'Tis the Season/Did I Really See That? (Wordless Wednesday)

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday. 

***********************************

Between the extra work and the difficulties with transportation this week, i have not had a chance to compose a Words for Wednesday story, i will try to use both sets of prompts next week.

Today is:

Akibasan Gongen Hibuse Matsuri -- Odawara, Japan (ritual giving thanks for fire and water)

Birth of Prophet Mohammad and of Imam Sadegh -- Iran

Day of Quito -- Ecuador (founding of the city in 1534)

Days of Reckoning Begin -- Fairy Calendar (no, they will not tell us what they reckon)

Dia de la Constitucion Espanola -- Spain (Constitution Day)

Give a Secret Gift Day -- obviously in honor of the original St. Nicholas

Independence Day -- Aland Islands(1917); Finland(1917)

Microwave Oven Day -- patented this day in 1945

Mitten Tree Day -- remembering when mittens, along with maybe a knit cap or scarf, were the big gift to find hanging from the Christmas tree

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women -- Canada

National Gazpacho Day

National Miner's Day -- US

Pawnbrokers' Day -- on St. Nicholas' Day, in his role as Patron Saint of pawnbrokers

Sindhi Topi and Ajrak Day -- Sindh, Pakistan

Special Kids Day -- a day to make sure special needs kids get to visit Santa with whatever accomodations they require   

St. Nicholas of Myra's Day (Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, archers, bakers, barrel makers, boatmen, bootblacks/shoe shiners, boys, brewers, brides, captives, children, coopers, dock workers/longshoremen, fishermen, grooms, judges, lawsuits lost unjustly, maidens, mariners/sailors, merchants, penitent murderers, newlyweds, old maids, parish clerks, paupers/poor people, pawnbrokers, perfumers, pilgrims, prisoners, scholars, schoolchildren, spinsters, students, penitent thieves, travelers, unmarried girls; Greek Catholic Church in America; Greek Catholic Union; University of Paris; Varangian Guard; Greece; Russia; also dozens of cities around the world; against imprisonment, robberies, robbers)

     Christkind -- Central and Southern Europe (the traditional gift giving day, instead of Christmas)

Birthdays Today:

Andrew J. Howard, 1969

Macy Gray, 1969

Janine Turner, 1962

Andrew Cuomo, 1957

Peter Buck, 1956

Randy Rhoads, 1956

Steven Wright, 1955

Tom Hulce, 1953

JoBeth Williams, 1953

Craig Newmark, 1952

James Naughton, 1945

David Ossman, 1936

Wally Cox, 1924

Dave Brubeck, 1920

Agnes Moorehead, 1906

Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1898

Ira Gershwin, 1896

Lynn Fontanne, 1887

Joyce Kilmer, 1886

William S. Hard, 1870

John Singleton Mosby, 1833

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Star Trek VI- The Undiscovered Country(Film), 1991

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"(TV special), 1964

"Talent Scouts"(TV), 1948

"Du Barry Was a Lady"(Porter musical), 1939

"La damnation de Faust"(Berlioz opera, Op, 24), 1846

Today in History:

The Mongols under Batu Khan occupy and destroy Kiev, 1240

Don Alfonso V of Aragon grants Barcelona the right to exclude Jews, 1424

The first edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica is published, in Scotland, 1768

Harriet Tubman escapes slavery, 1849

The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified, abolishing slavery, 1865

The first crematorium in the Us begins operation, in Washington, Pennsylvania, 1876

London becomes the first city to license taxicabs, 1897

One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence, 1922

U.S. federal judge John M. Woolsey rules that the James Joyce's novel Ulysses is not obscene, 1933

The Vanguard rocket, the first US attempt to launch a satellite, fails, 1957

The Canadian province of Newfoundland is renamed Newfoundland and Labrador, 2001

NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars, 2006

Belgium's new federal government is sworn in after 541 days of negotiations, 2011