December 22, 2015 – NATIONAL DATE NUT BREAD DAY – ANNE AND SAMANTHA DAY – WINTER SOLSTICE – YULE – FOREFATHERS’ DAY – NATIONAL FLASHLIGHT DAY – NATIONAL HOMELESS PERSONS’ REMEMBRANCE DAY

                                 NATIONAL DATE NUT BREAD DAY 

National Date Nut Bread Day is celebrated each year on December 22 and by some sources also on September 8.
Dates
Believed to have originated around Iraq, dates have been a staple food of the Middle East and the Indus Valley for thousands of years.  They have been cultivated since ancient times from Mesopotamia to prehistoric Egypt, possibly as early as 4000 BCE.
The Spaniards introduced dates into Mexico and California in 1765.
Dates provide essential nutrients and are a very good source of dietary potassium.  In ripe dates, the sugar content is about 80% with the remainder consisting of protein, fiber and trace elements of boron, cobalt, copper, fluorine, magnesium, manganese, selenium and zinc.
For more information on this day please see the National Day Calendar page for National Date Nut Bread Day.
 

Anne and Samantha Day – Day of Summer and Winter Solstice

ANNE AND SAMANTHA DAY

Anne and Samantha Day is celebrated bi-annually on the summer solstice and on the winter solstice.  It honors Anne Frank and Samantha Smith.
Anne Frank
Generations have been moved by the words recorded in the diary of the young Jewish girl, Anne Frank. Born June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany at the cusp of one of the greatest upheavals in world history, Anne was the second daughter of Otto and Ruth Frank.
The family would eventually flee Nazi Germany for the relative safety of Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Germany would begin their campaign in 1939 by attacking Poland and by 1942 the Netherlands would be occupied by the Nazi as well.
Weeks after receiving a red checkered diary for her 13th birthday, her family and the families of her father’s employees were forced into hiding.  The year was 1942.  The empty space at the back of her father’s company building was where they survived and where Anne wrote daily.  Her diary would become a place of solace when despair was overwhelming.
For more information on this day please visit the National Day Calendar page for Anne and Samantha Day.
 

Winter Solstice – Changes Annually

WINTER SOLSTICE

The winter solstice is the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It occurs annually between December 20 and December 23.
The winter solstice is marked by the point at which the North Pole is at its farthest from the sun during its yearly orbit around the sun. It will be approximately 23 degrees away from the sun.  Despite the temperature outside, the winter solstice is considered the astronomical beginning of winter.  Meteorological winter begins December 1 and lasts until the end of February and is marked by the coldest average temperatures during the year.
Depending on how far north a person is in the Northern Hemisphere during the winter solstice, their day can range from 9.5 hours to absolutely no sunrise at all.
For more information on this day please visit the National Day Calendar page for Winter Solstice.
 

Yule – Day of Winter Solstice

YULE

Yule is observed on the day of the Winter Solstice.
Also known as Jul, Yule predates the Christmas holiday by thousands of years. There is some debate as to the origin of the word “Yule”. Some linguists suggest the word is derived from “Iul”, the Anglo-Saxon word for wheel. This makes a connection to a Celtic calendar, the Wheel of the Year. In the Norse culture “Jul” refers to the god, Odin. Odin was celebrated during Yule as well.
Yule celebrations included bonfires, decorating with holly, mistletoe and the boughs of evergreen trees, ritual sacrifices, feasts and gift giving.
For more information on this day please visit the National Day Calendar page for Yule.
 
Also on National Day Calendar
December 22 is also Forefathers’ Day, National Flashlight Day and National Homeless Persons’ Remembrance Day.  For more information please visit the National Day Calendar pages for Forefathers’ Day, National Flashlight Day and National Homeless Persons’ Remembrance Day.