Feline Friday: Let Me In!

Let me in!  Guys, don't just lie there, help me!  This is where the food is!

 Yes, they do try to climb in the refrigerator.


Today is

Aldersgate Day -- Methodism

Azalea Festival -- Brookings, OR, US (with a parade and street fair and bonsai, as well as azaleas and more; through Memorial Day)

Battle of Pichincha Day -- Ecuador

Bermuda Day -- Bermuda

Brooklyn Bridge Day -- the most often sold bridge in the US (or so i've been told) opened on this day in 1883

Brother's Day -- celebrate all forms of brotherhood, biological, adopted, fraternity brothers, or members of your labor union

Celebrate Commemorate Memorial Day -- Waterloo, NY, US (the 147th observance at the National Birthplace of Memorial Day includes a car show, crafts, food, races, a biker rally and more; through the 27th, and again on the 30th)

Coal Miner Days -- Novinger, Missouri, US (a turn of the century coal mining town celebrates its heritage; through the weekend)

Day for the Naming of Rocks and Planets -- Fairy Calendar

Don't Fry Day -- another day to raise awareness of the need for sun protection through the summer

Down East Spring Birding Festival -- Cobscook Bay, ME, US (through Monday)

European Day of Parks -- Europe

Feast of Hermes Trismegistus -- Hellenistic Egyptian Calendar (thrice-blessed Hermes, patron of alchemy, date approximate)

Florida Folk Festival -- White Springs, FL, US (a true celebration of Florida's folk heritage; through Sunday)

Full Flower Moon / Corn Planting Moon / Milk Moon
     Buddha Day/Vesak/Waisak  -- Bhuddist (Buddha Day; date varies with many celebrating tomorrow)
     Kasone Full Moon -- Myanmar
     Vesak Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka

Heat Awareness Day -- US (your guv'mint at work, telling you to be careful, it's hot out there)

Hug Your Cat Day -- created by Apricat, star of books written by Marisa D'Vari, who says no matter how aloof, your cat really does want a hug

Independence Day -- Eritrea(1993)

International Tiara Day -- ladies, celebrate your powers of leadership in your life; tiara wearing is optional, it's the fact that you rule that matters

Iris Festival -- Sumter, SC, US (fun, food, music, and beautiful flowers; through Sunday)

La Fete des Saintes Maries -- Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France (Roma [gypsy] festival, to honor St. Sara, St. Marie Jacobe, and St. Marie Salome, their patrons; through the 25th)
 
Last Bell -- Russia (tradition of closing schools for the year by having a formal ceremony with the children, and a first grader rings the school bell for dismissal)

Little Lamb Day -- publication anniversary, in 1830, of the original poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

Lubiri Memorial Day -- Buganda Region, Uganda

Morse Code Day -- anniversary of Morse's first message in 1844 (Morse Code Day is also celebrated on his birth anniversary, April 27)

National Death Busters Day -- because the upcoming Memorial Day weekend in the US is the most dangerous for driving; be careful out there!

National Escargot Day

National Wig Out Day -- US (on the Friday before Memorial Day, don your wig and your alter ego and have fun!  there are events around the country)

Northwest Folklife Festival -- Seattle, WA, US (ethnic and traditional arts event celebrating world cultures; through Monday)

Pitlochry Festival Theatre -- Pitlochry, Perthshire, Scotland (plays, concerts, exhibitions, tours and talks; through early November)

Sacramento Music Festival (formerly the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee) -- Sacramento, CA, US (some of the best music from around North America; through Monday)

Sara-la-Kali -- St. Sara, or St. Sara the Black's Day -- patron of the Roma (Gypsy) Peoples (pilgrimage)

Spoleto Festival USA -- Charleston, SC, US (a premier performing arts festival; through June 9)

Sts. Cyril and Methodius's Day (Orthodox Church celebration; Patrons of Macedonia) related observances
     Bulgarian Education and Culture and Slavonic Literature Day -- Bulgaria
     Slavonic Enlighteners' Day -- Republic of Macedonia

St. Susanna's Day (Patron of martyrs)


Birthdays Today:

Billy Gilman, 1988
Joe Dumars, 1963
Rosanne Cash, 1955
Priscilla Presley, 1945
Patti LaBelle, 1944
Gary Burghoff, 1943
Bob Dylan, 1941
Tommy Chong, 1938
"Engineer Bill" Stulla, 1911
Lillian Moller Gilbreth, 1878
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1819
Abraham Geiger, 1810
Gabriel Fahrenheit, 1686


Today in History:

The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt, 1218
Peter Minuit buys Manhattan, 1626
The English  Parliament  passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants; Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded, 1689
John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day, 1738
Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito, 1822
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" by Sarah Josepha Hale is published, 1830
The first passenger rail service in US, from Baltimore to Elliots Mill, Maryland, begins, 1830
Samuel FB Morse taps out the first telegraph message, "What hath God wrought", 1844
The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction, 1883
The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State, 1900
Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight), 1930
Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight, 1940
Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha's Parinibbana, 1956
Cyprus enters the Council of Europe, 1961
FLQ separatists bomb the U.S. consulate in Quebec City, 1968
The drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the Soviet Union, 1970
The International Court of Justice calls for the release of United States embassy hostages in Tehran, Iran, 1980
Eritrea  gains its independence from Ethiopia, 1991
Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel, 1991
15-year-old Sherpa  Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest, 2001
North Korea bans mobile phones, 2004