Today is...

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Eric Snyder on October 9, 2009 at 5:09am

Oct 12, 2009

Canadian Thanksgiving... -

How It Began
The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are more closely connected to the traditions of Europe than of the United States. Long before Europeans settled in North America, festivals of thanks and celebrations of harvest took place in Europe in the month of October. The very first Thanksgiving celebration in North America took place in Canada when Martin Frobisher, an explorer from England, arrived in Newfoundland in 1578. He wanted to give thanks for his safe arrival to the New World. That means the first Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated 43 years before the pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts! [more]

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eric Snyder on October 10, 2009 at 6:03am

Today is... Shemini Atzeret (Jewish)
http://calendarwallah.posterous.com/oct-10-shemini-atzeret-jewish

On the eighth day of Sukkot, special prayers for rain are offered.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eric Snyder on October 15, 2009 at 6:06am

Oct 15, 2009

Today is...

Blog Action Day '09 - Climate Change

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be one of the largest-ever social change events on the web.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eric Snyder on October 20, 2009 at 2:25am

Oct 20: Birthday Of The Báb (Bahá’í)

Born Siyyid ’Ali Muhammad in Southwestern Iran in 1819. His title, in Arabic, means ’The Gate’. Work is suspended and Bahá’ís come together for prayer and festivities.

Multicultural Calendar

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eric Snyder on October 20, 2009 at 2:28am

Today is...

Day 2: Waste Reduction Week (Canada)
Theme: Travel

more...

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eric Snyder on October 26, 2009 at 12:09pm

October 26, 2009

Today is...

Chung Yeung Festival (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan)
Families visit the graves of their ancestors.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eric Snyder on November 20, 2009 at 2:36am

Nov 20: Universal Children's Day (UN)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eric Snyder on November 23, 2009 at 1:48am

November 23: Kinro Kansha No Hi (Japan)

Labor Thanksgiving Day

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eric Snyder on November 25, 2009 at 10:30am

Nov 25: St. Catherine's Day (France)

Are you a Catherinette?

Are you an unmarried woman over 25? Then according to an old Quebec tradition, you'd be a "Catherinette!" But don't worry… put on your apron and start pulling some taffy!

But where does this custom come from?

Tradition says that long ago there was a woman named Catherine who was executed around the year 307 for refusing to marry the Roman Emperor Maxentius. In the 12th century, St. Catherine was named the patron of unmarried women. So on her feast day, November 25, it was customary to expose her statue in all the churches of Paris. The oldest of the marriageable women would place a starched cap on her head, while all the unmarried female workers would wear paper bonnets in their hair. This gave rise to the French saying, common in France and French Canada, "to do St. Catherine's hair," meaning "to remain an old maid." The same custom was found in Brittany and Normandy where the statue was dressed up in the local style.

The tradition was brought to New France with the first settlers, but it is to Marguerite Bourgeois, a teaching sister who was an important figure in the young colony, that we owe "St. Catherine's taffy." To attract the attention of her little aboriginal pupils, she decided to make some taffy. She had opened her first school in Ville-Marie (Montreal) on November 25, and she commemorated the anniversary each year by making taffy so that St. Catherine's day also became known in Quebec as "taffy day." It became customary for marriageable girls to make taffy and give some to all the eligible young men in the area to show off their cooking skill. In English Canada and the US, the sweets became known as "kisses," since whoever kissed the girl would win her heart.

• ▶ Reply