IOTD *special edition*

IOTD

Calendar day; May 5, 2015

Tuesday, the 5th of May, 2015 is the 125th day in 2015 and in the 19th calendar week.

General Events:

Liberation Day in Netherlands
May 5, 2015 in Netherlands

On Liberation Day, also known as Freedom Day, the Dutch celebrate the capitulation of Nazi Germany. For the Netherlands, this marked the end of World War II, even though the war had not yet ended in the rest of Europe and Asia. Liberation Day is celebrated on a grand scale with Liberation Day festivals in Amsterdam and in the twelve provincial capitals.

Liberation Day is celebrated every year on 5 May. It’s a moment to realize how lucky you are to live in a country where people live in freedom, and to reflect on the fact that there are many places in the world where this is not the case.

Where is Liberation Day in Netherlands?
Nationwide Netherlands

World Asthma Day
May 5, 2015 in the World

World Asthma Day 2015 is on May, 05. It is an annual event organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) to improve asthma awareness and care around the world. World Asthma Day takes place on the first Tuesday of May.

Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. Asthma is caused by environmental and genetic factors. These factors influence how severe asthma is and how well it responds to medication. The interaction is complex and not fully understood.

Its diagnosis is usually made based on the pattern of symptoms and/or response to therapy over time. The prevalence of asthma has increased significantly since the 1970s. As of 2010, 300 million people were affected worldwide. In 2009 asthma caused 250,000 deaths globally. Despite this, with proper control of asthma with step down therapy, prognosis is generally good.

Where is the event?
Worldwide

World Hand Hygiene Day
May 5, 2015 in the World

World Hand Hygiene Day takes place on May 05, 2015. The day is declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) and encoures patients and their family members to join health workers in their efforts to practice good hand hygiene. According to WHO, every year, hundreds of millions of patients around the world are affected by health care-associated infections. More than half of these infections could be prevented by caregivers properly cleaning their hands at key moments in patient care.

Hand hygiene is the act of cleaning ones hands with or without the use of water or another liquid, or with the use of soap, for the purpose of removing soil, dirt, and/or microorganisms. Medical hand hygiene pertains to the hygiene practices related to the administration of medicine and medical care that prevents or minimizes disease and the spreading of disease. The main medical purpose of washing hands is to cleanse the hands of pathogens (including bacteria or viruses) and chemicals which can cause personal harm or disease.

Hand hygiene is especially important for people who handle food or work in the medical field, but it is also an important practice for the general public. People can become infected with respiratory illnesses such as influenza or the common cold, for example, if they don’t wash their hands before touching their eyes, nose, or mouth.

Where is the event?
Worldwide

International Midwives’ Day
May 5, 2015 in the World

International Midwives’ Day is celebrated on May 05, 2015. International Midwives’ Day was first celebrated May 5, 1991, and has since been observed in over 50 nations around the world. The idea of having a day to recognize and honor midwives came out of the 1987 International Confederation of Midwives conference in the Netherlands.

Midwifery is a health care profession in which providers offer care to childbearing women during pregnancy, labor and birth, during the postpartum period, and between pregnancies. Practitioners also help care for the newborn and assist the mother with breastfeeding. They provide birth control, education and prescriptions for well-woman health care as well.

Before the turn of the 20th Century, traditional midwives were informally trained and helped deliver almost all births. In the first several decades of the 1900s, midwifery experienced two changes: first efforts of professionalization and gradual decrease.

Where is the event?
Worldwide

Kodomo no Hi 2015
May 5, 2015 in Japan

Kodomo no Hi is celebrated on May 05, 2015. Kodomo no Hi or Children’s Day is a Japanese national holiday which takes place annually on the fifth day of the fifth month, and is part of the Golden Week. It is a day set aside to respect children’s personalities and to celebrate their happiness. It was designated a national holiday by the Japanese government in 1948.

The day was originally called Tango no Sekku, and was celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th moon in the lunar calendar or Chinese calendar. After Japan’s switch to the Gregorian calendar, the date was moved to May 5. Until recently, Tango no Sekku was known as Boys’ Day while Girls’ Day (Hinamatsuri) was celebrated on March 3. In 1948, the government decreed this day to be a national holiday to celebrate the happiness of all children and to express gratitude toward mothers. It was renamed Kodomo no Hi.

Before this day, families raise the carp-shaped koinobori flags, one for each boy (or child), display a Kintaro doll usually riding on a large carp, and the traditional Japanese military helmet, kabuto. Kintaro and the kabuto are symbols of a strong and healthy boy. Mochi rice cakes wrapped in kashiwa (oak) leaves are traditionally served on this day.

Where is Kodomo no Hi?
Nationwide Japan

Martyrs’ Day in Albania
May 5, 2015 in Albania

Martyrs’ Day in Albania is observed on May 05, 2015. May 5 is the anniversary of Qemal Stafa’s death, all the martyrs that died for Albania’s freedom are remembered.

Where is Martyrs’ Day in Albania?
Nationwide Albania

Europe Day 2015
May 5, 2015 in Europe

Europe Day is observed annually on May 05, 2015. There are two separate designations of Europe Day: The Council of Europe’s day was established in 1949, while the European Union’s (EU) day celebrates the day the EU’s predecessor was proposed in 1950. For the EU, the day is also known as Schuman Day, commemorating the historical declaration by French foreign minister Robert Schuman.

The Council of Europe was founded on May 5, 1949. The same day was chosen for its celebrations when the holiday was established in 1964. In 1985, the European Communities (later EU) adopted the European symbols of the Council of Europe, but decided to hold their Europe Day on May 9, in memorial of the Schuman Declaration of 1950.

Europe is, by convention, one of the world’s seven continents. It is the world’s second-smallest continent by surface area. The European Union is an economic and political union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The EU has developed a single market through a standardized system of laws. In addition a monetary union, the Eurozone, was established in 1999.

Where is Europe Day?
Nationwide Europe

Hidirellez 2015
May 5, 2015 in Turkey

Hidirellez is observed on May 05, 2015. H?d?rellez or H?drellez is celebrated as the day on which Prophets Hizir (Al-Khidr) and Ilyas (Elijah) met on the earth. Hidirellez starts on May 5 night and falls on May 6 in the Gregorian calendar and April 23 in the Julian calendar. It is celebrated in Turkey and throughout the Turkic world. It celebrates the arrival of spring and is a religious holiday for the Alevi as well. Durdevdan is the Christian variety of this spring festival throughout the Balkans, notably areas which had become under the control of the Ottoman Empire by the end of the 16th century.

Where is Hidirellez?
Nationwide Turkey

Cinco de Mayo 2015
May 5, 2015 in Mexico, USA)

Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for “fifth of May”) is a regional holiday in Mexico, primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico. The holiday commemorates the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín.

The Battle was important for at least two reasons. First, although considerably outnumbered, the Mexicans defeated a much better-equipped French army. “This battle was significant in that the 4,000 Mexican soldiers were greatly outnumbered by the well-equipped French army of 8,000 that had not been defeated for almost 50 years.” Second, it was significant because since the Battle of Puebla no country in the Americas has been invaded by an army from another continent.

Cinco de Mayo is not “an obligatory federal holiday” in Mexico, but rather a holiday that can be observed voluntarily. While Cinco de Mayo has limited significance nationwide in Mexico, the date is observed in the United States (also voluntarily) and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day, which actually is September 16, the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico, nor is it “The Day of the Dead”, which occurs on November the 1st and 2nd.

Where is Cinco de Mayo?
Nationwide Mexico, USA

National Hoagie Day
May 5, 2015 in the USA

National Hoagie Day is observed on May 05, 2015. You can celebrate National Hoagie Day by eating a Hoagie. A Hoagie is a sandwich that consists of a long roll of Italian or French bread, split widthwise either into two pieces or opened in a “V” on one side, and filled with a variety of meats, cheeses, vegetables, seasonings, and sauces. The sandwich has no standardized name, and many U.S. regions have their own names for it; one study found 13 different names for the sandwich in the United States.

Where is National Hoagie Day?
Nationwide USA

Historical Events on 5th May:

1260 – Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.

1494 – On 2nd voyage to New World, Christopher Columbus sights Jamaica

1762 – Russia & Prussia sign peace treaty, Treaty of Saint Petersburg ending the Seven Years War

1809 – Mary Kies is 1st woman issued a US patent (weaving straw)

1842 – City-wide fire burns for over 100 hours (Hamburg Germany)

1862 – French army intervenes in Puebla, Mexico: Cinco de Mayo

1874 – Dutch 2nd Chamber passes child labor law

1877 – Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles

1886 – The Bay View Tragedy occurs, as militia fire upon a crowd of protesters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin killing seven

1893 – Panic of 1893: Great crash on NY Stock Exchange

1912 – Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda begins publishing (4/22 OS)

1916 – US marines invade Dominican Republic, stay until 1924

1920 – Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are arrested on charges and robbery of a paymaster at a shoe factory in Massachusetts, US – the two men were executed

1925 – Afrikaans is established as an official language in South Africa

1932 – Japan & China sign a peace treaty

1941 – First modern perfume Chanel No. 5 released

1944 – Gandhi freed from prison

1945 – Netherlands & Denmark liberated from Nazi control

1949 – Statute of Council of Europe drawn up

1955 – Indian parliament accept Hindu divorce

1961 – Alan Shepard becomes 1st American in space (aboard Freedom 7)

1965 – 1st large-scale US Army ground units arrive in South Vietnam

1979 – Voyager 1 passes Jupiter

1994 – North-Yemen air force bombs Aden South Yemen

2000 – Conjunction of Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn & Moon