January 7 is Eastern Orthodox Christmas

 

Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7th. This might seem odd to us, but it is very close to Epiphany (January 6th), otherwise known as "the twelfth day of Christmas ", when the three kings reached Bethlehem and presented their gifts to Jesus. However, the actual reason for the discrepancy is that Eastern Orthodox Christian holidays follow the Julian calendar, rather than the Gregorian calendar now widely used. For this reason, Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate New Year's Day on January 14th.

Like the Catholic custom of Lent, there is fasting up until the holiday, and during this fast period, adherents must eat no animal products except for fish. I have shared some dinners over the fasting period, and we've been doing a lot of pasta and veggies and rice with fish, fish, fish. Fortunately, I like fish, so no problem. Also during the fasting period, it s forbidden to drink alcohol and to have intimate relations. And this goes on for weeks! It can be pretty tough, I'm sure.

My Serbian friends will be very busy in preparation for the religious holiday. They will roast a whole pig on a spit the night before, but it will not be consumed until dawn, or shortly before. I'll bet they can hardly wait to have meat again! There will also be a church service on their Christmas Eve, January 6, as well as on the holiday itself. If you have any friends who are Eastern Orthodox Christian, wish them a Merry Christmas next week! 

Image of Serbian E.O.C. church from Pixabay  https://pixabay.com/en/st-sava-serbian-church-349912/

Your November Birthday: November Holidays, Traditions and More

Though skies may be getting grey and the days getting chilly, November is warm with family traditions as folks get together to celebrate Thanksgiving. But November babies have much more to celebrate besides this best-known holiday. There’s lots of patriotic stuff going on, such as the Marine Corps birthday on the 10^th, Veteran’s Day on the 11^th, and of course Election Day (not always the first Tuesday, but the Tuesday after the first Monday). The Great American Smokeout is on the 20^th, so give your butts the boot! Here are some other things to celebrate:

Monthly Observances

November is National Adoption Month, and also the national month for AIDS awareness, Alzheimer’s disease, American Indian heritage, COPD awareness, family caregivers, Georgia pecans, home care & hospice, impotency, inspirational role models, life writing, marrow awareness, novel writing, peanut butter lovers, pet cancer awareness, pomegranates, roasting and scholarship (or is it scholarships?)

Furthermore, November has also been chosen the official month of diabetes, aviation history, epilepsy awareness, family stories, gluten-free diet awareness, and military family appreciation, as well as being something called Celebrate Empty Nesters Month, so take some recently unburdened parents out for a night on the town!

Weirdest Holiday: This month, there is a three-way tie: Plan Your Epitaph Day (2^nd), Cliché Day (3^rd), and Abet and Aid Punsters Day (8^th), so plan to include a pun on a cliché in your epitaph, is what I say. Sample: Here lies John, a vegetarian and pacifist. All he was saying is give peas a chance.

November Traditions

Flower: chrysanthemum – cheerfulness, friendship

Birthstone: topaz, citrine - fidelity Scorpio’s gem: smoky quartz

Zodiac sign: Scorpio (1- 22) and Sagittarius (23-30; see December for details). Despite its sometimes fiery nature, Scorpio is a water sign, with the characteristics of intuition and adaptability (think of water quickly taking the shape of its container). Scorpios are passionate and loyal, but tend to be sensitive and oh, that tail has a sting! Try not to take things personally, now. Best friends: Pisces and Cancer. Best love matches: Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn.

Famous Birthdays: Aishwarya Rai (1st), Marie Antoinette (2^nd), Adam Ant (3rd), Erasmus James (4th),Vivian Leigh (5^th), Sally Field (6^th), Marie Curie (7^th), Katharine Hepburn (8^th), Nick Lachey (9th), Tracy Morgan (10th), Demi Moore (11th), Grace Kelly (12^th), Paul Simon (13^th), Condoleezza Rice (14th), Kevin Eubanks (15th), Maggie Gyllenhaal (16th), Rock Hudson (17^th), Owen Wilson (18th), Indira Gandhi (19^th), Robert F Kennedy (20^th), Voltaire (21^st), Scarlett Johansson (22nd), Billy the Kid (23rd), Katherine Heigl (24th), Tina Turner (25^th), Charles M Schulz (26^th), Bill Nye (27th), William Blake (28^th), Vin Scully (29th). Mark Twain (30^th).

Catholic Feast Days

1-Feast of All Saints, St Marcel of Paris, St Mathurin

2 – Feast of All Souls

3- Feast of Ste Alpais, St Hubert, St Malachy O’More, St Martin de Porres, St Pirminus, St Rumwald, Ste Winifred

4 – Feast of St Americus, St Charles Borromeo

5 – Feast of Ste Elizabeth, St Kay

6 – Feast of St Leonard, St Winnoc

7 – Feast of St Florentius, St Willibrord

8 – Feast of The Four Crowned Martyrs

9- Feast of St Benen, St Theodore the Recruit

10- Feast of St Aedh Mac Breic, St Andrew Avellino, St Leo the Great, Ste Nympha

11-Feast of St Martin of Tours, St mennas, St Astericus

12-Feast of St Emilian, St josephat, St lebuin

13-Feast of Ste Agostina Pietrantoni, St Brice, St Diego Alcalá, Ste Francis Cabrini, St Homobonus, St Nicholas I, St Pontian, St Stanislaus Kostka

14-Feast of St Lawrence O’Toole

15-Feast of St Albert the Great, St Leopold, St Zachary

16-Feast of Ste Gertrude the Great, Ste Margaret of Scotland

17-Feast of Ste Elizabeth of Hungary, Ste Hilda, St Gregory the Wonder Worker, St Hugh of Lincoln, Ste Rose Phillippine Duchesne

18-Feast of St Odo of Cluny, the Blessed Miguel Pro

19-Feast of St Nerses I, St Anastasius II

20-Feast of St Bernward

21-Feast of Mary, Queen of Peace (El Salvador); St Gelasius

22-Feast of Ste Cecilia

23-Feast of St Clement, St Columbanus

24-Feast of Stes Flora & Mary

25-Feast of Ste Catherine of Alexandria, St Mercury

26-Feast of St John Berchmans

27-Feast of St Maximus, St Francis Antony Fasani

28-Feast of St James of the Marches, St Stephen the Younger, Ste Catherine Labouré

29-Feast of Dorothy Day

30-Feast of St Andrew

Don’t have a November birthday? Check out these other months:

January - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/01/your-january-birthday-january-holidays.html
February -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/02/your-february-birthday-february.html
March - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-march-birthday-march-holidays.html
April -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-april-birthday-april-holidays.html
May - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/05/your-may-birthday-may-holidays.html 
June - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/05/your-june-birthday-holidays-traditions.html
July - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/07/your-july-birthday-july-holidays.html
August -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/07/your-august-birthday-august-holidays.html
September - https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2019/08/your-september-birthday-september.html
October - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/09/your-october-birthday-october-holidays.html
December - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/12/your-december-birthday-december.html

Image of chrysanthemum from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/en/chrysanthemums-composites-blossom-2793019/

Your July Birthday – July Holidays, Traditions and More

July is a great summer month! It's time for fireworks, family picnics and lazy afternoons by the pool. What else is there to celebrate in July? Oh, oodles of stuff! Get a load of all these cool holidays:

Monthly Observances
July is National Doghouse Repair Month, as well as the National Month for grilling, ice cream, horseradish, hot dogs, making a difference to children, parks and recreation, sharing a sunset with your lover, and it's also National Wheelchair Beautification Month, so it's time to pimp your ride! July is also the International Blondie and Deborah Harry Month, so make sure to rock a little "Heart of Glass" and "Rapture" at your barbecue!


Weirdest Holiday: Take Your Houseplant for a Walk Day (27th). Coolest Holiday: Gorgeous Grandma Day (23rd).

July Traditions
Flower: larkspur - open-heartedness, ardent attachment
Birthstone: ruby Cancer's gem: pearl

Zodiac sign: Cancer (1- 22) and Leo (23-31; see August for details). Cancer the crab is a water sign, with the characteristics of intuition and adaptability (think of water quickly taking the shape of its container). Cancereans are devoted, nurturing parents, but tend to be extremely sensitive and quick to complain. The world isn't out to get you, crabby ones, so pull in your claws a bit! Best friends: Scorpio and Pisces. Best love matches: Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn.

Famous Birthdays: Princess Diana (1st), Thurgood Marshall (2nd), Franz Kafka (3rd), Malia Obama (4th), Edie Falco (5th), Sylvester Stallone (6th), Ringo Starr (7th), Kevin Bacon (8th), David Hockney (9th), Nikola Tesla (10th), Leon Spinks (11th),  Malala Yousafzai (12th), Harrison Ford (13th), Jane Lynch (14th), Rembrandt (15th), Ginger Rogers (16th), David Hasselhoff (17th), Nelson Mandela (18th), Lizzie Borden (19th), Carlos Santana (20th), Robin Williams (21st), John Leguizamo (22nd), Daniel Radcliffe (23rd), Amelia Earhart (24th), Mick Jagger (25th), Sandra Bullock (26th), Alex Rodriguez (27th), Jackie Kennedy Onassis (28th), Wil Wheaton (29th), Arnold Scwarzenegger (30th), JK Rowling (31st).

Catholic Feast Days
1- St Junípero Serra, St Oliver Plunkett, St Serf, Ste Esther, St Simeon Salus
2 -Sts Processus & Martinian
3- St Thomas
4 -Ste Elizabeth of Portugal, St Ulric
5 -St Athanasius of Athos, St Anthony Mary Zaccharoa
6 -St Goar, Ste Godeleva, Ste Maria Goretti, Ste Modwenna
7 -Ste Ethelburga, St Fermin, St Palladius
8 -St Kilian, Ste Withburga
9- Mary, Queen of Peace; the Blessed Rose Hawthorne; Ste Veronica Giuliani
10- Ste Amalburga
11- St Benedict, Ste Olga
12- St John Gualbert, Ste Veronica
13- Ste Clelia Barbieri
14- St Camillus de Lellis, St Francis Solano, St Procopius, St Donald of Ogilvy
15- The Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey, St Bonaventure, St Henry the Emperor, St Swithin, St Vladimir
16- Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St Helier
17- St Alexis
18- St Arnulf of Metz, Ste Felicity, Ste Theneva
19- Stes Justia & Rufina
20- St Elijah, Ste Margaret, Ste Uncumber, St Joseph Barsabbas the Just
21- St Victor of Marseilles
22- Ste Mary Magdalene
23- St Apollinaris of Ravenna, Ste Bridget of Sweden, St Liborius
24- Sts Boris & Gleb, Ste Christina the Astonishing
25- St Christopher, St James the Greater
26- Ste Anne, St Joachim
27- St Aurelius, St Pantaleon, the Seven Sleepers
28- St Samson of Dol
29- St Lupus of Troyes, Ste Martha, St Olaf
30- Sts Abdon & Sennen, St Abel, St Hatebrand of Olden-Klooster
31- Ste Helen of Skovde, St Ignatius of Loyola, St Neot, the Venerable Solanus Casey


Want to see what's going on in other months? Check out:

January - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/01/your-january-birthday-january-holidays.html
February -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/02/your-february-birthday-february.html
March - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-march-birthday-march-holidays.html
April -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-april-birthday-april-holidays.html
May - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/05/your-may-birthday-may-holidays.html 
June - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/05/your-june-birthday-holidays-traditions.html
August -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/07/your-august-birthday-august-holidays.html
September - https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2019/08/your-september-birthday-september.html
October - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/09/your-october-birthday-october-holidays.html
November - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/10/your-november-birthday-november.html
December - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/12/your-december-birthday-december.html

Free-use image of larkspur from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/en/flowers-larkspur-ostr%C3%B3%C5%BCki-2413694/

Your June Birthday: Holidays, Traditions and More

Sweet June! The first day of summer, the patriotism of Flag Day, the domestic bliss of Father's Day! Days are long and full of delights: cloud-watching, ice-cream-truck-chasing, watermelon-seed-spitting. As my Uncle Buck, a teacher by trade, a farmer by birth, and a philosopher by nature, explained when asked by a student what he did over the summer, "Sometimes I farm, and sometimes I get a jug and sit under a tree and contemplate the futility of human endeavor." Here's hoping your June is as irreverent as my Uncle Buck.

Monthly Observances
June is Adopt a Shelter Cat Month, as well as International Men's Month and International Child Cancer Campaign Month. It is the National Month for Accordion Awareness, so listen to some Weird Al Yankovic, and is also the National Month for aphasia awareness, bathroom reading, candy, LGBT (Lesbian/ Gay/ Bisexual/ Transgender), iced tea, rivers, roses, safety, smiles, soul food, and steakhouses, so take your favorite bisexual out to a steakhouse by the river and order some iced tea, but save the bathroom reading for home.

Weirdest Holiday: Yell "Fudge" to the Cobras in North America Day (2nd). I don't know where to begin with this one. First of all, I did not make it up. Second, since cobras are not indigenous to North America, I can imagine this would work only if you bother to visit a zoo or herpetarium. Happy fudge-yelling! Also notable: Stupid Guy Thing Day is the 22nd, so put on your beer hat, dust off your Transformers, and enjoy a nice Man Show marathon with a fantasy baseball chaser.

June Traditions
Flower: rose - beauty, love
Birthstone: pearl - tears of a beautiful bride
Gemini's gem: agate

Zodiac sign: Gemini (1-21) and Cancer (22-30; see July for details). Gemini , represented by the Twins, is an air sign, so Gemini people tend to be very changeable and quick to rush into things. They are also represented by the twins because they can sometimes have dual natures, which is a nice way of saying they can be quirky and lie a lot, and yet it is this mutability that can make them quite interesting and charming. As a result of this fascinating combination of charisma and dishonesty, Gemini people make excellent politicians! Best friends: Libra and Aquarius. Best love matches: Aries, Leo and Sagittarius

Famous Birthdays: Marilyn Monroe (1st), Tony Curtis (2nd), Rafael Nadal (3rd), Angelina Jolie (4th),Socrates (5th), His Holiness, the Dalai Lama (6th), Prince (7th), Joan Rivers (8th), Michael J. Fox (9th), Judy Garland (10th), Gene Wilder (11th), Anne Frank (12th), The Olsen Twins (13th), Donald Trump (14th), Neil Patrick Harris (15th), Geronimo (16th), Kendrick Lamar (17th), Sir Paul McCartney (18th), Salman Rushdie (19th), Nicole Kidman (20th), Prince William (21st), Meryl Streep (22nd), Jason Mraz (23rd), Solange Knowles 24th), George Michael (25th), Ariana Grande (26th), Helen Keller (27th), Mel Brooks (28th), Gary Busey (29th), Lena Horne (30th).

Catholic Feast Days
1- Ste Gwen, St Justin, St Theobald of Alba
2 -Ste Blandina, St Elmo
3- St Charles Lwanga, Ste Clotilda, St Kevin, St Morand
4 -St Adalgrin, Stes Breaca & Buriana, St Clateus, St Cornelius MacConchailleadh, St Francis Caracciolo, St Nennoc, St Optatus of Milevis, St Petroc, St Quirinus of Croatia, Ste Saturnina of Arras
5 -St Boniface of Mainz, St James Salmonelli
6 -St Claude, St Norbert, St Philip the Deacon
7 -The Venerable Matt Talbot, St Meriadoc
8 -St Medard
9- St Columba, St Ephraem, the Blessed Diana of Andolo, Ste Pelagia of Antioch
10- Ste Olive, St Landry
11- St Barnabus
12- St Onuphrius, the Blessed Guy of Cortona
13- St Anthony of Padua
14- St Dogmael, the Blessed Castora Gabrielli, St Marcellinus
15- Ste Germaine Cousin, St Vitus, St Abraham, Ste Alice
16- St Benno, St Cyriacus, St John Francis Regis, Ste Lutgardis, St Tychon
17- St Botolph, St Harvey
18- Ste Alena, Ste Elizabeth of Schonau
19- St Boniface of Querfurt, Sts Gervase & Protase
20- The Blessed Michelina, Ste Osanna of Mantua
21- St Alban, St Albinus of Mainz, St Aloysius Gonzaga, St Leutfridis, St Méen
22- St Acacius, St Paulinus of Nola, St Thomas More, St Nicetas
23- Ste Agrippina, Ste Audrey, St Joseph Cafasso
24- St John the Baptist
25- Ste Eurosia, St Molaug
26- St Pelayo
27- Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Ste Emma of Gurk, St Gotteschalk, St Laszlo
28- St Basildes, Ste Irene of Constantinople
29- St Paul, St Peter
30- The Venerable Pierre Toussaint, the Blessed Raymund Lull, St Theobald of Provence

Want to see what's going on in other months? Check out:


January - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/01/your-january-birthday-january-holidays.html
February - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/02/your-february-birthday-february.html 
March - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-march-birthday-march-holidays.html
April -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-april-birthday-april-holidays.html
May - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/05/your-may-birthday-may-holidays.html
July - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/07/your-july-birthday-july-holidays.html
August -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/07/your-august-birthday-august-holidays.html
September - https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2019/08/your-september-birthday-september.html
October - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/09/your-october-birthday-october-holidays.html
November - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/10/your-november-birthday-november.html
December - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/12/your-december-birthday-december.html

Free use image from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/en/rose-flower-blossom-bloom-616013/

Your January Birthday: January Holidays, Traditions and More

January lights up the middle of winter with the celebration of the New Year and the orgy of eating, drinking and merrymaking, followed inevitably by resolution-making, that we all know and love. In Japan, where New Year's Day is also celebrated on January first, it is customary to dress up in traditional kimono and call or visit all of your relatives. Those of you born in January have plenty to celebrate besides your birthday and New Year's, though. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is one, and here's a bunch more:

Monthly Observances
January is National Clean Up Your Computer Month, although whether this means you should wipe down your CPU, organize your files or get rid of all your downloaded porn is unclear. It is also the National Month for glaucoma awareness, hot tea, mail order gardening, getting organized, mentoring, personal self-defense awareness (in case your mentor gets a little too friendly?), radon action, skating, and blood donation, and the International Month for changing your stars, creativity, New Year's resolutions for businesses (here's one: Stop wasting money!), quality of life, wayfinding, and wealth mentality.

In addition, January is also Book Blitz Month, as well as the month for birth defects awareness, celebration of life, cervical cancer screening, family fit lifestyle, financial wellness, oatmeal, thyroid awareness, and California dried plum digestion, although I should think we don't need a whole month to contemplate something that only takes, like, fifteen seconds.

Weirdest Holiday
The 26th is Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day. Get to poppin'! Honorable mention: Snowplow Mailbox Hockey Day, the 23rd. I don't know what this is, but it sounds intriguing!

January Traditions
Flower: carnation - fascination, distinction
Birthstone: garnet - constancy, truth
Capricorn's gem: ruby - glory, freedom from care

Zodiac sign: Capricorn (1- 20) and Aquarius (21-31; see February for details). Capricorns are earth signs: stable and dependable, like the ground under your feet. Capricorns are especially geared to workplace success, but please try to climb the corporate ladder without too much backstabbing! Best friends: Taurus and Virgo. Best love matches: Scorpio, Cancer, Pisces.

Famous Birthdays: J.D..Salinger (1st), Cuba Gooding, Jr. (2nd), JRR Tolkien (3rd), Sir Isaac Newton (4th), Marilyn Manson (5th), Joan of Arc (6th), Nicolas Cage (7th), David Bowie (8th), (9th), Rod Stewart (10th), Alexander Hamilton (11th), Kirstie Alley (12th), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (13th), Faye Dunaway (14th), Martin Luther King, Jr. (15th), Susan Sontag (16th), James Earl Jones (17th), Cary Grant (18th), Dolly Parton (19th), Buzz Aldrin (20th), Jack Nicklaus (21st), DJ Jazzy Jeff (22nd), Edouard Manet (23rd), Mary Lou Retton (24th), Virginia Woolf (25th), Paul Newman (26th), Lewis Carroll (27th), Alan Alda (28th), WC Fields (29th), King Abdullah II of Jordan (30th), Jackie Robinson (31st).

Catholic Feast Days
1- Feast of St Clarus; St Odilo; St Peter of Atroa; St Telemachus
2 - Feast of St Adelard; St Basil the Great; St Gregory of Nazianzen; St Macarius the Younger; St Abel; St Munchin
3- Feast of Ste Genevieve; St Daniel of Padua
4 - Feast of Ste Angela of Foligno; Ste Pharaildis; Ste Elizabeth Seton
5 - Feast of St Edward the Confessor; St Gerlac; St Simeon Stylites; St John Neumann
6 - Feast of the Epiphany; St Macra
7 - Feast of St Aldric; St Raymond; St Reinold
8 - Feast of Ste Gudula; St Severinus of Noricum
9- Feast of Ste Basilissa, St Adrian of Canterbury, St Philip of Moscow
10- Feast of St Agatho, St Benincasa, St Evagrius Ponticus, St Gonzalvo, St Gregory X, St John Camillus Bonus, St Marcian of Constantinople, St Nicanor, St Peter Urseleno, St Petronius of Avignon, Ste Sethrida, St Thomian, St William of Bourges
11- Feast of St Balthasar, St Vitalis of Gaza
12- Feast of St Benet Biscop, St Arcadius of Mauritania, Ste Marina and Ste Tatinia
13- Feast of St Hilary of Poitiers
14- Feast of St Felix of Nola, St Mungo (Kentigern), St Sava the Enlightener
15- Feast of St Maurus, St Paul the Hermit, St Ita
16- Feast of Ste Priscilla, St Fursey, St Marcellus
17- Feast of St Anthony the Great, Ste Devota, Ste Roseline
18- Feast of Ste Margaret of Hungary, Ste Beatrix d'Este, St Volusian
19- Feast of St Canute, St Fillan, St Henry of Uppsala, St Wulfstan
20- Feast of St Fabian, St Sebastian
21- Feast of Ste Agnes, Ste Inez, St Lawdog
22- Feast of Ste Bleasilla, Ste Laura Vicuña, St Vincent of Saragossa, St Dominic of Sora
23- Feast of Ste Emerentiana, St John the Almsgiver, St Ildefonsus
24- Feast of St Francis de Sales, St Zamma
25- Feast of Ste Dwyn, St Conan, St Poppo, St Prix
26- Feast of Ste Paula, St Timothy, St Titus
27- Feast of St Avitus, Ste Angela Merici, St Julian of Le Mans
28- Feast of the Blessed Charlemagne, St Thomas Aquinas
29- Feast of St Gildas the Wise, St Dallan Forgaill
30- Feast of St Adelem, Ste Aldegund, Ste Bathilde, Ste Martina, Ste Hyacinth of Maniscotti
31- Feast of St John Bosco, Ste Tryphaena, Ste Marcella, Ste Louise degli Albertoni, Ste Mary Cristina, Ste Paula Gambra-Costa


Check out these other months:
February - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/02/your-february-birthday-february.html

March - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-march-birthday-march-holidays.html

April - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-april-birthday-april-holidays.html

May - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/05/your-may-birthday-may-holidays.html
June - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/05/your-june-birthday-holidays-traditions.html
July - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/07/your-july-birthday-july-holidays.html
August - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/07/your-august-birthday-august-holidays.html
September - https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2019/08/your-september-birthday-september.html
October - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/09/your-october-birthday-october-holidays.html
November - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/10/your-november-birthday-november.html

December - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/12/your-december-birthday-december.html

Carnation image from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/en/carnation-blossom-bloom-pink-1323882/

Your December Birthday: December Holidays, Traditions and More

Most everyone's excited about the holiday season, whether it's Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas or (sometimes) Eid. If you're not into religious holidays, there's the remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day on the 7th (which brings the happier annual tradition of the Army-Navy football game), the super-party-time of New Year's Eve, and plenty of other interesting things going on:

Monthly Observances

It's no surprise that December is Safe Toys and Gifts Month, but rather less intuitively, it is also Choose a Summer Camp Month. Go figure. It is the National Month for drunk and drugged driving prevention, writing a business plan, and it is Universal Human Rights Month. In addition, it is Colorectal Cancer Education and Awareness Month, Identity Theft Prevention and Awareness Month, and also Spiritual Literacy Month, but I'm not sure what that means. Adding the roundhouse punch to November's Great American Smokeout jab, it is the month to celebrate TANYRSS, otherwise known as Take a New Year's Resolution to Stop Smoking. Ending on a rather unexpected note (unless you run a men's haberdashery business, in which case you probably knew), December is National Tie Month. Yes, ties have a National Month. I'll bet socks are next!


Weirdest Holiday

December 15th is Cat Herders Day. Yes, I know what you're thinking-these people don't exist! Well, apparently they do. I'm guessing they share a guildhall with the Jell-o Nailers. So, today's the day to go out and do the impossible!

December Traditions

Flower: narcissus - respect, modesty
Birthstone: zircon, turquoise- love and riches
Sagittarius's gem: amethyst - humility, sincerity

Zodiac sign: Sagittarius (1- 21) and Capricorn (22-31; see January for details). Sagittarius , the archer, is a fire sign, characterized by excitability and enthusiasm, like brightly burning flame. Sagittarians are typically very open and guileless, but these qualities are a double-edged sword, sometimes, as Sagittarians can be lacking in tact and sensitivity. Archers, try to think about where your little arrows are going to land, okay? Best friends: Aries and Leo. Best love matches: Gemini, Libra and Aquarius.


Famous Birthdays: Bette Midler (1st), Georges Seurat (2nd), Ozzy Osbourne (3rd), Marisa Tomei (4th), Walt Disney (5th), Randy Rhoads (6th), Harry Chapin (7th), Mary, Queen of Scots (8th), Kirk Douglas (9th), Emily Dickinson (10th), Mo'Nique (11th), Dionne Warwick (12th), Dick van Dyke (13th), Nostradamus (14th), Don Johnson (15th), Beethoven (16th), Pope Francis (17th), Ty Cobb (18th), Jake Gyllenhaal (19th), Jonah Hill (20th), Frank Zappa (21st), Diane Sawyer (22nd), Madam C.J. Walker (23rd), Ava Gardner (24th), Humphrey Bogart (25th), Steve Allen (26th), Marlene Dietrich (27th), Denzel Washington (28th), Mary Tyler Moore (29th), LeBron James (30th), Donna Summer (31st).

Catholic Feast Days

1- Feast of St Edmund Campion, St Eloy, the Blessed Sister Maria Clementine Anurite Nengapete
2 -Feast of Ste Bibiana
3- Feast of St Cassian of Tangier, St Francis Xavier
4 -Feast of Ste Barbara, St Maruthas
5 -Feast of St Sabas, Ste Crispina
6 -Feast of St Emilian, St Nicholas
7 -Feast of St Ambrose
8 -Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary
9- Feast of Ste Gorgonia, Ste Leocadia, St Budoc
10- Feast of Our Lady of Loreto, Ste Eulalia, St John Roberts
11- Feast of St Damasus, St Gentian, St Cury
12- Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Ste Jean Frances de Chantal
13- Feast of St Josse, Ste Lucy, Ste Odilia
14- Feast of St John of the Cross, St Spiridion, the Blessed Nimatullah Youssef Kassab
15- Feast of Ste Nino, St Valerian
16- Feast of Ste Adelaide
17- Feast of St Lazarus
18- Feast of the Virgin of the Lonely, St Flannan
19- Feast of St Adam
20- Feast of St Dominic of Silos
21- Feast of St Peter Canisius
22- Feast of the Blessed Gratian
23- Feast of St Dagobert II St John of Kanti, St Servulus of Rome, St Thorlac
24- Feast of St Levan, Sharbel Makhlouf, Our Lord's Ancestors
25- Feast of Ste Anastasia, Ste Eugenia, St Fulk, Christmas
26- Feast of St Stephen
27- Feast of St Fabiola, St John the Divine
28- Feast of the Holy Innocents (Childermass)
29- Feast of St Thomas a Becket, St Tropez
30- Feast of Our Lady of Lujan
31- Feast of St Sylvester, Ste Columba


Check out these other months!

January - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/01/your-january-birthday-january-holidays.html
February - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/02/your-february-birthday-february.html

March - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-march-birthday-march-holidays.html

April - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-april-birthday-april-holidays.html

May - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/05/your-may-birthday-may-holidays.html
June - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/05/your-june-birthday-holidays-traditions.html
July - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/07/your-july-birthday-july-holidays.html
August - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/07/your-august-birthday-august-holidays.html
September - https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2019/08/your-september-birthday-september.html
October - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/09/your-october-birthday-october-holidays.html
November - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/10/your-november-birthday-november.html

Poinsettia image from Pixabay at https://pixabay.com/en/poinsettia-christmas-flower-557704/

Your August Birthday: August Holidays, Traditions and More

Poor ol' August doesn't have any national holidays or well-known religious holidays. It's too early to trick-or-treat and it's WAY too early to write to Santa. August doesn't even usually get a very interesting calendar picture! What's a summer baby to do for celebration around here? Well, there's more to August than meets the eye, and you will find most of it here!

Monthly Observances
August is National Win with Civility Month, as well as the National Month for immunization awareness, inventors, panini, and water quality, so after a long day slaving over your inventions, you can have a grilled sandwich and a glass of crystal-clear water and think about how nice it is to have all your immunizations. But don't gloat; be a good sport about it!

Weirdest Holiday: While I must admit some fascination for Southern Hemisphere Hoodie Hoo Day (22^nd), I fear I may not be allowed to participate by dint of my not being located on the proper half of the Earth. We Northern Hemisphere people will have to be content with Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor's Porch Night (8^th), which should offer plenty of opportunity for hijinks to ensue...

August Traditions
Flower: gladiolus - sincerity, strength of character
Birthstone: peridot -marital happiness Leo's gem: amber
Zodiac sign: Leo (1-23) and Virgo (24-31; see September for details). Leo, represented by the powerful lion, is a fire sign and displays the spontaneity and unpredictability of that element. Leos are not always as forceful as you'd think, but have a very secure sense of self and like to associate with people and possessions that make them look good. Leos love to joke around and be the life of the party, so it can be difficult to get them to be serious about things, and making any kind of commitment can be an immense challenge for them! Best friends: Sagittarius and Aries. Best love matches: Gemini, Libra and Aquarius.

Famous Birthdays: Francis Scott Key (1^st), Mary-Louise Parker (2nd), Tony Bennett (3^rd), Barack Obama (4th), Neil Armstrong (5^th), Andy Warhol (6^th), Charlize Theron (7th), Dustin Hoffman (8^th),  Whitney Houston (9th), Antonio Banderas (10th), Alex Haley (11^th), Mark Knopfler (12th), Alfred Hitchcock (13^th), Halle Berry (14th), Julia Child (15^th), Madonna (16th), Mae West (17^th), Robert Redford (18^th), John Stamos (19th), Amy Adams (20th), Count Basie (21^st), Ray Bradbury (22^nd), Kobe Bryant (23rd), Dave Chappelle (24th), Sean Connery (25^th), Mother Theresa (26th), Confucius (27^th), Goethe (28^th), Michael Jackson (29^th), Cameron Diaz (30th), Richard Gere (31^st).

Catholic Feast Days
1- St Peter's Chains, Lammas Day, St Alphonsus Mary de Ligouri, St Friard
2 -The Virgin of the Angels, Ste Sidwell
3- Ste Lydia
4 -St John Baptist Marie Vianney, St Sithney
5 -Sts Addai & Mari, Ste Afra, St Oswald
6 -The Transfiguration
7 -St Albert of Trapani, St Cajetan, St Dometius
8 -St Cyriacus the Slave, St Dominic, the Fourteen Holy Helpers, St Hormisdas, the Blessed Mary MacKillop, St Altman
9- Ste Edith Stein, St Emygdius
10- St Besse, St Lawrence
11- St Alexander "Carbonaris", Ste Clare, Ste Philomena
12- St Porcarius, St James Tam
13- St Cassian of Imola, Ste Concordia, St Hippolytus, Ste Radegund
14- St Maximilian Kolbe, St Werenfrid
15- The Assumption, St Arnulf of Soissons, St Tarsicius
16- St Armel, St Rock, St Stephen of Hungary
17- St Hyancith, St Mamas
18- St Agapitus, Ste Helena
19- Ste Joan DeLanoue, St Sebald
20- St Bernard of Clairvaux, St Amadour, St Philibert
21- St Bernard Tolomei, St Pius X
22- St Symphorian
23- Ste Rose of Lima
24- St Bartholomew, St Owen of Rouen
25- St Genesius, St Joseph Calasanctius, St Louis
26- Ste Teresa Jornet e Ibars, Ste Elizabeth aiz de Bichier des Anges, St Zephyrinus
27- Ste Margaret the Barefooted, Ste Monica, St Phanurius
28- St Augustine of Hippo, St Hermes, St Moses the Black
29- Ste Sabina, St Richard Herst
30- St John Roche
31- Aidan of Lindisfarne, St Raymond Nonnatus

Want to see more? Check out these other months:

January - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/01/your-january-birthday-january-holidays.html
February - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/02/your-february-birthday-february.html
March - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-march-birthday-march-holidays.html
April - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-april-birthday-april-holidays.html
May - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/05/your-may-birthday-may-holidays.html
June - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/05/your-june-birthday-holidays-traditions.html
July - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/07/your-july-birthday-july-holidays.html
September - https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2019/08/your-september-birthday-september.html
October - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/09/your-october-birthday-october-holidays.html
November - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/10/your-november-birthday-november.html
December - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/12/your-december-birthday-december.html

Image of gladiolus from Pixabay  https://pixabay.com/en/gladiolus-flowers-white-yellow-965890/

Your April Birthday: April Holidays, Traditions and More

April starts right off with a holiday, April Fool's Day, so stay on your toes lest you be taken in by a prank. Easter and Passover frequently, but not always, occur in April as well, and Earth Day occurs on the 22nd. Although it isn't the official start of Spring, it's often when the weather stops blustering long enough to feel springlike, although Robert Frost said "April is the cruelest month" for its extremely changeable weather. But even though "April showers bring May flowers", there are plenty of interesting things to know about the month of April besides the fact that it's rainy!

Monthly Observances
April is National Card and Letter Writing Month, so make sure to keep in touch with your loved ones via snail mail (this is the time to use up all those free notecards the charities having been sending you!) Wouldn't you love to get something in your mailbox besides bills and junk? So would your friends and relatives!

April is also the National Month for decorating; DNA, genomics, and stem-cell education and awareness; gardening; humor; kites; landscape architecture; occupational therapy (I've had jobs that made me want to see a shrink, too); Parkinson's awareness; pecans; poetry; sexually transmitted diseases and sexual assault awareness. April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, Youth Sports Safety Month, and it is also National Knuckles Down Month, although I do not know what that is (sounds kind of painful).

April is also the International Month for Caesarean awareness, customer loyalty, and pet first aid. Also the International Twit Award is presented in April. I know all of you have some strong contenders in mind...

Weirdest Holiday: International "Louie Louie" Day, on the 11^th, because it's not just Americans who can appreciate a badly-enunciated song with a seven-word chorus you can sing whilst incredibly drunk.

April Traditions
Flower: sweet pea - blissful pleasure
Birthstone: diamond - innocence, success, faith Aries's gem: diamond

Zodiac sign: Aries (1-20) and Taurus (21-30; see May for details). Aries the Ram is known as the baby of the zodiac, being the first sign and representing the first several years of life. As a result of this, Aries fire-sign characteristics of excitability, adventurousness and experimentation are multiplied, as children share these same characteristics. Aries people are loads of fun to be with, but can be, as you may expect, immature and careless. Best friends: Leo and Sagittarius. Best love matches: Libra, Gemini and Aquarius.

Famous Birthdays: Debbie Reynolds (1st), Hans Christian Andersen (2^nd), Marlon Brando (3^rd), Robert Downey Jr. (4th), Gregory Peck (5^th), Harry Houdini (6^th), Billie Holiday (7^th), Patricia Arquette (8th), Hugh Hefner (9^th), Omar Sharif (10^th), Joss Stone (11th), Beverly Cleary (12th),  Thomas Jefferson (13^th), Pete Rose (14^th), Leonardo da Vinci (15^th), Martin Lawrence (16th), Victoria Beckham (17th), David Tennant (18th), Dudley Moore (19^th), George Takei (20th), Queen Elizabeth II (21^st), Jack Nicholson (22nd), Roy Orbison (23^rd), Kelly Clarkson (24th), Al Pacino (25^th), Carol Burnette (26^th), Coretta Scott King (27th), Jessica Alba (28th), Duke Ellington (29^th), Kirsten Dunst (30th).

Catholic Feast Days
1-Feast of St Hugh of Grenoble
2 - Feast of St Francis of Paola, Ste Mary of Egypt, St Urban of Langres
3- Feast of Ste Irene, St Richard of Chichester
4 - Feast of St Benedict the Black, St Isidore of Seville
5 - Feast of St Vincent Ferrer, St Derfel Gadarn
6 - Feast of St Notker Balbulbus
7 - Feast of St Herman Joseph, St John Baptist de la Salle
8 - Feast of St Walter of Pontoise
9- Feast of Ste Casilda, Ste Mary Cleophas, St Waldetrudis
10- Feast of St Macarius of Ghent, St Ezekiel, St Fulbert of Chartres, the Blessed Madelena of Canossa
11-Feast of Ste Gemma Galgani, Ste Godeberta, St Stanislaus
12-Feast of St Zeno
13-Feast of St Hermenegild, Ste Margaret of Castell, St Ursus
14-Feast of St Bénezet, the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, the Blessed Lydwina, St Peter Gonzales
15-Feast of the Venerable Father Damien, Ste Hunna
16-Feast of St Benedict Labre, Ste Bernadette, St Drago, St Magnus of Orkney
17-Feast of St James Duckett
18-Feast of Ste Aya
19-Feast of St Expeditus, St Alphege, Ste Emma
20-Feast of St Peter Martyr, St Uriel the Archangel
21-Feast of St Beuno, St Conrad of Parzham, St Anselm
22-Feast of St Epidosius, St Theodore of Sykeon, Ste Opportunata
23-Feast of St Adalbert of Prague, St George
24-Feast of St William Firmatus, Stes Bova & Doda, St Ivo
25-Feast of St Mark
26-Feast of The Mother of Good Counsel, St Joseph the Hymnographer
27- Feast of Ste Zita, St Maughold
28- Feast of St Peter Mary Chanel, St Aphrodisius, Ste Theodora, St Didymus
29- Feast of Ste Catherine of Siena, St Hugh of Cluny
30- Feast of St Adjutor, St Wolfhard, Ste Hildegard, St Pius V

Check out the funky stuff in these other months:

January - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/01/your-january-birthday-january-holidays.html
February - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/02/your-february-birthday-february.html 
March - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-march-birthday-march-holidays.html
April -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-april-birthday-april-holidays.html
May -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/05/your-may-birthday-may-holidays.html
June - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/05/your-june-birthday-holidays-traditions.html
July - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/07/your-july-birthday-july-holidays.html
August -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/07/your-august-birthday-august-holidays.html
September - https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2019/08/your-september-birthday-september.html
October - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/09/your-october-birthday-october-holidays.html
November - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/10/your-november-birthday-november.html
December - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/12/your-december-birthday-december.html

Image from Pixabay  https://pixabay.com/en/sweet-pea-wild-flower-sweet-pea-796916/
 

Your March Birthday: March Holidays, Traditions and More

In like a lion, out like a lamb: March's blustery winds subside into the gentle warmth of spring, and young men's thoughts turn to love and possibly to partying at Cabo on spring break.

Monthly Observances
March is National Craft Month, as well as the National Month for caffeine awareness, cheerleading safety, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome awareness, "Clean[ing] Up Your IRS Act", colorectal cancer awareness, ethics awareness, eye donors, frozen food, Multiple Sclerosis education and awareness, kidneys, nutrition, social work, umbrellas, and women's history. It is also National On-Hold Month, so celebrate by listening to some sappy music while doodling.

March is the International Month to Expect Success (remember to work while you're waiting), as well as the International Month for ideas, listening awareness (what?), and mirth (okay, got that covered).

Weirdest Holiday: What if Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs? Day, March 3^rd. Um, yeah, I have often wondered this myself. At least as often, I've wondered why we didn't have a special holiday for it. Now I'm wondering how you would celebrate such a holiday. Oh, and now I'm wondering if the holiday people have just lost their minds completely.

March Traditions
Flower: jonquil - domestic happiness, friendship
Birthstone: aquamarine, bloodstone - courage, wisdom
Pisces's gem: aquamarine

Zodiac sign:Pisces (1- 20) and Aries (21-31; see April for details). Of course, Pisces the fish is a water sign, with the characteristics of intuition and adaptability (think of water quickly taking the shape of its container). Pisceans are sensitive and devoted, but tend to be dreamers, so make sure your head isn't stuck in the clouds, little Fish! Best friends: Scorpio and Cancer. Best love matches: Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn.

Famous Birthdays: Kesha (1st), John Irving (2^nd), Mikhail Gorbachev (3^rd), Khaled Hosseini (4th), Eva Mendes (5th), Michelangelo (6^th), Ivan Lendl (7^th), Aidan Quinn (8th), Juliette Binoche (9th), Prince Edward (10^th), Lawrence Welk (11th), Liza Minelli (12^th), Adam Clayton (13th), Albert Einstein (14^th), Eva Longoria (15th), Flavor Flav (16th), Nat King Cole (17th), John Updike (18^th), Bruce Willis (19^th), Ovid (20^th), Gary Oldman (21st), Reese Witherspoon (22nd), Akira Kurosawa (23rd), Harry Houdini (24th), Flannery O'Connor (25^th), Diana Ross (26^th), Mariah Carey (27th), Ldy Gaga (28th), Cy Young (29^th), Eric Clapton (30^th), Christopher Walken (31st).

Catholic Feast Days

1-Feast of St David, St Swithbert, St Albinus
2 - Feast of St Chad, St Charles the Good, St Ferona
3- Feast of Ste Arthelais, Ste Cunegund, St Guignole, Ste Katharine Drexel
4 - Feast of St Casimir of Poland, St Humbert, St Leonard
5 - Feast of St Phocas of Antioch, St Piran, St Gerasimus, St John Joseph of the Cross
6 - Feast of St Fridolin, Ste Colette
7 - Feast of St Drausius, Ste Perpetua, Ste Felicity, St Paul the Simple
8 - Feast of St John of God, St Philomen
9- Feast of Ste Catherine of Bologna, St Dominic Savio, Ste Frances of Rome
10- Feast of St Kessog, Ste Anastasia, St John Ogilvie
11-Feast of St Eulogius of Córdoba, St Oengus
12-Feast of Ste Fina, St Maximilian
13-Feast of St Ansovinus
14-Feast of Ste Matilda, St Lubin
15-Feast of St Clement Mary Hofbauer, St Longinus, Ste Louise de Marillac, Ste Matrona
16-Feast of St Heribert, St Papa
17-Feast of Ste Gertrude of Nivelles, St Joseph of Arimathea, St Patrick
18-Feast of St Fra Angelico, St Edward the Martyr, St Frigidian
19-Feast of St Joseph
20-Feast of St Cuthbert, St Martin of Braga
21-Feast of St Nicholas von Flue
22-Feast of St Avitus, St Isnardo of Chiampa, Ste Lea of Rome, St Nicholas Owen, St Paul of Narbonne
23-Feast of the Blessed Sybillina Biscossi, St Toribio, St Gwinear
24-Feast of Ste Catherine of Sweden, St Gabriel the Archangel
25-Feast of The Annunciation, St Dismas, Ste Margaret Clitherow
26-Feast of St Ludger
27-Feast of Ste Alkelda, St Pellegrino
28-Feast of St Gontran, St Tutilo
29-Feast of St Armogastes, St Rupert, St Cyril the Deacon
30-Feast of St Quirinus, St Dodo
31-Feast of Ste Balbina, St Guy of Pomposa, St Amos, St Benjamin

Check out  these other months:
January - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/01/your-january-birthday-january-holidays.html
February: http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/02/your-february-birthday-february.html
April - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-april-birthday-april-holidays.html
May - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/05/your-may-birthday-may-holidays.html
June - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/05/your-june-birthday-holidays-traditions.html
July - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/07/your-july-birthday-july-holidays.html
August -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/07/your-august-birthday-august-holidays.html
September - https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2019/08/your-september-birthday-september.html
October - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/09/your-october-birthday-october-holidays.html
November - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/10/your-november-birthday-november.html
December - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/12/your-december-birthday-december.html

Image from Pixabay  https://pixabay.com/en/flowers-vase-daffodils-narcissus-93014/

Your February Birthday: February Holidays, Traditions and More

The shortest month of the year certainly isn't short on stuff to celebrate. Groundhog Day (Feb 2) evokes the promise of spring, but lingering cold weather makes a perfect excuse to cuddle on Valentine's Day (Feb 14). Add to this the crazy fun of Carnivale and Mardi Gras, the reverence of Ash Wednesday and the killer sales of President's Day, and you have a pretty cool month. But wait; there's more!

Monthly Observances
February is widely known for being National Black History Month, but it is also the National Month for bird feeding, caring about your indoor air, cherry pie, condoms, children's dental health (a natural consequence of Cherry Pie Month), laugh-friendliness, mending a broken heart, parent leadership, pet dental health, senior independence, time management, and weddings. It's the International Month for boosting self-esteem, so make sure everyone compliments your cherry pies enormously.

In addition, February is also American Heart Month, as well as the month for adopting a rescued rabbit, AMD / low vision awareness, baking for family fun, festival of camellias, from Africa to Virginia, library lovers, Marfan Syndrome awareness, marijuana awareness, planting the seeds of greatness, relationship wellness, returning shopping carts to the supermarket (I don't make this stuff up; I just report it), sweet potatoes, wise health care consumers, worldwide renaissance of the heart, youth leadership (same month as parent leadership??), and spunky old broads, so watch some Golden Girls reruns, then have some fun baking with your family!

Weirdest Holiday: Inconvenience Yourself Day, the 25th. We need a holiday for this? Honorable Mention for Bad Timing: Dump Your Significant Jerk Day, on the 7th, is not likely to get too many adherents, placed as it is one week before Valentine's Day. At least see what the jerk got you, first! :)

February Traditions 

Flower: violet - fidelity, humility

Birthstone: amethyst - humility, sincerity Aquarius's gem: sapphire - chastity, hope

Zodiac sign: Aquarius (1-18) and Pisces (19-29; see March for details). Despite being represented as the Water Bearer, Aquarius is actually an air sign, indicating spontaneity and changeability. Aquarians are known geniuses and almost pathologically honest, but they sure can be weird about stuff, like relationships. Try to be less cerebral and more trusting, Water Bearers! Best friends: Libra and Gemini. Best love matches: Sagittarius, Leo and Aries.

Famous Birthdays: Clark Gable (1st), Ayn Rand (2nd), Nathan Lane (3rd), Betty Friedan (4th),  Hank Aaron (5th), Babe Ruth (6th), Charles Dickens (7th), James Dean (8th), Tom Hiddleston (9th), Roberta Flack (10th), Burt Reynolds (11th), Abraham Lincoln (12th), Grant Wood (13th), Frederick Douglass (14th), Galileo (15th), Ice T (16th), Michael Jordan (17th), John Travolta (18th), Copernicus (19th), Sydney Poitier (20th), Erma Bombeck (21st), George Washington (22nd), Dakota Fanning (23rd), Winslow Homer (24th), George Harrison (25th), Johnny Cash (26th), Ralph Nader (27th), Jason Aldean (28th), Dinah Shore (29th).

Catholic Feast Days
1- Feast of Ste Brigid, St Severus of Avranches
2 - Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, Candlemas, St Adalbald of Ostrevant, St Cornelius the Centurion, Ste Joande Lestronac
3- Feast of St Anskar, St Blaise, Our Lady of Supya
4 - Feast of St Andrew Corsini, St John de Brito, Ste Joan of France
5 - Feast of Ste Agatha, St Bertulf, St Jacob
6 - Feast of St Amand, Ste Dorothy, Sts Paul Miki and Peter Baptist, St Mel
7 - Feast of St Moses, St James Sales, St Luke the Wonder Worker, St Romuald, St Thomas Sherwood
8 - Feast of St Cuthman, St Jerome Emiliani, St Meingold
9- Feast of Ste Apollonia, St Sisebutus
10- Feast of Ste Scholastica, St Clare of Rimini
11-Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, St Caedmon, Ste Theodora
12-Feast of St Julian the Hospitaler, Ste Marina
13-Feast of St Agabus, Ste Eustocium of Padua, St Modomnoc, Ste Catherine dei Ricci, St Martinian
14-Feast of Sts Cyril & Methodius, St Valentine
15-Feast of St Euseus, St Sigfrid, Ste Georgette, St Severus of Valeria
16-Feast of St Gilbert of Sempringham, Ste Juliana, Ste Viridiana
17-Feast of St Forkernus of Trim, St Evermond, St Fintan of Cloneenagh, Ste Marianne, St Silvinus
18-Feast of St Theotonius, Ste Agatha Lin & St Andrew Nam-Thung, Ste Constance
19-Feast of St Conrad of Piacenza, St Boniface of Lausanne, St Mesrop the Teacher
20-Feast of St Amata of Assisi, St Colgan, St Eleutherius of Catania, St Shadhost, St Wulfric of Haselbury
21-Feast of St Peter Damian, St Noel Pinot
22-Feast of Ste Margaret of Cortona, St Elvis
23-Feast of Ste Mildburga, St Polycarp, St Willigis
24-Feast of St Prix, Ste Adela
25-Feast of Ste Walburga, St Avertanus, St Romeo
26-Feast of Ste Photina, St Porphyry
27-Feast of St Gabriel Possenti, St Galmier, Ste Anne Line
28-Feast of Ste Honorina, St Romanus
29-Feast of St Oswald of Worcester

Birthday not in February? Check out these other months!
January - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/01/your-january-birthday-january-holidays.html
March - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-march-birthday-march-holidays.html
April -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/03/your-april-birthday-april-holidays.html
May - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/05/your-may-birthday-may-holidays.html 
June - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/05/your-june-birthday-holidays-traditions.html
July - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/07/your-july-birthday-july-holidays.html
August -  http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/07/your-august-birthday-august-holidays.html
September - https://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2019/08/your-september-birthday-september.html
October - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/09/your-october-birthday-october-holidays.html
November - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2017/10/your-november-birthday-november.html
December - http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/12/your-december-birthday-december.html

Image credit  -  https://pixabay.com/en/snow-snow-heart-heart-winter-love-1159461/