All - Leep Calendar

Independence Day in Zambia marks the anniversary of October 24, 1964, the official day the nation gained independence from Britain. Independence Day is a national holiday.

Africa

Oct

Labour Day (NZ)(1862): October 27

06:20 AM | -

Labour Day in New Zealand is a national holiday honoring the work of the nation's citizens. The day celebrates the achievement of an eight-hour workday in 1840, and New Zealand was the first nation to pass such a law. The holiday occurs on the fourth Monday of October in commemoration of the establishment of Maritime Council on October 28, 1862.

Africa

Oct

Mentoring Day, Intl. (UK): October 27*

06:20 AM | -

Global Mentoring Day originated in 2015 in the United Kingdom with professional business mentor Chelsey Baker. Mentors help people learn in life and on the job and are often the key to success: teachers, consultants, confidants, and friends. The day encourages everyone to show appreciation for mentors and recognize those who have made a difference.

Africa

Oct

Navy Day (US)(1922): October 27

06:20 AM | -

The United States Navy was established as the Continental Navy on October 13, 1775, by the Continental Congress. It authorized the procurement, fitting, manning, and dispatch of two armed vessels to cruise in search of munitions ships supplying the British Army in America. Navy Day originated with the Navy League and marks the anniversary of its founding in 1922. The day gives recognition to the naval service and those serving it.

Africa

Oct

Sausage Week, United Kingdom: October 27 - November 2 (est)

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UK Sausage Week is an annual initiative of Meat Management magazine. Its purpose is to boost trade throughout the United Kingdom in meat products via butchers, manufacturers, retailers, and associations. Specials, cooking classes, and tasting events are available throughout the week.

Africa

Oct

Sonographers Day, Australian (AU): October 27

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Sonographers are medical imaging professionals that work with ultrasound machines in a wide variety of health disciplines. They allow doctors and nurses to see what's happening inside a person without cutting them open. Australian Sonographers Day is a day to honor these professionals and educate future generations about this exciting career path.

Africa

Oct

Chocolate Day, Ntl.: October 28

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National Chocolate Day is one of several chocolate days on the calendar, including World Chocolate Day on July 7 and International Chocolate Day marks the birthday of Milton S. Hershey (September 13, 1857), the founder of The Hershey Chocolate Company in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Chocolate beans have been used since around 1900 BC by the people of Central America, usually as a bitter drink, alcoholic, or with red peppers. (It is quite a treat if you’ve never tried hot chocolate with red peppers using hot water instead of milk!) On his fourth voyage, Christopher Columbus brought this delicious bean to Europe. He noted the encounter in his ship’s log on August 15, 1502. A few decades later, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés would bring the bean back in bulk (he was only 17 when Columbus found it). But in its Central American form, it wasn’t the sweet treat we see today. That required several inventions: John Baker’s process of grounding cocoa beans between millstones to create a powder in 1764 turned it into a spice. Conrad Van Houten developed a method for extracting cacao liquor from the fat in the cocoa bean in 1828, which made chocolate affordable. And finally, the development of conching by Swiss chocolatier Rodolphe Lindt in 1879 made it into candy. The rest is sweet history. There are several different types of cocoa beans. Though native to the Americas, nearly two-thirds of cocoa production today occurs in Africa, and Ivory Coast is the largest producer.

Africa

Oct

First Responders Day, Ntl.: October 28

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First Response Coalition began lobbying congress to recognize first responders with a day of honor in 2006. Each year congress reaffirms the date through house and senate resolutions. Currently, nearly five million people work as first responders in the United States. Careers include Law Enforcement, Fire and Rescue Services, Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Management, and Public Works.

Africa

Oct

Independence Day, (CZ)(1918): October 28

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Independence Day in the Czech Republic marks the anniversary of October 28, 1918, when the Slavic and Czech people came together to create the nation of Czechoslovakia. Independence Day is a national holiday.

Africa

Oct

Ochi Day (GR)(1940): October 28

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"Ochi!", Greek for "No!" is what the Greeks told Mussolini and his fascist army when Italy tried to invade Greece on October 28, 1940. Ochi, ochi, ochi, Senor Mussolini! The Greeks stood their ground and sent the Italians packing. Consider them the original Antifa (anti-fascists) and as the historical originators of democracy—it's apropos—notably since Mussolini coined the word fascist in 1919 to describe his political party. However you swing it, Ochi Day is a national celebration and includes parades, tributes, and festivities throughout Greece. Image: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Munich, Germany. June 1940. Photo by Eva Braun, US Government Archives.

Africa

Oct

Plush Animal Lover's Day: October 28

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Plush Animal Lover's Day celebrates plush animals. The legend is that it was created in the late 1980s by a collectibles dealer named Royal Selangor and that it was initially Teddy Bears Picnic Day. We can't confirm that. Royal Selangor is a Malaysian pewter manufacturer, actually the largest in the world. They have nothing to do with plush animals but everything to do with pewter collectibles. A BRIEF HISTORY OF STUFFED ANIMALS (PLUSHIES) As for starting this as Teddy Bear Picnic Day, that, too, is problematic. Teddy Bear Picnic Day does exist on July 10. It is a historical anniversary supported by the National Parks Service and Theodore Roosevelt Nature and History Association, which holds periodic Teddy Bear Picnics to educate children on Theodore Roosevelt and the creation of the National Park System. As there is no historical relevance to the date chosen (October 28), it's hard to believe this is how this day came to be. It is most likely an unofficial event that grew out of custom. But, there is a story here. Where did plushies come from? Ancient Egyptians were the first people to create stuffed toys, most of which were dolls. However, modern stuffed animals were invented in Germany by a woman with poliomyelitis—leg paralysis, named Margarete Steiff. In 1880 Steiff created a company that made small stuffed animals for women who sewed as cute pin cushions. The first was a little elephant that little kids rummaging through their mom's sewing basket reallocated to better use. In 1897 her nephew Richard Steiff joined the company, and, in 1902, they created 100 units of Bear 55PB. These stuffed bears had mohair fur and moveable arms and legs. Steiff brought the bears to the Leipzig Toy Fair, where they enchanted an American businessman who ordered 3,000 units. Within five years, he went from selling 100 bears to nearly one million under the name "Teddy Bear," a name approved by and honoring US president Theodore Roosevelt. Steiff's nephew expanded the line by adding different animals and creating one of the first branding statements: All Steiff animals have a button sewn in the ear. Margarete died in 1909, but her company lives on today. It's known for its stuffed animals and children's clothing.

Africa

Oct

Saint Jude's Day: October 28

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There will be few people alive who cannot, at one point in their lives, affiliate with Saint Jude (Judas Thaddaeus), the patron saint of lost causes. We've all been on our knees at some point; it is part of being human. And eventual, we dust ourselves off and soldier on. St. Jude's Day is a day to celebrate all the times you've come back from a setback. Saint Jude was one of the original twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. October 28 is his feast day in western Christianity and June 19 or August 21 in eastern and Orthodox traditions. 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

Statue of Liberty Day (1886): October 28

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Statue of Liberty Day marks the anniversary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty by President Grover Cleveland on Oct. 28, 1886. The statue, one of the most recognizable in the world, was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States; its designer was Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, and its sculptor, Gustave Eiffel. The woman depicted is Libertas, a Roman goddess. She holds a torch and legal tablet inscribed with the date of the American Declaration of Independence. Upon her feet is a broken chain symbolizing the United States' liberation from England in 1776, though it would take a war and over a decade for it to come to fruition.

Africa

Oct

Aliyah Day (IL): October 29

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Around 1488 BC, the Torah, the holy book of Judaism, teaches that Joshua crossed the River Jordan with the Israelites. Crossing the Jordan (an actual river) is equated with entering a new life. The Israelites were people from multiple tribes bound by the Hebrew language and a belief in one God; they were among many tribes in the area, each with different languages and gods. The Israelites, estimated at approximately 18,000 people, arrived in the region of the Levant at the beginning of the late Bronze Age, during the tenth month of the Hebrew calendar, Nisan. In the Torah, this region is called Canaan or the Promised Land, referencing God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:17, which provides a place to live for the many nations (peoples of many cultures) of Abraham's descendants, a covenant based upon obedience. All three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are descendants of Abraham. In 2016, the Israeli Knesset (Congress / Parliament) voted to make the seventh of the Hebrew month Cheshvan "Aliyah Day" to mark this event and pay tribute to Jewish immigrants' contributions to the nation-state of Israel. Aliyah is a term associated with political Zionism to describe when a Jewish person leaves their birth nation and emigrates to Israel. The State of Israel celebrates this as a national holiday, though businesses and schools remain open.

Africa

Oct

Black Tuesday (1929): October 29

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Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, is when the stock market collapsed, losing 13% of its value in a single day and sending the industrialized world into a ten-year economic depression. Sixteen million four hundred ten thousand thirty shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange that day, a record. Leading up to Black Tuesday, the stock market fell for nearly six weeks, losing 40% of its value between September 1929 and October 29, 1929. This catastrophic event wiped out the savings of millions of people and ushered in the worst economic period in global history, known today as the Great Depression. And then history almost repeated itself. As early as 2006, warning signs started to appear in the US economy. By 2008 the world entered what would become known as the Great Recession. During this event, millions lost their homes, jobs, and savings. Wages stagnated, and this recession was particularly brutal on white collar, college educated, and knowledge workers, wiping out entire industries while consolidating others. The impact globally of the 2008 economic implosion was even more profound than in 1929. Over a decade later, countries, families, and entire communities are still trying to recover. Just as gains were being made, COVID-19 hit. Nearly three years into that crisis, the world appears to be on the precipice of another major global economic catastrophe due to the pandemic, global warming, conflicts, and inflation.

Africa