HAPPY
Martin Luther King Jr.    Day

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a United States federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King's birthday, January 15. The floating holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, though the act predated the establishment of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by 15 years.

King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed on January 20, 1986. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.   




                               

 THANKS TO MR. REAGAN FOR HIS PART IN MAKING
                 THIS A SUCCESSFULL HONOR

THE 1st St. PATRICK'S DAY.....W0W

St. Patrick's Day

is celebrated on March 17, the saint's religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast--on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage

St. Patrick and the First St. Patrick's Day Parade

Saint Patrick, who lived during the fifth century, is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. Born in Roman Britain, he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave at the age of 16. He later escaped, but returned to Ireland and was credited with bringing Christianity to its people. In the centuries following Patrick's death (believed to have been on March 17, 461), the mythology surrounding his life became ever more ingrained in the Irish culture: Perhaps the most well known legend is that he explained the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) using the three leaves of a native Irish clover, the shamrock.

Since around the ninth or 10th century, people in Ireland have been observing the Roman Catholic feast day of St. Patrick on March 17. Interestingly, however, the first parade held to honor St. Patrick's Day took place not in Ireland but in the United States. On March 17, 1762, Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City. Along with their music, the parade helped the soldiers reconnect with their Irish roots, as well as with fellow Irishmen serving in the English army

DON'T MAKE THIS A BLACK THING........ITS 4 ALL AMERICAS

Martin Luther King Jr.    Day

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a United States federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King's birthday, January 15. The floating holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, though the act predated the establishment of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by 15 years.

King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed on January 20, 1986. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.         




                               

 THANKS TO MR. REAGAN FOR HIS PART IN MAKING
                 THIS A SUCCESSFULL HONOR

THE 1st HALLOWEEN IN THE WORLD...

THIS IS A GOOD MOVIE IF YOU LIKE ZOMBIES YOU WILL LOVE THIS

Halloween History

Halloween, also called All Hallow's Eve, occurs on the eve of the Western Christian celebration of All Hallow's or All Saints Day - a day set aside to honor all the Saints of Christendom.  Halloween is also a popular celebration with ties to the Celtic festival of Samhain, a celebration of the end of the harvest.  The name Halloween comes from the longer name 'All Hallow's Eve'.  In the US, this is a popular holiday for young and old and involves dressing up in costumes, harvest parties, and 'trick or treating'.  It is celebrated every year on the 31st of October.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Origins of Father's Day

The campaign to celebrate the nation’s fathers did not meet with the same enthusiasm--perhaps because, as one florist explained, “fathers haven’t the same sentimental appeal that mothers have.” On July 5, 1908, a West Virginia church sponsored the nation’s first event explicitly in honor of fathers, a Sunday sermon in memory of the 362 men who had died in the previous December’s explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah, but it was a one-time commemoration and not an annual holiday. The next year, a Spokane, Washington woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, one of six children raised by a widower, tried to establish an official equivalent to Mother’s Day for male parents. She went to local churches, the YMCA, shopkeepers and government officials to drum up support for her idea, and she was successful: Washington State celebrated the nation’s first statewide Father’s Day on July 19, 1910.

Slowly, the holiday spread. In 1916, President Wilson honored the day by using telegraph signals to unfurl a flag in Spokane when he pressed a button in Washington, D.C. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge urged state governments to observe Father’s Day. However, many men continued to disdain the day. As one historian writes, they “scoffed at the holiday’s sentimental attempts to domesticate manliness with flowers and gift-giving, or they derided the proliferation of such holidays as a commercial gimmick to sell more products--often paid for by the father himself.”

THE 1st EASTER IN THE WORLD..........

Easter is an annual festival observed throughout the Christian world. The date for Easter shifts every

 year within the Gregorian Calendar. The Gregorian Calendar is the standard international calendar for

 civil use. In addition, it regulates the ceremonial cycle of the Roman Catholic and Protestant 

churches. The current Gregorian ecclesiastical rules that determine the date of Easter trace back to 

325 CE at the First Council of Nicaea convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine. At that time the Roman world used the Julian Calendar (put in place by Julius Caesar).

The Council decided to keep Easter on a Sunday, the same Sunday throughout the world. To fix 

incontrovertibly the date for Easter, and to make it determinable indefinitely in advance, the Council 

constructed special tables to compute the date. These tables were revised in the following few

 centuries resulting eventually in the tables constructed by the 6th century Abbot of Scythia,

 Dionysis Exiguus. Nonetheless, different means of calculations continued in use throughout the Christian world.

THE 1st St. PATRICK'S DAY.....W0W

St. Patrick's Day

is celebrated on March 17, the saint's religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast--on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage

St. Patrick and the First St. Patrick's Day Parade

Saint Patrick, who lived during the fifth century, is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. Born in Roman Britain, he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave at the age of 16. He later escaped, but returned to Ireland and was credited with bringing Christianity to its people. In the centuries following Patrick's death (believed to have been on March 17, 461), the mythology surrounding his life became ever more ingrained in the Irish culture: Perhaps the most well known legend is that he explained the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) using the three leaves of a native Irish clover, the shamrock. 

Since around the ninth or 10th century, people in Ireland have been observing the Roman Catholic feast day of St. Patrick on March 17. Interestingly, however, the first parade held to honor St. Patrick's Day took place not in Ireland but in the United States. On March 17, 1762, Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City. Along with their music, the parade helped the soldiers reconnect with their Irish roots, as well as with fellow Irishmen serving in the English army

THE 1st VAIENTINE'S DAY IN THE WORLD.........

Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is a holiday observed on February 14 honoring one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. It was first established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD, and was later deleted from the General Roman Calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI.

Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

THE 1st NEW YEAR'S EVER!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR USA

But the day celebrated as New Year's Day in modern America was not always January 1.
The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC,
 the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon 
(actually the first visible cresent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring).
The beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year. After all, it is the season of rebirth, of planting new crops,
 and of blossoming. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.
The Babylonian new year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration,
 but it is safe to say that modern New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison.
 The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March,
 but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.
In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC,
 declared January 1 to be the beginning of the new year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar,
 in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the new year.
 But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.


CAESAR, I WANT TO PARTY WITH YOU!

1st Christmas in the good old USA....

             America's First Christmas

The sixteenth century Spaniard, Hernando de Soto, is remembered by historians for his exploration of the southeastern United States, which began in Florida. A former mercenary soldier in the conquest of Central and South America, he hoped to increase his notoriety and fortune by leading an expedition through parts of North America. In the end, De Soto’s army spent over four years and covered 4,000 miles in its quest for gold and new territory to colonize. Neither resulted from his efforts.
With approval from the Spanish Crown, De Soto assembled his expedition. He financed the endeavor himself with the understanding that upon his return he would be made Governor of Cuba and the new territory that he discovered. His party was comprised of several hundred men- soldiers, slaves, artisans, priests, and even some women.
In 1539 de Soto departed Cuba for la Florida (the general southeastern United States), eventually reaching its southwestern coast in the vicinity of Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay. The exact location of the landing remains uncertain. After unloading his ships, de Soto ordered a vessel and crew to return to Cuba to obtain additional supplies and assigned another contingent to man a coastal camp. He and the rest of his men then proceeded inland and northward.
The expedition passed through various Indian territories before reaching the Aucilla River, which marked the eastern boundary of the Apalachee people(Apalachee meaning "people on the other side"). The Apalachee Indians fought hard to defend themselves against the Spanish, but they were finally defeated. Rather than allowing the Spanish to pillage their villages and fields, they set fired to them and then fled. The smoke from the fire warned other Apalachee of impending danger.
The Spanish continued westward, ultimately occupying a large, already abandoned Apalachee village of Anhaica in what is now the City of Tallahassee. Anhaica was the Capital of the Apalachee Provence, this town had over 250 structures. De Soto decided to spend the winter there to rest his army, repair equipment, and wait for the arrival of supplies. He selected the chief’s home for his own while his soldiers were given the remaining houses.The Indians that had been captured en route may not have received shelter, since many of them died during the winter.
It was during this encampment of the winter of 1539 that it is believed that Hernando De Soto celebrated the First Christmas in America. De Soto traveled with 3 priests and a full communion set for celebration Catholic mass.
The village of Anhaica was unfortified, so De Soto ordered that a makeshift fortification be erected. The Spanish also may have built enclosures for the livestock that they brought with them. A pig herd was part of the expedition’s food supply. It had the advantage of transporting itself, living off the land, and reproducing along the way. Many of the wild pigs—the variety commonly known as “Arkansas Razorbacks”—found across the southeastern United States, probably descended from pigs escaped from the de Soto expedition. There were no pigs in the North America before the arrival of the Spanish