International Day for Tolerance (United Nations)

The United Nations voted in the Day of Tolerance in 1993 to demonstrate its commitment to strengthening tolerance through mutual understanding among cultures and peoples. Learn more about the International Day of Tolerance on the United Nations website.

Women’s History Month

Every year, March is designated Women’s History Month by presidential proclamation. The month is set aside to honor women’s contributions in American history. Did You Know? Women’s History Month started […]

International Transgender Day of Visibility

The International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) is an annual day of recognition, celebrated around the world on March 31st, which is dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments and victories of […]

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Even before its official declaration, Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) was about both awareness and prevention of sexual assault, harassment, and abuse. Looking at the history of the movement to […]

International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda

On 7 April, UNESCO commemorates the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, which was established by the United Nations General Assembly  in 2003. The date marks the beginning of the genocide perpetrated against members of the Tutsi minority by the Hutu extremist-led government. Within just over 100 days, more […]

World Health Day

April 7 of each year marks the celebration of World Health Day. From its inception at the First Health Assembly in 1948 and since taking effect in 1950, the celebration has aimed to create awareness of a specific health theme to highlight a priority area of concern for the World Health Organization. Over the past […]

Eid al-Fitr

Eid al-Fitr, (Arabic: “Festival of Breaking Fast”) also spelled ʿĪd al-Fiṭr, also called al-ʿĪd al-Ṣaghīr, Turkish Ramazan Bayramı (“Ramadan Festival”), first of two canonical festivals of Islam. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, and is celebrated during the first three days of Shawwāl, the 10th month of the Islamic calendar (though the Muslim use of a lunar calendar means that it […]

The Festival of Ridvan

For 12 days at the end of April and beginning of May, Baha'i communities around the world celebrated their most holy festival: Ridvan. This annual festival marks the anniversary of the days Baha'u'llah spent along the River Tigris in Baghdad. In 1863, Baha'u'llah stayed in a garden on the banks of the Tigris River for […]

Earth Day

Every year on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. In the decades leading up to the first Earth Day, Americans were consuming vast amounts of leaded gas through massive and inefficient automobiles. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of the consequences […]

Armenian Martyrs’ Day

The Armenian Genocide—the first genocide of the 20th century—took the lives of 1.5 million Armenians, who were massacred by Ottoman Turkey’s “Young Turk” government beginning in 1915. The deportation and mass extermination of Armenians continued until 1923. Planned and executed during World War I, the Armenian Genocide saw the virtual elimination of Armenians from their […]