HOLIDAYS

It was first celebrated in 1934. The date marks the key victory in the 1919 Battle of Võnnu (near Cesis, Latvia) when the Estonians and their allies defeated German forces who were seeking to re-establish Baltic-German control over the region.

The battle was part of the 1918-1920 Estonian War of Independence, a sovereignty struggle resulting as part of the fall out of World War I when the main adversary of the then newly independent Estonia was Russia. The war was won by Estonia, resulting in the Treaty of Tartu.

Today, Victory Day serves as a day of remembrance to commemorate the contributions of all Estonians in their struggle to regain and retain their independence.

Victory Day is followed by the Midsummer Day (St, John’s Day) celebrations on June 24th.

John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) was a Venetian explorer and navigator. Inspired by Columbus’ recent voyages to the west, Cabot received funding from Henry VII of England to explore for new lands in 1496. Cabot made his first expedition in the summer of 1496, leaving from Bristol, England, but he ran into bad weather and short of supplies, he turned back to England.

The second expedition left Bristol on 2 May 1497 in a ship called ‘Matthew’ and made landfall somewhere on the coast of North America on 24 June 1497 (St. John’s Day). This discovery marked the first Europeans to set foot on the North American continent since the Vikings in the 11th century.

Though historians have argued where exactly Cabot made landfall, in 1997 the Canadian and UK governments designated Cape Bonavista in Newfoundland as the official place of Cabot’s landing.

Discovery Day had been a statutory holiday from 1962 until 1992, when it was removed from the Shops Closing Act.

Since 1997, Discovery Day has also been known as Cabot 500 Day marking the 500th anniversary of the discovery.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the longest night of the year takes place on June 21st, the winter solstice. Since ancient times, knowledge of the changing seasons was vital to farmers in the region. No more so, than in the harsh highlands of the Andes. The winter solstice marked a welcome end to Winter and also the start of the new agricultural season.

The word Solstice comes from the Latin ‘solstitium’ meaning ‘Sun stands still’ because the movement of the Sun’s path north or south appears to stop before changing direction

At key places such as Tiwanaku, the imposing megalithic structures are said to have been designed with astronomical dates in mind, such as the Gate of the Sun, whose markings are meant to represent the solstices and equinoxes. Even today, the ruins at Tiwanaku is the main venue for marking the solstice with thousands of Bolivians and tourists coming to see the early morning sunrise on June 21st.

The new declaration of the new holiday has not been without its opponents. Only 20% of the population of Bolivia would be considered ethnically Aymaran, so it has been questioned as to why the whole country, consisting of over 30 ethnic groups, gets a holiday to mark this regional cultural event. Others have pointed out that there is little evidence that the Aymarans celebrated the winter solstice.

As Aymara New Year a national holiday, all public and private institutions, companies and schools will be closed on this day.

The national flag of Argentina dates from 1812. It is a triband, with three equally wide horizontal bands of light blue, white and light blue. In 1818, a ‘ Sun of May’ was added to the center.

The flag with the sun is the Official Ceremonial Flag. The flag without the sun is considered to be the Ornamental Flag. While both versions can be said to be the national flag, the ornamental version must always be hoisted below the Official Ceremony Flag.

During the Argentine War of Independence General Belgrano was leading a battle near Rosario. He noticed that both the Crown’s forces and the independence forces were using the same colors (Spain’s yellow and red).

After realizing this, Belgrano created a new flag using the colors that were used by the Criollos during the May Revolution in 1810.

Though Argentina has one of the most recognizable national flags, the original flag was quite different from the current one: it had two vertical stripes, one blue and the other one white.

The flag was first flown, on February 27th 1812, on the Batería Libertad, by the Paraná River.

On January 1st 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared the end of slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation. Two and half years later, and two months after the end of the Civil War, Union troops arrived in Galveston on June 19th 1865 to find that news of the proclamation had not yet reached Galveston and that people were still being held as slaves in Texas.

The leader of the Union Troops, General Gordon Granger then formally announced the emancipation from the balcony of the former Confederate Army headquarters.

Granger’s order was based loosely on Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. (The Thirteenth Amendment, which made slavery unconstitutional, wasn’t ratified until December 6, 1865.) The order first declared that the formerly enslaved were free based on “absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property” between Black people and those who had presumed legal ownership of them.

The reason why the news about the emancipation took so long to reach Texas is subject to speculation. One theory is that the messenger who was originally sent with the news had been killed before he reached Texas. A more likely scenario is that the local slave owners simply held onto the information, ignoring the emancipation order.

This day is a public holiday in most Islamic countries and this year’s date for New Year in each country along with the name of the day in that country is shown in the table of countries to the right.

Islamic New Year represents the starting point of the Muslim era as it coincides with the Hijrah, the Prophet’s journey from Mecca to Medina on the first of Muharram in 622 CE.

Prophet Mohammed needed to relocate because somebody had intentions to execute him. Consequently, the Prophet chose to go to a town known as Yathrib, some 320 km north of Mecca. Yathrib is known today as Medina, in modern-day Saudi Arabia, which translates to ‘the city’.

Hijrah gave freedom from suffering for the Muslims in Mecca. When the Prophet emigrated to Medina, Muslims there were indirectly saved from further persecution by the Meccan pagans. 

After the Hijrah, it was then declared by the Prophet in the Constitution of Medina that Muslims are a universal brotherhood with a unique identity in faith and ideology.

Umar ibn Al-Khattab, a close companion of Prophet Muhammad and the second caliph, subsequently adopted Hijrah as the reference point for the Islamic calendar, either in 638 CE or 639 CE. 

The customs of Awal Muharram vary from country to country, though they generally involve attending various religious activities, spiritual singing and religious meetings. The traditions and customs for Muharram also vary between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

For both, the marking of the beginning of the new year is usually quiet, unlike New Year’s celebrations associated with other calendars. It is a time for Muslims to reflect on the passing of time and their own mortality. 

Iceland was proclaimed an independent republic on June 17th 1944.

Iceland actually gained independence from Denmark much earlier, on December 1st 1918 with the signing of the Act of Union with Denmark. The Act recognised Iceland as an independent state under the Danish crown.

The formation of the republic in 1944 was based on a clause in the 1918 Act which allowed for a change to the relationship between Iceland and Denmark in 1943.

Due to the German occupation of Denmark in 1943, a vote on the revision to the Act was delayed until after the Second World War finished.

The referendum was held in at the end of May 1944. Voters were asked whether the Union with Denmark should be abolished and whether to adopt a new republican constitution. Both measures were approved with more than 98% in favour and a voter turnout of 98.4%.

Although he would have preferred a different outcome in the referendum, King Christian X of Denmark sent a letter on June 17th 1944 congratulating Icelanders on forming their Republic.

The June 17th date was already a significant date in Iceland’s history as it is the birthday of Jón Sigurdsson who was the leader of the 19th century Icelandic independence movement which led to the 1918 Act of Union. Sigurdsson died in Copenhagen in 1879.

June 17th, was therefore chosen as Iceland’s National Holiday as a fitting date to mark the Independence from Denmark, the proclamation of the Icelandic republic and to recognize Jón Sigurdsson’s efforts toward Icelandic independence.

The day has been a legal public holiday since 1971, though it had been a tradition for most employers to give their workers a day off since 1945.

Awal Muharram, the beginning of the new Hijrah year, is a historic occasion for Muslims around the world.

While traditions for Awal Muharram will vary from country to country, it is a public holiday in most Islamic countries, including Malaysia. 

Awal Muharram is also known as Maal Hijrah in Malaysia.

To mark Awal Muharram, Muslims attend various religious activities, spiritual singing, religious meetings throughout the country. They recite Koranic verses and hold special prayers and sermons at public halls and mosques.

A popular Awal Muharram treat is a sweet rice porridge, called Bubur Asyura, which is eaten at breakfast together with friends and relatives.

The Islamic New Year represents the starting point of the Muslim era when Prophet Muhammad left Mecca for Medina to escape persecution in 622 CE. 

The essence of Prophet Muhammad’s emigration was a process to change one’s situation and as such, the focus of the festival is on reflection, remembrance and gratitude. 

The arrival of the Hijrah year is seen as a time to make or renew resolutions. If the past year has been unproductive, Muslims must try to make this year constructive in every sense of the word. For those who led a meaningful life last year, then the aim this year is to be even better. 

To mark the occasion, a ‘Tokoh Ma’al Hijrah’ is awarded to a Muslim personality to honour their contribution to Islam.

The full title of the holiday is ‘The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus’. In Spanish, it is known as ‘El Sagrado Corazón de Jesús’. 

In the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church it is a feast day 19 days after Pentecost and the second Friday after Corpus Christi. Like other holidays in Colombia that are based on a Catholic event, the holiday is celebrated on the Monday after the actual date. 

The Feast of the Sacred Heart is devoted to the physical heart of Jesus as a symbol of his divine love for all humanity. 

The devotion to the Sacred Heart developed in the middle ages out of worship to the scared wounds that Jesus received during his crucifixion. The devotion became more widespread in the seventeenth century when a French nun, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque said she learnt of the devotion from Jesus during several apparitions. The devotion to the Sacred Heart then spread across Spain due to the work of the Jesuits. This meant that the Spanish brought this tradition to their colonisation of Latin America. 

In 1902, Colombia was officially consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and this remained in the constitution until 1991.

Sunday 14 June Liberation Day in Falkland Islands

On April 2nd 1982, Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands. Argentina asserted that the islands are Argentine territory.

Three days later, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands.

The conflict lasted just over ten weeks and ended with an Argentine surrender on June 14th, returning the islands to British control.

In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities.

Saint Anthony of Padua (August 15th 1195 – June 13th 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and Franciscan friar who became a saint in 1232 and was made a Doctor of the Church in 1946.

Also known as Anthony of Lisbon, he is the patron saint of Portugal as well as the patron saint of people who lose things and of children.

St. Anthony of Padua was born in Lisbon, Portugal to a wealthy family; his father was a captain in the Royal army. He was ordained as a priest and became inspired after meeting five Franciscan friars who were on their way to Muslim Morocco to preach the Gospel. A few months later he discovered that the monks were martyred and he joined the Franciscan order to follow in their path, adopting the name of Anthony, after Anthony the Great, who was one of the first monks and noted for his travels in desert lands.

Anthony’s life was changed when he was almost accidentally forced into giving a sermon. This uncovered his great gift for making speeches which led to Saint Francis asking him to travel around Italy preaching the Gospel which he did. He converted many people and became famed for his sermons.

Many miracles are assigned to Saint Anthony and he is often referred to as the ‘The Saint of Miracles’ or ‘the Wonder Worker’.

He was canonized less than a year after his death by Pope Gregory IX on May 30th 1232. This is the second-fastest canonization ever.

Since 1991, this holiday in the world’s largest country has changed its name twice. It was originally called ‘Independence Day’, though it was not a national holiday.

According to some surveys, many Russians still think that this holiday is Russia’s Independence Day, but the holiday has never had such a name in official documents. According to the survey of Levada Center in May 2003, 65% of the respondents named the holiday the Independence Day of Russia.

In 1994 Boris Yeltsin declared it a national holiday. The day was renamed to the catchy ‘Day of the adoption of the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Russian Federation’ with the intention of commemorating the renewed independence of the country, the creation of the post of President, the adoption of the historical national flag, and a new national anthem

On February 1st 2002, it was officially renamed to Russia Day.

THE Spanish tourist board is encouraging Britons to visit this summer for a good chuckle at all those miserable because they cannot be in Dubai.

As thousands of former influencers and the wealth-adjacent are forced to spend summers in a less glamorous location due to an inconvenient war, ordinary people are invited for a cheap holiday in someone else’s misery.

Holidaymaker Mr Hunt, not his real name, said: “You can see them congregating in beachfront cafes, bitching about how low the skyscrapers are or that 30 degrees isn’t hot enough.

“My girlfriend and I settled in next to them, luxuriating in their complaints that you can’t get a decent gold leaf coffee anywhere. It’s so relaxing hearing them fall silent as a Mercedes S-Class goes by, swallowing their bitter regret they’re not in it.”

Ray, not his real name from Venezuela, owner of Inspector Morse-themed bar One More Shot said: “We get them in here, moaning none of the hotel pools are infinite, disappointed their cocktails don’t cost three figures.

“We put an influencer on stage to bitch that she couldn’t hire a gold-plated Lamborghini anywhere so how could she make content and it was harming her hustle. The regulars were in stitches. Far better than the Chubby Brown tribute we’d booked.”

Former Dubai resident Hannah, not her real name, said: “How can it be a holiday without a Prada store? Why has this crowd gathered? What’s schadenfreude? Is it a German watch brand? Are they up for a collab?”

There is some uncertainty as to when King Kamehameha was born with several years between 1736 and 1761 being proposed. What is known is that he was the son of a high chief of a tribe on Hawaii. The name “Kamehameha” means “the lonely one.”

Kamehameha is noted for uniting the Hawaiian Islands in 1810 and becoming Hawaii’s first king. He ruled until his death in 1819.

King Kamehameha I established ‘Ke Kānāwai Māmalahoe’, or Law of the Splintered Paddle, which assured that every man, woman and child would be able to travel safely and in peace, with the right to ‘lie down to sleep by the roadside without fear of harm’. This has become a model for modern human rights for the treatment of civilians during times of war. It comes from an incident when a fisherman hit the King with a paddle during a military expedition. Kamehameha ruled that the fisherman had only been protecting his land and family.

Kamehameha Day was established in 1872 by King Kamehameha V, the great-grandchild of Kamehameha, as a national holiday to honor the memory of Kamehameha.

All state and county offices on the Big Island and throughout the state will be closed on June 11th in observance of the holiday on Kamehameha Day. Public transport may run on a modified schedule.

Since 1901, it has been a tradition to drape leis (Hawaiian floral garlands) from the statues of the King on the islands.

There is also a floral parade that features a young man dressed in a replica of the king’s ceremonial cloak and helmet. Other events include Hawaiian music, dance, and traditional arts and crafts.

Camões wrote Os Lusíadas (The Lusiads), Portugal’s national epic celebrating the country’s history and achievements. While it is only officially celebrated in Portugal, Portuguese descendants across the world may also celebrate the holiday.

The Lusiads focuses on the Portuguese explorations in the 16th century, which greatly expanded the influence of Portugal. The poem is considered to be the most important piece of Portuguese literature and has become a symbol for the glory of the Portuguese nation.

Camões was a colourful character. He lost one eye fighting and was shipwrecked off the coast of present-day Vietnam. According to legend, during the shipwrecking, he kept his epic poem dry by swimming with one arm and keeping the other arm above water.

In the year that Camões died, Portugal lost its independence to Spain and began a period of rule by three generations of Spanish kings. It was over 60 years before the country regained its independence.

For such national days, it is common practice to use a date of birth to mark the national day, but since Camões’ date of birth was not known, the date of his death is celebrated instead.

Portugal Day began to be celebrated in 1880, decreed by King Luís I, who announced a national festival in honour of the 300th anniversary of the death of Luís de Camões.

This holiday marks the anniversary of the autonomous community of La Rioja’s statute being approved on June 9th 1982.

The Spanish autonomous community of La Rioja in northeast Spain is the least populated region of Spain. Historically it formed part of different provinces in the area. It became its own province in 1833, named the Province of Logroño, after the capital town. The province was renamed as La Rioja in 1980.

The region is well known for its red wine, and the region can boast over 500 wineries.

Various events are organised to mark the Day of La Rioja. These include exhibitions of the work of local artists, concerts of modern and traditional music, tastings of traditional dishes and wines (of course), and sports events.

Many people display the flag of their autonomous community during events and on public buildings and private homes. Some people also wear clothes or paint their faces based on the flag’s colours

Tonga is a Polynesian kingdom located in the Pacific Ocean, 1,250 miles north of New Zealand. It is composed of over 170 South Pacific islands, of which only about 36 are inhabited.

In some countries, notably those in the Caribbean, Emancipation Day means the abolition of slavery by the European colonial powers in the early part of the 19th century. Emancipation in Tonga means the abolition of the system of serfdom which had been used by the local chiefs for centuries as a means of forced labour.

On June 4th 1862, Tonga’s first Christian king, George Tupuo I declared the abolition of serfdom in the official emancipation edict as part of his 1862 Code of Laws: 

“All chiefs and people are to all intents and purposes set at liberty from serfdom, and all vassalage, from the institution of this law; and it shall not be lawful for any chief or person, to seize, or take by force, or beg authoritatively, in Tonga fashion, anything from anyone.”

Influenced by Christian missionaries, the abolition was a key milestone in the history of Tonga as it freed commoners from the virtual ownership of chiefs.

Another important event that took place on June 4th is also celebrated on this day.

Tonga became a British protected state under a Treaty of Friendship in May 1900, to fend off European settlers and rival Tongan chiefs who had tried to overthrow the king. This Treaty of Friendship and protected state status expired on June 4th 1970 under arrangements established prior to her death by the third monarch, Queen Sālote.

Malta’s position in the Mediterranean sea has made the islands a strategically important location since classical times, with the islands passing from one ruler to another through the ages.

In 1800, the British had assisted Malta in removing the occupying French forces and the Maltese people had asked to become a sovereign nation in the British Empire. This was ratified in the treaty of Paris in 1815.

Following the end of World War I, tensions had been rising due to the inability of the colonial government to ensure basic supplies to the island. This had led to some merchants being seen to have made a lot of money from the situation, while others fared badly.

Added to this was the feeling that political moves for greater autonomy and independence for Malta were seemingly going unheard.

In early June 1919, a change in the governor of the island was treated with scepticism by some and on June 7th, a crowd started removing British flags from buildings that had been flying at half-mast across the island due to the recent death of the President of the Court.

The mob grew in size and turned their attention to the homes of the merchants who had been doing well from the recent supply issues. It was at one of these houses that a standoff between the mob and the army ended in tragedy with the soldiers firing and killing three protestors and injuring fifty others. The uprising continued for a few days during which time, a fourth civilian died from injuries received while resisting arrest.

The uprising was short-lasting, but the bloody events of June 7th 1919 led to the National Assembly drafting the new Constitution. Two years later, Malta was given responsibility for self-government and home affairs and the first Maltese Parliament was set up.

The Korean War began on June 25th 1950, when troops from Communist-ruled North Korea invaded South Korea. 

There was a boycott of the United Nations by the Soviet Union at the time, and therefore, no veto, which allowed the UN to intervene when it became apparent that the superior North Korean forces would easily take over the entire country. 

The Soviets and the Chinese backed North Korea, with the participation of millions of Chinese troops. After large advances on both sides, the war eventually reached a stalemate. 

The 1953 armistice, never signed by South Korea, split the peninsula along the demilitarized zone near the original demarcation line. 

No peace treaty has ever been signed and technically, the two countries are still at war.

The Korean War was the first war in which a world organization, the United Nations (UN), played a military role and a major challenge for the United Nations, which had come into existence only five years earlier.

Across South Korea, officials and citizens will pray and lay flowers at the graves of the war dead. It is common practice to display the flag of South Korea on the front doors of homes to commemorate the civilians and soldiers who died in war. 

In 1956, South Korea held its first memorial ceremony for soldiers who died in the Korean War. Memorial Day was declared a public holiday on April 19th 1956, just three years after the war ended.

Sir Randol Fawkes was a free trade unionist, civil rights activist and author who had an important impact on the modern Bahamas. Fawkes is often referred to as “the father of Labour” in the Bahamas for the work he did in establishing the trade union movement in The Bahamas.

In 1961, he successfully a bill through the House of Assembly which established Labour Day as a public holiday. Fawkes pushed for a Labour Day Holiday as he thought a day should be set aside and designated as Labour Day as “a fitting memorial to the contributions made by the working people to the progress of the Colony.”

In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the trade union movement and to the country, knighthood was conferred on Sir Randol by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth in 1978.

Sir Randol died in 2000 and in 2013, Senators debated and passed a bill to rename the Labour Day Holiday “The Randol Fawkes Labour Day”.

On this holiday, members of the labour unions from different organizations, as well as political parties, march in a large parade through the streets of downtown Nassau, usually in colourful uniforms. The parade ends at the Southern Recreation Grounds, where union leaders and local politicians deliver speeches.

On Independence Day 2020, Sir Randol Fawkes was awarded the nation’s top honor of the Order of National Hero in the National Honours Awards.

The emergence of Corpus Christi as a Christian feast didn’t happen until the second half of the thirteenth century with the efforts of a nun called Juliana of Liège.

Since childhood, Juliana had been claiming that God had been telling her that there should be a feast day for the Eucharist and eventually she petitioned the Bishop of Liège. In those days bishops could order feasts in their local dioceses. The bishop agreed to the feast and convened a synod in 1246 and ordered that a celebration of Corpus Christi should be held annually.

The Corpus Christi celebration only started to become more widespread after both Juliana and the Bishop had died. In 1264 Pope Urban IV issued the papal bull Transiturus in which Corpus Christi was made a feast throughout the entire Latin Rite. He fixed it for Thursday after the “octave” of Pentecost when only designated celebrations or special feasts were blessed. This feast is celebrated on a Thursday in remembrance of the institution of the Eucharist (the last supper) which takes place on Maundy Thursday, the eve of Jesus’ death on the Cross.

Corpus Christi is primarily a Roman Catholic feast, but it is also acknowledged in the calendar of a few Anglican churches, most notably the Church of England. It is also celebrated by some Western Rite Orthodox Christians. Across many parts of medieval Europe, Corpus Christi was a popular time for the performance of mystery plays.

Along with Lent, Advent, Easter, Pentecost and Christmas, Roman Catholic Bishops have a duty to be present at their cathedrals on Corpus Christi.

From the start of his reign in 1884, King Mwanga had viewed foreign missionaries as the greatest threat to his kingdom and power base. He expelled missionaries and threatened converts to renounce their new faith or face execution.

In total, 23 Anglican and 22 Catholic converts to Christianity were executed between January 31st 1885 and January 27th 1887. On June 3rd 1886, 32 young men were burned to death at Namugongo for their refusal to renounce Christianity. They were a combination of Anglican and Catholic converts.

Mwanga’s actions led to a British backed revolution which overthrew the King in 1888. Mwanga negotiated with the British and in exchange for handing over some of his sovereignty to the British East Africa Company, the British helped reinstate Mwanga to the throne in 1889. After a further spate of double-crossing, he was finally deposed in 1897. While in exile he was converted to an Anglican.

There are Catholic and Anglian shrines to the Martyrs’ close to each other in Namugongo. Each year Martyrs Day attracts millions of pilgrims to the area with many coming from beyond Uganda.

The Catholic Church beatified the 22 Catholic martyrs in 1920 and canonized them as Saints of the universal Church in 1964.

In 2015, Pope Francis visited Namugongo, where he celebrated Holy Mass. Before the Mass, Pope Francis paid homage to the Anglican martyrs at the Anglican shrine.