The word ‘holiday’ comes
from an Old English word meaning ‘holy day’. In non-American English, being ‘on
holiday’ means traveling, or ‘vacation’. I couldn’t find reliable information
about this difference.
In the United States, a federal holiday is one which
has been officially designated by the government. Any employee of a governmental
agency, such as libraries and the post office, has a paid day off work. Non-government
employers are not required to close their offices but many do because of
tradition and/or patriotism.
Below is a list of the ten federal holidays along with
their purposes, origins, and perhaps some of my own snarky comments.
I will soon add popular non-federal holidays, like Saint Patrick’s and Valentine’s, as well as religious ones such as Passover and Eid al-Adha.
For now, enjoy the federal list!
NEW YEAR’S DAY
(January
1st)
Known as the Julian calendar, it remained for about
1627 years but was replaced with the Gregorian calendar, which has been in use
since Pope Gregory XIII introduced it in 1582 C.E.
Many other calendars have been implemented throughout
history and modern times but this system is the most-utilized one worldwide, largely
because of European colonization.
Some alternate calendars include the Hebrew version,
which places us in 5779, the number of years since Creation. In this system, there
are no set day lengths but Sun-up for day, Sun-down for night. Nice idea,
though Jews close to the north and south poles must have some pretty funky days
to contend with.
The Islamic calendar begins when Muhammad and his
followers established the first Muslim community in what is now Medina, Saudi
Arabia. This occurred in Gregorian year 622, but the Islamic calendar has about
ten less days, so their current year is 1440, adding one each August.
The Chinese do not keep track of years. According to
legend, Emperor Huangdi invented the calendar in 2637 B.C.E. (Gregorian)
and it has been running in cycles of 60 since. Writing this in September of 2020
(Gregorian), the current Chinese year is Geng-Zi, or the Year Of The Rat. The
Chinese celebrate their new year for a week in late January (again, Gregorian).
Before the use of Common Era (C.E.) got
popular, years were known as A.D., which was an abbreviation for the
Latin phrase Anno Domini, the year of
our lord. The year in question was however many had passed since Jesus of
Nazareth was born. Throw a few popes into the mix and you've absolutely got a
religious holiday, with Jesus rarely being mentioned.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY
(third Monday in January)
King’s birthday was January 15th but is observed on the third Monday in January because of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved some holidays from exact dates to create more three-day weekends for federal employees. The act was passed before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day existed but its precedent was used once the holiday was established.
WASHINGTON'S DAY
(third Monday in February)
Also, Washington did not have wooden teeth. That myth likely
came from the staining of his dentures, which were made of ivory and other
materials. And he never chopped down a cherry tree nor confessed to doing so. The
story was invented by one of his biographers because the public wanted
interesting anecdotes about the leader.
MEMORIAL DAY
(last
Monday in May)
Originally called Decoration Day, the concept had
Americans all over the country decorating soldiers’ graves with flowers and
flags. Inspired by this, Waterloo, New York, has been named the birthplace of
Memorial Day because residents were the first to decorate annually.
For many people, this day and its preceding weekend mark
the unofficial beginning of Summer, prompting some to visit a beach.
INDEPENDENCE DAY
(July
4th)
John Hancock was the first of 56 men to sign the Declaration
Of Independence and the only one to do so on the 4th. Everybody else
added their signatures by August 2nd.
If July 4th falls on a weekend, the
following Monday is declared a public holiday, which is why you sometimes see (observed)
after holidays on calendars.
Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson co-wrote
the Declaration Of Independence and died on July 4th, 1826 – exactly
50 years after the document’s adoption.
LABOR DAY
(first
Monday in September)
The person who proposed Labor Day is not known for
sure but it was first planned by the Central Labor Union in New York City.
As people call Memorial Day the unofficial start of
Summer, Labor Day is often referred to as the unofficial end.
The expression about not wearing white after Labor Day
has to do with wealthy people putting light-colored clothes away after Summer
vacation. Those who could not afford such a retreat would pretend to be rich by
not wearing white. The notion was part of a list made by high-society women so
they would not associate with people of “lesser” classes.
Although Labor Day happens on a seemingly random
Monday, the day was approved when it was made a federal holiday and not decades
later by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.
COLUMBUS DAY
(second
Monday in October)
Though all federal employees do not have work, Columbus
Day is not recognized in 14 states. Four call it Indigenous People’s Day, one Native
American Day, and it is known as Discoverer’s Day in Hawaii. The rest of the
states simply ignore the holiday and who it represents.
There is also a movement to instead honor Leif
Erikson, the peaceful Norse explorer who was actually the first European to
settle in the region. The United States honored Erikson by giving a statue of
him to Iceland, which is in front of their famous Hallgrímskirkja church in the
capital city of Reykjavík. The day in October, however, still endorses the Italian.
The goal of Columbus’s voyage was to find a trade
route between Europe and Asia. Europeans at the time did not know continental
land masses and the Pacific Ocean were in the way, though Vikings established
colonies in what are now Greenland and Canada more than 500 years earlier.
For some mean-sounding but factual things about
Columbus, he missed being the first European in the New World by hundreds of
years, he never set foot in what would become the United States, Italy (and
England and Portugal and France) did not support his exploration and Spain did
only after his second appeal, he (perhaps accidentally) began the Atlantic
slave trade, and he enslaved the Taino people of Hispaniola (now the island
containing Haiti and the Dominican Republic), killing them off with brutal
treatment, disease, or both. That last bit resulted in his arrest and title of
Governor being stripped. He also referred to the natives as Indians even after
it was known he did not land in India.
Columbus undoubtedly contributed to civilization by bridging
Europe and the New World. Too bad he chose to be a selfish murderer instead of
the heroic adventurer many of us have been taught to believe he was.
VETERANS DAY
(November
11th)
It was formerly called Armistice Day, which meant the
day of a war-ending truce.
Canada, Belgium, Australia, and the United Kingdom (allies
of the U.S. in WW1) honor their veterans on or around November 11th
and call it Remembrance Day. France (also an ally) still refers to it as
Armistice Day.
No apostrophe is used in the name because officials
felt the day should honor all who served, not any specific person or group.
THANKSGIVING
(fourth
Thursday in November)
There is no record of what was eaten during the 3-day
period in 1621, but foods likely included ducks, shellfish, and berries. The
current tradition of turkey was brought about by a movement promoting the bird
because it lives exclusively in North America. Other foods often eaten include delicious
stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie.
Some people of Native American heritage refer to
Thanksgiving as a day of mourning because traditional stories show Europeans
and Natives getting along while omitting years of bloody conflicts.
Canada has celebrated Thanksgiving, which is on a
Monday in early October, since 1578. The American version of the holiday represents
Pilgrims and religion while Canadians focus on being thankful for a good
harvest.
The day after Thanksgiving has come to be called Black
Friday. Many retailers offer big discounts at their stores, beginning early in
the morning or, more recently, the night before.
CHRISTMAS
(December
25th)
Jesus’s birth was not originally given attention (since
celebrating birthdays was considered a Pagan idea) until the 300s, when Pope
Julius I dedicated December 25th to honor that event. Religious and
secular scholars have said this was likely not the actual birthday of Jesus
because the Bible does not give a date but mentions livestock being herded,
which is not normally done in Winter.
There are many theories about the date, but it was
likely chosen to divert the public’s attention from centuries-old holidays around
that time of year, namely Yule and Saturnalia.
Before Jesus was around, Scandinavians observed Yule, which
celebrated more Sunlight on Winter days beginning on December 21st,
the Winter solstice. They would burn logs while feasting, and that’s where the
term ‘Yule log’ comes from.
In ancient Rome, Saturnalia – a period of hedonism (pleasure
and chaos) to honor the agricultural god Saturn – was celebrated for a month
starting the week before Winter solstice. During this time, the birth of an
important Sun-god called Mithra was observed on December 25th. Though
celebrating Saturnalia was outlawed when Christianity became popular, many
places promoted hedonism by having the wealthy cater to “lower” classes of
society around the same time period.
Americans rejected English ways of celebrating
Christmas and adopted a family-centered model, often credited to author Washington
Irving of Rip Van Winkle and Sleepy Hollow fame. At the same
time, children were becoming more important parts of society, so the idea of
giving them presents on Christmas became a new tradition.
Santa Claus was likely inspired by Saint Nicholas, a
Turkish man who gave away his wealth and helped people who were less fortunate.
In Dutch, he is known as Sinter Klaas, which became the English-language name
Santa Claus. A poem from 1822 describes Saint Nicholas as a jolly man who flies
around the world giving toys to children, and an 1881 cartoon by Thomas Nast gives
the first image of Santa with a big beard wearing red. The poem also mentions flying
reindeer, though I’ll save the sad story about Rudolph’s creation for another
time.
Christmas has been banned in the past, notably by
Protestant Puritans and in Nazi Germany.
Controversy has happened recently in the U.S. because there
are plenty of people who celebrate something other than Christmas or nothing at
all. Some favor a more-inclusive expression while traditionalists somehow find
that idea offensive.
Happy Holidays, everyone.
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