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Bonfires Of São João
A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used for waste disposal or as part of a religious feast, such as Saint John's Eve. Etymology The earliest attestations date to the late 15th century, with the Catholicon Anglicum spelling it as ''banefyre'' and John Mirk's ''Book of Festivals'' speaking of a communal fire in celebrations of Saint John's Eve that "was clene bones & no wode & that is callid a bone fyre". The word is thus a compound of "bone" and "fire." Samuel Johnson's 1755 ''Dictionary'' incorrectly analyzed "bon" as the French ''bon'' 'good'. Regional traditions In many regions of continental Europe, bonfires are made traditionally on 24 June, the solemnity of John the Baptist, as well as on Saturday night before Easter. Bonfires are also a feature of Walpurgis Night in central and northern Europe, and the celebrations on the eve of St. John's Day in Spain. In Sweden bonfires are lit on Walpurgis Night celebrations on the last day of April. In Finland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent: the seven weeks of Christian prayer, prayer, Religious fasting#Christianity, fasting and Alms#Christianity, almsgiving before the arrival of Easter. Ash Wednesday is observed by Christians of the Catholic, Lutheranism, Lutheran, Moravian Church, Moravian, Anglican (Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopalian), and United and uniting churches, United Protestant denominations, as well as by some churches in the Reformed tradition, Reformed, (including certain Congregationalist, Continental Reformed, and Presbyterian churches), Baptist, Methodist and Church of the Nazarene, Nazarene traditions. Ash Wednesday is traditionally observed with Religious_fasting#Christianity, fasting and abstinence from meat in several Christian denominations. As it is the first day of Lent, many Christians begin Ash Wednesday by marking a Lenten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Campfire
A campfire is a fire at a campsite that provides light and warmth, and heat for cooking. It can also serve as a beacon, and an insect and predator deterrent. Established campgrounds often provide a stone or steel fire ring for safety. Campfires are a popular feature of camping. At summer camps, the word campfire often refers to an event (ceremony, get together, etc.) at which there is a fire. Some camps refer to the fire itself as a campfire. History First campfire A new analysis of burned antelope bones from caves in Swartkrans, South Africa, confirms that ''Australopithecus robustus'' and/or ''Homo erectus'' built campfires roughly 1.6 million years ago. Nearby evidence within Wonderwerk Cave, at the edge of the Kalahari Desert, has been called the oldest known controlled fire. Microscopic analysis of plant ash and charred bone fragments suggests that materials in the cave were not heated above about . This is consistent with preliminary findings that the fires burned grasses, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King's Official Birthday
The King's Official Birthday or Queen's Official Birthday is the selected day in most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of Monarchy of the United Kingdom, the monarch is officially celebrated in those countries. It does not necessarily correspond to the date of the monarch's actual birth. The sovereign's birthday was first officially marked in the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1748, for George II of Great Britain, King George II. Since then, the date of the king or queen's birthday has been determined throughout the British Empire and, later, the Commonwealth of Nations, either by royal proclamations issued by the sovereign or viceroy, or by statute laws passed by the local parliament. The date of the celebration today varies as adopted by each country and is generally set around the end of May or start of June, to coincide with a higher probability of fine weather in the Northern Hemisphere for outdoor ceremonies. In most cases, it is an official public holiday, sometime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canberra
Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest inland city, and the list of cities in Australia by population, eighth-largest Australian city by population. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory at the northern tip of the Australian Alps, the country's highest mountain range. Canberra's estimated population was 473,855. The area chosen for the capital had been inhabited by Aboriginal Australians for up to 21,000 years, by groups including the Ngunnawal and Ngambri. history of Australia (1788–1850), European settlement commenced in the first half of the 19th century, as evidenced by surviving landmarks such as St John the Baptist Church, Reid, St John's Anglican Church and Blundells Cottage. On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies of Australi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witches' Sabbath
A Witches' Sabbath is a purported gathering of those believed to practice witchcraft and other rituals. The phrase became especially popular in the 20th century. Origin of the phrase The most infamous and influential work of witch-hunting lore, ''Malleus Maleficarum'' (1486) does not contain the word sabbath (). The first recorded English use of ''sabbath'' referring to sorcery was in 1660, in Francis Brooke's translation of Vincent Le Blanc's book ''The World Surveyed'': "Divers Sorcerers ��have confessed that in their Sabbaths ��they feed on such fare." The phrase "Witches' Sabbath" appeared in a 1613 translation by "W.B." of Sébastien Michaëlis's ''Admirable History of Possession and Conversion of a Penitent Woman'': "He also said to Magdalene, Art not thou an accursed woman, that the Witches Sabbath ( French: ''le Sabath''] is kept here?" The phrase is used by Henry Charles Lea in his ''History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages'' (1888). Writing in 1900, Germ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maypole
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European List of folk festivals, folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place. The festivals may occur on May Day, 1 May or Pentecost (Whitsun), although in some countries it is instead erected during Midsummer (20–26 June). In some cases, the maypole is a permanent feature that is only utilized during the festival, although in other cases it is erected specifically for the purpose before being taken down again. Primarily found within the nations of Germanic languages, Germanic Europe and the neighboring areas which they have influenced, its origins remain unknown. It has often been speculated that the maypole originally had some importance in the Germanic paganism of Iron Age and early Medieval cultures and that the tradition survived Christianisation, albeit losing any original meaning that it had. It has been a recorded practice in many parts of Europe throughout the Medieval and Early Modern pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beltane
Beltane () or ''Bealtaine'' () is the Gaels, Gaelic May Day festival, marking the beginning of summer. It is traditionally held on 1 May, or about midway between the March equinox, spring equinox and summer solstice. Historically, it was widely observed in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. In Ireland, the name for the festival in both Irish language, Irish and English is (). In Scottish Gaelic it is called (), and in Manx language, Manx Gaelic or . It is one of Quarter days, the four main Gaelic seasonal festivals—along with Samhain, Imbolc, and Lughnasadh—and is similar to the Welsh . Beltane is mentioned in the Early Irish literature, earliest Irish literature and is associated with important events in Irish mythology. Also known as ('first of summer'), it marked the beginning of summer and was when cattle were Transhumance, driven out to the summer pastures. Rituals were performed to protect cattle, people and crops, and to encourage growth. Special bonfires wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of with a mostly temperate Humid continental climate, continental and oceanic climate. The capital and largest city is Prague; other major cities and urban areas include Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Liberec. The Duchy of Bohemia was founded in the late 9th century under Great Moravia. It was formally recognized as an Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became Kingdom of Bohemia, a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy. Nearly a hundred years later, the Protestantism, Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of White ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solstice
A solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly sun path, excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around 20–22 June and 20–22 December. In many countries, the seasons of the year are defined by reference to the solstices and the equinoxes. The term ''solstice'' can also be used in a broader sense, as the day when this occurs. For locations not too close to the equator or the poles, the dates with the longest and shortest periods of daylight are the summer and winter solstices, respectively. Terms with no ambiguity as to which hemisphere is the context are "June solstice" and "December solstice", referring to the months in which they take place every year. Etymology The word ''solstice'' is derived from the Latin () and (), because at the solstices, the Sun's declination appears to "stand still"; that is, the seasonal movement of the Sun's sun path, daily path (as seen from Earth) paus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The Urban agglomeration, urban area was home to 1.45 million people (2020), while the Zurich Metropolitan Area, Zurich metropolitan area had a total population of 2.1 million (2020). Zurich is a hub for railways, roads, and air traffic. Both Zurich Airport and Zürich Hauptbahnhof, Zurich's main railway station are the largest and busiest in the country. Permanently settled for over 2,000 years, Zurich was founded by the Roman Empire, Romans, who called it '. However, early settlements have been found dating back more than 6,400 years (although this only indicates human presence in the area and not the presence of a town that early). During the Middle Ages, Zurich gained the independent and privileged status of imperial immediacy and, in 1519 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
