Holiday of the day

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New Feature in the Shortcuts!

Holiday of the Day. A world holiday will be associated with every day according to this favoritism list:

Top Priority - The United States (sorry, it's the country which holidays I'm the most familiar)
Next Tier - The United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia
Next Tier - Japan, Greece, Spain, France, Germany
Last Tier - The rest of the world


With the proviso that I can choose one out of order just because I (or Erin) think it's nifty.

Things that don't count unless there's no other holidays in the world that day include Mardi Gras, Carnival, and REALLY long holiday names (such as Liberation of the Republic from the Alberoni Occupation in San Marino).

Rules subject to change at my (or Erin's) whim.

Find out about all kinds of holidays at the Earth Calendar!

EDIT: Essentially, I'm gonna pick one holiday (or pseudo-holiday) for each day, and list that next to the date. I'm not advocating nor discouraging celebration of these events, I just think they're nifty to note in most cases and in other cases I'll just pick one that's convenient for me.

For example, the four so far are

  • Groundhog Day
  • Super Bowl Sunday
  • Independence Day (in Sri Lanka)
  • Shrove Tuesday

Selected the first because I like furry and cute animals. I picked the second because it's very nearly a holiday in the US. The third because no one seems to think about Sri Lanka... it seems so lonely on the map. The fourth because "Shrove" is fun to say. This is not meant to start an argument, and if it does, I'll just not do it at all. Clear?

Comments

Very cool!

I was looking for site like that when the February contest came up,
but couldn't find it.

thanks!

Doesn't Count??

Mardis Gras/Carnival is celebrated in dozens of countries around the world. It coincides with the observance of Shrove Tuesday and immediately precedes Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the observance of Lent in those same countries. It's very much a religiously-linked event, while at the same time being quite secular in its expression. In the cities where it's most famous, like New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro, people prepare for it all year. So, like what do you mean, it doesn't count?

it doesn't count

Because there are too many times it is celebrated differently.

Independence Days are pretty unique to the country, but Mardi Gras is celebrated in too many different ways on the same days and on completely different days, as well.

Also, I'm likely not to include a lot of "religiously linked" holidays, simply because there are too many religions to try to respect them ALL.

Shrove Tuesday IS Mardi Gras IS Pancake Day

Anyway, if you'd ever been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, you'd see that they know HOW to celebrate Shrove Tuesday, which is what it's all about, at root. "Let the good times roll!" For what it's worth, Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday," where you might see the connection to Pancake Day.

I'd rather see you crediting the day as Mardi Gras, which has wide secular participation, than the religious holiday on which it's based. Interestingly enough, New Orleans and Brazil, home to Mardi Gras and Carnival, respectively, are Catholic at root, for whom I gather Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and Lent have a lot of impact. And it's never on different days for them. Always on Shrove Tuesday. Some Caribbean nations have drifted off to other dates, presumably decoupling their "carnivals" from Catholicism and Lent entirely, but that's definitely NOT Mardi Gras.

Mardi Gras

erin's picture

I consider Mardi Gras a TG holiday since in many places it involves dressing in costumes. :) And Shrove Tuesday is just the English name of the same holiday, the last day before Lent. But yeah, it's a cool added feature, thanks, Edeyn.

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Semantics are not conducive to an agrument about holidays

Mardi Gras is not a holiday, especially in the US as it is only celbrated by one city as a festivel to lent. Shrove Tuesday another day not celebrated by the masses. if we argue the cause then we certainly begin to show our own biasis.
Holidays... a period or date set aside by the masses to celebrate a historic event, or a religeous event. Note the word Masses Taken from the 12th century Munks of Charlemagne in San Pedro, Espania
If we make shrove Tuesday a holiday then we have to make Superbown Sunday a holiday as it is celbrated by every state and many nations world wide. SEMANTICS.
Jill Micayla
May you have a wonderful today and a better tomorrow

Jill Micayla
Be kinder than necessary,Because everyone you meet
Is fighting some kind of battle.

No good deed goes unpunished

You have to ignore comments... at least the ones you don't agree with!

I say, if you're cooking, you decide what goes in the pot!
If you're going to go to ALL THE TROUBLE of updating the shortcuts,
why not do it the way you like?

The holidays is a fun addition. I don't care if they're
holiday-holidays or things-people-somewhere-do-or-think-on-that-day
"holidays". It's fun and interesting and if you want to do it,
just go for it.

Kaleigh

Pancake Day…

…is how most Brits think of Shrove Tuesday. It's when you use up all the bits that are foe=rbidden during Lent. I made pancakes (crêpes) for myself as afters for dinner tonight, served with sugar and lemon—delish! And I had 2 LARGE Gins and tonic as I had such a horrible day in Oxford!

Gabi

Gabi.


“It is hard for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.” Thomas Hardy—Far from the Madding Crowd.

Bleak Expectations

You didn't really expect to have a good day in Oxford, did you?

On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia. (with apologies)

Xi

That's fine by me ...

... as long as you don't forget 23rd April, St Georges Day - and also the anniversary of Will Shakespeare's birth :)

Shrove Tuesday/Ash Wednesday is manic in a town near me. Ashbourne holds a football match. Nothing odd about that you may think ... except the 'goals' are 2 miles apart; the 'pitch' is the whole town based on a brook which runs through it; the 'teams', the upards and downards, can be as big as you like; one of the few rules is that a motor vehicle may not be used to carry the ball. Shops are boarded up and the pubs do a roaring trade. I should think the local hospital does a roaring trade too. Occasionally a goal is scored. It's a tradition that's centuries old and, amazingly, still goes on. Fellow Guardian readers will see a huge photograph of yesterday's match in the centre pages today.

I avoid the place :)

Geoff