View Full Version : Specific national holidays
Today we, in Czechia, celebrate foundation of the first republic of Czechoslovakia in 1918.
Therefore we have national holiday and I wonder what are other countries' special national holidays.
Apart from "international" holidays: New Year (January 1st), Easter (Easter monday) and Christmass (December 24th-26th) we also celebrate these:
May 1st (Workers' day)
May 8th (End of WWII)
July 5th (Arrival of Saint Cyril and Methodius to Greater Moravia in 863)
July 6th (Day when Jan Hus - Czech Chrch reformator - was burned in Constanz in 1415)
September 28th (St. Venceslaus holiday - our national patron's day - traditional date of noble councils in Bohemia since 10th century - abandoned in 1940-2000)
October 28th (1st republic of Czechoslovakia was proclaimed in Prague)
November 17th - Day of fight for Freedom and Democracy (against Nazism and Communism) - the most modern holiday - in memory of 2 massacred student demonstrations in 1939 - when Czech universities were closed by the Nazis - and 1989 - the start and symbol of the Velvet revolution against Communism.
Happy birthday, Czechoslovakia!!!
Oh, congrats and a happy holiday then! ;)
For Bulgaria, the official ones I remember are:
3th of March (National Liberation Day; 3rth of March 1878 - the signing of the San Stefano preliminary peace treaty putting an end to the Russian-Turkish Liberation war)
1st of May (Worker's day, i.e. no work then ;) )
6th of May (St. George's day, patron of soldiers, farmers etc, Day of Valour and of the army, biggest namesday and most of all - roasted lambs and army parades)
24th of May ("Day of the Bulgarian education and culture and the Slavonic literature", although most people think it's St. Cyril and Methodius day (which is on the 11th of May))
6th of September (Unification day, 6th of Sept. 1885 - the official unification of Eastern Rumelia with the Principality of Bulgaria)
22nd of September (Independence day, 22nd of Sept. 1908 - official declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire)
1st of November (Day of the leaders of the Bulgarian National Revival - the men who "woke up the Bulgarian people" and helped in the fight for church and national independence, i.e. revolutionaries and men of culture and religion)
JarlFrank
28 Oct 2008, 20:03
3rd of October - German Unification Day
20th of April - Hitler's Birthday, was a national holiday in the Third Reich :p
That's the only ones I know. I guess we don't really have many national holidays, either, only the one I said. Most others are traditional catholic or protestant holidays. We definitely need more holidays :p
I guess there's also Day of Work, but dunno when the date of this one is.
Richard
28 Oct 2008, 21:49
20th of April - Hitler's Birthday, was a national holiday in the Third Reich :p
Wait, are you saying it still is a holiday in germany? o.O
Hmm, in US If I remember correctly
3rd Monday in Jan: Martin Luther King Day
3rd Monday in Feb: Presidents Day and Washington's Birthday
January 20: Inauguration Day every 4 years
Last Monday in May: Memorial Day
July 4: Independence Day
1st monday in Sept: Labor Day
2nd monday in Oct: Columbus Day
November 11: Veterans' Day
4th thursday in Nov: Thanksgiving Day
20th of April - Hitler's Birthday, was a national holiday in the Third Reich :p
Wait, are you saying it still is a holiday in germany? o.O
No it certainly isn't. As he already said, it was in the Third Reich, but it's not in modern Germany.
20th of April - Hitler's Birthday, was a national holiday in the Third Reich :p
Wait, are you saying it still is a holiday in germany? o.O
Hmm, in US If I remember correctly
3rd Monday in Jan: Martin Luther King Day
3rd Monday in Feb: Presidents Day and Washington's Birthday
January 20: Inauguration Day every 4 years
Last Monday in May: Memorial Day
July 4: Independence Day
1st monday in Sept: Labor Day
2nd monday in Oct: Columbus Day
November 11: Veterans' Day
4th thursday in Nov: Thanksgiving Day
Just to add a little description of these days.
Martin Luther King day is to commemorate this very important civil rights activist and is on his birthday in January but celebrated on the 3rd Monday.
Presidents Day is actually fairly new. Originally we celebrated Lincoln's(Pres. during Civil War when Union was preserved) birthday on the 12th of February and Washington's(1st US Pres.) birthday on the 22nd of February. They were combined to make only one holiday and they call it Presidents Day.
Memorial Day is to commemorate US's fallen soldiers from all wars.
Independence Day is to celebrate the day the US declared their Independence from England.
Labor Day is our Work Day and is supposed to be a holiday for our laborers/workers.
Columbus Day selebrates Columbus' discovery of America.
Veterans' Day is a holiday to honor US war veteran's
Thanksgiving Day is the day we give thanks for the harvest.
And to add some ithers:
Valentines Day - February 14th The day to show special people in your lifr that they are special, typically a celebration day for lovers. This one may be an international holiday,
Mother's Day - 2nd Sunday in May A day to honor our Mothers
Father's Day - 3rd Sunday in June A day to honor our Fathers
Grandparents Day - 2nd or 3rd Sunday in September A day to honor our grandparents.
And those may all be international as well, I was not sure.
The one day I can think of right now is the 5th of May. Here in the Netherlands it's the day we celebrate the liberation from the Germans at the end of WWII (bevrijdingsdag).
We also have international day's like Work Day (dag van de arbeid) and Animals' Day (dierendag), the 4th of October.
Also there is Queen's Day, the 30th of April, (koninginnedag), which was the birthday of our previous Queen, Juliana. It might become King's Day when Willem-Alexander takes the throne.
And those may all be international as well, I was not sure.
St Patty's Day gives people another reason to drink & drive.....http://bestsmileys.com/drinking/2.gif
Mathyas Rex
4 Nov 2008, 20:44
Nice thread, a little history won`t hurt nobody, eh. ;)
Hungarians only have 3 official national holidays (I think)
15th of March - Outbrake of the revolution of 1848 evolving into a war of independence lasting until late 1849.
23rd of October - The Day of the Republic, memorial of the 1956 Revolution.
20th of August - St. Stephen's day, Foundation of State. St. Stephen organized the Kingdom of Hungary, becoming the first hungarian king in 1000.
Nice thread, a little history won`t hurt nobody, eh. ;)
Be careful what you wish for, I'm still here! ;)
Just kidding, don't worry, I'm just kidding! :p
Well, let's see, New Year is on 1st AND 2nd january, it's cause we don't like to work. Also, workers' day is on 1st and 2nd may, we REALLY don't like to work. :D Christmas is on 7th january and specific holidays are:
27th january - St. Sava's day
15th february - National day. In 1804. the First Serbian uprising started and in 1935. the first Serbian constitution was made.
9th may - Victory day (WWII)
28th june - St. Vitus' day (Vidovdan). Apparently, important stuff keeps happening on this day:
* on June 28, 1389, the Ottoman Empire fought against Serbia in the Battle of Kosovo, and Serbian Prince Lazar was slain in battle. Ottoman Sultan Murad I was killed by Serbian knight Miloš Obilić.
* on June 28, 1914 the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian crown prince, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, triggers the First World War.
* on June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending World War I.
* on June 28, 1921, the Serbian King Alexander I of Yugoslavia proclaimed the new Constitution of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, known thereafter as the Vidovdan Constitution (Vidovdanski ustav).
* on June 28, 1948, the Cominform published, on the initiative of its Soviet delegates Zhdanov, Malenkov and Suslov, in a "Resolution on the State of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia" their condemnation of the Yugoslavian communist leaders - this happening is seen as the date that marks the final split between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.
* on June 28, 1989, — the 600th anniversary of the battle of Kosovo — Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević delivered the Gazimestan speech at the site of the historic battle.
* on June 28, 2001, former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milošević was deported to The Hague to stand trial.
* on June 28, 2006, Montenegro was announced as the 192nd member state of the United Nations.
And, depending on your religion, you get a free day for slava, 25th december (catholic christmas), ramadan etc.