or Eia or Ives) is the patron saint of St. Ives, Cornwall. St. Ives celebrates Feast Monday on the Monday after the Feast of St. Ia (February 3), by playing an ancient game known as hurling, using a ball made of cork encased in silver. The mayor begins the game by tossing the ball against the side of the parish church. The game stops promptly at 12 noon, and whoever has the ball in his or her possession at that time receives a cash prize or a medal. The festivities continue in the afternoon with more sporting events and a municipal ball in the evening. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Patterned after the traditional event in Finland that celebrates Shrove Tuesday before the beginning of Lent, the Finnish Sliding Festival, or Laskiainen, has been held in White, Minnesota, every winter for more than 50 years. It features two large ice slides, which are constructed at the edge of Loon Lake. People bring their sleds or toboggans for an exciting ride down the slide onto the frozen lake. Other activities at the weekend event include log-sawing contests, Finnish music and dance performances, and traditional Finnish foods such as oven pancakes and pea soup. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
This zany mid-winter festival celebrates the emergence of the ice worm in Cordova, Alaska. The highlight of the three-day festival is the procession of a 150-foot-long ice worm followed by 500 or so paraders. Other events include variety shows, ski events, a survival-suit race, a beauty pageant, music, and dances. The celebration began in 1961, and the legend was born then that an ice worm hibernates during the winter in the Cordova Glacier but starts to hatch or wake up in early February. The worm has gained international fame, and the festival draws great crowds of people. Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary