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March 28 is Respect Your Cat Day

Today is Respect Your Cat Day. We would argue that every day is Respect Your Cat Day. Why is today singled out for this observance?

Respect Your Cat Day

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Legend has it that on March 28, 1384, King Richard II outlawed the consumption of cats. We use the word “legend” because there doesn’t appear to be a lick of truth to it. We wanted to believe it because it’s a great story. Apparently, many sites agree: the Richard II edict dominates the first several pages of Google search results.

Some say that in times of famine, nothing would have been off the table, so to speak. A couple of people stated that cookbooks of the era didn’t feature cat-centric recipes. Another noted that her grandmother had called cats Scotch hares so it was possible they might have been part of recipes that didn’t explicitly use the word “cat.”

In our research, we were unable to find any confirmation of the tale, only repetition. We hate to be party poopers, but this smells like b.s. to us. If you have any information about it, we would be grateful to hear it.  In the meantime, we have submitted the statement to Snopes.com, a trusted arbiter of online fact versus fiction.

No matter what the truth is, have a happy Respect Your Cat Day today and every day!

Copyright © 2017 Worldwide Weird Holidays

 

March 25 is Pecan Day

Today is Pecan Day, not to be confused with National Pecan Day (April 14) or National Pecan Month (also April). As the only nut tree native to North America, the pecan has been a source of pride since the founding of the United States.

pecan day

photo credit – Corey Leopold

The pecan tree was declared the State Tree of Texas in 1906; the pecan became State Nut in 1919. Ninety years later, Arkansas also named the pecan as its State Nut. Interestingly, the two states also share the same State Historic Cooking Vessel: the Dutch oven. (We would’ve chosen the George Foreman Grill. That thing is amazing.)

The story behind Pecan Day is this: On March 25, 1775, George Washington planted pecan trees on his grounds in Mount Vernon, NY. They were a gift from Thomas Jefferson, who had transplanted a number of the trees from the Mississippi Valley to his home in Monticello, NY.

A few of those trees still stand today as a reminder that, even as they geared up for war, the founders could still make time for a little agriculture. (Having slaves to do the manual labor probably helped, too, but that’s a story for another time.)

Happy Pecan Day!

Copyright © 2017 Worldwide Weird Holidays

 

March 15 is the Ides of March

ides of march

Caesar was killed on this spot.

Today is the Ides of March, which marks the date in 44 B.C. that Julius Caesar was assassinated.

To learn why it was called the Ides of March, we need to take a look at the Roman calendar in use 2,060 years ago. Days of the year weren’t not numbered sequentially. Instead, each month had three division days: Kalends, Nones and Ides.

Kalends always fell on the first day of the month. The Nones fell on the fifth, except in months that had fewer than 31 days. In March, May, July and October, the Nones fell on the seventh. The Ides occurred eight days after the Nones. Easy, right?

Not so fast. Some histories report that the Ides were considered a time to pay debts and settle accounts. It also appears that the Ides stood not just for one day but the following month. This is important to the understanding the events leading up to the assassination of Julius Caesar.

William Shakespeare studied the writings of Plutarch when crafting Julius Caesar, so even though he used poetic license when penning the famous line, “Beware the Ides of March,” he based the scene surrounding it upon a real occurrence. To wit: there was a soothsayer named Spurinna, who warned Caesar of his rapidly-approaching fate.

Spurinna was a haruspex, one who discovered and interpreted omens by inspecting the entrails and organs of animal sacrifices. He hailed from Etruria, known for its training in divination. Etruscans were accorded high social status in Rome. Spurinna had access to prominent citizens and was undoubtedly privy to gossip and rumors, which could only help him in his occupation.

Caesar was not well-liked. He had brazenly taken a foreigner (Cleopatra) as his mistress. He had declared himself dictator perpetuo, dictator in perpetuity, on February 14th, spurring fears he would declare himself king and do away with the Senate altogether.

On February 15th, Caesar consulted Spurinna. A bull was sacrificed and its innards interpreted. Spurinna announced a bad omen: the bull had no heart. It’s a testament to belief that no one demanded to inspect the body or asked how the animal survived to adulthood, until its sacrifice, without a heart.

Spurinna told Caesar to beware the next 30 days, not just March 15th. Was it sound advice by way of divination, an educated guess or something more? It was common knowledge that Caesar was scheduled to leave Rome on March 18th to lead his army on a military campaign that would last for years. The assassins had to strike before then.

According to historian Barry Strauss, author of The Death of Caesar: The Story of History’s Most Famous Assassination, Caesar took the warning seriously. He had no intention of attending the Senate meeting on March 15th. His wife Calpurnia awoke that morning from a nightmare that he’d been murdered, which strengthened his resolve to stay home.

He almost made it but succumbed to peer pressure when his friend Decimus, whom you’ve probably never heard of, came to his home and goaded him into attending. He told Caesar the Senate would brand him a tyrant, that everyone would laugh at him and think him weak and feeble-minded for allowing himself to be cowed by a woman’s dream and a fool’s omen.

The ploy worked. Decimus persuaded his friend to walk into the arms of his killers. Caesar never cried out in anguish, “Et tu, Brute?” The phrase has become shorthand for the experience of being stabbed in the back–hopefully metaphorically–by someone close. But Caesar and Brutus were never friends.

He must have been shocked to see Decimus stabbing him but didn’t call out his name, either. He was too busy trying to fight back and escape. Of course, he had no chance against the men surrounding him. Many of the 23 wounds occurred after he was dead; they took turns sticking him so they could all claim a role in the assassination.

Even in death, Caesar had a surprise in store, In his will, Caesar bequeathed a large cash payment to every citizen and soldier. He posthumously adopted Octavian as his heir and left him three-quarters of his private fortune to help him purchase the love of the populace and the loyalty of the military.

After years of civil war, Octavian became sole ruler of the Roman Empire. The fight for a new republic, which had driven men to slay their leader, was lost.

It seems all Romans would have done well to beware the Ides of March.

Copyright © 2017 Worldwide Weird Holidays

February 22 is World Thinking Day

world thinking dayToday is World Thinking Day. It doesn’t mean we get to lay off thinking the rest of the year. It doesn’t mean the Earth is a sentient being. What is it? Read six (very short) paragraphs to find out.

In 1899, Robert Baden-Powell wrote a field manual for fellow British soldiers called Aids to Scouting. The following year, he was declared a war hero for his bravery in conflict and the book became well-known. It was especially popular with boys, who staged elaborate games based on his instructions about observation and tracking.

After learning of this, Baden-Powell formed the Boy Scouts in 1907. The next year, he published Scouting for Boys, a guide stressing the importance of good deeds and morality. He set up a central office, which registered new Scouts and designed a uniform. By the end of 1908, there were 60,000 Boy Scouts.

In September 1909, 10,000 Scouts attended the first national Boy Scout rally at Crystal Palace in London. Many girls showed up, claiming to be members. Baden-Powell founded the Girl Guides, also known as Girl Scouts in many countries, as a separate entity in 1910, eventually appointing his wife Olave to run it.

The Girl Scouts held its first conference in Oxford, England in 1920. It was held every two years until 1954 and every three years since. The 36th World Conference is scheduled to take place in Tunisia in 2017.

At the fourth World Conference in 1926, delegates met at Camp Edith Macy in Briarcliff Manor, NY, a facility owned by the Girls Scouts of the USA. Participants decided to dedicate a day to thinking of their counterparts around the world and expressing thanks to the organization that brought them all together.

They called it Thinking Day and chose February 22 as the date for its annual observance because it was the birthday of both Robert Baden-Powell and his wife, Olave Baden-Powell. It’s since become known as World Thinking Day and millions of girls celebrate it.

Is all this new knowledge making you crave some cookies? There’s an app for that. The Girl Scout Cookie Finder is available on iOS and Android. Who says history can’t be delicious?

Happy World Thinking Day!

Copyright © 2017 Worldwide Weird Holidays

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