November 2011 Monthly Observances

November 2011 Monthly Observances


Adopt A Senior Pet Month  
American & National Diabetes Month
American Indian Heritage Month
Aviation History Month
Banana Pudding Lovers Month
Child Safety Protection Month
Diabetic Eye Disease Month
Epilepsy Awareness Month
Family Stories Month
Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month
Greens and Plantains Month
Historic Bridge Awareness Month
International Drum (Percussion) Month
Lung Cancer Awareness Month
MADD's Safety Holiday Campaign (11/16-12/31)
Military Family Appreciation Month
National Adoption Month
National AIDS Awareness Month
National Alzheimer's Disease Month
National Epilepsy Month
National Family Caregivers Month
National Georgia Pecan Month
National Home Care & Hospice Month
National Impotency Month
National Inspirational Role Models Month
National Life Writing Month
National Long-term Care Awareness Month
National Marrow Awareness Month
National Model Railroad Month
National (MSL) Awareness & Appreciation Month
National Native American Heritage Month
National Novel Writing Month
National Peanut Butter Lovers Month
National Pet Cancer Awareness Month
National Pomegranate Month
National Roasting Month
National Scholarship Month
National Sleep Comfort Month
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
Plum and Pomegranate Month
PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month
Real Jewelry Month
Spinach and Squash Month
Sweet Potato Awareness Month  
NoSHAVEmber US - Beard Month
Movember (Australia - Moustache Month )
Prematurity Awareness Month
Vegan Month

November 2011 Weekly Observances

November  2011 Weekly Observances

Week 1 (1-7)
National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week
National Fig Week
Give Wildlife A Break Week
National Patient Accessibility Week
World Communication Week

Week 2 (8-14)
Chemistry Week
Health Information and Technology Week: 6-12
International Fraud Awareness Week: 6-12
National Nurse Practioner's Week: 6-12
National Rad Tech Week: 6-12
Dear Santa Letter Week
National Young Reader's Week: 7-11
Pursuit of Happiness Week
World Kindness Week: 8-14

Week 3 (15-21)
American Education Week: 13-19
Game and Puzzle Week
Geography Awareness Week: 13-19
National Hunger & Homeless Awareness Week: 13-19
National Global Entrepreneurship Week: 14-20
National Farm-City Week: 18-24

Week 4 (22-28)
National Bible Week: 20-26
National Family Week: 20-26
National Game & Puzzle Week: 20-26
Better Conversation Week: 21-27
Church/State Separation Week: 22-26

Holidays in November

Nov   1 All Saints Day (Christian)

Nov   2 All Souls Day (Christian)

Nov   6 Daylight Savings Time

Fall Back

Nov 6 Eid al-Adha (Islamic)

Nov 11 Verterans Day

Armistice Day
Remembrance Day (Canada)

Nov 24  Thanksgiving Day

Nov 26  Al Hijra (Islamic New Year’s Day)

November 2011 Daily Observances

Nov 1
All Saints' Day
Give Up Your Shoulds Day
National Authors' Day
National Family Literacy Day
National Go Cook For Your Pets Day

Nov 2
All Souls Day
Cookie Monster Day
Plan Your Epitaph Day
Traffic Directors Day
Look for Circles Day
Deviled Egg Day

Nov 3
Cliché Day
Housewife's Day 
National Men Make Dinner Day
Sandwich Day

Nov 4
King Tut Day
National Chicken Lady Day
Use Your Common Sense Day
National Medical Science Liaison Awareness Day

Nov 4-6
Pumpkin Chunkin Days

Nov 5
Book Lovers Day
Gunpowder Day
Guy Fawkes Day
Sadie Hawkins Day (First Saturday)

Nov 6
Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War
Daylight Saving Fall Back
Eid-Al Ahada
Marooned without a Compass Day
Saxophone Day
Zero Tasking Day

Nov 7
Job Action Day
National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day

Nov 8
Abet and Aid Punsters Day
Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day
Dunce Day
Election Day
National Parents As Teachers Day
X-ray Day

Nov 9 - 10
Kristallnacht

Nov 9
Chaos Never Dies Day
National Young Reader's Day

Nov10
Area Code Day
Forget-Me-Not Day
Marine Corps Birthday
Sesame Street Day

Nov 11
Death/Duty Day
Veterans Day
National Gaming Day (Libraries)

Nov 12 
Chicken Soup for the Soul Day
Domino Day 
 
Nov 12-14
National Donor Sabbath Days

Nov 13
International Tongue Twister Day
National Indian Pudding Day
World Kindness Day

Nov 14
Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day
National American Teddy Bear Day
National Girls Day
Operating Room Nurse Day
Spirit of NSA (National Speakers Association)
Universal Children's Day
World Diabetes Day
World Orphans Day

Nov 15
America Recycles Day
Clean Your Refrigerator Day
I Love to Write Day
National Bundt (Pan) Day
National Philanthropy Day

Nov 16
Button Day
Have a Party With Your Bear Day
International Day for Tolerance
National Educational Support Professionals Day
Prematurity Awareness Day 

Nov17
Electronic Greeting Card Day
Great American Smokeout
Guinness World Record Day
Homemade Bread Day
GIS Day (Geographic Information Systems) 
Great American Smokeout
National Unfriend Day
Take A Hike Day
Use Less Stuff Day
World Peace Day  

Nov18
Married To A Scorpio Support Day
Mickey Mouse Day
Occult Day
Push-button Phone Day

Nov 19
Equal Opportunity Day
Gettysburg Address Day
Family Volunteer Day
Have A Bad Day Day
National Adoption Day
National Day of Play
National Survivors of Suicide Day
World Toilet Day

Nov 20
Absurdity Day
African Industrialization Day
Beautiful Day
Children's Day
Globally Organized Hug A Runner Day
Name Your PC Day
Transgender Day of Remembrance
Universal Children's Day
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

Nov 21
False Confession Day
World Hello Day
World Television Day
Alascattalo Day

Nov 22
Go For a Ride Day
Humane Society Anniversary Day

Nov 23
Eat a Cranberry Day
Dr. Who Day
Fibonacci Day
National Cashew Day
Tie One On Day

Nov 24
Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day
D.B. Cooper Day 
Thanksgiving Day
National Day of Mourning
Turkey-free Thanksgiving

Nov 25 - 26
Buy Nothing Day

Nov 25
Black Friday
Flossing Day
Day For the Elimination of Violence Against Women Day
Maize Day
National Parfait Day
Shopping Reminder Day
Sinkie Day
You're Welcomegiving Day 
National Native American Heritage Day
 
Nov 26
International Aura Awareness Day
Islamic New Year

Nov 27
National Day of Listening
Pins and Needles Day

Nov 28
Cyber Monday
Make Your Own Head Day
Red Planet Day

Nov 29
Electronic Greetings Day
International Day of Solidarity With The Palestinian People
Square Dance Day

Nov 30
Computer Security Day
National Meth Awareness Day
Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting
Stay Home Because You're Well Day

Halloween (or Hallowe'en) is an annual holiday observed on October 31, which commonly includes activities such as trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls' Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy.

Halloween as it is celebrated these days is but a pale representation of its rich and multicultural history. It is not, as some would call it, a celebration of the Devil or of Hell or of the Damned, but rather a blending of the celebrations marking the end of the growing season, a heralding of the coming of the winter months and folk traditions that told of the day when the veil between the living and the dead, ever a transparent, gossamer veil at that, would lift and ghosts and ghouls would walk among the living. From those many traditions, coming to us from the Celts, the Roman rituals and even Catholic tradition, we get the stirrings of what would eventually become Halloween.

Back in the old days, or once upon a time, in the tradition of fairy tales, there were the Celtic people and their Druid priests. The Druids were believed to have the ability, among other skills, to commune with the dead. Their powers, it was rumored, were much more powerful on the day of Samhain (pronounced sow-en), which was the last day of the year in the Celtic calendar. But, before believing that the Halloween celebration came directly from Samhain, a day mistakenly attributed directly to the Wiccans rather than to the Celts, you must understand that it is a blend of Hallowmas, a celebration of Catholic origins, as well as the Roman festival called Feralia.

On the day of Samhain, the Celtic people would all extinguish their home’s hearth fire. They would gather in front of a blessed bonfire and would sing, dance and listen to the stories that were told during the celebration. At the end of the evening, each person would take some of the bonfire home to relight their heart fire in hopes of ensuring good fortune to their home and family for the coming year. It is said that if your hearth fire would not light from the sacred bonfire, misfortune, even death, would befall someone in the house that very year.

By the 19th century, most of the religious aspects of the Halloween celebration had dwindled away and it was mostly a secular holiday, a gathering of community with only some of the remnants of the past clinging to it like the cobwebs of a haunted house. People would still dress up in costume, but less for the original reason of confusing the dead and more for just plain entertainment and fun.

European immigrants brought many of their traditions and beliefs with them to the New World, even those that were sometimes frowned upon or scoffed at. Halloween itself was largely disallowed, even forbidden, but in Maryland, the tradition was not only allowed but encouraged. The people there held what they called “play parties” where they would take turns telling each other’s fortunes, dancing, singing and telling ghost stories. The children would dress in costumes and try to scare one another as well.

The Irish immigrants came to the new world in great masses, fleeing from the Potato Famine that was starving them to death, and brought with them the Halloween tradition of going door to door looking for sweets and other treats. The tradition of trick or treating is still a favorite among little children today.

United Nations Day

United Nations Day

Also called UN Day
Observed by Worldwide on Date 24 October

In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly declared 24 October, the anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations, as which "shall be devoted to making known to the peoples of the world the aims and achievements of the United Nations and to gaining their support for" its work.

In 1971 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a further resolution (United Nations Resolution 2782) declaring that United Nations Day shall be an international holiday and recommended that it should be observed as a public holiday by all United Nations member states.

United Nations Day is devoted to making known to peoples of the world the aims and achievements of the United Nations Organization. United Nations Day is part of United Nations Week, which runs from 20 to 26 October.