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Independence Day is known for fireworks, parades, carnivals and being together. But what is Independence Day all about?

Independence Day is celebrated on the fourth of July. It is a national holiday that commemorates the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress. On the second of July 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favour of independence after the American Revolution. Two days later the fourth of July, delegates from the thirteen colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence. The first person to sign the Declaration was John Hancock, who later became the president of the United States.

Before the American Revolution, colonists celebrated King George the Third's birthday, but after the Declaration of Independence, they held mock funerals for him. This was to show that they were free and ended the British hold on the colonists

Later, Independence Day was used by politicians to create a feeling of unity. Since 1870 Independence Day has been a national holiday, yet it was an unpaid holiday until 1941.

Because the festivity is in the summer, the fourth of July has become focused on coming together with friends and families to celebrate independence. Many Americans go to carnivals, barbecues, and the fireworks when it becomes dark.

scourses: https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/july-4th

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/independence-day#:~:text=Also%20called%20the%20Fourth%20of,to%20become%20their%20own%20country.

https://www.nps.gov/people/john-hancock.htm#:~:text=Hancock%20only%20served%20as%20President,when%20he%20announced%20his%20retirement.

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In this video you see Phil predicting the weather last February. 

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Ahhhhhhhhh Groundhog Day! A humorous movie about a cranky weatherman! But! We are not here to talk about movies! We are here to talk about Groundhog Day as an American holiday.

Groundhog Day is celebrated on the second of February on which the Groundhog awakes from his winter hibernation to forecast the weather. The legend says that if the groundhog sees its own shadow, it will be winter for six more weeks.

The weather prediction by the groundhog is as follows. The spotlight will be on Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania. There are a few handlers of Punxsutawney Phil, who is a groundhog, who will tell if they saw Phil looking in his own shadow or not.

Well, the event was small in the beginning, thanks to the movie Groundhog Day, the annual event in Pennsylvania has got a lot more publicity. Now the event is visited by thousands of people. So we’re still talking about that movie then.

Yet some people dismiss the forecasting by Phil and they see his forecasting as an unworthy rival for their weather forecasting groundhog. According to AP there have been weather-predicting groundhogs in at least 28 U.S. states and Canadian provinces!

Historians that researched Groundhog Day, found a reference to a forecasting Groundhog in as early as 1841.

Well, Groundhog Day is an old festivity and may seem serious it isn’t. ‘’We know this is silly; we know this is fun’ said the executive director of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.

scources: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Groundhog-Day

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/01/us/groundhog-day-weird-history-punxsutawney-phil-cec/index.html

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Groundhog Day 2024 Prediction: Punxsutawney Phil does NOT see his shadow

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A creepy evening, people dressed up, scary monsters, cold weather and… CANDY. Besides the widely known ways of celebrating, Halloween has an interesting origin.

Samhain, later called Halloween, began among the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland. The calendar of Celts began on the first of November. October 31st was the last day of their year, and according to the Celtic calendar, winter started on the first of November.

Samhain marked the start of the dark part of the year. It was celebrated with a lot of beer, bonfires and rituals. The Celts believed that the dead would return to their homes during Samhain and the people who died that year would go on a journey to the other world.

People would dress up as a sort of ghost, with scary masks and other outfits to avoid being recognized by evil spirits. But when did it become the festivity as we know it today?

Pope Bonifatius the Third made in the seventh century Samhain a Christian festivity. He changed the date of All Saints Day from the thirteenth of May to the first of November. On the 31st of November, there was no longer drinking but only prayer. But the old traditions of the Celts didn’t disappear, all Saints Day and Halloween became a mix. All Saints Day was also called All-Hallows and in Middle English, it was called Alholowmesse, in the Celtic region it was later called All-Hallows Eve which later evolved to Halloween.

When the potato harvests failed in Ireland in the 19th century, many Irish migrated to the United States and brought Halloween with them.

scources:

https://www.quest.nl/maatschappij/cultuur/a44094419/wat-is-halloween/#

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Halloween

https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween#

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A painting of one of the first Thanksgivings in Plymouth. 

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Known for the stuffed turkeys, family gatherings and a lot of food, Thanksgiving is widely celebrated by Americans. With Thanksgiving, Americans celebrate the blessings of the past year. Thanksgiving is an annual festivity celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. But where does this feast originate?

The start of this celebration goes back to the time when colonists just came to America. They celebrated their victories and successful harvests. Thanksgiving was first celebrated when, thanks to the help of the Native American Wampanoag people, the harvest succeeded.

After the successful harvest, the colonists wanted to celebrate. The format of Thanksgiving was inspired by the annual three October celebration The Leidens ontzet. The Pilgrims, the English group of colonists, were in Leiden from 1609 to 1621.

Interestingly are many stories around Thanksgiving Day myths. The myths began at the end of the nineteenth and begin of the twentieth century. The myths started because politicians were trying to create a collective identity after the American Civil War.

For Native Americans Thanksgiving Day has a whole different definition. For them Thanksgiving Day is a day of mourning and protest since Thanksgiving Day was the Day, they lost their country to the colonists. It reminds them of the consequences of the arrival of the colonists which includes genocides and oppression.

Researching about Thanksgiving was the most difficult of the three Holidays I did research on. Most of the sites told a different story even trusted sources like Britannica told a different story than Native Hope (a site empowering Native Americans). Wikipedia also described a slightly different truth. The story most differ by the fact that colonists were helped by the Native Americans. Some sources said that did happen, but other sources don’t. As mentioned before there are myths concerning the history of Thanksgiving and it is very remarkable to still see these myths nowadays.

scources: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Thanksgiving-Day

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_Day

https://blog.nativehope.org/what-does-thanksgiving-mean-to-native-americans#:~:text=It's%20important%20to%20know%20that,oppression%20and%20genocide%20that%20followed