The History Of Holidays

Fact 1: The Celebration of New Years starts on January 30th and lasts until January 31. Traditions celebrated on New Years Eve include: the countdown until mid-night, going to parties and making resolutions.

Fact 2: New Years used to be celebrated in March many years ago; this was because of the lunar calendar being followed by the Romans at the time.The Romans soon started to follow the solar calendar instead of the lunar one.

Fact 3: Today, New Years is celebrated all around the world at different times due to the time change in different countries. New Years resolutions are made so people can start off fresh when they go into the New Year and drain out their old ways.

Fact 1: Valentines Day falls on February 14th and is a time of showing loved ones how much they're loved and appreciated. Little gifts such as chocolates, candy and flowers are given on this special day.

Fact 2: The day is named after a priest who was known as St. Valentine. It is said that when Emperor Claudius 2 was around the marriage of single men was banned. St. Valentine saw this as being unfair and secretly married couples without the Emperor's knowledge.

Fact 3: When the Emperor found out about what St. Valentine was up to, he was very upset and had him imprisoned in jail. While St. Valentine was imprisoned he fell in love with the jailer's daughter and sent her a letter that he signed: "from your valentine". This message is still very popular to this day.

Fact 4: Valentine's Days started with a Roman festival known as "Lupercalia". Boys and girls were randomly paired with each other for the festival; the boys and girls who were paired would date and sometimes get married.

Fact 5: By the 17 and 1800's cards started being printed for the holiday. Notable symbols on cards would be hearts, roses, cupid angles and the traditional colours were red, white and pink. Up to this day, friends and loved ones all receive valentines showing how much they are loved and appreciated by others.

Fact 1: St. Patrick's Day is a traditional Irish holiday that is celebrated on March 17th. The main colour for this holiday is green.

Fact 2: The holiday is named after a man named St. Patrick. Although this is an Irish holiday, St Patrick was not originally Irish by birth, he was an immigrant who had been a slave and later returned to Ireland. He became a bishop and had brought Roman Catholic teachings to the island.

Fact 3: It is said that this saint was able to drive away snakes from Ireland.

Fact 4: Although the main colour of St. Patrick was blue, the colour soon became green; part of this is because of green being a colour on the Irish flag. Shamrocks (clovers) are the green Irish plants and are meant to symbolize The Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Fact 1: A Christian Holiday, which celebrates the beliefs that Jesus Christ died on the cross, rose from the dead and went to Heaven. Days leading up to Easter include: Lent, Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

Fact 2: During Lent, Christians fast in a way by giving up something for 40 days like how Jesus gave up water and food for 40 days in the desert. Palm Sunday celebrates when Palms were laid down to welcome Jesus to Jerusalem. On Holy Thursday, Jesus shared the wine and bread known as the "Last Supper" with his 12 Apostles; on this night he was arrested. On Good Friday Jesus carried and died on his cross. On Easter Sunday Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to several people, he then went to Heaven.

Fact 3: Although Easter is a Christian holiday, there are also non-Christians who do not celebrate Easter and non-Christian Easter traditions: (The Easter Bunny).

Fact 4: Usually for younger children, it is believed that on Easter Sunday, The Easter Bunny will come to your house, hide Easter Eggs and leave chocolates and candies in an Easter basket. Children are very fond of this tradition and enjoy the treats and hunting for eggs.

Fact 1: This is a special day on one Sunday in May where people say thank you to and honour their mothers for all they have done.

Fact 2: Although there are many women who are a big part of the origin of Mother's Day, one woman who stands out is named Ann Reeves Jarvis. This woman had started an organization during the war times to help mothers learn how to care for their children.

Fact 3: Ann Jarvis's daughter, Anna Jarvis wanted to honour her mother for her hard work. Anna had some help organizing a celebration which many people attended; this celebration was the official start of Mother's Day, Anna had wanted very badly for her celebration to become an official holiday.

Fact 4: Today, Mother's Day is celebrated worldwide, people show how much they love their mothers and mothers on this day are given small gifts, cards and flowers and are sometimes treated to a day without doing any kind of work.

Fact 1: Like Mother's Day, Father's Day is celebrated on one Sunday in June and is meant to say thank you to and honour fathers. At first the holiday wasn't as big and not recognized as much as Mother's Day was.

Fact 2: Father's Day became notable because of a woman named Sonoma Smart Dodd. When her mother passed away, her father became a single parent for her and her brothers, she felt that her father needed a special day to honour him.

Fact 3: The first Father's Day was originally going to be on Sonoma's father's birthday on June 5th but was changed. The holiday spread quickly and people started to become familiar with it.

Fact 4: Today, Father's Day is celebrated worldwide; fathers are given gifts like mothers on Mother's Day and are thanked and honoured.

Fact 1: On July 1rst Canada Day is celebrated to say Happy Birthday to Canada. A big part of Canada Day is our red and white flag.

Fact 2: Along time ago, Canada was not independent and was part of Great Britain. That changed on July 1 1867 when it was decided that Canada would become an independent country.

Fact 3: At first, the name was called Dominion Day, it was decided later in October of that year that the day would officially be called Canada Day.

Fact 4: Canada only had four provinces to start with, but later Canada got six more provinces.

Fact 5: Today Canada Day is celebrated with family and friends, having BBQ's, fireworks, wearing red and white clothing and having large celebrations. Last year was Canada's 150th birthday!

Fact 1: Civic day is the first Monday in August and is a holiday that is celebrated in Canada.

Fact 2: The holiday is about taking time off to relax, spend family time and simply not do any work.

Fact 1: This holiday is celebrated on the first Monday in September

Fact 2: Along time ago the work force was hard, there were many low wages, long workweeks and hard work. No one was able to argue about it.

Fact 3: A large strike occurred in March 1872 by the workers who felt they were treated unfairly. Employers started taking action once the strike numbers increased.

Fact 4: John A Macdonald saw this happening and took action by granting workers what they were looking for. Soon workers felt they had more rights, more power and they had been able to obtain shorter workweeks.

Fact 1: Halloween is celebrated at the end of October on the 31rst.

Fact 2: Halloween started off as a festival called Samhain. On this day, people celebrated by dressing up and lighting bon fires. The day was meant to honour the dead.

Fact 3: Halloween was meant to end the summer and move into the Winter season, this lead to beliefs that the dead would cross over and come back to earth.

Fact 4: Today on Halloween, people dress up in costumes, go trick or treating, go to Halloween parties and decorate with spooky decorations around their house.

Fact 1: Remembrance Day happens on November 11th.

Fact 2: On this day in 1918, the First World War had officially ended at the 11th hour on the 11th day.

Fact 3: On this day, people pause at 11:00am to remember all of the soldiers who fought for our lives and country.

Fact 4: Poppies are worn on the left side where your heart is, this is to symbolize the fallen solider in World War 1.

Fact 1: Christmas is Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25th. Originally, Christmas not was celebrated due to the birth of Jesus being unknown; this was later changed when Pope Julius had declared Christmas as the birth.The birth was declared by small hints that are found in the Bible.

Fact 2: Santa Claus is a tradition for Christmas, especially for younger children. Santa Claus came from a man named St Nicholas. Today Santa Claus has many names in different countries some of these names include: Father Christmas and Noel.

Fact 3: Countries all around the world celebrate Christmas differently, some people choose not to celebrate Christmas and the people who celebrate the holiday may have small traditions.