Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH (17 August 1887 – 10 June 1940)[1] was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL).[2] He founded the Black Star Line, part of the Back-to-Africa movement, which promoted the return of the African Diaspora to their ancestral lands.
(... from Wikipedia on 2012-04-17 09:08:27)
Discovery Day is the name of several holidays commemorating the discovery of land, gold, and other significant national discoveries.
In the Bahamas Discovery Day is a public holiday on October 12, celebrating the arrival of Christoper Columbus in the New World in 1492. It coincides with the Columbus Day celebrations of many other countries in the Americas. Columbus's initial landfall was on the now-unknown island of Guanahani in the Bahamas in 1492.If Discovery Day falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, it is observed the following Monday. Schools, Banks, Public Offices and most shops are closed on Discovery Day.
(... from Wikipedia on 2012-04-17 21:10:19)
An Independence Day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's assumption of independent statehood, usually after ceasing to be a colony or part of another nation or state; more rarely after the end of a military occupation.
Most countries observe their respective independence days as a national holiday, and in some cases the observance date is controversial or contested. Not all countries observe an independence day holiday, choosing to celebrate other national days instead of or alongside an independence day.
(... from Wikipedia on 2012-04-18 00:17:02)
(12:49 am (night))
Nāg Panchamī (Devanagari: नाग पंचमी) is a festival during which religious Hindus in some parts of India worship either images of or live Nāgas (cobras) on the fifth day after Amavasya of the month of Shraavana. Traditionally, married young women visit their premarital households to celebrate the festival. Especially in villages in India, a traditional aspect of the celebration involves joyous swinging by young women on swings temporarily hung on tree branches.
According to Puranic scriptures, Brahma’s son Kashyapa had four wives. The “first” wife gave birth to Devas; the second, to Garudas; the third --named Kadroo--, to Nāgas; and the fourth, to Daityas. Nāgas were the rulers of Pātāl-Loka.
(... from Wikipedia on 2012-04-18 00:07:30)
Bennington Battle Day is a state holiday unique to Vermont which commemorates the American victory at the Battle of Bennington (which actually took place in New York) during the American Revolutionary War in 1777. The holiday's date is fixed, and occurs on August 16 every year.
In Bennington, there is a battle re-enactment put on by the local history foundation. Also, the town fires the oldest cannon in America, which is called the Molly Stark cannon, named after the commander John Stark's wife.
(... from Wikipedia on 2012-04-17 17:20:27)
The Dominican Restoration War was a guerrilla war between 1863 and 1865 in the Dominican Republic between nationalists and Spain, who had recolonized the country 17 years after its independence. It ended with a Dominican victory and the withdrawal of Spanish forces from the country.
General Pedro Santana had wrested the presidency from Buenaventura Báez, who had bankrupted the nation's treasury at great profit to himself. Faced with an economic crisis as well as the possibility of renewed attack from Haiti, Santana asked Spain to retake control of the country, after a period of only 17 years of independence. Spain was wary at first, but with the U.S. occupied with its own civil war and unable to enforce the Monroe Doctrine, it felt it had an opportunity to reassert control in Latin America. On March 18, 1861, the annexation was announced, and Santana became Governor-General of the newly created province.[1]:202–04
(... from Wikipedia on 2012-04-17 22:34:35)
(Arabic: عيد وفاء النيل) has been an important natal cycle in Egypt since ancient times. It is celebrated by Egyptians as an annual holiday for two weeks starting August 15, known as Wafaa El-Nil. It is also celebrated in the Coptic Church by ceremonially throwing a martyr's relic into the river, hence the name, Esba` al-shahīd ('The Martyr's Finger'). Ancient Egyptians believed that the Nile flooded every year because of Isis's tears of sorrow for her dead husband, Osiris.
The three stages of the Egyptian flood cycle were Akhet, the time of the Nile flood, Peret, the sowing time, and Shemu, the time of harvest. Without this cycle people would die from starvation.The flood cycle was so predictable that the Egyptians even based their ancient calendar on it. Akhet was the first season of the year, between the months of June and September. Peret or the Egyptian Autumn season marked the time when their crops grew in the fields and were harvested,[1] running from October to mid-February. Shemu was the third and last season of the Egyptian year which ran from mid-February until the end of May; it essentially signalled the spring season of the Egyptian calendar.[2]
(... from Wikipedia on 2012-04-17 22:53:29)