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December 21


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Here you will find the world's holidays, annual events and a few anniversaries on December 21.

See also:  DecemberToday in Historymovable December holidayspossible December holidays

     spotlight on:  today is the Winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, making it the shortest day and therefore the longest night of the year.  It's a great night to get an early start on celebrating the solar new year.
 
holidays & events
  • Alban Arthuan (Druid Festival; 4th Station)
  • Chaos Day
  • First Day of Winter
  • Humbug Day - sponsored by the Wellness Permission League
  • Look At the Bright Side Day
  • Mumping Day
  • National French Fried Shrimp Day
  • National Flashlight Day
  • Phineas Fogg Wins A Wager Day
  • Yule (Wiccan) - the signification of the death of the Sun-God and his rebirth from the Earth Goddess on the Winter Solstice
  • Yule Festival - in northern Europe; dedicated to the ghosts of ancestors, houses were once decorated with greenery and filled with lamps to mark the winter solstice; today our modern Christmas traditions such as mistletoe, garlands and lights are remnants of the Yule festival.  It is still the Christmastime custom in many places that standing under mistletoe invites a kiss you cannot refuse.  Many English homes hung garlands of greenery from the middle of the ceiling in the living room, decorated with candles, red apples, rosettes of colored paper, ornaments, and suspended from the center of this "Kissing Bough" was mistletoe.  According to Erasmus, English people freely kissing each other on the lips upon meeting and parting was surprising to foreign visitors in the 16th century.  In the Druid religion, enemies who met under mistletoe were required to lay down their weapons, greet each other, and honor a truce until the next day.  Perhaps the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began with English lovers kissing to make a truce?
  • Pongol of the Cows - Hindu

Christian holidays


anniversaries

  • Norway KidsProj - Christmas
  • Solstice - International
  • National Tree Planting Day - Malawi
  • John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave 8 million dollars for land on the East River, Manhattan, New York to build a home for the United Nations 1946
  • December 21 - The first full-length animated cartoon was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which premiered in 1937.
  • December 21 - Basketball Day - Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, was the site of the first basketball game in 1891.

directories


December holidays & events by location

 
Africa

Africa

 
Asia & the Middle East

Asia

  • Nepal Independence Day

Middle East

 
Australia & Oceania

Australia and Oceania

 
Europe

Europe

  • Doleing Day (f/k/a Gooding Day) - in Sussex, UK
 
North & Central America

North America

  • Forefathers' Day - in New England; commemorating the historic landing and settlement at Plymouth Rock by the Pilgrims (1620); a/k/a Pilgrims Day a/k/a Pilgrim Landing Anniversary

Caribbean


Central America

 
South America

South America

 
calendar & zodiac

Gregorian calendar

  • Day 354, with 11 days remaining in the year
  • 2001 A. D.: Friday
  • 2002 A. D.:  Saturday
  • 2003 A. D.:  Sunday
  • 2004 A. D.:  Tuesday
  • 2005 A. D.:  Wednesday
  • 2006 A. D.:  Thursday
  • 2007 A. D.:  Friday
  • 2008 A. D.:  Sunday
  • 2009 A. D.:  Monday
  • 2010 A. D.:  Tuesday
  • 2011 A. D.:  Wednesday

other calendars


season

  • Northern hemisphere:  Winter begins
    • Winter Solstice - with daylight at a minimum, ranging from 12 hours and 8 minutes at the equator to no daylight at the Arctic Circle, today is the longest night of the year
  • Southern hemisphere:  Summer
  • beginning of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere (except Australia)

zodiac


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last edited Sunday, December 25, 2005