Holidays & Traditions

St. Patrick's Day

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 02:58:37 -0800

389 A.D.

St. Patrick (Maewyn) is born in Roman Britain in the village of Bannaven Taberniae. He is the son of a deacon named Calpurnius.

406 A.D.

Kidnapped by Irish pirates, he is taken to Ireland where he is sold as a slave. He remains there for six years, working as a shepherd in Ulster, Ireland. It is during this captivity that he turns to God. While living in the mountains and forests, he awakes before daylight and prays in the snow, the rain, no matter the weather, never missing an opportunity to pray.

412 A.D.

He is awarded for his dedication with a vision from God. According to his book Confessions, God says to him: "'You do well to fast: soon you will depart for your home country.' And again, a very short time later, there was a voice prophesying: 'Behold, your ship is ready.' And it was not close by, but, as it happened, two hundred miles away, where I had never been nor knew any person. And shortly thereafter I turned about and fled from the man with whom I had been for six years, and I came, by the power of God who directed my route to advantage (and I was afraid o nothing), until I reached that ship." The steersman won't allow him entrance onto the ship so he leaves and prays and before he is done, some of ship's crew give him permission to sail with them.

412 A.D.

Three days later, the ship reaches land. For twenty-eight days they travel through unknown and unhabited country. The crew questions St. Patrick's so-called God and he insists if they welcome God into their hearts, God will answer their prayers for food. When they do, a herd of swine comes out of nowhere and they give thanks to God.

412 A.D.

Legend has it that St. Patrick is attacked by Satan the same night the crew feasts on the swine. A huge rock tumbles on top of St. Patrick who is trapped beneath it until sunrise when a great force pushes the rock from him.

412 A.D.

St. Patrick is captured, along with the crew, the day the rock falls on him. God tells him he will be their slave for two months. When two months pass, he and what's left of the crew, and other prisoners, escape and for twenty-eight days they trudge through unpopulated land. The day they had run out of food is the day they came across people.

415 A.D.

St. Patrick returns to England and reunites with his parents.

417 A.D.

He moves to Gaul to study under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre, France.

429 A.D.

Returns to Britain and during this year he decides he would like to return to Ireland with the mission to convert the pagans to Christianity. However, the Church doesn't agree and sends St. Palladius.

431 A.D.

St. Palladius either dies or transfers to Scotland, leaving an opening for St. Patrick, who gladly takes on the task.

461 A.D.

After thirty years of living in Ireland, he said to have baptized more than 120,000 people and built 300 churches. During this period comes up with the analogy between the Holy Trinity and the three leaves of the shamrock. The legend of him driving out all the snakes from Ireland is born, though many historians point out there most likely wasn't any snakes to drive out. A better explanation is the snakes he drove out are actually the pagan beliefs. He is also rumored to have risen the dead.

461 A.D.

He retires and moves to County Down.

March 17, 461 A.D.

St. Patrick dies. It is unknown where he is buried but a shrine in County Down, Ireland is said to have his jawbone which is believed to drive off the "evil eye," help with childbirth, and cure epileptic fits. Not many years after, the Irish begin to celebrate St. Patrick's Day as a religious day.

March 17, 1737

In Boston, Massachusetts the first St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by Irish immigrants. At this time, it is celebrated as a Catholic holy day.

March 17, 1756

In New York City the first St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in the Crown and Thistle Tavern.

March 17, 1762

The first St. Patrick's Day Parade takes place in New York City by Irish soldiers serving in the English military.

1845

The Great Potato Famine hits Ireland and over a million Irish immigrants migrate to the U.S.A. They have difficulty finding work but it doesn't take them long to realize their overwhelming numbers equal power when it comes to election time. Political hopefuls see this too and begin to brownnose with what will become known as the "green machine." The new immigrants begin to use the St. Patrick's Day Parades as a show of solidarity and strength. The political candidates used the parade to gather votes.

March 16, 1926

The St. Patrick's Day Massacre takes place. Alphonse Lambert (aka "Scarface"), the Pègre crime lord, attempts to wipe out rival Jean Arnaud and his men. The hit occurs at Arnaud's sister-in-law's apartment where a St. Patrick's party is taking place. The death count is unknown because many people known to be at the party are never found. The attack takes no longer than ten minutes and no chance is taken as each body is found by the police with one pistol-shot directly with the remainder of their bodies showered with bullet wounds.

1948

President Truman attends the New York City St. Patrick's Day parade and many Irish Americans consider this a symbolic sign that they are finally accepted.

1970s

Up until this point, pubs are not allowed to be open on St. Patrick's Day. The ban is lifted.

March 17, 1996

In Ireland the first St. Patrick's Festival is held.

Feb. 18, 2001

The Sunday Mirror reads: "Loony Americans are set to ban the Shamrock in Boston following complaints from minority groups. They have bizarrely compared Ireland's three-leafed emblem to the Nazi swastika. Now the shamrock will become a thing of the past as the emblems are torn down from playgrounds, doors and windows in housing developments all over the city. The decision has been made by Boston Housing Association following complaints from blacks and Hispanics." This ban, however, does not come to pass.

2006

Canadians are still lobbying for St. Patrick's Day to be a national holiday, not just in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Thanksgiving

Sat, 19 Nov 2005 15:31:58 -0800

May 23, 1541: Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and the Teya Indians have a feast in Palo Duro Canyon in Texas to celebrate his expedition's discovery of food supplies. Many people consider this to be the first true North American Thanksgiving.

Sept. 8, 1565: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés lands in St. Augustine and he and his men share a feast with the natives.

1578: The first North American celebration of European harvest festivals is held in Newfoundland by the Frobisher Expedition.

Dec. 4, 1619: 38 colonists from Berkeley Parish in England land in Virginia and give thanks to God.

Dec. 11, 1620: The Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock. Their first winter in the New World is hard and their number of 102 is reduced to 56.

Fall 1621: The Pilgrims hold a three-day feast to celebrate their first bountiful harvest. They include 91 Indians in the festivities to thank them for helping them with the harvest. This is often cited as the first Thanksgiving.

1623: After a severe drought ends in heavy rainshowers, the Pilgrims invite the Indians for another feast to give thanks for the welcome rain.

June 20, 1676: The governing council of Charlestown, Massachusettes holds a meeting to decide how to express thanks for their good fortune. They proclaim June 29th as a day of thanksgiving.

June 29, 1676: The scheduled day of thanksgiving is celebrated.

Oct. 1777: All 13 colonies participate in the thanksgiving celebration.

1789: After members of Congress request it, George Washington declares that a national day of thanksgiving will be held on November 26th.

Nov. 26, 1789: On the day of thanksgiving, George Washington writes in his diary: "Being the day appointed for a thanksgiving I went to St. Pauls Chapel though it was most inclement and stormy - but few people at Church."

Dec. 24, 1814: The Treaty of Ghent is signed by British and American emissaries, ending the War of 1812.

April 31, 1815: At the end of the War of 1812, President James Madison declares a national day of prayer and thanksgiving.

1827: Sarah Hale, editor of Boston's Ladies' Magazine, writes essays calling for an annual national celebration of Thanksgiving.

Nov. 1846: Sarah Hale, now the editor of Godey's Lady's Book, begins a letter-writing campaign to have the last Thursday in November named national Thanksgiving Day.

Dec. 26, 1850: The Territory of Minnesota celebrates its first Thanksgiving.

Sept. 28, 1863: During the Civil War, Sarah Hale sends a letter to President Abraham Lincoln asking him to proclaim a national Thanksgiving Day. She has been trying for almost 17 years to have it proclaimed a national holiday.

Oct. 3, 1863: In the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln proclaims a national Thanksgiving Day on the last Thursday in November. The proclamation reads, in part: "I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union."

1920: Gimbel Brothers Department Store sponsors the first Thanksgiving parade in the streets of Philadelphia.

Thanksgiving Day, 1924: The first annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held in New York City.

1927: Tony Sarg creates the first giant balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Thanksgiving Day, 1934: The Detroit Lions play against the Chicago Bears. This is the first year the National Football League holds a game on Thanksgiving Day. It is broadcast on the radio and becomes a national tradition.

Aug. 1939: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declares the second-to-last Thursday in November to be Thanksgiving Day instead of the last Thursday in the month. This is done to benefit retailers by extending the Christmas shopping season by one week as the holiday season officially starts the day after Thanksgiving.

Nov. 1939: Confusion sets in throughout the country, with people unsure whether to celebrate Thanksgiving on the 23rd or the 30th.

1941: President Roosevelt signs legislation to reestablish Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November, but it doesn't take effect until 1942.

Thanksgiving Eve, 1947: President Truman pardons a turkey that is marked for Thanksgiving dinner in the White House. This becomes an annual White House tradition.

Thanksgiving Day, 1956: The first television broadcast of the Thanksgiving Day football game.

Thanksgiving Day, 1963: President Lyndon Johnson addresses the nation just six days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He says he is "determined that from this midnight of tragedy we shall move toward a new American greatness."

Thanksgiving Day, 1970: Dressed in traditional Native American clothing, 25 Native Americans hold a day of mourning in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Halloween

Mon, 24 Oct 2005 22:51:14 -0800

1,000-100 B.C.: The Celts celebrate their New Year on November 1st and believe that on the night before the New Year, October 31st, the portal between the world of the living and that of the dead is opened, allowing the dead to return to earth. They call this night "Samhain." November 1st also has a macabre significance as it is the start of winter and the "season of death" during which many people would die from the scarcity of food. During Samhain, the Celts paint scary faces on gourds to scare away the returning spirits and paint their own faces as well. It is also believed that faeries dress as beggars during Samhain and go door to door asking for handouts. Those who refuse are believed to be in for some mischief from the faeries.

43 A.D.: The Romans conquer the Celts. The festival of Samhain falls on the same days as the Roman celebration of the harvest, Pomona. With the two cultures living together, the two festivals merge into one, with the theme of apples and the harvest becoming part of the annual festival of Samhain.

600 A.D.: Unable to get the people to stop their pagan celebrations on October 31st and November 1st, Pope Boniface IV designates November 1 All Saints' Day. On this day saints and martyrs are to be honored. This move does not eliminate the pagan rituals as hoped. Instead, the people simply celebrate both festivals at once.

800 A.D.: To further erase the pagan aspects of these days, Pope Gregory III rules that All Saints' day always falls on the same day as Samhain. He declares that, in celebration of the saints, young men are to go door to door begging for food for the town poor and that villagers are allowed to dress up in costume as saints.

1500s: By this time, Samhain and All Saints' day are mingled so well that they are one and the same. It has a new name as well: All Hallows' Day. The night before All Hallows' Day is called All Hallows' Evening. The villagers call it Hallow Evening, or Hallowe'en.

Oct. 31, 1517: In his effort to reform the Catholic Church, Martin Luther posts his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church as part of the Protestant Reformation. Protestants do not believe in saints. Therefore, there was no longer a need for All Hallows' Day or Hallowe'en. The Celts, not wanting to give it up, move it to November 5th and call it Guy Fawkes Day. They celebrate with their traditional bonfires and the children go begging for money as usual.

1600s: The New England Puritans ban Halloween, Christmas, and Easter because they consider them to be Catholic in origin. For the next 250 years, it is only Catholics and Episcopalians who celebrate Halloween in America. This constitutes a very small portion of the population.

1840s: The sudden influx of Irish Catholics to America during the Irish Potato famine brings with it the Irish Halloween traditions. This includes making jack o'lanterns out of turnips. The Irish discover an abundance of pumpkins in the New World and decide to use them instead of turnips.

1860s: Wanting to officially sanction Halloween, members of both the Catholic and Episcopalian churches campaign to put the holiday on the official calendar.

1870: From this period onward, Halloween begins to gain a real foothold in American society. The idea of "tricking" also becomes popular as young people began using the date to get up to all kinds of mayhem and mischief.

On Halloween 1899, the Mankato Free Press says the boys and girls were reported out on the streets making a lot of noise with horns and tin pans. They moved everything they could find to a different spot and removed street signs.

Nov. 1, 1900: A Minnesota newspaper reports on the Halloween mischief of the night before: "Scores of young people were out, participating in the merry-making, and gates were unhinged, culvert covers pulled up, and carriages run off. A hay rack was found at the corner of Front and Washington streets this morning. A lot of wood in the hay market was tipped over. Steps were taken off houses, loose articles took wings, and in one or two places wire was stretched across the sidewalk to stop or trip the unwary. Not much damage was done."

1912: The Dennison Manufacturing Co. of Framingham, Massachusetts begins publishing Halloween "Bogie" books. The books included party ideas, costume patterns, and decoration ideas.

Oct. 31 1918: Because of the Spanish Flu Pandemic that grips the nation, most Halloween celebrations are cancelled due to quarantines. One Illinois paper reports: "The ghost parties, masquerades and dances which have always been so popular at this time of the year, are as scarce as the corn and eggs, not because of Mr. Hoover, but because of Mr. Influenza. Many parties which have been planned for Friday and Saturday night have been postponed as the quarantine will not be lifted before next Monday. But not all of the Halloween spirit has been killed by the influenza. Crowds of boys and girls have been using ticktacks on the windows, tearing down gates and and beating the porches with planks , for the last three nights, and they are all prepared to be out tonight, so be not surprised if you hear mysterious noise tonight."

1921: Anoka, Minnesota is the first American city to officially sanction a citywide Halloween celebration and encourage less mean-spirited Halloween pranks than have been the norm in previous years.

1923: New York begins citywide Halloween celebrations.

1924: Anaheim, California holds its first Halloween parade.

1925: Los Angeles begins citywide Halloween celebrations.

1929: Champaign, Illinois holds its first Halloween Mardi Gras featuring a parade, confetti jubiliee, and a street dance.

1973: The first Village Halloween Parade happens in Greenwich Village, New York.

Oct. 2004: The Payullup, Washington school district bans Halloween from schools. One reason stated is that they are afraid of offending local Wiccans. A school spokeswoman says, "Witches with pointy noses and things like that are not respective symbols of the Wiccan religion and so we want to be respectful of that."