On This Day: September 24th … Strange Holidays
Native American Day
Punctuation Day
Be Brave Day
I see this small grouping as something special. All Native American’s must maintain bravery each and every day that goes by, their history that tells them so.
Native American Day
This day is set aside to honor and celebrate Native Americans, the first Americans to live in the U.S. Still commonly referred to as American Indians, the term "Native Americans" has been used in recent years as a sign of respect and recognition that they were indeed the first indigenous people to populate our great and wonderful nation.
By the time the first explorers and settlers arrived from Europe, Native Americans had populated the entire North American continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to the northern reaches of Canada.
We encourage you to spend this day, learning about Native Americans, the true original settlers in America.
This special holiday dates back to 1939. California Governor Culbert Olsen dedicated this day as American Indian Day. The state of Nevada soon followed suit. Over the years, the name and the date was changed.
In 1968, then Governor Ronald Reagan made a resolution which was passed in the state Assembly declaring the fourth Friday in September as Native American Day. Nevada also made this an official holiday. Over the years, the popularity of this holiday grew and became popular across the country..
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."—John Lennon
Be Brave Day
National Brave Day is about empowering women. It "honors women who lift each other up, rescue each other and make each other Brave," and exists "to encourage women to keep moving forward and to be Brave." On the day, women with varied life experiences and from different generations come together to support each other with simple gestures. These are sisters, family members, friends, and strangers who have dealt with struggles and tragedy. National BRAVE Day was founded by Sweetlife Women, a women's ministry, in honor of their founder, Kaci Stewart. In creating the day, Sweetlife Women hoped it would be a spark of encouragement to women, and a reminder to them to strengthen each other.
If you are a woman, celebrate the day by lifting up other women and encouraging them to move forward and to be BRAVE. Show your support for them through simple gestures. Some ideas suggested by the creators of the day on how to observe include organizing a movie night for local women, creating a fundraiser for baby showers, organizing a Valentine's Day Tea for single mothers, and editing the resumé of a woman who is seeking a new job.
Do what you can when you can. Both you and the person you help will be better off with the time invested.
Punctuation Day
From the lowly comma to the flamboyant ampersand, today celebrates the punctuation that makes our words legible and gets our point across. “Let’s eat, Grandma!” or “Let’s eat Grandma!” — it’s clear that punctuation saves lives. Though you might not have consciously considered punctuation since elementary school, you likely use it every day. Every year, the creator of the holiday sets a punctuation challenge, and punctuation quizzes and games can be found all over the country.
Minding your p’s and q’s, dotting your t’s, crossing your i’s, and knowing the difference between a colon and a semicolon was not always necessary to communicate. While today we take for granted the little dots, slashes, and spaces that turn a string of unintelligible letters into a compelling story, ancient cultures had to make do without. Since most early languages were purely verbal, punctuation was not necessary.
The earliest-known document featuring punctuation is the Mesha Stele from 900 B.C. The next civilization to start to develop rudimentary punctuation was the Greeks, in 200 B.C. Though they had previously written in ‘scriptura continua,’ or unending strings of text unmarred by punctuation marks, people soon started to adopt the system of punctuation created by Aristophanes of Byzantium. This included a single punctuation mark positioned differently to indicate pauses in speeches.
Though punctuation had already been adopted by the Greeks, it wasn’t until the Bible began to be printed en masse that punctuation spread to other civilizations. Bible printing was widespread between 400 and 800 A.D., and punctuation was necessary so that those who read the text aloud knew where to pause and place emphasis. In the 1400's, a huge shift came with the printing press, which spurred the need for a more unified punctuation system.
While punctuation as a single system hasn’t changed too much since the old days, marks and symbols have gradually gained and lost meaning. One important shift occurred in the late 20th century with the life-changing arrival of computers. Suddenly, symbols like ‘#’ and ‘@’ took on whole new, tech-specific meanings! Additionally, texting and chatting online requires knowledge of a wholly different, somewhat colloquial body of punctuation rules.
Teacher: What's the most important punctuation mark?
Little Johnny: The period?
Teacher: Correct. Can you tell me why?
Little Johnny: I'm not sure, but when my sister missed hers, my mom fainted, my dad had a heart attack , and the next door neighbor shot himself.
More Strange Holidays Coming!