The days and holidays of our lives

Dubai: Happy Skip Work Day to all the readers of Gulf News. Or Happy Kangaroo Dancing Day. On Saturday, you could have called it whatever you want – because it is, after all, officially ‘Make Up Your Own Holiday Day’.

Honestly.

You could call Saturday after any cause, obsession, person or thing you want.

“I make jokes about, ‘Oh, another mattress sale, it must be Presidents’ Day.’ But, in fact, these holidays do generate stories and get some people thinking about presidents or Columbus or whatever the case may be,” University of Virginia political history professor Brian Balogh said. “I understand why people fight hard to have certain days remembered.”

But in March, even though it has 31 days on the calendar, each day is actually dedicated to umpteen different causes.

There’s Mother’s Day, Easter, Water Day and the International Day of Happiness all within the same few weeks — March becomes one of the easiest months to plan a party in.

So if you missed St. Patrick’s Day last week because you were out celebrating Submarine Sandwich Day – also on March 17 — you’re in luck: There really are a lot more events to revel in.

In fact, there are over 20 internationally-recognized commemorative days in March alone, and that doesn’t include the religious or the many smaller or up-and-coming holidays.

One of the newer “Days” of March that has become increasingly popular is National Puppy Day. Founded in 2006 by Colleen Paige, a celebrity pet and home lifestyle author, the day is meant to spread awareness for orphaned pups around the world. And it’s getting more popular – for the past four years’ running, it’s topped Twitter trends. It’s become so popular, in fact that Paige has gone on to create National Dog Day — coming up on August 26 — and National Cat Day. Circle that on your calendar for October 29. Just don’t get it confused with National Feral Cat Day – that’s on October 16.

So how does one go and create a “Day”?

For a truly national holiday to come into existence, it literally has to come from government, either through legislation or a presidential, cabinet or ministerial decree.

If you have a good idea, there’s nothing to stop you from approaching the powers that be — the sky is the limit. National Recycling Day? That could be the start of something. Create a proposal for your holiday suggestion and hopefully it can be heard before too long has passed. If you are determined and patient, who knows how far it can go.

Other “Days” aren’t really holidays but become so through popularity. They can be created by special interest groups, sports teams, companies to raise awareness for their product or idea simply by declaration. While most of these tend to be small, one-time events, some evolve and show up year after year.

American football fans have tried to get some holiday recognition for their beloved pastime as well, as demonstrated by a “We the People” petition from January 2013. This specific commemorative day request asked president Obama to close offices and schools on the Monday after the Super Bowl, to honour “the most popular event in modern American culture.”

Yesterday, you might have been out celebrating World Waffle Day, remember to keep an open mind for some holiday creations of your own.

Days and months across cultures

The days of the week come from the Roman names of the seven planets of classical astronomy, beginning with Sunday (Sun), Monday (Moon), Tuesday, (Mars), Wednesday (Mercury), Thursday (Jupiter), Friday (Venus) and Saturday (Saturn). Additionally, Norse deities are also credited for influencing these names in English.

The months mostly have ties to the Romans too: January (Janus, diety of beginnings and endings), March (Mars, diety of War), May (Maiesta, female diety of honour) and June (female diety of Juno). Two come from Roman ceremonies: February (Februa, the feast of purification) and April (Aprilis, to open). In the cases of July and August, the months are named after Roman emperors Julius and Augustus, respectively. September to December come from numbers, counting upwards from seven to 10.

Ever wondered how Easter is determined?

Easter falls on the first Sunday after or on the first full moon, which comes after the Spring Equinox in the Northern hemisphere and the Autumnal Equinox in the Southern hemisphere, keeping in line with the celebrations from the early days of Christian church.

Orthodox Christians, however, normally celebrate Easter on the Sunday after the Jewish feast of Passover, which falls a week later than Christians who follow the Gregorian calendar.

The Gregorian calendar

Also known as the Western or the Christian calendar, the Gregorian calendar is the most widely used civil calendar around the world. Attributed to Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, the calendar is a refined version of the Julian calendar, allowing for a small correction in the length of the year. In fact, Pope Gregory XIII figured out that the year is closer to 365.24 days per year rather than the former’s 365.44. The reform was motivated by realigning the church’s original Easter dates, which had drifted through the season over time. By the 1700’s, most countries around the world had adopted the Gregorian calendar.

Why does Ramadan change every year?

The date for Ramadan changes every year because the dates are decided by the Islamic calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar. In the Islamic calendar, there are 11 days less compared to the standard calendar. This is because the Islamic calendar measures the date by moon cycle, while the Gregorian measures by the sun.

Joseph Gedeon is an intern with Gulf News.