All - Leep Calendar

No Bra Day, observed annually on October 13th, is dedicated to raising awareness about breast cancer and supporting those affected by it. The day encourages women to go without a bra to appreciate the freedom of going natural and promote awareness of breast health. No Bra Day began in 2011, initiated by (Anastasia Doughnuts), a pseudonym for the person who started the campaign on social media platforms—the day quickly gained traction, with women worldwide participating by sharing their pictures and stories online through hashtags like #NoBraDay. The primary goal of No Bra Day is to raise awareness about breast cancer, a disease affecting millions worldwide. By going braless or wearing purple on this day, participants aim to draw attention to the importance of regular breast self-examinations, screenings, and mammograms. Many breast cancer survivors undergo mastectomies, a surgery that removes one or both breasts. No Bra Day serves as a gesture of solidarity and support for these survivors, emphasizing that their physical appearances do not define them and highlighting the beauty in every survivor. On a broader scale, the day challenges societal norms and expectations about women's bodies. Women embrace their natural bodies by choosing to go braless, emphasizing comfort and personal choice over societal expectations. While many view No Bra Day as a positive initiative, it has not been without criticism. Some argue that the event oversimplifies the complexities and struggles associated with breast cancer. Others feel that the campaign may inadvertently sexualize a serious health issue. No Bra Day helps increase awareness during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It serves as a symbol of solidarity with survivors and a call for increased awareness and early detection. Like many awareness campaigns, its effectiveness and reception vary among audiences, but its primary message remains clear: the importance of breast health and support for those affected by breast cancer.

Africa

Oct

Pet Obesity Week, World: October 13-19 (est)

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Previously National Pet Obesity Awareness Day, in 2024 this event was expanded to a full week global event focused on raising awareness about the dangers of pet obesity. Like people in first-world countries, as each year passes, more and more pets become obese every year. Obesity is as harmful to pets as it is to people. Pets don't have the intellect humans do and can't regulate their health if they are overfed. This day aims to teach owners how to love their pets through food without killing them with kindness.

Africa

Oct

Recycle Now Week (UK): October 13-19 (est)

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BOUT RECYCLE NOW WEEK IN THE UNITED KINGDOM Recycle Now Week, an annual campaign spearheaded by the national recycling campaign Recycle Now, focuses on raising awareness and encouraging recycling across the United Kingdom. Held every September, this week-long event promotes the benefits of recycling and provides practical advice to help individuals and communities reduce waste. Established in 2004, Recycle Now Week has grown significantly, mobilizing citizens, businesses, and local authorities to participate in a wide range of activities. These include educational workshops to learn about recycling, community clean-ups to reduce waste, recycling drives to collect recyclable materials, and informative social media campaigns to spread awareness. Each of these activities aims to educate the public on proper recycling practices and the environmental impact of their waste. Recycling is not just a good practice, it's a crucial step towards conserving natural resources, reducing landfill waste, saving energy, and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. By reprocessing used materials into new products, recycling helps to minimize the need for raw materials, thus preserving the environment and promoting sustainable practices. Every item you recycle makes a difference. During Recycle Now Week, the top five items that people commonly recycle include paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, glass containers, and metal cans. Each of these materials can be repurposed, reducing the environmental footprint and contributing to a more circular economy. Recycle Now Week serves as a pivotal reminder of the importance of recycling, encouraging individuals to take simple yet impactful actions. More than just a week-long event, it is a catalyst for fostering a culture of sustainability. The campaign's ultimate goal is to create lasting change and ensure a cleaner, greener future for the UK.

Africa

Oct

Recycle Week, Ntl. (UK): October 13-19 (est)

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Commencing in 2004, Recycle Now's Recycle Week is a campaign promoting the virtues of recycling. Not sure what can be recycled? Recycle Now has created this handy directory of what can and can't, and what you need to do with each item: https://www.recyclenow.com/what-to-do-with

Africa

Oct

Saint Edward's Feast Day (1163): October 13

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Saint Edward the Confessor was born to King Ethelred II in Islip, England, in 1003 AD. Though he died in 1066, his remains were transferred to his final resting place on October 13, 1163. This day has been his feast day ever since. WHY SO MANY FEAST DAYS? Have you ever noticed that there seem to be feast days for just about everything in the Catholic and Orthodox Christian faiths? There is a reason for that. The church granted feast days to allow all subjects of the Crown to take a day off. As most worked six days a week, feast days provided a break that landowners and nobility couldn't deny. If they tried, they were going against the church, and that you did not do. In medieval times, there were approximately 60 feast days a year. Add this to 52 Sundays, Christmas, and Easter, and workers received a minimum of 114 days off a year. Contrast that to today. The average American gets 104 weekend days and seven national holidays off work. That's three days less than the commoners of the Dark Ages, just in case you're feeling a little overworked.

Africa

Oct

School Lunch Week, Ntl.: October 13-17 (est)

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National School Lunch Week in the United States by the School Nutrition Association (SNA) promotes healthy eating habits, mainly focusing on what constitutes a nutritious lunch. School lunch and breakfast programs are the only food many children receive daily, especially those from poor neighborhoods. This event is proclaimed by the President of the United States each year. It first ran in 1962 under the Kennedy Administration.

Africa

Oct

Shemini Atzeret (J): October 13/14

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Shemini Atzeret is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the 22nd day of the Hebrew month, Tishri. It is a holiday in which work is not permitted. Judaism 101 explains the holiday thus: "Shemini Atzeret means "the assembly of the eighth (day)." Rabbinic literature explains the holiday this way: "Our Creator is a host who invites us as visitors for a limited time, but when the time comes for us to leave, He has enjoyed himself so much that He asks us to stay another day. Another related explanation: Sukkot is a holiday intended for all of mankind, but when Sukkot is over, the Creator invites the Jewish people to stay for an extra day for a more intimate celebration." http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday6.htm PLEASE NOTE: All Hebrew calendar months begin and end at sundown. LEEP Calendar marks Jewish months starting on their first full day. Observant people of the faith will observe the beginning of the month at sunset the day prior.

Africa

Oct

Simchat Torah (J): October 13/14

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Simchat Torah is a Jewish observance marked in the Hebrew calendar on the 22nd day of the month, Tishri. The name translates to "Rejoicing in the Torah" and marks the completion of the annual cycle of concentrated Torah readings and study. PLEASE NOTE: All Hebrew calendar months begin and end at sundown. LEEP Calendar marks Jewish months starting on their first full day. Observant people of the faith will observe the beginning of the month at sunset the day prior.

Africa

Oct

Skeptics Day, Intl.: October 13*

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International Skeptics Day is an unofficial holiday that celebrates skepticism and its innumerable gifts to us. It’s one of two Skeptic’s Days on the calendar, and the first is National Skeptics Day, which occurs in January.

Africa

Oct

Thanksgiving (CA): October 13

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Thanksgiving in Canada is a significant state holiday celebrated on the second Monday of October. It follows the tradition of the end-of-season harvest feasts that have existed for centuries in Europe. First celebrated as a national holiday on November 6, 1879, the Canadian Parliament moved it to the 2nd Monday in October 1957.

Africa

Oct

World Thrombosis Day: October 13

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World Thrombosis Day (WTD) is a global awareness that began in 2014. It focuses on thrombosis, its causes, risk factors, signs/symptoms, and evidence-based prevention and treatment. Thrombosis is a fancy word for a blood clot forming in a blood vessel and preventing blood from circulating through your body. Thrombosis can kill or permanently disable. World Thrombosis Day aims to raise awareness and educate the public about this situation and ultimately reduce the occurrences of death and disability caused by this condition. Annually in October.

Africa

Oct

Ada Lovelace Day, Intl.: October 14

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Augusta Ada Byron-King was an aristocrat in England, ennobled with the title The Countess of Lovelace. But, she was a little bit more than that. Ada was well ahead of her time. A scientist, mathematician, and leader in engineering and technology in the Victorian era, she proved that beauty and brains (and motherhood; she had three) go together. She is a pioneer in the computer sciences, being the first to propose machines that could follow an order of steps to complete complex mathematic equations and other things yet to be discovered. The Countess of Lovelace was born December 10, 1815, and died November 27, 1852. Ada Lovelace Day celebrates women in science, engineering, and mathematics. It's a day to discover the calculating mind women possess and encourage women and girls to pursue careers in math, engineering, and science.

Africa

Oct

Bald and Free Day, (Be): October 14

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Be Bald and Free Day is another Wellcat-created holiday perfect for the follicly challenged and those who have survived cancer treatment. Use this day to show off that gleaming and beautiful bald head proudly. Think of all the money you’re saving on beauty parlors, barbers, shampoo, conditioner, and hair dye, and you’ll never have a bad hair day again! That’s why it’s called Be Bald and Free Day.

Africa

Oct

Dessert Day, Ntl.: October 14

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The concept of dessert as part of a meal originated in Andalusia, Córdoba (Spain) on the Iberian Peninsula, circa 840-852 AD. Dessert was the brainchild of what you might call the first rock star-fashionista-inventor-culinary artist of the Common Era, Abu l-Hasan Ali Ibn Nafi, or as he was more commonly known, Ziryab, meaning "Blackbird" in Arabic. Ziryab was born in 789AD in what is today Iraq. He is one of the more interesting characters of history, going from slave to the top of the royal court during his life. Thanks to him, we have music schools, toothpaste, deodorant, clothes for different seasons, asparagus, and a three-course meal. (And those are just the top-line events.) THE THREE-COURSE MEAL Before Ziryab, dining didn't have much of a protocol. Instead, the food arrived on the table in a pile, and people grabbed whatever they wanted with their hands. Ziryab worked for the royal family in Córdoba. As part of his duties, he sought ways to make events memorable. "Why did dinner have to be dull?" he thought. Ziryab invented presentation, dressing up the table with fine linens, crystal glasses, and different size spoons. He also reorganized how food arrived on the table, changing it to a procession rather than presenting all dishes simultaneously. At the time, this was revolutionary. A man of many talents, Ziryab figured out that if you started with a soup (to prep the stomach and get digestion going), then moved on to the main dish of meat, veggies, and starches; the entire meal became an event when topped off with something sweet. Andalusia's royal court and aristocracy loved this new idea of three courses and making a meal a celebration. The custom of three courses and table dressing soon spread throughout the kingdom, upper classes, and the rest of Europe and the world. That sweet topping off the meal became known as dessert (about 900 years later when the French donated the word "desservir" or "clear the table" to denote the last item served). Of course, today's dessert can be a sweet treat, a cup of coffee, tea, or liquor. Today, we tend to eat dessert whenever we want. Still, technically, it's only dessert if it comes at the end of a meal.

Africa