It's a Jolly Holiday in October! Quiz

Answer: Harvey Ball

Harvey Ball created Smiley in 1963 in Worcester, MA for an insurance company's friendship campaign. Smiley appeared on buttons, posters, desk cards, etc. Neither he nor State Mutual Life copyrighted the image, which permeated popular culture, often tagged with "Have a Nice Day" (which was not part of Ball's conception). Ball founded the World Smile Corporation in 1999 to license official smileys and to organize "World Smile Day" to promote kindness.

After Ball's death in 2001, his family created the World Smile Foundation, a non-profit entity which now manages "World Smile Day" and sponsors local events such as building a giant human smiley face.

The slogan is "Perform an act of kindness. Make someone smile". (Good advice for any day of the year).

Answer: Blessing of the animals

St. Francis of Assisi, canonized in 1228, is one of the most beloved religious figures in history. Strongly associated with peace and with animals, St. Francis founded several religious orders. He embraced poverty, valued the natural world around him, and was said even to preach to birds. In his "Canticle of the Creatures" (also called "Canticle of the Sun") he referred to Brother Sun and Sister Moon, and the wind and water on intimate terms as well. Legend has it he persuaded a wolf to stop attacking a village if the villagers agreed to feed it. He is usually depicted with animals at his feet. Pope John Paul II declared St. Francis the patron saint of ecology in 1979. Long before that, however, many churches, especially Catholic and Anglican, used his feast day (or the Sunday closest) as a day for the blessing of the animals, especially pets. The practice has actually grown throughout the world (but especially in Canada, the USA, the UK, and Australia) since the end of the 20th century.

Assisi is a little town amid the rolling hills of Umbria, Province of Perugia, Italy.

Answer: Because his hat was labeled "10/6" in the original illustrations

The character in question was just called the Hatter in Lewis Carroll's books, not the Mad Hatter (as in the 1951 Disney movie adaptation, among others). But madness among hatters was quite a problem in the Victorian era due their exposure to mercury in the manufacture of head-wear.

The Hatter as drawn by Sir John Tenniel wore a large top hat with a slip of paper on which "In this style 10/6" was written. This indicated an order to make the hat at a cost of ten shillings and sixpence (pre-decimal British money, of course).

Hence the date, 10/6 as written in the United States, became "Mad Hatter Day". Grab yourself a silly hat and embrace the absurdity!

Answer: The marriage of King Ludwig of Bavaria in 1810

On October 12, 1810, Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. A few days later, on the 17th, a great horse race was held to celebrate the marriage. Their wedding anniversary eventually became the annual Oktoberfest. Over the years, the festival grew, and featured carnival booths and local food such as spätzle and Weisswurst. Eventually came carnival rides. Horse racing remained a part of it until 1960. And of course, there's beer.

Oktoberfest has been cancelled only a few times due to wars, and once in 1854 due to an outbreak of cholera. It used to be held entirely in October, but it was moved to the end of September for better weather, although it still ends in October. Can't make it to Munich? Oktoberfest celebrations of German culture are also held around the world.

Answer: October 12

October 12, 1492, is the day that Christopher Columbus and his Castilian crew first landed in the Americas and began the permanent European colonization of the "New World".

Columbus Day was first celebrated in the USA when in 1792 the Tammany Society in New York City and the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston celebrated the 300th anniversary of Columbus's initial expedition. Then in 1892, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed a celebration of the 400th anniversary. Earlier, in 1866, it had started to become an observance of Italian-American heritage as Columbus was born in the Republic of Genoa, now a part of Italy (even though he was sailing under the Castilian, i.e. Spanish, flag). In fact, it was Angelo Noce, an Italian immigrant, who successfully lobbied the Colorado state government to make Columbus Day a legal holiday in 1904. The Knights of Columbus and entrepreneur Generoso Pope successfully lobbied Congress to make October 12 a federal holiday in 1934. After the passage of the uniform Monday Holiday Act, signed by President Johnson in 1968 and made effective 1971, Columbus Day was moved to the second Monday of October as part of the plan to increase three-day weekends for federal employees. It is a *federal* holiday, and not all municipalities, counties, and states in the Union officially recognize Columbus Day (though all the banks are closed nationwide).

In Italy, "la Giornata Nazionale di Cristoforo Colombo" has been recognized officially only since 2004.

Answer: Day of the meeting of cultures

Columbus, who enslaved the inhabitants he encountered, is not exactly an admired figure in Latin America, so Columbus Day is known by a variety of other names. In Guatemala and Venezuela, it is "el Día de la Resistencia Indígenas" (the day of indigenous resistance). Nicaragua goes even further with "el Día de la Resistencia Indígena, Negra y Popular" (the day of indigenous, black, and popular resistance).

On a more positive note, Costa Rica chose its name in 1994 to reflect the mixture of European, indigenous, African, and Asian cultures that comprise modern Costa Rica (and the rest of Latin America). In the Bahamas, it is "Día del Descubrimiento" (Discovery Day). In many other countries, it is "Día de la Raza", or Day of the Race (of Hispanic people). Argentina changed it from that to "Día de Respecto de la Diversidad Cultural" in the early 21st century (that's "Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity").

In Spain, from where Columbus set sail, it was once called "Día de la Hispanidad" (Day of the Hispanic World) but then its focus was narrowed: "Día de la Fiesta Nacional" (National Festival Day). Within the USA, various localities observe Indigenous Peoples' Day as an alternative to Columbus Day, including Cincinnati, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Boise, and Santa Fe. (Berkeley, CA was the first in 1992). Many tribal governments within Oklahoma call it Native American Day, which is also the official state holiday of South Dakota.

Answer: Leif Erikson

Leif Erikson (c. 970 - c. 1020), was a Norse explorer from Iceland (where they call him Leifur Eiríksson). He is the first known European to set foot on Continental North America, in "Vinland" -- perhaps on the northern tip of present-day Newfoundland or perhaps around Gulf of St. Lawrence. (His father, Erik the Red, had been exiled from Iceland and had reached Greenland earlier.) Although it was once believed that Columbus was the first European to visit the New World, Norwegian-American Rasmus B. Anderson asserted in his book "America Not Discovered by Columbus" (1874) that the Vikings made it first. (At first, this created tension between the Italian-American and Norwegian-American communities, but now there is no doubt). In 1964 President Johnson proclaimed Leif Erikson Day a national observance, and every succeeding U.S. President has done so since.

The day was chosen not because it is when Erikson founded Vinland; rather, a wave of Norwegian immigration began on 9 October 1825 when the ship 'Restauration' landed in New York Harbor. Leif Erikson Day is an important holiday in many communities in the USA and Canada with a large Nordic population. And of course, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden celebrate the day!

Answer: Thanksgiving

Since first declared a national holiday in 1879, the date of Thanksgiving Day or "Jour de l'Action de grâce" had varied greatly. On January 31, 1957, Governor General of Canada Vincent Massey fixed it by proclamation to the second Monday in October (coincidentally Columbus Day in its southern neighbor since 1971).

The first Thanksgiving in North America may have occurred in 1578 when Englishman Martin Frobisher and his crew survived a treacherous, icy expedition to seek the Northwest Passage (although this is disputed). French settlers after Samuel Champlain also formed Orders of Good Cheer with their indigenous neighbors and held feasts of thanks in the early 1600s.

Some families have their Thanksgiving dinners over the weekend and use the Monday to recover. Although the food served is similar, Thanksgiving is a much lower-key celebration than in the USA, especially in Quebec. The holiday is optional in PEI, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. But Canadians have no qualms about putting up Christmas decorations starting on Thanksgiving (a good three weeks before Halloween).

Answer: International Sloth Day

The AIUNAU Foundation, a non-profit wildlife conservation organization based in Colombia, created "International Sloth Day" (ISD) in 2010 to raise awareness and foster appreciation of the sloth. Sloths spend their lives in trees, only coming down occasionally to pass waste, and they move so slowly that algae, fungi, and beetles grow in their fur. Quite possibly, the algae and fungi may have anti-cancer benefits for human beings. Many zoos in the USA and other countries recognize ISD, so it might be a good day to pay them a visit!

The AIUNAU Foundation is headquartered south of the Valley Aburra, 25 km from Medellin, Colombia. They run a rescue-and-rehab center for sloths, armadillos, and anteaters. On their website, the Foundation states (translated) "There is a lot that sloths can teach us -- respect, tenderness, joy, peaceful coexistence..."

Answer: The Philippines

The Seychelles are in the Indian Ocean, while the Canaries are in the Eastern Atlantic and the Bahamas in the Western Atlantic. None of these has ever been a U.S. territory. The USA controlled the Philippines from the Spanish-American War to the end of World War II (1898-1946).

The Philippines' 2018 Eatlog Run featured a children's 500-meter dash and a 10km "scrambled-egg" singles run, but they weren't the only country celebrating World Egg Day. Australia held a contest in which residents nominated their favorite restaurant's egg recipes; the winner received the Eggsellence Award. Latvia had an orienteering "Egg Hunt", a climbing wall, and an egg-painting contest. At the Pakistan Maritime Museum in Karachi, students from the Wisdom performed skits and songs and made models and paintings, all egg-themed of course. Croatia held a theater festival and egg-decorating workshops. Ghana distributed 2000 eggs to consumers, Bangladesh 5000, and India distributed a whopping three million boiled eggs to schoolchildren.

The International Egg Commission created World Egg Day at a conference in Vienna in 1996.

Answer: The United Nations

The 24th of October is United Nations Day, when the Charter of the United Nations, the foundational treaty of the UN, went into effect.

The UN Charter was signed in June 16, 1945 in San Francisco by 50 nation-states (later by Poland on October 15). It was ratified on October 24 by the permanent members of the Security Council (the UK, the USA, the USSR, China, and France) and the majority of signatories. Between the signing and the ratification, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had occurred (on August 6 and 9), and the introduction of such weapons changed the milieu in which the fledgling organization dedicated to peace found itself.

To commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the UN in 2018, a concert was held in the General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters in New York City with theme "Traditions of Peace and Non-violence".

In 1971 the General Assembly recommended that member nations make UN Day a public holiday. Many communities hold rallies and lectures that salute the accomplishments of the world's largest international diplomatic organization. In the Philippines, for example, UN Day is the last day of the school semester, and children dress in the national costumes of various member nation-states, craft a national flag, and make a presentation about their chosen state. In the USA, the President has issued a proclamation each year for UN Day since 1948.

Answer: Cats

National Cat Day (NCD) was founded in 2005 by animal welfare advocate Colleen Paige. The intent of NCD is not only to encourage cat-lovers to celebrate their beloved pets but also to galvanize public concern for the number of cats that need to be rescued each year. A photographer, author, and animal rehabilitator, Paige has also founded National Dog Day, National Puppy Day, and National Pet Day.

On NCD 2018, the ASPCA, Uber, and I Can Haz Cheeseburger (a humor site) have jointly sponsored the second annual UberKITTENS event. Cats were delivered to offices for 15 minutes of playtime-on-demand in New York, Austin, Phoenix, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. (to promote adoption). The official website for NCD is at NationalCatDay.com.

There are actually a number of feline-friendly holidays worldwide. October 27 according to some sources is National *Black* Cat Day (in the USA and the UK). The ASPCA, however, maintains that Black Cat Appreciation Day is August 17. There is also an International Cat Day founded by the International Fund for Animal Welfare on August 8. Japan's Cat Day is February 22.

Answer: The first remote electronic message transmitted between two computers

Before the World Wide Web, there was ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), a project of the U.S. Department of Defense. On October 29, 1969, Charley Kline, a student programmer at the UCLA transmitted the first message from his SDS Sigma 7 to the SDS 940 host computer at the Stanford Research Institute. The message was intended to be the word "login", but only letters 'L' and 'O' had made it to the other end when the network crashed!

Since 2005, World Internet Day has been observed primarily in Spain and Latin America (especially Mexico, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Venezuela).

[Technical note: the Internet actually predates the Web; people were using email, gopher, Internet Relay Chat, Usenet, and other communication protocols on the Internet before the World Wide Web (hypertext) was developed in the early 1990s, which made the Internet more accessible to the general public.]

Answer: Samhain

Also called 'Samhuinn' in Scots Gaelic and 'Sauin' in Manx Gaelic, Samhain was one of the four main festivals of the pre-Christian Gaelic calendar, which included Lughnasadh (beginning of harvest), Imbolc (dead of winter), and Beltane (early summer). Farmers took stock of their herds and provisions, and decided which animals would be slaughtered for winter. Throughout Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man, there were gatherings, bonfires, games with apples and hazelnuts, and drinking. There was also mumming, whereby folk entertainers dressed up and performed in the streets, and guising, whereby disguised people went door to door asking for food and drink.

The Celtic Revival of the late 19th and early 20th centuries renewed both scholarly and popular interest in Samhain, popularly regarded in modern times as "the Celtic New Year". Various neopagan religious movements, such as Wicca, have appropriated Samhain and other Gaelic and/or Celtic festivals (and added a few of their own).

Answer: Reformation Day

According to tradition, on 31 October 1517, the Augustinian friar Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the All Saints' Church in Wittenberg, Electorate of Saxony (now in Germany) and thereby sparked the Protestant Reformation. In modern times, Reformation Day seems most observed by Calvinist (Reformed), Lutheran, and Methodist denominations, as well as some Anglican churches, and it is officially recognized in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Johann Sebastian Bach composed various sacred cantatas for 'Reformationsfest' in his time.

The Nativity of John the Baptist, or Johnnistag in German, is in June. Maundy Thursday is a few days before Easter. "Hug a Catholic Day" does not exist. Schönen Oktober!