Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    America's Favorite Holidays
    America's Favorite Holidays
    America's Favorite Holidays
    Ebook78 pages58 minutes

    America's Favorite Holidays

    By Richard T. Stanley

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Many of America's favorite holidays, including Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentines Day, originated far beyond our shores and long before our Founding Fathers were born. Some holidays, including Thanksgiving Day, the Fourth of July, Flag Day, Labor Day, Lincolns Birthday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Presidents Day, Veterans Day, and Washingtons Birthday, were uniquely grounded in Americas past. New Years Day has become a feast of college football bowl games. Still others, such as Cinco de Mayo, Columbus Day, and St. Patricks Day, are largely the products of Americas rich ethnic and cultural diversity over time. And some have a very personal and specific purpose, such as Mother's Day and Father's Day.

    Americas favorite holidays provide us with much more than opportunities to simply goof-off or spend money. Celebration, commemoration, contemplation, and remembrance are powerful forces that stimulate us to become better people, to enjoy life more, and to be more productive over time. Therefore, Happy Holidays!, everyone.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateOct 30, 2013
    ISBN9781491713136
    America's Favorite Holidays
    Author

    Richard T. Stanley

    Dr. Stanley earned masters’ degrees from Long Beach State and Whittier College and an Ed.D. from Pepperdine University. He taught American History and Government at the high school and adult school levels before becoming a high school administrator. He recently retired after many years as a successful adult school principal. Dr. Stanley has authored nine books on history and politics, and has also taught at the university level.

    Read more from Richard T. Stanley

    Related to America's Favorite Holidays

    Related ebooks

    United States History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related categories

    Reviews for America's Favorite Holidays

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      America's Favorite Holidays - Richard T. Stanley

      America’s Favorite Holidays

      RICHARD T. STANLEY

      iUniverse LLC

      Bloomington

      America’s Favorite Holidays

      Copyright © 2013 Richard T. Stanley.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      iUniverse LLC

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.iuniverse.com

      1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4917-1312-9 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4917-1313-6 (e)

      iUniverse rev. date: 10/23/2013

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Dedication

      Monthly Birthstones and Flowers

      Introduction

      Christmas

      Cinco de Mayo

      Columbus Day

      Easter

      Father’s Day

      Flag Day

      Halloween

      Independence Day

      Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

      Labor Day

      Lincoln’s Birthday

      Memorial Day

      Mother’s Day

      New Year’s Day

      St. Patrick’s Day

      Thanksgiving Day

      Valentine’s Day

      Washington’s Birthday

      Bibliography

      Endnotes

      Also by Richard T. Stanley, Ed.D.

      Lessons of American History

      A Humorous Account of America’s Past: 986 to 1898

      A Humorous Account of America’s Past: 1898 to 1945

      A Humorous Account of America’s Past: 1945 to 2001

      The Eisenhower Years: A Social History of the 1950’s

      Freedom, Common Sense, and the Nanny State

      The Psychedelic Sixties: A Social History of the United States, 1960-69

      DEDICATION

      To my wife, Diawn, with whom I have shared more than four decades of our favorite holidays.

      MONTHLY BIRTHSTONES AND FLOWERS

      INTRODUCTION

      Holidays are special times of the year for celebration, commemoration, contemplation, and remembrance. Some annual holidays are nearly as old as recorded history. In America, many of our favorite holidays, including Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day, originated far beyond our shores and long before our Founding Fathers were born. Some holidays, including Thanksgiving Day, the Fourth of July, Flag Day, Labor Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, President’s Day, Veteran’s Day, and Washington’s Birthday, were uniquely grounded in America’s past. New Year’s Day has become a feast of college football bowl games. Still others, such as Cinco de Mayo, Columbus Day, and St. Patrick’s Day, are largely the products of America’s rich ethnic and cultural diversity over time.

      When experienced separately, America’s major holidays are each unique and vary in their importance to different segments of our vast society. Some holidays, such as Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving, elicit powerful emotional and spiritual feelings within most Americans—often feelings of awe and joy. Others, such as Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day, spark painful memories within many of us regarding those whom we knew and loved or knew of who sacrificed their lives so that we may continue to live ours in freedom. Still other holidays, such as New Year’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, and St. Patrick’s Day, provide us with excuses for celebrating life to its fullest—to party—if only for the moment. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day encourages us to judge others by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. In essence, each holiday has a discernable purpose, such as honoring mothers on Mother’s Day or fathers on Father’s Day.

      As a whole, America’s favorite holidays work to make our lives more meaningful, more enjoyable, and help to instill in each of us a sense of purpose. America’s favorite holidays provide us with much more than opportunities to simply goof-off or spend money. Celebration, commemoration, contemplation, and remembrance are powerful forces that stimulate us to become better people, to enjoy life more, and to be more productive over time. Therefore, Happy Holidays!, everyone.

      CHRISTMAS

      (DECEMBER 25TH)

      Christmas, celebrated each year on December 25th, is a major holiday in the United States and throughout much of the world—from Jolly old England to far-away Japan. To a large majority of Americans, and especially to most young children, the Christmas season is their favorite time of the year.

      Christmas is a special time of the year filled with church celebrations commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is a time for gift-giving, Christmas cards, rich foods and

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1