All - Leep Calendar

More dogs go missing on July 5 than any other each year, according to PawBoost, most likely due to the fireworks and festivities the night before. Because of this, Paw Boost has established National Lost Dog Awareness Day to highlight pet safety and help owners reunite with lost pets. A personal note from Laura for anyone whose pet goes on a walkabout: On December 6, 2017, my cat Miss Zoe left our new home in South Philadelphia as I brought in the garbage cans. We had just moved in two weeks prior, and she had endured a traumatic two months moving to the United States from the Middle East and living in AirBnB until I could secure a new home. A desert stray when I rescued her, she found herself lost and caught in the snow in a major US city 8,000 miles away from anything she knew. Every night and early morning, I went looking for her, calling her name, shaking treats, papering the neighborhood with posters, working NextDoor and Paw Boost, and visiting shelters and vets. It was excruciating. Miss Zoe is chipped and was wearing a collar with a tag. She also had a GPCats collar (GPS) in the Middle East, but it wasn't working in the US. Seventeen days later, I received a call from a neighbor three blocks down and two over. My neighbor recognized her from the posters I put up around the neighborhood and the forwarded PawBoost Alerts that people featured on their social media pages. Services like PawBoost notify the local vets and shelters, create posters for you and post your notice on Facebook to their network of rescuers. Still, as a pet parent, you must walk the blocks and talk to people. Most lost pets stay within a half mile to a mile of your home. It can take months, and you can't give up. Miss Zoe is a shy cat. Even with cat treats, it took time to coax her out; she thanked me by shredding my hands and arms with her teeth and claws as I wrestled to get her into the carrier. That earned me a blood-soaked trip to Urgent Care. In retrospect, I recommend thick gloves, like those for dishwashing. All Zoe needed to go spazz-cat was to see the carrier she'd occupied for an 18-hour flight! At least a dog will walk on a leash. The other tool I used was Nextdoor.com, which was critical in keeping my spirits up and getting everyone in the vicinity looking for Miss Zoe. She became infamous in our Point Breeze neighborhood. Several weeks after I found her, people would stop me to ask if she'd been found or wave at us when they saw her sitting in the front window. Today Miss Zoe (and her brother Sinatra) is happy and home (in fact, she's sleeping on my desk beside me right now—snoring). Use this day, Lost Dog Awareness Day, to familiarize yourself with the tools available should your pet go on a walkabout. If you know what to expect and what to do, you'll significantly increase the chances of a happy ending.

Africa

Apr

English Language Day (1564): April 23

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English is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. The other official languages of the United Nations are Chinese, Spanish, Russian, French, and Arabic. Each language gets its day each year. English Language Day marks the traditional birth anniversary of William Shakespeare.

Africa

Apr

English Muffin Day, Ntl.: April 23

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Like Canadian bacon (which isn't Canadian), the English muffin technically is not English. It is American, though the man who created it, Samuel Bath Thomas (1855–1919), was an English immigrant (1874) to the United States. In 1880, his New York bakery began creating its signature griddle muffin. In 1902 he added the name 'English,' and the English muffin was born. National English Muffin Day is the annual event celebrating Thomas' delicious invention.

Africa

Apr

First Full Male Genital Transplant Successfully Completed (2018): April 23

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The first successful full genital transplant of a penis and scrotum on an injured vet at John Hopkins was announced on April 23, 2018. The recipient is a US Sergeant wounded by an IED; the surgery happened in late March 2018. After nearly a month in recovery, it was declared a success. Until now, men injured on the job, through sports, or in battle in this most sensitive area lived without a critical component of manhood, self-esteem, intimacy, and essential bodily functions. This pioneering surgery restores hope and normal life to them. The ability to successfully transplant these organs likewise increases the possibility of future limb transplants.

Africa

Apr

Lover's Day, Ntl.(ES)(1616): April 23

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Lover's Day or National Book and Lover's Day has been a holiday in Spain since 1714. The tradition is for a woman to buy her love a book and for a man to buy his love roses—like Valentine's Day with a cerebral twist. The event falls annually on the day following the death anniversary of writer Miguel de Cervantes, April 22, 1616, and on the anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, April 23, 1616. It's also Saint George's Day. The books are a tribute to Cervantes and Shakespeare. The roses come from the legend of Saint George. He is said to have killed a dragon, and a red rose appeared from a drop of its blood.

Africa

Apr

Peppercorn Ceremony (1816): April 23

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The Peppercorn Ceremony in Bermuda commemorates the Masonic Lodge payment of one peppercorn to the governor of Bermuda as a rental fee for the Old State House. The tradition occurs in King’s Square in Saint George, Bermuda. Those attending wear colorful costumes, and the town crier rings the bell as the governor arrives in a carriage. A 17-gun salute is followed by the presentation of a single peppercorn on a silver platter upon a velvet cushion to the governor.

Africa

Apr

Picnic Day, Ntl.: April 23

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The goal of National Picnic Day in the United States is to encourage people to get outdoors, move, and eat together in the splendor of nature. Traditionally, picnic food is home-cooked or bought at a market and set up outdoors for family members, organizations, or parties. The origin of picnicking is aristocratic, and these outdoor banquets were popular social events for the elite during Medieval times. The year 1692 is the first time the word picnic appeared in print, in French. Today, picnics have become outdoor parties for two or more people.

Africa

Apr

Saint George's Day (303 AD): April 23

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Saint George, "the Dragonslayer," or George of Lydda, is the patron saint of England. He was born into a wealthy Christian family in Turkey around 280 AD and lived until he was executed at age twenty-three. In 303 AD, the Roman Empire grew increasingly concerned with the proliferation of Christianity and ordered all Christian soldiers expelled. The Emporer then required all remaining Roman soldiers to perform sacrifices to the pagan gods. Saint George, a soldier by this time, refused to relinquish his faith or participate in pagan rituals. George was martyred in Lyyda, Palestine (Lod, Israel since 1948) via beheading on April 23, 303. Within the next forty years, the entirety of the Roman Empire would convert to Christianity following the conversion of Emperor Constantine just nine years later, in 312 AD. The legend of Saint George would grow with the Eastern Orthodox churches. There it is said he saved the king of Libya's daughter from being sacrificed to a dragon in exchange for the population converting from paganism to Christianity. As a reward, the king built a church on the location where Saint George is said to have killed the dragon. He's a saint due to his martyrdom, not for killing a mythical beast.

Africa

Apr

Spanish Language Day (1616): April 23

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Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. The other official languages of the United Nations are English, Chinese, Russian, French, and Arabic. Each language gets its day each year. Spanish Language Day marks the anniversary of the death of Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra on April 23, 1616.

Africa

Apr

Take a Chance Day: April 23

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Take a Chance Day is an unofficial holiday with a simple message: Go for it. Take a chance. Nothing happens if you don’t try first. So, if you have an idea or someone you are interested in or want to explore your options, today is the day to go for it. Take a chance on yourself!

Africa

Apr

Talk Like Shakespeare Day (1564): April 23

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Talk Like Shakespeare Day marks the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth on April 23, 1564. His birthday is marked by the United Nation’s English Language Day. Whether you celebrate English or enjoy speaking in sonnets, today is the day to show appreciation for the written word and turn of phrase.

Africa

Apr

Yom HaShoah (IL): April 23/24

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Yom HaShoah is Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day and a state holiday. It is a day of mourning for the 25 percent of the global Jewish population targeted, detained, and killed under Nazi German rule in the 1930s and 1940s. The Jewish community represented the largest targeted group in the Holocaust and accounted for 50 percent of all victims. Though this is a secular and not religious observance, it follows the Jewish tradition of beginning at sundown and going until sunset the next day.

Africa

Apr

Animals, Laboratory Animals, World Day for: April 24

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World Day for Laboratory Animals is a United Nations-recognized day commemorating the suffering and killing of millions of innocent animals in testing laboratories worldwide. Each nation has its organizations that choose to participate. Check with local animal rights organizations for local events in your city or country. This event first ran in 1979.

Africa

Apr

Armenian Genocide Day of Remembrance (1915-1923) Intl: April 24

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Most Americans think the holocaust in Germany during the 1930s and 1940s was the first of its kind, believing then was the first time concentration camps were used, mass gassings and cattle cars to transport victims, and it was the first time people were targeted for extermination due to their faith and race. They would be wrong. It happened before. Christians in Armenia suffered a similar fate under the Ottoman Empire 25 years earlier. The Armenian genocide was the precursor, the practice run. It is where many of the future Nazi leaders would get their ideas during WWI. It is believed had the world known about the horrors of what happened to the Armenians, the holocaust may have been avoided. Adolf Hitler stated such, intimating that no one remembered the Armenians; why would they remember the Jews? On April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenian intellectuals (poets, musicians, publicists, editors, lawyers, doctors, and deputies) were arrested in Constantinople under warrants issued by the government of Young Turks. Exiled, they were then slaughtered. The annihilation of the Armenian intellectuals was part of a systematic plan to exterminate the Armenian people in their homeland, at first under cover of WWI. It was the first state-planned genocide of the 20th century, but not the last. Between 1915 and 1923, the Armenian genocide was conceived and carried out, resulting in the deportation of nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed, and 500,000 survivors were expelled from their homes and the lands they'd inhabited for well over 2,500 years. To this day, the Turkish government continues to deny the genocide, despite the fact it was the Ottoman Empire and the Kemalists, not the current government of Turkey, that was responsible. It has been a source of political impasse. Very little has been written about this. The best account is in Robert Fisk's "The Great War for Civilisation." Also, in the corridor connecting the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem with the Christian quarter, the survivors have created a postered event timeline for visitors to read and learn from. Many of the shops and stores in the Christian quarter of the old city are owned by Armenian Christians, and the bishops of the local church are quite helpful in answering questions and providing context. A film on Netflix outlines what happened during 1916-1918 called "Ararat." It's highly recommended and will provide a context to this horrific event. It may finally get its due. In March 2014, during an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net, Oscar-winning director of "Schindler's List," Steven Spielberg, noted that he's been collecting information on the Armenian genocide, as well as others that occurred last century, including Rwanda and Cambodia. Read the full Senate Resolution for more details on this event: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c113:S.RES.410: Learn More at: http://www.genocide-museum.am/eng/remembrance_day.php#sthash.l5c7K4dg.dpuf"

Africa

Apr

Easter Rebellion (IE)(1916): April 24

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The Easter Rebellion, also known as the Easter Rising, was an armed insurrection in Dublin, Ireland, from April 24 to April 29, 1916. Irish republicans organized the uprising seeking to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic. The primary factions of dissent included two groups pressing for Irish independence, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and the Irish Volunteers, along with the women's nationalists group Cumann na mBan. The rebels seized key buildings in Dublin, including the General Post Office, which served as their headquarters. They declared an Irish Republic and raised the Irish tricolor flag over the building while engaging in street fighting with British troops and police, despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned. With artillery and machine guns, British forces quickly suppressed the uprising, forcing the rebels to surrender after six days of fighting. The leaders of the rebellion were subsequently arrested and tried for treason. Fifteen were executed by firing squad, including the seven Irish Proclamation of Independence signatories. The Easter Rebellion was a significant event in Irish history and marked a turning point in the struggle for Irish independence. It helped to galvanize support for the republican cause and paved the way for the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. The leaders of the rebellion, who became known as the "1916 Martyrs," are still revered as heroes by many in Ireland today. AFTER THE REBELLION Northern Ireland remained part of Great Britain after 1949, but its Catholic citizens were discriminated against, leading to growing resentment. Political advocacy and later fighting continued with the formation of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and through the already established political party, the Sinn Féin. The fighting became particularly violent in the 1970s and 80s. This period of fighting between 1969 and 1998 is collectively called "The Troubles." During the 1990s, both groups focused on political rather than military solutions, and on July 28, 2005, the IRA announced they would put down their weapons. The British Government and Northern Ireland achieved peace in the Fall of 2006, 90.5 years after the Easter Rebellion.

Africa