Holidays Trivia

Subcategories: | Christmas

Showing page 6 of 7

« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next »

Mole Day is a chemistry holiday that takes place on October 23. The day celebrates chemistry, remember the mole concept, and give "honor" to the mole concept creator, Amadeo Avagadro (1776-1858). The actual holiday begins at 6:02 a.m. and ends at 6:02 p.m

Mother's Day was born thanks to Philadelphia citizen Anna Jarvis on May 8, 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson appointed the second Sunday in May for the holiday. Jarvis led an eleven- year campaign to have a holiday to honor the memory of her mother and mothers everywhere. May's second Sunday was chosen because that was the day Jarvis' mother died on in 1905. The carnation was chosen as the customary flower because Jarvis' mother's garden was full of them.

Mumming plays were passed down through generations since the Middle Ages. Some bits seem to have nothing to do with the overall plot but are demanded by tradition. In England, St. George fights a Turk, who defeats him, to much booing and hissing from the audience. A Good Doctor then comes and saves St. George, to wild cheering.

New Year's Day is the world's most observed holiday. In most English-speaking countries, it has been observed on January 1 since the British Calendar Act was passed in 1751. There was a time when people wished others a "Happy New Year" on March 25, approximately the date of spring's onset.

New York City's Empire State Building's world famous tower lights are turned off every night at midnight with the exception of New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and St. Patrick's Day, when they are illuminated until 3 a.m.

Oktoberfest Zinzinnati is an annual celebration of Cincinnati's German heritage. It is the second largest Oktoberfest in the world – only Munich's is larger.

Old Polish legends have attached the egg to Easter celebrations. One legend concerning the Virgin Mary told of when she gave eggs to the soldiers at the cross of Jesus. She entreated them to be less cruel as she wept. The tears of Mary fell upon the eggs, spotting them with dots of brilliant color.

On December 15, 1998, the Mayer Kaplan Jewish Community Center in Skokie, Illinois, attempted to set the inaugural world's record for largest number of dreidels to be spun at one time. At least 200 people were needed to set the record.

One belief of ancient times was that on St. Valentine's Day and Eve, a young girl would eventually marry the first eligible male she met on this day. If a girl was curious and brave enough, she could conjure up the appearance of her future spouse by going to a graveyard on St. Valentine's Eve at midnight. She would then have to sing a prescribed chant and run around the church twelve times.

One charming St. Valentine's Day tradition from long ago was to pick a dandelion that had gone to seed. The person would then take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. He or she would count the seeds that remained on the stem. That was supposedly the number of children they would have.

Only 8 percent of American adults say they eat out on Labor Day.

Pennsylvania was the first state to make Flag Day a legal holiday on May 7, 1937. In 1912, Joseph Hart of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, persuaded the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks that a “flag day” should be put into their bylaws and observed every June 14. It was on June 14, 1777 that that Congress adopted the stars and stripes as the United States national flag. In 1949, President Harry Truman had June 14 officially declared Flag Day for the entire United States.

Richard Cadbury invented the first Valentine's Day candy box in the late 1800s.

Right behind Christmas and Thanksgiving, Super Bowl Sunday ranks as the third-largest occasion for Americans to consume food, according to the National Football League.

Second only to Christmas, Valentine's Day brings out the card-giver in people, with an average of 1.01 billion cards purchased every year.

September 17 is Citizenship Day in the United States in honor of the day the Constitution was signed.

Since the 1840s, the residents of Pietarsaari, a town on Finland's coast, have decorated a Christmas street, Storgatan, since the 1840s. Suspended over the street are three large illuminated decorations: a cross symbolizing faith, an anchor representing h

St Valentine's Day on February 14th dates back to a Roman festival of youth, Lupercalia, when young people chose their sweethearts by lottery.

St. Patrick's Day was celebrated for the first time in America on March 17, 1737, when the Charitable Irish Society, a Protestant group founded that same year, organized a non-religious celebration honoring St. Paddy. It originated in Ireland as a religious holiday honoring the arrival of St. Patrick in 432 A.D. and his death on March 17, 464 A.D.

The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was temporarily halted in the early 1940s during World War II, as rubber and helium could not be wasted. It resumed in 1945, and was televised in New York. The Parade also began the route it still follows today.