I took the following verbiage and hashtags from www.internationalwomensday.com. I added the Oxford comma at the end of the text:
International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
International Women’s Day (IWD) has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group, or organization specific.
Unless you live in a place that doesn’t observe Daylight Savings Time (DST), you need to move the hands of time tonight.
DST goes into effect tomorrow morning. Since it’s Spring, you need to turn the clocks forward one hour, which moves the morning to an earlier time. Hello, caffeine!
You can thank Germany and Austria for DST. They were the first countries to use the new time in 1916 to make better use of fuel during the war. This was adopted by several other countries just weeks later, including the United Kingdom and France.
DST was rescinded at the end of WWI and was repeated for WWII. Today, more than seventy countries observe DST.
A plan to make the most of seasonal daylight was actually put forth by Benjamin Franklin. Yes, that Benjamin Franklin. One of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
But he meant it as a joke–for Parisians.
He was living in Paris and wrote a letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris. The essay, entitled “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light”, called for the people of that city to awaken earlier in order to reduce their need for candles.
Oh, that Ben. What a kidder.
The citizens of Ancient Rome relied on water clocks that used different scales throughout the year in order to follow the solar calendar.
But B. Franklin and Caesar are not credited with the invention of DST. That honor goes to New Zealander George Vernon Hudson and British builder William Willett. Do you thank them or curse them? I think that depends on which way the clock is bouncing–a thank you for the ‘extra’ hour in the Autumn and a curse for losing an hour in the Spring.
We can all be thankful that their particular schedule didn’t go into place. Hudson suggested moving the clocks by two hours, and Willett wanted the clocks to move in twenty-minute increments over four-week periods.
Wow. And you thought one hour twice a year was hard!
Today is also called ‘Dr. Seuss Day’. These books are mandatory reading for pre-readers and early readers, it seems.
My favorite titles are ‘Go, Dog, Go’ and ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go’–
I don’t know why these books are my faves–
I love dogs and loved climbing trees when I was younger, so maybe that explains my first choice.
I’m big on motivation and taking chances, so I love the message in ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go’. “And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)”
Wait, I think this stream of consciousness has answered my question.
When Guinness the Therapy Dog and I go to play with the at-risk kids at the domestic violence transition shelter, we always read at least one book. Last week, we read a book about a dog with no tail who had a pretend tail attached by a button.
My first question was: how was the button attached to his butt??? My second question was: why did the tailor (get it!) make the tail so long???
The poor dog already had self-image problems and now he has a tail that vies the length of ribbon used by Olympic rhythmic gymnasts.
In the end, the dog and his friends decide it’s better to be yourself than to rely on a fake tail. That’s a good message for the kids and the wordplay by author Kate Feiffer is fantastic.
You see, Rome followed a 355-day calendar, not 365 days like we do currently. They wanted to keep festivals in the same season every year. To do that, the Romans began to add another month to their calendar every other year.
I think that would be confusing.
So did a lot of people way back then. In 45 B.C., Caesar created the 365-day calendar and decided to add one day every four years. (This schedule was actually created by his astronomer, Sosigenes).
It was Pope Gregory XIII, in 1582, who decided to add the day to any year divisible by four (except in years divisible by 100).
For groups that don’t follow the Gregorian calendar, the dates still need to be adjusted. A month is added to the Hebrew calendar every nineteen years and the Baha’i calendar has a leap day added as necessary to ensure the Vernal Equinox is the first day of their new year.
Whatever the reason, enjoy your extra day in 2020! Sonja
Today is actually the celebration of George Washington’s birthday and the law is written as such. Legally, there is no Presidents’ Day.
Confused? Me, too! But if you look for the law that designates the holiday, you will find that President Richard Nixon signed “Washington’s Birthday” into law.
It wasn’t long after that event that the day morphed into the present-day President’s Day, with the intention of honoring all those who have held the office of President of the United States. You can thank not only the holiday being changed to the third Monday in February, but also marketing to take advantage of the newly-formed three-day weekend.
By the early 2000s, at least half of the states officially listed Presidents’ Day on their calendars, instead of Washington’s Birthday.
Wait! There’s more confusion about the date.
Washington was born on February 11, 1731, but today his birthday is acknowledged to have been February 22.
Why?
When Washington was born, the British Empire, including the colonies in North America, used the Julian calendar. By 1731, that calendar was eleven days behind the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar currently used by the United States and the United Kingdom. When the British Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752, it recognized previous dates as eleven days later in order to align with the Gregorian calendar. And, voila!, Washington’s birthday became February 22!
I hope you have someone to share this day with–someone who will show you how much he/she loves you.
If you don’t have a partner, then I hope you celebrated Galentine’s Day with your gal pal, or something similar with your male friend(s).
For some, Valentine’s Day is a difficult day that causes them to feel lonely. I hope you don’t experience this. If you do, then find something to distract yourself. Go for a hike, read a book, go shopping (not retail therapy!), or something else that brings you joy.
It’s a day started by comedian Amy Poehler to celebrate female friendships.
It always falls on February 13, the day before Valentine’s Day.
In the UK, it was noted that it’s “an increasingly popular holiday” even though it is only a few years old.
Therefore, in celebration of Galentine’s Day, I celebrate my friendship with my best friend (who lives too far away). Karyn has been my friend for 27 years.
We met when her husband asked for my help carrying a very heavy sofa into their new apartment.
It was a fun way to meet some very good people.
I hope you have the equivalent!
Don’t forget to buy a card or small gift for your valentine–this is your one-day warning! Valentine’s Day is tomorrow!!! Sonja
Today is the day! We find out if Phil the groundhog from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania sees his shadow. If he does, it means there will be six more weeks of winter.
Here in the desert Southwest, that’s not a problem since the weather is so pleasant. Unfortunately, for those of you who live in the winter weather and have braved all the snow and cold–six more weeks can seem like a very long time.
Groundhog Day was first celebrated on Gobbler’s Knob, PA on February 2, 1887.
The roots of the celebration are firmly plants in Candlemas, an ancient Christian tradition. During this time, the clergy would distribute candles they had blessed. The German community expanded on this idea by including a hedgehog as a predictor of winter’s length. When German settlers came to America, they changed the animal from a hedgehog to the groundhog. Hedgehogs were hard to find!
Groundhogs hibernate for the winter, climb trees, can swim, and whistle when they are frightened!
They live in burrows, which is where you can find Phil most of the time. He is most likely the most famous groundhog in the world and has a cushy life filled with vegetables and fruit. He works one day per year, but what a day! There’s even a ball in honor of his day.
I hope you get the weather prediction you hope for from Phil! Sonja
Today marks the day that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was born. January 20 was made a national holiday in his honor in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan.
The holiday was initially supported by labor unions during contract negotiations. It wasn’t until 2000 that all 50 states began to observe the holiday.
MLK was known for his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement that reached its crest in the 1960s. He advocated for nonviolent activism against racial discrimination in federal and state law.
Several countries observe, or have observed, MLK day: Canada, Japan, Israel, and the Netherlands.
MLK was assassinated at a motel in Atlanta in 1968.
I hope you remember the reason for the holiday. Sonja
Since today is ‘Get to Know Your Customers Day’, I wanted to say hello!
I hope you are able to take a look at my books and can see a little of yourself in the story or in one of the characters. I know I do!
I think the best books are based on real-life emotions and I try to add that to each character’s thoughts and actions.
Tonight is also pet therapy night with Guinness the Therapy Dog! We’ll be playing with a group of kids as a part of Gabriel’s Angels, which is an organization that links up therapy teams with at-risk kids.
We get so much out of these visits!
I hope you have a chance to meet-and-greet with your favorite people today! Sonja
