Kwanzaa | M'chelsMusings

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Friday, the 26th of December, 2014 is the 360th day in 2014 and in the 52nd calendar week.

Kwanzaa 2014
December 26, 2014 to January 1, 2015 in the USA

Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26, 2014 till January 01, 2015. Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration held in the United States and also celebrated in the Western African Diaspora in other nations of the Americas. The celebration honors African heritage in African-American culture, and is observed from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a feast and gift-giving. Kwanzaa has seven core principles (Nguzo Saba). It was created by Maulana Karenga, and was first celebrated in 1966-67.

Apart from New Year’s Day (January 1), the days on which Kwanzaa falls are not public holidays. It is largely a private celebration observed by individuals, families and local communities. However, it falls between Christmas and New Year’s Day, when some businesses and organizations may be closed or run fewer services

http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/documents/KwanzaaUsandtheWell-beingoftheWorld12-13-12.pdf

General Events:

Boxing Day 2014
December 26, 2014 in Commonwealth

Boxing Day is a secular holiday that is traditionally celebrated on 26 December, 2014, the day after Christmas Day, when servants and tradespeople would receive gifts from their superiors or employers, known as a “Christmas box”. However, when 26 December falls on a Sunday, Boxing Day in many places is moved to 27 December.

Today, Boxing Day is better known as a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. Boxing Day is observed in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and some other Commonwealth nations. In South Africa, Boxing Day was renamed to Day of Goodwill in 1994. In Ireland it is recognized as St. Stephen’s Day or the Day of the Wren.

In Britain, Canada, New Zealand and some states of Australia, Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday, much like the day after Thanksgiving in the United States. It is a time where shops have sales, often with dramatic price reductions. For many merchants, Boxing Day has become the day of the year with the greatest revenue. Many retailers open very early (typically 5 am or even earlier) and offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores.

In some European countries, notably Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands, 26 December is celebrated as the Second Christmas Day. In Canada, Boxing Day takes place on 26 December and is a federal public holiday. In Ontario, Boxing Day is a statutory holiday where all full-time workers receive time off with pay.

Where is Boxing Day?
Commonwealth nations

Independence and Unity Day of Slovenia
December 26, 2014 in Slovenia

Independence and Unity Day of Slovenia is observed on December 26, 2014. Independence and Unity Day is a Slovenian national holiday. It commemorates the official proclamation of the Slovenian independence referendum on 26 December 1990. The referendum took part on 23 December. In it, 95% of the voters favoured the establishment of independent and sovereign nation. Between 1991 and 2005, the holiday used to be known simply as Independence Day. The current name was adopted in September 2005, following the proposal of the then-opposition Social Democrats, in order to emphasize the national consensus at the time of the 1990 referendum, which was supported by all political parties represented in the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia at the time. Independence and Unity Day is not to be confused with Slovenia’s Statehood Day, which is celebrated each year on June 25, in honour of the declaration of Slovenian independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Where is Independence and Unity Day of Slovenia?
Nationwide Slovenia

Mummer’s Day 2014
December 26, 2014 in England

Mummer’s Day is celebrated on December 26, 2014. Mummer’s Day, or “Darkie Day” as it is sometimes known, is an ancient Cornish midwinter celebration that occurs every year on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day in Padstow, Cornwall. It was originally part of the pagan heritage of midwinter celebrations that were regularly celebrated throughout Cornwall where people would guise dance and disguise themselves by blackening up their faces or wearing masks. It was in contrast to the ‘white’ summer festivals of Cornish towns such as Padstow, Helston and Penzance. Recently the people of Penzance have revived its midwinter celebration with the Montol Festival, during which people darken or paint their skin or use masks to disguise themselves.

Where is Mummer’s Day?
Nationwide England

Wren Day 2014
December 26, 2014 in Ireland

Wren Day is observed on December 26, 2014. Wren day is also known as Wren’s day, Hunt the Wren Day or The Hunting of the Wrens. The tradition consists of “hunting” a fake wren, and putting it on top of a decorated pole. Then the crowds of mummers or strawboys celebrate the Wren by dressing up in masks, straw suits and colourful motley clothing and, accompanied by traditional céilí music bands, parade through the towns and villages. These crowds are sometimes called wrenboys.

Where is Wren Day?
Nationwide Ireland

National Whiners Day
December 26, 2014 in the USA

Today, if you want to, you are allowed to whine about… being too tired, over eating, having to go back to work, having so much to clean up, the long lines in the return aisle at the store and etc. as it is National Whiners Day, which is celebrated each year on December 26.

There is one thing that the creator of this day had hopes that the people across the country would not be whining about; in 1986 Rev. Kevin Zaborney designated December 26 as National Whiner’s Day. Zaborney founded the holiday in hopes of encouraging people not to whine about what you did not get for Christmas and what you do not have but to remember all that you do have.

Suggestions for celebrating National Whiner’s Day include visiting a mall or store to watch people whine as they return or exchange unwanted gifts, inviting friends over for a “Whine and Geeze” party, and holding a whining contest with family and friends.

Where is National Whiners Day?
Nationwide USA

Historical Events on 26th December:

1492 – 1st Spanish settlement La Navidad (modern Môle-Saint-Nicolas) in New World founded, by Columbus

1620 – Elizabeth Báthory’s crimes are uncovered.

1825 – Decembrist uprising in Russia against Tsar Nicholas I begins [O.S. 14 December]

1854 – Wood-pulp paper 1st exhibited, Buffalo

1870 – The 12.8-km long Fréjus Rail Tunnel through the Alps is completed.

1890 – King Mwanga of Uganda signs contract with East Africa Company

1914 – The US Government protests British interference with American merchant ships at sea, but this same day the German announce they will treat food as contraband, subject to seizure; this will weaken America’s protest

1933 – FM radio is patented.

1947 – British transfer Heard & McDonald Islands (Indian Ocean) to Australia

1947 – Heavy snow blankets Northeast, buries NYC under 25.8″ of snow in 16 hrs That same day, LA set a record high of 84°F

1966 – Maulana Karenga establishes Kwanzaa (1st fruits of harvest) holiday

1973 – Horror film “The Exorcist” starring Linda Blair & rated X, premieres – 1st horror film to be nominated for Best Picture

1982 – TIME’s Man of the Year is a computer

1996 – The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification goes into force.

1998 – Iraq announces its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones.

2003 – A magnitude 6.6 earthquake devastates southeast Iranian city of Bam, killing tens of thousands and destroying the citadel of Arg-é Bam.

2004 – A 9.3 magnitude earthquake creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 people.