Monday, December 1, 2008

World's AIDS Day

According to UN-AIDS estimates, there are now 33.2 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children. During 2007 some 2.5 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.
Around 95% of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world.
Started on 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day is about raising money, including raising money for AIDS charity AVERT, but as importantly it is about increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done.




Sunday, November 16, 2008

National Fastfood Day







International Day For Tolerance


Following the United Nations Year for Tolerance in 1995, the International Day for Tolerance was first observed on 16 November 1996.

Birth Of The Blues Day

I'm sorry, my dear readers, I can't find information to support this event. Maybe the oldies knows about it. Well, it's about time to give them the pleasure of refreshing in thier mind about this "king of the blues", Frank Sinatra.


Saturday, November 15, 2008

I Love To Write Day

The World's Biggest Party For Writers

November 15, 2008 will mark the seventh I Love To Write Day, a grassroots effort to have people of all ages practice their writing skills. Created by Delaware author John Riddle, I Love To Write Day is an opportunity for people of all ages to write something: a poem, an essay, a letter to the editor, a short story, start a novel, finish a novel the possibilities are endless! On the first I Love To Write Day, 11,328 schools all across the country held special writing events and activities. Last year, we signed up over 20,000 schools. This year our goal is to have an I Love To Write Day program in over 25,000 schools. Please help us spread the word: tell schools, libraries and bookstores in your community about I Love To Write Day. You can read more about I Love To Write Day and learn how to register (it's free!) by reading the Media Kit.

John Riddle, a Delaware author of 34 books, is the Founder of I Love To Write Day.

How it all began.

Fast For A World Harvest Day



Working together for change
Forty percent of the people on our planet—more than 2.5 billion—live in poverty, struggling to survive on less than $2 a day. In every nation on earth, people go to sleep hungry even though our planet produces enough food to feed every woman, man, and child.

Oxfam supporters have a long history of working for change. On the Thursday before Thanksgiving 1974, 250,000 people nationwide participated in the first Oxfam America Fast for a World Harvest; they fasted for the day or a meal, donating their food money to Oxfam. So began a national movement to alleviate global poverty and hunger.
More than just a means of addressing hunger issues, the Fast has come to symbolize the grassroots nature of working together for change. And there are many ways to help.

Information and Details.

Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day

What's that in the back of the refrigerator!? I don't want to find out. Don't open it...... the odor may overwhelm you!!! Hold your breath, scrunch your nose if you must, and get to the task.

Everything in your refrigerator was once a fresh, healthy food, ready for your consumption. It may have been a tasty leftover, intended for later enjoyment. Unfortunately, over the course of weeks or more, things get pushed to the back of the refrigerator and slowly transform into something impossible to identify.

We've all run across items in the refrigerator that once were tasty food, But, now, they are some dried out, mold covered nasty, that you remove and dispose of at arms length.

Who wins the prize for the worst refrigerator surprises? Most often, it's workplace refrigerators.

Use this day to clean out your refrigerator, top to bottom. When it comes to food safety, we fall back to the old saying " When in doubt, throw it out!"

Origin of this event.

More information.

America's Recycle Day


America Recycles Day (ARD), November 15, is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle and to buy recycled products. Celebrating its 11th year, it has grown to include millions of Americans pledging to increase their recycling habits at home and work and to buy products made with recycled materials.

Through America Recycles Day, the National Recycling Coalition supports local communities and raises awareness by educating citizens about the benefits of recycling. Volunteer America Recycles Day coordinators are positioned throughout the country and work to organize recycling awareness events in their schools and communities, and in conjunction with their local municipalities.

On November 15 each year, millions of people become better informed about the importance of daily recycling and buying recycled products. The purpose of America Recycles Day is to continue to promote the social, environmental and economic benefits of recycling and encourage more people to join the movement toward creating a better natural environment.
This information is from this website .


click here if you are interested to join some events.

Pikes Peak Day



This article is about the mountain in Colorado. For other uses, see Pikes Peak (disambiguation).
Pikes Peak (originally Pike's Peak, see below) is a mountain in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, 10 miles (16 km) west of Colorado Springs, Colorado, in El Paso County. It is named for Zebulon Pike, an explorer who led an expedition to the southern Colorado area in 1806. At 14,110 feet (4,301 m), it is one of Colorado's 54 fourteeners. Drivers race up the mountain in a famous annual race called the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. An upper portion of Pikes Peak is a federally designated National Historic Landmark.
This information is from this website.

Nativity Fast Day


The Nativity Fast, is a period abstinence and penance practiced by the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches, in preparation for the Nativity of Chrit, (Decembe 25).

The fast is similar to the Western Advent, except that it runs for 40 days instead of four weeks. The fast is observed from November 15 to December 24, inclusively.

Sometimes the fast is called Philip's Fast (or the Philippian Fast), as it traditionally begins on the day following the Feast of St. Philip the Apostle (November 14). Some churches have abbreviated the fast to start on December 10, following the Feast of the Conception by Saint Anne of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Information taken from thiswebsite .

More information.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Housewife Day




Hey, it's Housewife's Day! Time to raise a toast in the honor of the person who runs the household smoothly! It's also the time for the housewives to enjoy and have a great time! Celebrate the day with your near and dear ones and appreciate your wife by doing something that she usuall do, while she treat herself.
Housewife Day recognizes the importance of stay at home wives and moms. Also referred to as "Retro" Housewife Day. These wonderful, caring creatures, build and enrich strong family environments. They help to instill family values and good character.
Housewife is an old term. It hails back to the days when one income could support the family in a manner of comfort. It was also a time when women did not have equal rights. While these days are long gone, women views of working or staying at home, fall on both sides of the fence. The decision to be a "housewife", or stay at home mom, is still preferred by many. Unfortunately, income needs often necessitate going to work.
Today, we celebrate and thank all of the ladies who choose to stay home and tend to the house and family!
How will I celebrate this special day? I will celebrate this day, by honoring my beloved wife, and thanking her for staying home for the family during the child rearing years. Without a doubt, our children grew up much better for it. And, I benefitted by the many sacrifices she made by staying home.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween

Halloween.

How this had start? History traces Halloween back to the ancient religion of the Celtics in Ireland. The Celtic people were very conscious of the spiritual world and had their own ideas of how they could gain access to it - such as by helping their over 300 gods to defeat their enemies in battle, or by imitating the gods in showing cleverness and cunning.

"Their belief is that during this day the normal order of the universe is suspended, the barriers between the natural and the supernatural are temporarily removed, the sidh lies open and all divine beings and the spirits of the dead move freely among men and interfere sometimes violently, in their affairs" (Celtic Mythology, p. 127).The Celtic priests who carried out the rituals in the open air were called Druids, members of pagan orders in Britain, Ireland and Gaul, who generally performed their rituals by offering sacrifices, usually of crops and animals, but sometimes of humans, in order to placate the gods; ensuring that the sun would return after the winter; and frightening away evil spirits. To the Celtics, the bonfire represented the sun and was used to aid the Druid in his fight with dark powers. The term bonfire comes from the words "bone fire," literally meaning the bones of sacrificed animals, sometimes human, were piled in a field with timber and set ablaze. All fires except those of the Druids were extinguished on Samhain and householders were levied a fee to relight their holy fire which burned at their altars. During the Festival of Samhain, fires would be lit which would burn all through the winter and sacrifices would be offered to the gods on the fires. This practice of burning humans was stopped around 1600, and an effigy was sometimes burned instead.

Trick-or-Treat?


Some trace the origins of present day "trick-or-treat" to Samhain, which was the supreme night of demonic jubilation. Spirits of the dead would rise out of their graves and wander the countryside, trying to return to the homes where they formerly lived. Frightened villagers tried to appease these wandering spirits by offering them gifts of fruit and nuts. They began the tradition of placing plates of the finest food and bits of treats that the household had to offer on their doorsteps, as gifts, to appease the hunger of the ghostly wanderers. If not placated, villagers feared that the spirits would kill their flocks or destroy their property.
The problem was... if the souls of dead loved ones could return that night, so could anything else,human or not, nice or not-so-nice. The only thing the superstitious people knew to do to protect themselves on such an occasion was to masquerade as one of the demonic hoard, and hopefully blend in unnoticed among them. Wearing masks and other disguises and blackening the face with soot were originally ways of hiding oneself from the spirits of the dead who might be roaming around. This is the origin of Halloween masquerading as devils, imps, ogres, and other demonic creatures.Others trace "trick-or-treat" to a European custom called "souling". Beggars would go from village to village begging for "soul cakes" made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers could guarantee a soul's passage to heaven.In many parts of Britain and Ireland this night used to be known as 'Mischief Night', which meant that people were free to go around the village playing pranks and getting up to any kind of mischief without fear of being punished. Many of the different customs were taken to the United States by Irish and Scottish immigrants in the nineteenth century, and they developed into 'trick or treat'.

For more educational research:
History of Halloween
Orgin of Halloween

Thursday, October 23, 2008

United Nation


Back in the Philippines, every school celebrated United Nation's Day. During the entire month of October, students would make flags of the different nations and you could see the flags hung up everywhere. Schools get busy preparing for a presentation in celebrating this worldwide event. Most of the school have nation's costume parade. I love this event. Very colorful and artistic.
United Nations Day, proclaimed in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly, is held annually on 24 October, the anniversary of the coming into force of the UN Charter on 24 October 1945. United Nations Day is devoted to making known to peoples of the world the aims and achievements of the United Nations Organization. United Nations Day is part of United Nations Week, which runs from 20 October to 26 October.

For more educational resources:

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Sweetest Day



Sweetest Day is an observance celebrated primarily in the Great Lakes region and parts of the Northeast United States on the third Saturday in October. This day is dedicated just for your sweetie. It exists as an opportunity for you to recognize that sweet and special someone. It doesn’t matter who that person is, or what their relation to you. They just have to be "sweet" in order to get a little recognition.

Herbert Birch Kingston, a Cleveland, Ohio philanthropist and candy company employee started Sweetest Day. He wanted to bring happiness to orphans, shut-ins and under-privileged. His intent was to show these people that they were not forgotten. In 1922, he started this holiday by giving candy and small gifts. He often used movie stars to distribute the gifts.
The popularity of this holiday quickly spread. Today, is celebrated with loved ones and friends. However, we encourage you to follow the intent of the original holiday, and find ways to give candy and small gifts to those in need.

For more educational research:
Sweetest Day
Origin and History of Sweetest Day

Monday, October 13, 2008

New Year's Day

January 1st

Happy New Year's Day


New Year's celebration is one of the most important days in most of the individual. It is the anticipation of new life's priority ahead. Creating a new year's resolution is one of the most common among individuals. Many believe in the New Year's Day's impression to last throughout the year.

I used to think, that if I am not home during the New Year's Eve, I will not be home for most of the time during the entire year. It works for me. If there is something that I want to become my good habit, I started it on the New Year's Eve. This works for me, too.

All over the world, people welcome the new year for it is one of the oldest of all holidays. Most New Year celebrations focus on family and friends. It is a time to reflect on the past and envision a future, perhaps, in a world where people live together in harmony.

In the Philippines, we celebrated New Year by making sure that we have a plenty of food served on the table. Some make sure they have money on the pockets. Some turned on all the lights and appliances during that very moment, 12:00 o'clock. My family's tradition is that every body in the house sip some water from one single glass. My sister would wear polka dot clothings. Children would jump in order to grow taller. Of course, all of these are just fable. But for most of people they would say, "there's nothing to loose in doing".

In the United States they celebrate the New Year on the first day of January but not all New Year celebrations take place on the same day or in the same way! Sometimes this is because people in different parts of the world use different calendars. China and Israel keep a lunar calendar. It is based on the movement of the moon around the Earth. Some countries celebrate in the spring when new crops begin to grow or in autumn when the crops are harvested. Adults and children have many different ways of welcoming the New Year. Would'nt it be fun to travel around the world and celebrate the New Year all year long?

For more educational research:
New Year's Day
History of New Year
Origin of New Year