Awww Monday: Yearly Neighborhood Tradition

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

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Our neighborhood has an evening dedicated to Christmas lights and the firefighters escort Santa around so he can throw candy.  Some homes host hot cocoa stands with free cookies and cocoa.  We go see all the lights and pick our favorite house of the season.

Our favorite was the wreaths in the windows.

Today is:

Divalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (part of Saturnalia; feast of Angerona, goddess of secret sorrows)

Flashlight Day -- what better day, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, when dark is with us longest, to make sure you have one in good working order

Forefathers' Day -- Plymouth, MA, US (celebrates the landing of the Pilgrims)

Homeless Persons' Memorial Day -- US

Humbug Day -- those frustrated with their holiday preparations are allowed up to 12 humbugs today, just to help vent their frustrations; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Gluggagaegir -- Peeper, who peeps through the windows and will come steal toys he likes the look of

Look At the Bright Side Day -- Northern Hemisphere, and why not; after all, each day after this will have more sun!

National Hamburger Day

Pancha Ganapati -- India (through the 25th, a modern Hindu festival honoring of Lord Ganesha, Patron of Arts and Culture)

Phileas Fogg Wins A Wager Day (1872)

Poseidea -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival to honor Poseidon; date approximate)

St. Peter Canisius' Day (Patron of Catholic press, Germany, writers of catechisms)

St. Thomas' Day, the Doubting Thomas (old date, now celebrated on July 3, but many of the superstitions related to it are still observed at this time)
     Mumping Day a/k/a Gooding Day -- UK (traditional day on which beggars beg for, or "mump", good things for Christmas, always on old St. Thomas' Day)
     Sao Tome Day -- Sao Tome e Principe (Dia de Sao Tome e Principe)

Solstice -- Northern Hemisphere Winter begins/Southern Hemisphere Summer begins at 04:48UTC
     Anne and Samantha Day -- celebrating the lives of Anne Frank and Samantha Smith, a day to work and pray for world peace
     Alban Arthuan -- Druid Festival, 4th Station; through the solstice
     Bruma -- Ancient Roman Calendar
     Dongzhi Festival -- East Asia (literal meaning, "Extreme of Winter")
     Festival of Isis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (celebration of the seeking of Osiris by Isis and her resurrection of him)
     National Haiku Poetry Day -- US (because haiku is traditionally about the seasons, it's celebrated on the first day of winter)
     Wild Hunt reaches its peak -- various Norse traditions
     Soyala New Year Festival -- Hopi and Zuni Native Americans (a festival of purification as well as celebration, with homes cleaned, fires doused, and personal restraint observed)
     Yalda -- Iran (Persian/Zoroastrian winter solstice festival; to celebrate the longest night of the year, many stay up for the fight against dark and evil.)
     Yule/Jul/Jol Festivals begin -- various calendars, religions, countries and observances, both ancient and modern
          Yule -- Wicca/Pagan, northern hemisphere
          Litha -- Wicca/Pagan, southern hemisphere
          from the Old Norse Hjol, meaning "wheel" to signify the year is at its lowest point and ready to rise again
     Ziemassvetki -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (birth of Dievs, highest of the gods; modern Latvians celebrate this on Christmas Eve/Christmas, but it was originally a three day solstice festival)
 

Birthdays Today:

Jackson Rathbone, 1984
Jack Noseworthy, 1969
Kiefer Sutherland, 1966
Andy Dick, 1965
Florence Griffith Joyner, 1959
Ray Romano, 1957
Jane Kaczmarek, 1955
Chris Evert, 1954
Tina Brown, 1953
Samuel L. Jackson, 1948
Michael Tilson Thomas, 1944
Frank Zappa, 1940
Jane Fonda, 1937
Phil Donahue, 1935
Joe Paterno, 1926
Paul Winchell, 1922
Heinrich Böll, 1917
Josh Gibson, 1911
Joseph Stalin, 1879
Henrietta Szold, 1860
Benjamin Disraeli, 1804


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Billion Dollar Baby"(Musical), 1945
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs(Disney animated film), 1937
Tillie's Punctured Romance(Silent Film, first full length comedy), 1914
The Crossword Puzzle(First one ever published), 1913
Basketball, 1891 (first game under the direction of James Naismith, by the rules he had published)


Today in History:

A hurricane hits Holland/Friesland, destroying villages with widespread flooding, 1163
The Battle of Curalaba: The revolting Mapuche Native Americans, led by cacique Pelentaru, inflict a major defeat on Spanish troops in southern Chile; all Spanish cities south of the Biobio river are eventually taken by the Mapuches, and all conquest of Mapuche territories by Europeans practically ceases, until the 1870s "Pacification of Araucania", 1598
William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1620
Hue Tay Son becomes emperor Quang Trung of Vietnam, 1788
The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement, 1844
The first Permanent Force cavalry and infantry regiments of the Canadian Army are formed: The Royal Canadian Dragoons and The Royal Canadian Regiment, 1883
The first Word-Cross puzzle, which the printer mislabeled as a Cross-Word (the name that stuck), is published in the New York World, 1913
The first feature length color and sound cartoon, Disney's Snow White, premiers, 1937
Rondane National Park is established as Norway's first national park, 1962
Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew performs the first ever manned Trans Lunar Injection and become the first humans to leave Earth's gravity, 1968
The United Nations adopts the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1969
Mexican volcano Popocatepetl, dormant for 47 years, erupts gases and ash, 1994
The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control, 1995
Scientists studying the Sutter's Mill Meteorite announce it contains the oldest material in the Solar System, 2012