Author Archives: Rob Burroughs

Groundhog Day This day is a popular North American tradition observed in the USA and Canada. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and Winter will persist for six more weeks;Continue reading “Holidays on 2nd February”

International Zebra Day This day was founded by a consortium of conversation organisations, including the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. The goal was to help raise awareness about the zebra’s plight so that they can be preserved and protected. Nauru Independence Day Germany took control of the island in 1888 after 10 yearsContinue reading “Holidays on 31st January”

This day remembers the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust in World War Two, as well as millions of other people killed under Nazi Persecution and in genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. This date was when the largest Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated. The website for the dayContinue reading “Holocaust Memorial Day”

This is the official national day of Australia. It marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet at Port Jackson in New South Wales, and the raising of the British flag at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip. It took a while from the first official celebration in 1808 to 1994 when theContinue reading “Australia Day”

This day honours the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect in 1950 replacing the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India, and turning the nation into a newly formed republic. The Constitution was adopted by the Indian Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949 and came into effectContinue reading “India Republic Day”

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet that wrote many famous poems and songs. He died in 1796 and 5 years after that date a group of his friends got together in his cottage on his birthday on 25th January to remember him. This grew into a tradition that is not only followed in Scotland, butContinue reading “Burns Night”

St Dwynwen’s Day is the Welsh version of Valentine’s Day as the day celebrates St Dwynwen, the Welsh saint of lovers. She lived in the 5th century, where she fell in love with a man called Maelon Dafodrill. They couldn’t be together though as her farther forbade the marriage and had already promised her toContinue reading “St Dwynwen’s Day”

This is a public holiday in Romania celebrated every 24th January to commemorate the unification of the Romanian Principalities (Moldavia and Wallachia), also known as the “Little Union”, on 24th January under prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza. This was considered important as it was considered the first step towards a unitary Romanian state, achieved on 1stContinue reading “Day of the Unification of the Romanian Principalities”

This festival celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. This can also be called the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year. This is a 16 day festival from New Year’s Eve to the 15th day which is the lantern festival. The first day of Chinese New Year begins onContinue reading “Chinese New Year”

Blue Monday is given to a day in January, usually the third Monday of the month, which is said to be the most depressing of the year. This day was first thought of in a 2005 press release from UK travel company Sky Travel. They said they calculated it using an equation taking into accountContinue reading “Blue Monday”