Martin Luther King’s Day

Customs and traditions. Holidays in the USA.

It is celebrated on the Third Monday of every January beginning in 1986. Martin Luther King was a black clergyman who became famous all over the world for his campaigns to win full civil rights for the black people in the USA, because black people were discriminated in different spheres of life. For example, black people were not allowed to eat in the same places with white people, their children could not study at schools together with white children. The whole world was shocked when King was killed in 1968. The Congress decided to make the third Monday in January a holiday in honour of Martin Luther King.

Presidents` Day.At first it was celebrated on February 22, the birthday of George Washington, first president of the USA. In most states Americans also celebrated Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on February 12. In 1970 the American Congress decided to honour all past presidents of the country on a single day which was called Presidents` Day, and which is observed on the third Monday in February.

Memorial Day.It is celebrated on the fourth Monday of every May, when the Americans honour the dead. They remember the dead of all wars and all other dead. Special ceremonies are held in cemeteries, at monuments for the war dead, in churches, schools, or other public places.

Independence Day.The fourth of July is known as Independence Day when the USA was proclaimed an independent republic in 1776. It is a very great holiday marked by parades, flying of flags all over the country and picnics.

Columbus Day.The New World was discovered by Christopher Columbus on October 12, 1492. Most countries of the American continents celebrate this discovery on October 12, but in the USA Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October. A great parade takes place in New York on this day.

Veterans` Day.It is celebrated on November 11. This was the date when the First World War ended in 1918. On Veterans` Day the Americans honour veterans of all the wars in which the USA took part. The President of the USA places a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery which is situated at Washington, D.C. Organizations of war veterans organize parades and different ceremonies, collect money for veterans, invalids and other people in need.

Halloween.Halloween is a festival that takes place on October 31. In the USA children wear costumes and masks and go trick-or-treating. Many of them carve jack-o’-lanterns out of pumpkins. Fortunetelling and storytelling about ghosts and witches are popular activities.

Halloween developed from new year festivals and festivals of the dead. Christian church established a festival on November 1 called All Saints’ Day so that people could continue to celebrate their festivals. The Mass said on All Saints’ Day was called All hallow mass. The day before All Saints’ Day was known all hallows’ Eve or All Hallow e’en.

Thanksgiving Day.The American Thanksgiving began as a feast of thanksgiving almost four hundred years ago. In 1620, a religious community sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the New World. They arrived too late to grow a rich harvest. Moreover, half the colony died from disease. The following spring the Iroquois Indians taught them how to grow corn, hunt and fish. In the autumn of 1621 they got a beautiful harvest of corn, barley, beans and pumpkins. The colonists had much to be thankful for, so they planned a feast.

After the USA gained independence, the Congress recommended one yearly day of thanksgiving for the whole country. Later, Abraham Lincoln suggested the last Thursday in November to be

Date: 2016-01-14; view: 1088