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This is a federal Canadian Public Holiday observed on the last Monday proceeding 25th May to honour Queen Victoria, who is known as the “Mother of the Confederation”. The holiday has existed since at least 1845, originally on Victoria’s natural birthday, 24th May. It is a federal state holiday, as well as a holiday inContinue reading “Victoria Day”

International Museum Day This day has been celebrated since 1977. The objective is to raise awareness about the fact that “Museums are important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.” Last year over 37,000 museums participated in the event in about 158 countries and territories.Continue reading “Holidays on 18th May”

This is the national day of Norway and is an official public holiday. The Constitution of Norway was signed at Eidsvoll on 17th May 1814. The declaration declared Norway to be an independent kingdom in an attempt to avoid it being ceded to Sweden after Denmark-Norway’s defeat in the Napoleonic Wars. This established an unionContinue reading “Norwegian Constitution Day”

On the evening of 16th-17th May an attack on German dams was carried out by 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command under the codename Operation Chastise. It used special “bouncing bombs” developed by Barnes Wallis to breach the dams Mohne and Edersee which caused catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley and of villages in the EderContinue reading “Dambusters Raid”

16th May celebrates the contribution of light and light-based technologies to various fields and areas of life including arts and culture, education, medicine, communication, science and sustainable development. The day commemorates the anniversary of physicist and engineer Theodore Maiman’s first successful laser operation in 1960. The day is observed by the United Nations and administeredContinue reading “International Day of Light”

The Eurovision Song Contest is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an original song representing its country to be performed and broadcast live to all of them via the Eurovision and Euroradio networks, and then casts votes for the other countries’Continue reading “Eurovision Song Contest”

The independence of Paraguay started on 14th May 1811 after the Revolution of May 14 when a local ruling junta was created. In early 1811 Paraguayan Forces had repeatedly defeated the Argentine army which considered Paraguay to be a break-away province. On 12th October 1813 the Paraguayan Republic was proclaimed. Officially, independence was proclaimed onlyContinue reading “Paraguay Independence Day”

Ascension is celebrated 40 days after Easter by the Christian Church. It is always a Thursday and can be called Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday or Holy Thursday. It commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. Some Christian denominations move it to the following Sunday and call it Ascension Sunday. AscensiontideContinue reading “Ascension”

The feast of Saint Matthias was included in the Roman Calendar in the 11th century and celebrated on the sixth day to the Calends of March (24th February but 25th February in leap years). In the revision of the General Roman Calendar in 1969, his feast was transferred to 14th May, so as not toContinue reading “Matthias the Apostle Feast Day”

The International Council of Nurses has celebrated this day since 1965. In January 1974 the 12th May was chosen to celebrate the day as it is the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Each year the ICN prepares and distributes the International Nurses’ Day Kit, which contains educational andContinue reading “International Nurses Day”