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Halloween is celebrated on the 31st of October night. It is common among children to dress up in scary costumes and move from door-to-door collecting sweets and gifts. They shout at each door, “trick or treat!” before their sacks are filled with treats. Watching horror movies, visiting haunted houses and enjoying some haunted hayrides form a part of the traditional celebrations.

Anoka, Minnesota is the Halloween capital of the world. The history of Halloween dates back to 1920, where the festivities originated in Anoka in an attempt to keep younger people away from vandalism. At that time Halloween was known as “Samhain” and was a pagan festival among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain. Other western countries have embraced Halloween as part of American pop culture later.

Countries like United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, United Kingdom, Peru, Australia and others also celebrate Halloween. Some parts in Western Europe also are celebrating it recently.

Halloween is the shortened name for All-hallow-even as it is on the eve of All Saints Day. It is also called Pooky Night in some parts of Ireland, named after a mischievous spirit. However, there are some fascinating symbols, which make the Halloween celebrations all the more exciting, like:

The Carved Pumpkin

Many families carve out a scary or a comical face onto a pumpkin and place a candle inside it to illuminate the carved out features. They leave it on their doorstep after dark. Legend has it that a stingy, greedy and drunkard old farmer tricked a devil into climbing a tree and trapped him there by carving a cross on the tree trunk. The devil curses Jack to wander on the Earth seeking Eternity. The carved pumpkin basically symbolizes this event.

The Imagery

Halloween is all about darkness and mystery. Popular Halloween characters are ghosts, witches, bats, owls, vultures, black cats, haunted houses, skeletons, demons and werewolves.

Halloween also has some associative colors and each color symbolizes something else, like:

Black – The color of death, night, black cats, vampires and witches
Orange – The color of autumn, pumpkin, Jack-o’-lanterns and fire
Purple – The color of the supernatural and mysticism.
Green – The color of goblins and monsters.
Red – The color of blood and evil.

Games- “trick” of the celebration

Fun games like bobbing apples in a water tub and letting players pick them up by grasping them with their teeth. Or maybe, placing saucers in a table and asking a blindfolded participant to choose one saucer where the contents of each saucer will foretell what the person has in store for him/her in the future. Unmarried women in North America are even said to have gone to the extent of gazing at a mirror in a dark Halloween night groping for their future husband’s face.

Food – “treat” of the celebration

Caramel apples, where apples are rolled in sticky sugar syrup were the most common treat given to kids until reports of candy poisoning were spread. Other foods of the Halloween are candy corn, barmbrack, pumpkin pie, roasted pumpkin seeds, candies shaped like skulls, bats, etc.

Therefore, the Halloween is the perfect mix of trick with treat. It is this blend that makes Halloween as enjoyable as it is.

New Orleans Mardi Gras, which in French means Fat Tuesday, is officially the day before Ash Wednesday also commonly referred to as Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day. New Orleans Mardi Gras, now a weeklong celebration can occur anytime between February 3rd and March 9th, depending on when Easter is held that particular year.

New Orleans Mardi Gras, much more than the Masks, Music, and Mayhem

It’s an exercise meant to unite different culture coming together to celebrate the things that make them unique. The common theme is to have fun and have a great time.

Ancient Romans celebrated the Lupercalia, a circus like festival in mid February unlike the New Orleans Mardi Gras you are familiar with today. After Rome embraced Christianity, the early Church fathers decided to incorporate certain aspects of pagan rituals into the new faith. Carnival became a period of abandon and merriment that preceded the penance of Lent, thus keeping the ancient system alive.

Mardi Gras had been celebrated way back to middle ages in Paris, where it was a major holiday. However, it came to America in 1699 with the French explorer Iberville. Interestingly, the first Mardi Gras in North America was not celebrated under American Rule but probably under French rule.

Iberville sailed into the Gulf of Mexico, from where he launched an expedition up the Mississippi River. On March 3rd 1699, Iberville had set up a camp on the west bank of the river about 60 miles south of where New Orleans is today. Mardi Gras were being celebrated in France on that day. Thus, Iberville named the site Point du Mardi Gras to commemorate this important day.

Celebrating Madri Gras

Mardi Gras is widely celebrated in the form of carnival in most parts of Europe, Latin America and in the Carribean Islands. Venice in Italy, Mazatlan in Mexico, New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador da Bahia, are some of the places that enjoys celebrating Mardi Gras to the fullest.

King Cake is one of the most delicious and culturally significant items that have been associated with Mardi Gras celebrations from the very beginning. King Cakes are available in all sorts of colors like purple green and gold with flavored fillings such as cream cheese, strawberry, and apple in an oblong or oval shaped cinnamon dough cake, glazed with frosting and sprinkled with colored sugar.

If it’s a King cake, it has to be special – besides taste it has loads of fun simply limited to its taste. Hidden on the underside (after baking) of each King Cake is a small plastic figurine in the shape of a baby. Whoever finds the baby is officially the King or Queen of the party and gets the honor of supplying the next King Cake or throwing the next Mardi Gras Party.

Marching bands move on the streets playing jazz music. Bunnies, painted clowns, masked lions, cross-dressing beauty pageants is a common spectacle in the streets of New Orleans. Masked balls and colorful parades drive millions of fun seekers. Strange dress and strange performance with a full dose of entertainment makes the New Orleans Madri Gras celebration so unique.

You just cannot resist yourself from being crazy in the charged environment of Mardi Gras.

What and When is Labor Day?

Labor Day is a day of celebration to pay tribute to the working people. Labor Day is celebrated as a national federal holiday in United States and Canada. Many people often wonder when is Labor Day. The holiday is celebrated on the first Monday in September. The holiday started off in 1882 when the Central labor Union desired and created a day off for working people. Till today this day is celebrated as a day of rest.

The History Of Labor Day

There is a debate regarding who first proposed the holiday for working population. From some records we get the name of Peter J. McGuire who was the General Secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and who co-founded the American Federation of Labor as the first proponent of Labor Day. He suggested having a day to honor those who “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.”

But the other views say that a machinist, Mathew Maguire founded the Labor Day. He later became the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, New Jersey. He proposed a holiday for the working class in 1882 when he was working as a secretary of the Central Labor Union.

The first Labor Day was celebrated in accord with the plans of Central Labor Union in 1882 on Tuesday and the date was 5th September. However, May 1st was designated as Labor Day throughout the world in later years.

The Legislation

Labor day gradually became popular and the government first recognized it through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. Now, Labor Day geared up for state legislation. Oregon was the first state to pass the law on February 21, 1887. In 1887 Labor Day law was passed by New Jersey, New York, Colorado and Massachusetts. Gradually more states passed legislation on Labor Day holiday. In 1894, Congress passed an act and made the first Monday of September each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories. The Bill became a law as President Grover Cleveland signed it on June 28th.

How Labor Day Is Celebrated?

When the first Labor Day was observed, the outlined activities first included a street parade to demonstrate “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” of the working community. Then a festival was held so the workers and their families could spend the holiday amusingly. Gradually the economic and civic aspects got more emphasis and speeches by famous men and women were included as a part of Labor Day celebrations. In 1909, American Federation of Labor convention took up a resolution which dedicated the preceding Sunday of the Labor Day Monday to the spiritual and educational facets of the labor movement.

When is Labor Day celebrated the way it was intended? Today, most of people find Labor Day to be the end of summer and a day to take rest. Nowadays in Labor Day, political exhibits are rare and the day is celebrated with picnics, barbecues, water sports, public art events and firework show offs.

Memorial day is a day to remember the men and women who have died in the nation’s service. This day is a federal holiday in the United States and is observed on the last Monday of May. Memorial Day was formerly known as Decoration Day as after the Civil war many people decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers. But the observance expanded after World War I to include the people who died in battles.

History Of Memorial Day

The history of Memorial Day dates back to the 19th century. Decoration Day was first officially observed on May 30, 1868. General John Logan in his General Order No 11 first proclaimed Decoration Day officially. After the Civil war, many communities set aside a day to memorize the deceased of the Civil War. Richmond, Charleston, Boalsburg, South Carolina; Pennsylvania, Virginia, Carbondale, Illinois; Mississippi, Columbus, and some other cities observed the earliest Memorial Day. These observations gradually united around Decoration Day. Decoration Day became Memorial Day in 1882 to include honoring soldiers who had died in other wars. Memorial Day was declared a national holiday to be observed on the last Monday of May in 1971.

The history of Memorial Day shows the first observation of the holiday officially in Waterloo, New York on the day on May 5, 1866.

Legislation Of Memorial Day

The Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill on June 28th, 1968. This bill moved four traditional holiday dates to specified Mondays to create convenient three-day weekends. The four holidays are Washington’s Birthday, which later became President’s Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and Memorial Day. This moved the traditional date of Memorial Day, May 30 to the last Monday in May. In federal level the law took effect from 1971. Gradually all the 50 states adopted the same within few years.

How Memorial Day Is Observed?

Traditionally Memorial Day is observed by visiting cemeteries and memorials. At 3:00 PM (Washington time) a national moment of remembrance is observed. The US flag is flown at half-staff from dawn to noon (according to local time). The volunteers place US Flags on each gravesite of the National Cemetery.

Memorial Day is a weekend and marks the beginning of summer unofficially. So its time for picnics, sports and family gatherings. Some families honor members of families who have died on Memorial Day.

The history of Memorial Day has always been a special day of commemorating the memories of the brave deceased soldiers of war.

On Pearl Harbor Day, Americans remember those who laid down their lives on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan. America will always be proud of the brave souls of the nation, who upheld the tradition of gallantry, honor and integrity on that day an throughout the course of World War II. The surprise attack that day on Pearl Harbor took more than 2,400 American lives. Each year we comm orate those who lost their lives on December 7, 1941, the Pearl Harbor Day.

The Tragic Day

At the crack of dawn on Sunday, December 7, 1941, naval aviation forces of the Empire of Japan launched an assault on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii bringing destruction and tragedy to the United States Pacific Fleet and other military targets.

The attack paralyzed the Pacific Fleet. The Airfields, port facilities, and warships in the Pacific were severely damaged and most being rendered incapacitated. Out of the nine Pacific Fleet battleships at Pearl harbor that day, Utah and Arizona were totally destroyed, the Oklahoma was salvaged but still deemed unusable. Along with the loss of two destroyers, one minelayer and 188 aircraft.

A converted sixteen-inch armor penetrating naval shell dropped from a high level horizontal bomber and landed on the battleship Arizona. The bomb exploded in one of Arizona’s aircraft catapult gunpowder magazines. It resulted in ignition of a fire in the main gun magazines where a stockpile of gunpowder was fatefully kept. The explosion caused the battleship Arizona to sink to the harbor’s bottom in a few brief minutes and taking with it the lives of 1100 crew members.

Reason For The Sudden Attack

The failure of U.S. political, diplomatic, and military establishments to recognize the capabilities of the Japanese military combined with the weaknesses in the United States’ own defense planning, proved fatal. Leading to Japan’s success at Pearl Harbor in decimating a major U.S Military port while sustaining only minor losses themselves.

The Japanese considered their attack a “pre-emptive strike” to prevent American interference in their attempted advance into the Dutch East Indies and Malaysia. However, instead of forcing Americans into submission, the attack on Pearl Harbor catapulted America into the war that would eventually bring ultimate devastation to the Land of the Rising Sun.

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day approved

The American Congress, by Public Law 103-308, approved through a law, commemorating December 7 as the “National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day” each year.

All Americans are encouraged to observe this monumental occasion with memorial activities and ceremonies. Also, Federal agencies, interested organizations, groups and individuals are to fly the flag of the United States at half-mast, in honor of those who died while doing their duty at Pearl Harbor.

The battleship Arizona has been specially preserved as a mark of remembrance for the crew and serves as a center of many events on Pearl Harbor day in Hawaii. The structure spans the ship’s hull, with Ford Island in the background. The memorial is accessible by boats from the naval base at Pearl Harbor.

Observing Pearl Harbor Day

The events of this day are memorialized by the illumination of a prewar aircraft beacon on the top of Mount Diablo, in the San Francisco Bay area. This light was refurbished in 1962 and is turned on only for the evening of December 7th each year. A few remaining military survivors of the attack gather with their family and friends to honor their fallen shipmates and comrades by playing “Taps” and lighting the beacon. The public is welcome at these events.

On Pearl Harbor Day, a whole nation salutes the courage of a generation of Americans who died on a day of infamy and showed bravery amidst one of the most sorrowful days ever to be written in the pages of American History.

Father’s Day observes the celebration of your “dad”. This day is a great opportunity to let your father know how much you love and care for him. This day is appropriately the podium for reminding us the sacrifices our father has made for us, as we often tend to forget that.

Father’s Day is a day for honoring not only your father but also all the father figures in your life, like uncles, grand fathers, step fathers and even big brothers. The “father figure” can be loved, respected and also can be looked up for protection and guidance.

Origin of Father’s Day

This day has its social and religious origins. The Roman Catholic Church observes the day as Saint Joseph’s Day (Joseph is the husband of Mary and the foster-father of Jesus Christ).

There is one woman behind the emergence of the day to honor the great man in your life. Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd founded Fathers Day in the United States of America. She was a resident of Spokane in Washington. Being one among six siblings, she was cared by a single father.

Mrs. Dodd’s father, William Jackson Smart was a civil war veteran who single handedly raised his children after the death of their mother. Anna Jarvis’ promotion of Mother’s Day further influenced her to establish a Father’s Day.

The first Fathers day celebration took place on June 19, 1910 in Spokane, Washington (Mrs. Dodd’s father was born in June). Woodrow Wilson’s family personally honored him on Father’s Day in 1916. However, eight years later, Calvin Coolidge termed it as a national holiday. In 1926, the National Father’s Day committee was formed in New York City. In 1972, the holiday was officially recognized under the presidency of Richard Nixon.

The day is celebrated on different dates all over the world, but the spirit of the day remains the same.

Celebration of Dad’s day

Father’s Day is celebrated with great enthusiasm across the world. People let their fathers know on this day how much gratitude, love and respect they have for them. Any father figure who makes you feel secure, loved and protected can be honored on this day.

Children make cards and gifts for their dads. This is a wonderful reunion time for many families. People provide their fathers with their favorite breakfast in bed, cards, gifts and fresh flower bouquets. This day is a good day for a get-together. It is also a good idea to help dad out with household chores.

Today, Fathers Day like Mother’s Day has been commercialized to a great extent. Rigorous advertising campaigns take place for marketing gifts, greeting cards, tool kits, gourmet gift baskets and neckties.

It is to be kept in mind that the sentimental factor of the auspicious day should not be lost due to extensive commercialization. Father’s Day has become a universal way of showering love and respect on one’s father.