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 […]

Passover (Pesach)

Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, is one of the Jewish religion’s most sacred and widely observed holidays. In Judaism, Passover commemorates the story of the Israelites’ departure from ancient Egypt, which […]

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 […]

Maidyozarem

The mid-spring festival of Maidyozarem is the year’s first Gahambar (festival). It falls on the 41st to 45th days of the year, usually April 30 to May 4.  Maidyozarem honors heaven and the creation of the stars. Zoroastrians observe six seasonal festivals that celebrate the sanctity of God’s universal creations. Each Gahambar lasts five days and […]

Beltane

Beltane, also spelled Beltine, Irish Beltaine or Belltaine, also known as Cétamain, festival held on the first day of May in Ireland and Scotland, celebrating the beginning of summer and open pasturing. Beltane is first mentioned in a glossary attributed to Cormac, bishop of Cashel and king of Munster, who was killed in 908. Cormac describes how cattle were driven between two bonfires on Beltane as […]

May Day (International Workers’ Day)

May Day, day commemorating the historic struggles and gains made by workers and the labour movement, observed in many countries on May 1. In the United States and Canada a similar observance, known as Labor Day, occurs on the first Monday of September. Sourced from https://www.britannica.com/topic/May-Day-international-observance

National Day of Prayer

The very first day of prayer was declared in 1775 by the Continental Congress, which asked people to pray for the fledgling nation. This initial declaration gradually evolved into two formalized events. In 1863 President Lincoln oversaw the naming of the autumnal observance of prayer and thanks as Thanksgiving Day. Almost a century later President […]

World Press Freedom Day

World Press Freedom Day happens yearly on May 3, and acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. It is also a […]

World Press Freedom Day

World Press Freedom Day happens yearly on May 3, and acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. It is also a […]