Holiday

Although Youngman's jest suggests that the list of holidays for a non-believer would necessarily be the "empty set", many non-believers honor various holidays and "holy" days, and those of one faith often honor holidays of other faiths.
. Referring to the original meaning of the term, Henny Youngman included this joke among his vast catalog of one-liners:.
. Christopher Columbus, who has arrived in the New World just moments earlier, tells a Native American that he wants to cash a check...
. One example of this fact is revealed by the assumption inherent in this bit of dialogue from the 1961 musical-comedy album, Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America, Volume One.
.

Some holidays that were once widely celebrated are less so today, for various reasons. In the symbolism of alchemy, Leo denoted the absorption or assimilation of one substance by another. Some are designed to promote a cause, others recognize historical events not recognized officially, and others are "funny" holidays are generally intended as humorous distractions and excuses to share laughs among friends. Leo rules the heart and spine. These are holidays celebrated by various groups and individuals. Each astrological sign is assigned a part of the body, viewed as the seat of its power. Other secular holidays not observed internationally:. The Egyptian pharaoh Nechepso, and his priest Petosiris, taught that at the creation of the world the Sun rose here near Denebola, and hence Leo was Domicilium Solis, the emblem of fire and heat, and the "House of the Sun".

Many other days are marked to celebrate events or people, but are not strictly holidays as time off work is rarely given. It is the domicile of the Sun. They are:. Leo is also one of the Fixed signs (along with Taurus, Scorpio, and Aquarius). With the winter holidays, come various different greetings appropriate for each holiday or the entire season. In some cosmologies, Leo is associated with the classical element Fire, and thus called a Fire Sign (with Aries and Sagittarius). In some Christian countries, the end of the festive season is considered to be after the feast of Epiphany, although this has only symbolic value. The Western astrological sign Leo of the tropical zodiac (July 24 – August 23) differs from the astronomical constellation and the Hindu astrological sign of the sidereal zodiac (August 10 – September 15).

Usually, this festive period begins near the end of November and ends with New Year's Day on January 1, reflecting traditional pagan celebrations of the period around the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. In Greek mythology, it was identified as the Nemean Lion (and may have been a source of the tale) which was killed by Herakles during one of his twelve labours, and subsequently put into the sky. Except in North America, the phrases "holiday season" and "holiday period" usually mean the summer months when most people take their annual holiday ("vacation" in North American English), and phrases such as the "festive period" are used to describe the period around Christmas and New Year. Lajard's Cultes de Mithra mentions the hieroglyph of Leo as among the symbols of Mithraic worship, but how their Lion agreed, if at all, with ours is not known. In many Western countries, the winter holiday season is a period of time surrounding Christmas. But the International Dictionary says that this symbol is a corruption of the initial letter of Λεων (Leon). The Catholic fiestas patronales are celebrated in each place's patron saint's day, according to the Calendar of saints. Gaius Julius Hyginus's writing published in 1488 and Albumasar's in 1489 showing this latter member of extraordinary length, twisting between the hind legs and over the back, Hygnus's manuscript properly locating the star Denebola in the end.

In the order of the Wheel of the Year:. The astrological symbol has been supposed to portray the animal's mane, but it also might be the animal's tail. Well-known consecutive holidays include:. Kircher gave its title there as Πιμεντεκεων, Cubitus Nili. In late 1990s, the Japanese government passed a law that increased the likelihood of consecutive holidays by moving holidays from fixed days to a relative position in a month, such as the second Monday. The Egyptian stellar Lion, however, comprised only a part of ours, and in the earliest records some of its stars were shown as a knife, as they now are as a sickle. They tend to be considered a good chance to take short trips. Distinct reference is made to Leo in an inscription of the walls of the Ramesseum at Thebes, which, like the Nile temples generally, was adorned with the animal's bristles, while on the planisphere of Dendera its figure is shown standing on an outstretched serpent.

Consecutive holidays are a string of holidays taken together without working days in between. For the same reason the Sphinx is said to have been sculptured with Leo's body and the head of the adjacent Virgo, although Egyptologists maintain that this head represented one of the early kings, or the god Harmachis. "Legal holiday" is not a term used outside the United States. Pliny wrote that the Egyptians worshipped the stars of Leo because the rise of their great river was coincident with the Sun's entrance among them. "Public Holiday" is the term used in Australia and "Bank Holiday" in the UK, although some industries in the UK work through Bank Holidays. The adoption of this animal's form for the zodiac sign has been attributed to the fact that when the Sun was among its stars in midsummer the lions of the desert left their accustomed haunts for the banks of the Nile, where they could find relief from the heat in the waters of the inundation. Public holidays can be either religious, in which case they reflect the dominant religion in a country, or secular, in which case they are usually political or historical in character. In Euphratean astronomy it was additionally known as Gisbar-namru-sa-pan, variously translated, but by Bertin, as the Shining Disc which precedes Bel, "Bel" being our Ursa Major, or in some way intimately connected therewith.

A public holiday or legal holiday is a holiday endorsed by the state. The Persians called it Ser or Shir; the Turks, Artan; the Syrians, Aryo; the Jews, Arye; and the Babylonians, Aru — all meaning a lion. . But Manilius had it Jovis et Junonis Sidus (Star of Jove and Juno), as being under the guardianship of these deities, perhaps appropriately considering its regal character, especially that of its lucida.
. Bacchi Sidus (Star of Bacchus) was another of its titles, the god always being identified with this animal, and its shape the one often adopted by him in his numerous transformations, while a lion's skin was his frequent dress. A holiday can also be a special day on which school and/or offices are closed, such as Labor Day. Ovid wrote it as Herculeus Leo and Violentus Leo.

In Canada and the United States, a Holiday is a day set aside by a nation or culture (in some cases, multiple nations and cultures) typically for celebration but sometimes for some other kind of special culture-wide (or national) observation or activity. Early Hindu astronomers knew it as Asleha and as Sinha, the Tamil Simham but later, influenced by Greece and Rome, as Leya or Leyaya, from the word Leo, as the Romans commonly called it. However, some Canadians (especially those of English or Irish decent) will use both the terms vacation and holiday interchangeably when referring to a trip away from home or time off work. Leo contains many bright galaxies, of which the twins (Spiral Galaxy M65, Spiral Galaxy M66) and (Spiral Galaxy M95, Spiral Galaxy M96) are the most famous. "I'm going on holiday to Malta next week"), the North American equivalent being "vacation". [1]. In most of the English-speaking world a holiday is also a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation (e.g. Gliese 436, a faint star in Leo about 33 light years away from the Sun, is orbited by one of the smallest extrasolar planets ever found.

The word has evolved in general usage to mean any special day. The star Wolf 359, one of the nearest stars to Earth's solar system (7.7 light-years), is in Leo. Based on the words holy and day -, holidays originally represented special religious days. A former asterism representing the tuft of the lion's tail has since become its own constellation, Coma Berenices. The word holiday has related but different meanings in English-speaking countries. These stars represent the head and the mane of the lion. Native: "Columbus Day!". Regulus, η Leonis, and γ Leonis, together with the fainter stars ζ Leo (Adhafera), μ Leo (Ras Elased Borealis), and ε Leo (Ras Elased Australis), make up the asterism known as the Sickle.

Columbus: "Oh? Why?". Many other fainter stars have been named as well, such as δ Leo (Zosma), θ Leo (Chort), κ Leo (Al Minliar al Asad ), λ Leo (Alterf), and (ο Leo (Subra). Banks closed.". This constellation contains many bright stars, such as Regulus (α Leonis), the lion's heart; Denebola (β Leonis); and γ¹ Leonis (Algieba). Native: "You out of luck today. . Tax Freedom Day (calculated by dividing the tally of all taxes collected in each year by a tally of all income, and applying it to the calendar). Leo lies between dim Cancer to the west and Virgo to the east.

Sinkie Day (The Day After Thanksgiving). Leo (Latin for lion, symbol , Unicode ♌) is a constellation of the zodiac. Flying Spaghetti Monsterism Holy Day (every Friday). ISBN 0393312364. Blame Someone Else Day (first Friday the 13th of the year). Norton & Company. Christmahanukwanzakah (the holiday season in general, a holiday made out of a marketing campaign invented by Virgin Mobile during the 2004 holiday season.). W.

Festivus (23 December). Liungman, W. Mole Day (23 October). Dictionary of Symbols, by Carl G. Brick Day (15 October). ISBN 0486210790. October Fool's Day (1 October) (Southern Hemisphere version of April Fool's Day). Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning, by Richard Allen Hinckley, Dover.

Ask a Stupid Question Day (28 September). (1/κ Leo) 4.47 Al Minliar al Asad. International Talk Like a Pirate Day (19 September). (78/ι Leo) 4.00 Tsze Tseang

Pi Approximation Day (22 July). Evoloterra (20 July celebrates the first manned Moon Landing). X-Day (5 July in the Church of the SubGenius). Bloomsday (16 June based on James Joyce's novel Ulysses).

No Pants Day (first Friday of May). 24-hour Comics Day (24 April). Towel Day (25 May) (a tribute to the late Douglas Adams). International Cannabis Day (20 April).

Pi Day (14 March). International Dadaism Month (4 February, 1 April, 28 March, 15 July, 2 August, 7 August, 16 August, 26 August, 18 September, 22 September, 1 October, 17 October, 26 October). Wintereenmas (25 January through 31 January). Paper Hat Day (4 January).

Holidays originating in ancient Latvia. Sweetest Day (third Saturday in October, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan in the United States). Queen's Day (30 March in the Netherlands). Pioneer Day (24 July in Utah, United States).

Patriot's Day (third Monday in April in Massachusetts and Maine, United States). Mother-in-Law's Day (fourth Sunday in October, where?). Martin Luther King Day (third Monday in January in the United States). Loyalty Day (1 May in the United States).

Lee-Jackson-King Day (20 January) Combined holiday celebrated in the Commonwealth of Virginia from 1984 to 2000. Independence day (observed by many different countries at different dates). Labour Day (Many European countries celebrate Labour Day on May 1). Labor Day (a United States federal holiday that takes place on the first Monday of September).

Groundhog Day (2 February in United States and Canada). Grandparent's Day (Sunday after September Labor Day - proclaimed in the United States by Jimmy Carter in 1978). Flag Day (14 June in the United States). Boxing Day (26 December in the Commonwealth of Nations).

International Women's Day (8th of March, particularly in Eastern European Countries). United Nations holidays. Halloween (31 October). Father's Day (third Sunday in June; 19 March, others; 8 August, Republic of China).

World Ocean Day (8 June). Mother's Day (second Sunday in May in North America, fourth Sunday in Lent in UK). Labour Day, Worker's Day or May Day (1 May, most countries - United States and Canada are prominent exceptions). Earth Day (22 April).

April Fool's Day (1 April). Astronomy Day (date varies depending on cycle of Moon). Leap Day (29 February, every four years). Valentine's Day (14 February).

Perihelion (3-6 January, depending on year and location). Happy Winter. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Solstice.

Happy New Year. Happy Kwanzaa. Joyous Yule. Happy Holiday(s).

Season's Greetings. Happy Hanukkah. Merry Christmas (sometimes referenced in Spanish or French as Feliz Navidad and Joyeux Noel). Preceded by New Year's Eve on 31 December, which is celebrated with festivities in anticipation of New Year's Day.

New Year's Day - (1 January) — Holiday observing the first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. In many European countries it is also a holiday, called St Stephen's Day or the second day of Christmas. Boxing Day (26 December) — Holiday observed in many Commonwealth countries on 26 December. It was created in 1966.

Kwanzaa (USA) - (26 December - 1 January) — Holiday observance held from December 26 to January 1 honoring African-American heritage, primarily in the United States. Christmas is also celebrated as a secular gift-giving holiday; other observances include the decoration of trees and houses. Christmas Day - (25 December) — Christian holiday commemorating the traditional birth-date of Jesus. Hanukkah - (26 Kislev - 2/3 Tevet - almost always in December) — Jewish holiday celebrating the defeat of Seleucid forces who had tried to prevent Israel from practising Judaism, and also celebrating the miracle of the Menorah lights burning for eight days with only enough (olive) oil for one day.

It is celebrated by many as a secular holiday, and marks the beginning of the American "holiday season". It is traditionally celebrated with a meal shared among friends and family in which turkey is eaten. Thanksgiving - (fourth Thursday in November in USA, second Monday in October in Canada) — Holiday generally observed as an expression of gratitude, traditionally to God, for the autumn harvest. Birth of Bahá'u'lláh.

Birth of the Báb. Martyrdom of the Báb. Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh. Declaration of the Báb.

12th Day of Ridvan. 9th Day of Ridvan. 1st Day of Ridván. Naw Ruz (Bahá'í New Year).

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). Tu Bishvat (New year of the trees). Tisha B'Av. Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles).

Shavuot (Pentecost). Rosh Hashanah (New Year). Purim (Based on the events in the Biblical book of Esther). Passover.

Lag Ba'omer. Hanukkah (also: Chanukah; the Festival of Lights). Ramadan. Festival of Muharram.

Eid ul-Adha, Greater Bairam. Eid ul-Fitr, Lesser Bairam