Since ages, May Day is a crucial point for demonstrations by anarchists, socialists and communists. It was on May 4, 1886 that a bomb blast killed about seven officers and four civilians. The peaceful demonstration by the workers soon turned into a devastating event. After the bomb blast, about eight anarchists were convicted and soon took position in the international headlines. This came to be known as the Haymarket Massacre.

This incident took place in Chicago where many workers were forced to work for 16 hours a day in harmful conditions. The strike in the Haymarket took place as an initiative by the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada who decided to have an eight hour work day which was not successful.

On the day of the strike, about half a million American workers went on strike all over the country. Even though it was a peaceful demonstration, later when the police tried to disperse them, there was use of violence and hence, a bomb was thrown by one of the protestors.

However, the eight-hour work day rule was not recognized in the United States until 1916 when it was made a law. Now, International Workers’ Day on 1st May is celebrated through commemorations to the workers all over the world.

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Dating back to the time that God was conceived, The Holy Father linked the day with Feast of the Annunciation only to honor the day, even though it is not only associated with the Christians but also with pro-life group who celebrates human-life.

There are different ways this day is celebrated around the world. In many churches, they pray Rosary or a Mass is held or there is a holy hour for the unborn. Some groups pray for the mothers and spiritually adopt the unborn children. While many become a part of Rosary processions and marches that are carried out to the abortion clinics. Some raise funds for baby showers for the local pro-life groups or the local pregnancy centers.

In 1999, many other groups like Muslims, Orthodox and the Jewish joined in Buenos Aires. The Knights of Columbus also supported the International Day of the Unborn Child.

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Thanksgiving has religious roots attached to it for it is being celebrated since history. It also has cultural traditions attached to it, even though it is celebrated as a secular holiday. Through few of the documents from early years, it has been proved that Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1620 at Plymouth (now Massachusetts) and also in 1619 at Virginia.

A small ship which was known as the Mayflower sailed from Plymouth and after more than two months reached the land, now called the Provincetown on Cape Cod. The American coast called the New England was explored by Captain John Smith many years ago. The pilgrims followed his route and came across the mainland coast of Massachusetts.

Later, the pilgrims founded the Plymouth in 1960 and the first Thanksgiving Day was probably celebrated there. The pilgrim settlers bravely survived the winters that year with very little food that they had and bitter cold. In the spring that followed, they were helped by friendly Indiansin growing corns which they harvested in the autumn.

This resulted in a large feast and thanksgiving which continued for three days. This custom of thanksgiving spread across the other colonies. Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving in 1863, as a national holiday. Later, in 1941, the House passed a resolution and declared that the last Thursday of November will be the official Thanksgiving Day.

In the first Thanksgiving meal, beef and fowl were served. In the early documents, it has been noted, that the Indians and the settlers went on a turkey hunting trip which has now become the most important dish of Thanksgiving.

Now, Thanksgiving is one of the most important festivals to the Americans. It is the start of the holiday season, and therefore, holds a great significance.

Featured Image Credit: goodhousekeeping.com

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The Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, on the September 27, 2014 while he addressing the gathering at United Nations General Assembly, suggested “International Yoga Day” should be observed throughout the world for man’s good health and well-being. Later, India’s permanent representative, AsokeMukherji, introduced the first draft to the General Assembly. June 21 was suggested by Mr. Modi as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

It was declared unanimously by UNGA and hence, is celebrated since June 21, 2015. Its main aim was to promote global health, peace and harmony. In order to celebrate this day, people get together and mediate, practice yoga, spread awareness about the benefits of yoga and also discuss its importance in one’s life.

The symbol of International Yoga is of folded hands which symbolize Yoga (the union) and also the harmony of body and mind. The brown leaves indicate the Earth, the green leaves, the Nature and the blue, the Water. The brightness and sun symbolize the fire and the source of energy.

For the first International Yoga Day on 21 June 2015, the ministry of AYUSH made arrangements in Rajpath, New Delhi, India. Due to this event, the Ministry of AYUSH was awarded with two Guinness world records for the largest yoga class and the largest number of participating nationalities. Large number of people including Narendra Modi and other high officials from 84 countries performed about 21 yoga postures within 35 minutes.

The whole objective of observing International Yoga Day is to spread the benefits of Yoga and celebrating it only brings the goal of a healthy and peaceful world closer.

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Celebrated each year on the 2nd of April, is World Autism Awareness Day that focuses on spreading awareness about the issue. This day is recognised internationally due to the efforts of the United Nations. This came up when United Nations General Assembly encouraged its member states to take up any measures possible to spread awareness for Autism. The resolution was passed on November 1, 2007 and adopted on the 18th of December, 2007.

This was proposed by the representative of Qatar in the United Nations, Her Highness SheikhaMozahBint Nasser Al- Missned. The proposal was accepted and came into action with the sole purpose of improving the human rights condition. This has resulted in a more advanced research in this field.

Out of the four main health-specific days that UN observes, World Autism Day is one of the most important. Many organizations come together to aid in fields like research, treatment, diagnosis and moreover, its awareness.

The first Autism Awareness Day was celebrated on 2nd April, 2008 and was hosted by the many UN branches all around the world. The most highlighted event was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. There are various events like the panel discussion which is sponsored by Qatar, the members responsible for this resolution, World Health Organization and Autism Speaks which is an NGO which sponsors research and spreads awareness about the same.

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Various events and activities through which people, governments and non-government organizations celebrate this day are promotions through news articles and broadcast announcements, many public lectures, seminars, press conferences and discussions are held to make people aware, many exhibitions are held to highlight the issues such as dangers of the illicit trade of small arms, awareness campaigns are held, light ceremonies are held that promote non-violence and peace, and many prayer meetings are held, as well.

The international day of non-violence has its strong roots in the work, beliefs and methods of the peace leader Mahatma Gandhi, who is also known as the ‘Father of The Nation’ in India.The key principle of non-violence rejects the use of physical violence to achieve social and political change. The three categories of non-violence action are protests including vigils and marches, non-cooperation and blockades.

One of the best means to honor the struggles of the world’s non-violence leaders would be to read their biography so as to find out what encouraged them to act as they did, and what aidedthem in being strong even when they saw awful things happening all around them. Such people consist of Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, John Lennon, Harry Belafonte, and Nelson Mandela. If you decide to observe the International Day of Non-Violence, be certain you do what you can to honor the courageousness and nobility of people like Mahatma Gandhi and carry on their legacy.

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The thirteen colonies that marked this war were Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.Earlier, these colonies were a part of the British Empire and were exploited for their resources like tobacco, sugar etc., which created tension between the colonies and the British Empire.Due to these conflicts, a team of people of the Continental Congress, that is, delegates from each of the thirteen colonies sat down which resulted in the war of independence against the British in 1775.

This day is celebrated by fireworks, speeches, parties, feasts and well known activities related to Independence Day. It also serves as a reunion and occasion for holiday.

Initially in 1870, Congress made this day as the unpaid holiday for federal workers but in 1939, it became a paid holiday across the nation. The government officials also take part in the celebrations and make speeches.

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After the meeting held by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the countries reached to a conclusion on the situation of the street children. The main aims decided were— to listen to the problems of these children, introduce various approaches for their integration.

The important aspect of the human rights agenda is to protect the children all around the world from social, political and economic mess. During the process of policy making, the most ignored section of the society is that of the street children. There are less or no policies of the governments for the street children.

The main reason for observing International Day for Street Children is to create awareness among the governments and the people in the world about the living conditions and the situations of these children.

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It was first informally celebrated by various Italian and Catholic-American communities. In 1907, Colorado became the first state to celebrate Columbus Day officially. Few Italian immigrants like Angelo Noce and Siro Mangini were the people who worked with state Senator CasimiroBarela to pass the holiday into law.

Till 1937, Columbus Day was not named an official national holiday, but when President Franklin D Roosevelt was encouraged by the Catholic Fraternal Organization they declared a recurring holiday for 12^th October. Later, the date was shifted by Congress to the second Monday of October.

Most of the Americans just take a day off from work while in many cities they host parades on this precious day. New York and Boston are the places that experience the most sizeable Columbus Day parades whereas San Francisco has renamed the parade as Italian Heritage Parade.

Often, Italian-Americans dress up on this day, play music, and cook delicious food to display their pride.

Several cities and states do not celebrate Columbus Day at all. Instead, the day got renamed as the Indigenous People Day, a holiday celebrating the native people of North America.

Featured Image Source: Christopher Columbus (Image: Sebastiano del Piombo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

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This day is celebrated to remind people to empower girls worldwide so that they can have a better future, education, better survival rates, better protection from child marriage and sexual assault and better health care services.

United Nations aims to help the girls who face disadvantage and discrimination on a daily basis and wants to highlight the struggle that they face.

This year the theme of International Girl Day is ‘Empower girls: before, during and after conflict’ which deals with issues like sexual and physical violence, child marriage, exploitation and trafficking. The motive of this day is not just to create awareness but also to understand how the victim girls live and what they need.

UNICEF also deals with problems like female genital mutilation where they have helped 130 million girls worldwide.

Child marriage is one of the key issues that girls have faced. There are approximately 700 million women who got married when they were not even 18 to men who were much older to them.

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