African American History Month.  In 1926 Dr. Carter Woodson instituted a week-long celebration of the contributions of African Americans to history. Dr. Woodson chose the week of Abraham Lincoln's birthday (February 12). In recent years the observance has expanded, and now the entire month of February is celebrated as African American History Month. Because of the variation in terms used, this month is also known as Afro-American History or Black History and Black Experience Month. Each year, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, founded by Dr. Woodson in 1915, sets the theme for the month. For information about the theme for this February, contact the association at 202-865-0053 or visit its web site at www.asalh.org.

 Langston Hughes (1902-1967) : African American.  Writer. Hughes emerged as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and became the most influential African American writer of his time. His poetry, which drew on the traditional Black art forms of spirituals, blues, and jazz, won an especially wide audience, but Hughes also distinguished himself as a writer of fiction, drama, essays, and history.

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 Candlemas : Christian.  This religious holiday originated with the ancient Jewish custom that required mothers to present their first male child in the temple. As a Jewish mother, Mary would have presented Jesus on February 2. The day is associated with light and purification. The holiday takes its name from the custom of blessing the church's supply of candles for the year on this date.

 Imbolc : Pagan and Wiccan.   Imbolc, which like all Pagan and Wiccan holidays begins at sundown on the day before, is a celebration of fire and light and the return of life. It is also the holy day of St. Brigid, the Goddess of fire, healing, and fertility. Wicca is the common term for many different traditions of Neo-Pagan nature religions that celebrate seasonal and life cycles and reveres a Goddess and a God. Most Wiccans celebrate eight seasonal sabbats (days of rest) four of which are considered major: Imbolc, Beltaine (May 1st), Lughnasadh (Aug 1), and Samhain (November 1). The minor sabbats correspond to the solstices and equinoxes. Pagan and Wiccan traditions have a long history preceding that of any of the major Western religions. Originating as agricultural festivals going back for thousands of years, many sabbat practices were incorporated into Roman, Greek, and other traditions and also found their way into subsequent Western religions. Pagans and Wiccans are not anti-Christ or in opposition to any religion. Their beliefs and practices focus on the earth’s seasons and the natural cycles of the world. As such, they are largely pacifist in nature. Their only “rule” is to “harm none”. They stress reverence for nature; belief in ecological principles and that the divine is in everything as well as that there are multiple deities and many different pathways to the divine, and acceptance of reincarnation. The circle with five points, “the Pentacle” is the most common symbol used in Wicca. Its five points symbolize Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit, in the circle of eternity. Wiccans are found primarily in Britain, U.S.A., Canada, Australia, Germany and Holland.

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 Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) : Lesbian.  Author. An avant-garde American writer whose Paris home became a salon for the leading artists and writers of the period between World Wars I and II, Gertrude Stein attended Radcliffe College, studying psychology with the philosopher William James. After further study at Johns Hopkins medical school, she went to Paris where she lived with her lifelong companion, Alice B. Toklas. Stein was among the first collectors of works by the Cubists and other experimental painters of the period, such as Pablo Picasso (who painted her portrait), Henri Matisse, and Georges Braque. These painters were introduced to expatriate American writers, such as Sherwood Anderson and Ernest Hemingway, and other visitors drawn by her literary reputation. Her first published book, Three Lives (1909), the stories of three working-class women, has been called a minor masterpiece. Her only book to reach a wide public was The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (1933), actually Stein's own autobiography. The performance in the United States of her Four Saints in Three Acts (1934), which the composer Virgil Thomson had made into an opera, led to a triumphal American lecture tour in 1934–35.

 Bean Scattering Festival (Setsubun) : Japan.  This festival expresses everyone's desire for good health and good fortune in the new year. At home, children throw beans at the "devil" and shout "out with the devil, in with good luck."

 T'u B'Shvat (two-bish-vat) (New Year of the Trees) : Jewish.  Although a minor Jewish holiday, New Year of the Trees is widely celebrated—especially with a focus on children—as a time to renew the land and to plant trees.

Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: It is a custom to honor a person by having a tree planted in Israel in his or her name. One of many Web sites for information about this custom is http://www.treesfortheholyland.com/. (m)

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 Constitution Day : Mexico.  On this day in 1917 Mexico adopted its first constitution. (See entry for November 20.)

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 Bob Marley (1945–1981) : Jamaican.  Musician. Marley was the most influential star of reggae, a Jamaican form of popular music that draws on Afro-Caribbean dance and American soul music and was one of the first musical idioms from the Third World to become popular in Europe and the United States. Reggae is associated with Rastafarianism, a faith founded by Marcus Garvey, whose adherents see the late Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia as a divine figure and themselves as black Hebrews exiled in the Babylon of western colonial capitalism. Marley's intense, compelling presence and the stirring messages of his songs brought him the acclaim of international audiences and influenced singers and songwriters throughout the Western Hemisphere, Europe, and Africa.

 Waitangi Day : New Zealand.  This commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 between the indigenous Maoris of New Zealand and the European colonists, providing for British sovereignty in exchange for guaranteed possession by the Maoris of their lands.

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 Constitution Day : Philippines.  This holiday commemorates the adoption of the Constitution of the Philippines in 1935.

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 St. Maroon's Day : Lebanon.  Public holiday.

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 Sending Off the Kitchen God Day (2/10-11) : China.  This festival is associated with the New Year. In traditional Chinese homes, a paper image represents a home deity that is thought to keep track of the deeds of the household for the year. On this day, the family burns the image, whose spirit is believed to go to heaven and report to the chief deity on the family's behavior during the past year. The chief deity then determines the fate of the family for the next year. To positively affect the report of the Kitchen God, the family may put honey or sticky candy over its mouth—some say, to make sure that it reports only sweet things; others say, so that it will not be able to speak at all. This holiday is also celebrated on February 11. (m)

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 Tadeusz (Thaddeus) Kosciuszko (1746–1817) : Polish.  Soldier and statesman. As a colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, Kosciuszko planned the fortifications that helped defeat the British at the battle of Saratoga. For his service to the cause of American independence, Congress awarded him American citizenship. After returning to Poland in 1784 and becoming a major general in the Polish army in 1789, Kosciuszko emerged as a military and political leader, pressing for democratic reforms in Polish government and society and leading Polish forces against Russian armies sent to suppress the Polish movement for independence in 1791 and again in 1794. After his final defeat in 1794, he spent the rest of his life in exile.

 National Foundation Day (Kenkoku Kinen Bi) observed : Japan.   This holiday celebrates the ascension to the throne of the first Japanese Emperor, Jimmu, and the founding of the Japanese nation in 660 B.C.E.

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 Richard Allen (1760–1831) : African American.  Minister. In 1787 Allen founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church to give African Americans the opportunity to worship in a setting free of racial discrimination. His Bethel Church in Philadelphia became a focal point of organized protest by African Americans against slavery and racial discrimination in the North.

 Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) : African American.  Writer, lecturer, editor, and abolitionist. Born a slave, Frederick Augustus Bailey escaped at the age of 21, changed his name, and became a renowned campaigner for the abolition of slavery. After publishing his autobiography in 1845, Douglass made a lecture tour of England, where friends raised money to buy his freedom. Upon his return he founded a newspaper, the North Star. During the Civil War Douglass urged President Lincoln to free the slaves and arm African Americans. After the war Douglass held a variety of federal offices, including that of Minister to Haiti.

 Masao Satow (1908–1977) : Japanese American.  Civic leader. Born in California to Japanese American parents, Satow joined the Japanese American Citizens League, an emerging national organization for persons of Japanese ancestry born in the United States, in 1932. He became its national secretary in 1947, when the organization had only two chapters, both on the West Coast, and 3,100 members. At the end of his twenty-five years of leadership, the organization had 94 chapters across the nation and 27,000 members.

 Valentine's Day : United States.  The origins of this day are confused. There appear to have been two or three early Christian martyrs named Valentine. One was probably executed on February 14. One man named Valentine secretly married young sweethearts in opposition to the Roman Emperor Claudius' ban on marriage (a policy designed to prevent young men of military age from forming family ties). Another legend mentions flowers grown by Valentine and given to children. When Valentine was imprisoned the children remembered him by throwing nosegays and notes into his prison window. These were the original Valentine greetings.

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 Susan B[rownell] Anthony (1820–1906) : Suffragist, United States.  Quaker, teacher, abolitionist, and women’s rights activist. Born in Adams, Massachusetts, Anthony was a leader of the movement to gain women the right to vote. As a leader of the Women's Temperance Movement along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she secured the first laws in New York State giving women control over their children, property, and wages.

 Nirvana (Buddha's Death) : Buddhist.  In the Mahãyãna Buddhist tradition, this day marks the death of Buddha in 483 B.C.E. and commemorates his attainment of final Nirvana. The date is based on the Japanese Buddhist calendar.

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 Randy Shilts (1952–1994) : Gay.  Author and journalist. The national correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle, Shilts was one of the first openly gay journalists hired at a major newspaper. Shilts' best-selling books include The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk (1982), And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic (1987), and Conduct Unbecoming: Lesbians and Gays in the U.S. Military (1993). And the Band Played On was made into a docudrama that was broadcast on HBO on September 11, 1993. Band has been translated into seven languages and released in 16 nations. Conduct Unbecoming won numerous awards, earning Shilts the designation of Author of the Year in 1988 from the American Society of Journalists and Authors. This is the date of his death from AIDS.

 Maha Shivaratri (ma-ha-sheevah-rahtree) (Shiva's Night) : Hindu.  This festival honors Shiva who, along with Vishnu and Krishna, is one of the most important deities in Hinduism. It is observed in the spring and is celebrated with fasting, prayer, and meditation.

Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: Fasting is part of celebrating this holiday. Check before inviting someone to lunch or hosting a meal. Before arranging any event involving food, check to see if invitees are following a special Maha Shivaratri diet. (m)

 Independence Day : Lithuania.  In 1918 Lithuania declared its independence from Russia. However, in the aftermath of World War II, the Soviet Union absorbed Lithuania into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and it was not until August 19, 1991 that Lithuania regained its independence.

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 Marian Anderson (1902–1993) : African American.  Singer. Gifted with a rich contralto that the conductor Arturo Toscanini called “the kind of voice heard once in a hundred years,” Marian Anderson rose from modest beginnings in Philadelphia to become an internationally acclaimed concert artist, renowned for her interpretations of the classical repertoire and of African American spirituals. During her 1933 Scandinavian concert tour, Anderson was encouraged by her accompanist Kosti Vehanen, a Finnish pianist, to learn some songs by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius and perform for him at his home. Sibelius was so impressed by Anderson that he wrote an original composition for her. In 1939, Anderson was barred from performing at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) because of her race, whereupon First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR in protest. The federal government invited Anderson to sing instead at a public recital on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, Marian Anderson gave her now-historic recital before a crowd of more than 75,000 people, the largest to date ever assembled at the Memorial. In 1955, thirty years after beginning her concert career, she became the first African American to sing a leading role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Widely admired for her humane spirit, she served on the United States delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in 1958 and won the United Nations peace prize in 1977.

 Goyaale (Geronimo) (1829–1909) : American Indian (Chiricahua Apache).  Military leader. As chief of the Chiricahua Apache Indians, Geronimo escaped repeatedly from reservations and led attacks on settlers and soldiers in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States during the late 1870s and early 1880s. He surrendered to U.S. government forces in 1885. This is the anniversary of his death.

 New Year (Losar) : Tibet.  This begins the Tibetan lunar year 2134, the Year of the Boar, based on the Han solar-lunar calendar. The date of the new year sometimes corresponds to that of the Chinese new year, but at other times can be as much as a month or more later. This is a day of celebration that links all people in the Tibetan diaspora, resulting from the decision of many Tibetans, led by the Dalai Lama in 1959, to flee the Communist Chinese. The last two days of the old year, called Gutor, are spent in preparation for the new year. On the first day, every household hangs colorful new prayer flags, while houses are whitewashed and thoroughly cleaned, especially the kitchen. A special dumpling soup called guthuk, or “ninth soup,” is made from nine different ingredients—sweet potato, rice, radishes, cheese, meat, wheat, peas, green peppers, and noodles. On the second day of Gutor, Tibetans go to monasteries to make offerings. They decorate family altars with candies, fruits, and khabsa, homemade deep-fried dough twists. On New Year’s Eve, the family eats the “ninth soup”—everyone must eat nine bowls. The soup is served with dumplings containing various surprises hidden inside, such as salt, chilies, wool, and coal, each of which has a special meaning and gives one’s fortune for the new year. For example, salt signifies a virtuous year ahead, while chilies indicate that an angry, argumentative year is in store.

Then the ceremony of Lu Yugpa is held to banish evil spirits from the old year. At dawn on New Year’s Day, Tibetans make offerings at the family shrine. Family members each receive a pinch of freshly made butter placed on their forehead, a plate of khabsa twists, and a cup of Tibetan butter tea thick enough to float a coin. They visit monasteries to pay homage to the Buddha and to make offerings of food and gifts to the monks and nuns, who burn fragrant juniper and cedar branches as incense offerings to the heavens. Then people celebrate with friends and family by feasting on rich holiday foods, drinking chang, homemade barley beer, and singing and dancing around huge bonfires at night. New Year’s is the major celebration of the Tibetan calendar and revelries may continue for up to two weeks. Some devotees journey to the Johkang Temple in Lhasa to donate yak butter to keep the temple lamps burning. At Barkor Plaza, sculptures of Buddhist deities made by the monks out of yak butter and roasted barley flour are on display, prior to their unveiling at the Butter Sculpture Festival, held on the day of the first full moon of the lunar year. (See entry for Butter Sculpture Festival.)

Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: The traditional New Year’s greetings are “Happy Losar” and Tashi Delek. (m)

 New Year (Tet Nguyen Dan) : Vietnam.  This is the most important holiday in Vietnam and begins the Vietnamese lunar year 4705 (The Year of the Boar). Officially a three-day holiday, it is often celebrated for seven or more days. The days before the new year are spent cleaning and painting homes, paying off debts, resolving differences between family and friends, and preparing three days’ worth of special foods for the celebration. On the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, the head of the family performs a ceremony to welcome back ancestors for the New Year’s celebrations. Midnight on New Year’s Eve, known as Giao Thua, is the most sacred time since it is the passage from the old year to the new. A special ceremony called Le Tru Tich is held, with drums, gongs, and firecrackers ushering out the spirits of the old year and welcoming the new. This ceremony also welcomes back the Kitchen God, who went to heaven to report on the household’s behavior during the past year. On New Year’s Day, people dress in their best clothes and visit a temple or pagoda to pray for good fortune and good health. The first visitor to a family’s home on New Year’s Day is very important, since he will influence the well-being of the family for the coming year. Apricot and peach blossoms in the home ensure longevity and ward off demons— it is especially auspicious if they bloom on the first morning of the new year. All Vietnamese become one year older on New Year’s Day. Adults congratulate children on becoming a year older by giving them red envelopes containing money for good luck. A special New Year’s treat is banh chung, or “earth cake,” a square cake made of a mixture of glutinous rice, pork, and bean paste wrapped in banana leaves and boiled, all of the ingredients of which are believed to keep the positive and the negative in harmony. In 2007, Vietnamese New Year falls one day earlier than Chinese New Year. The next time this will occur will be in the year 2030.

Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: An appropriate greeting is Chuc Mung Nam Moi, or “Happy New Year.” (m)

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 Sholom Aleichem (born Solomon Rabinowitz) (1854–1916) : Jewish Russian American.  Writer. Born in Ukraine, Rabinowitz began writing in Yiddish in 1883, using as his pseudonym the Yiddish greeting "Peace be upon you." His best known works are his stories of Jewish life in the villages of Eastern Europe. Along with I. Peretz and Mendele Sforim, he is considered one of the founders of modern Yiddish literature.

 Audre Geraldin Lorde (1934–1992) : Lesbian.  Poet and essayist. Audre Lorde was a Black lesbian who fought for justice through both her writings and her political activities. She held a number of teaching positions and toured internationally as a lecturer, forming coalitions between Afro-German and Afro-Dutch women, founding a sisterhood in South Africa, starting the Women of Color Press, and establishing the St. Croix Women's Coalition. Her poetry collections include From a Land Where Other People Live (1973), The Black Unicorn (1978), Our Dead Behind Us (1986), and The Marvelous Arithmetics of Distance (1993). She won the American Book Award in 1989 for A Burst of Light and was appointed New York State's Poet Laureate by then Governor Mario Cuomo in 1991. Lorde chronicled her 14-year battle against breast cancer in works such as The Cancer Journals, before finally succumbing to the disease in 1992.

 Luis Muñoz Marín : Puerto Rico.  Political leader. Elected Puerto Rico's first governor in 1948, Muñoz Marín served in that office until 1964, instituting programs of economic development and social reform. He also proposed a plan for maintaining Puerto Rico's union with the United States while establishing the island as a self-governing unit exempt from U.S. taxes. This proposal became the basis for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, created by an act of Congress and proclaimed in 1952.

 New Year (Gao Nian) : China.  This is the beginning of a three-day celebration of the Chinese New Year, although traditionally the New Year celebration extends for fifteen days until the Lantern Festival. The festivities mark the beginning of year 4705 (The Year of the Boar) since the mythical founding of the Chinese people. On New Year’s Eve, the Kitchen God returns from heaven to the shrine prepared by each family, where he is welcomed back with firecrackers and offerings. New Year’s Day is a day when all business accounts are settled and grudges forgotten. Traditional Chinese celebrate New Year’s Day as a birthday and count themselves one year older. The Chinese celebrate by eating noodles to signify a long life and pork dumplings called jiao zi, which means “midnight” or “the end and the beginning of time.” A Chinese coin is hidden in one of the dumplings, and the person who finds it will have good luck over the coming year. Children receive decorated red envelopes with good luck money inside. Celebrations include fireworks, a dragon dance and the beating of drums and cymbals, visits to temples, and prayers for blessings in the new year. This celebration is called “Spring Festival” in the People’s Republic of China because the official New Year’s Day is January 1, based on the Gregorian calendar. (See entries for Sending Off the Kitchen God Day and Lantern Festival.)

Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: An appropriate greeting is “Happy New Year.” In Chinese, the greeting is Gung Hay Fat Choy (Cantonese pronunciation), Gungshi Shin Nien (Mandarin pronunciation). (m)

 New Year (Sol) : South Korea.  This begins the traditional Korean New Year 4340 of the era of Tan’gun, the mythical progenitor of the Korean people. The New Year’s celebration is, along with Chusok, one of the two most important holidays in Korea. Officially a three-day holiday, it is traditionally celebrated for fifteen days until Taeborum. This is a time when families renew their ties and prepare for the year ahead. The day before New Year’s is spent cleaning house and preparing special foods for the next day, such as fried meats, fish, dumplings, and ttokkuk, a rice-cake soup. Bamboo sticks are burned to cast off house demons. Early on New Year’s morning, family members bathe and don hanbok, the traditional formal dress. They gather at the home of the eldest male family member for the chare, or offering to ancestors, in which the foods prepared the day before are arranged on a table altar and a ceremony to honor their ancestors is held. Then the younger generation offers New Year’s greetings to their elders in a custom called sebae. The elders in turn give the children cakes, fruit, or money. Everyone then sits down to a family breakfast with the foods from the offering table. It is believed that eating the New Year’s rice-cake soup, ttokkuk, makes a person one year older. All Koreans count themselves one year older on New Year’s Day. Popular drinks include shikhye, rice punch, and sujunggwa, a concoction of persimmon and cinnamon. Favorite New Year’s pastimes are kite-flying and top-spinning for boys, and see-sawing for girls, but the most popular entertainment is a New Year’s game called yut nore, which involves throwing four sticks and advancing one’s player on the board according to how the sticks land. Yut nore is played from New Year’s Day until Taeborum. (See entry for Taeborum.)

Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: The New Year’s greeting is Say-hay boke mahn-he pah-du-say-oh, which means “Many New Year’s blessings to you.” (m)

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 Bun Day (Shrove Monday) : Iceland.  Icelanders celebrate the Monday before Lent by feasting on cream buns. These delicacies are filled with jam and whipped cream, and often iced with melted chocolate. On Bun Day, children wake up early and try to catch their parents still in bed. If they do, they “strike” their parents with colorful handmade “bun wands,” or bolludagsvöndur, which are decorated with strips of paper and gleaming ribbon. Parents must then give their children one cream bun for every “blow” received. This custom is thought to have derived from the acts of penance performed during Lent, evolving over time into a lighthearted children’s game. Bolla, which means “bun,” also refers to other round foods eaten on this day, such as meatballs or fishballs (fiskibollur). (m)

 Great Lent begins : Coptic Orthodox Christian.  Also known as the Great Fast, this begins the Lenten season for the Coptic Orthodox Christians, who follow the Julian calendar. It starts with a pre-Lent fast of one week, followed by a 40-day fast commemorating Christ’s fasting on the mountain. The fast of Great Lent, which includes Sundays, officially ends on the Saturday before Holy Week, known as Lazarus Saturday, although fasting continues during Holy Week. During this time, no animal products, such as meat, poultry, fish, milk, eggs, or butter, are allowed. Moreover, no food or drink may be taken between sunrise and sunset.

Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: Before inviting someone to lunch or hosting a meal, check to see whether invitee is observing the fast for this period. (m)

 Beginning of Great Lent : Eastern Orthodox Christian.  Also known as Clean Monday in Greece and Green Monday in Cyprus, this begins the Lenten season based on the Julian calendar followed by Eastern Orthodox Christians. Eastern Orthodox Lent, known as Great Lent, includes Sundays and officially ends on Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday, although fasting continues during Holy Week. While many people no longer fast for forty days, most people observe the fast strictly for the two weeks preceding Easter. In Greece, a carnival season called apokria precedes the start of Lent. Apokria begins with a feast of roast kid or lamb, followed by two weeks of festivities including parades of masked figures. The third week begins with Tyrini—Cheese Sunday—when cheese, a food forbidden during Lent, is eaten in pies. The following day is Clean Monday, and is a national holiday when many children appear in their Carnival costumes. The pastime of the day is flying special hexagonal kites decorated with geometric designs. Traditionally, all animal foods including fish are forbidden during Lent and some people also eschew oil. Vegetables and legumes are therefore the main Lenten foods of Greece, with a little shellfish—permitted because, unlike fin fish, it lacks blood. This day is a national holiday in Greece and Cyprus.

Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: Before inviting someone to lunch or hosting a meal, check to see whether invitee is observing a special diet for this period. (m)

 Shrove Monday : Christian.  Christians in some countries customarily make treats to use up butter and eggs before the 40-day fast of Lent. (m)

 Washington’s Birthday (Presidents’ Day) : United States.  The birthday of George Washington (1732–1799), hero of the Revolutionary War and first president of the United States of America, is observed on this day. Celebrated for the first time in the late eighteenth century when George Washington was still president, Washington’s Birthday became an official federal holiday in 1885. The Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968, which took effect in 1971, moved the holiday from February 22 to the third Monday in February. As a number of states also celebrated the February 12 birthday of Abraham Lincoln, some legislators advocated combining the two holidays into a single holiday called Presidents’ Day. That proposal was rejected by Congress and the official name of the holiday remained Washington’s Birthday. However, since state governments are not obliged to adopt federal holidays and can determine their own legal holidays, some states, such as Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Texas, renamed their state holiday “Presidents’ Day,” while other states, including Connecticut, Illinois, and Missouri, chose to observe two separate holidays to commemorate the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. (m)

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 Bursting Day (Shrove Tuesday) : Iceland.  Traditionally the last day that people could eat meat before Lent, this is a day when Icelanders celebrate by eating saltkjöt og baunir, or salted meat and split pea soup, to the point of bursting. (m)

 Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras) : Christian.  Shrove Tuesday marks the final midwinter fling before Lent begins. (m)

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 Barbara Jordan (1936–1996) : African American.  Lawyer, politician, teacher. Born in Houston, Texas, Jordan graduated magna cum laude from Texas Southern University and Boston University Law School. In 1966, she was the first Black woman to be elected to the Texas State Senate. She later became the first woman and first African American elected to Congress from Texas.

 Ash Wednesday (beginning of Lent) : Christian.  This marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of prayer and fasting preceding Easter Sunday (February 21 to April 8, excluding Sundays). It is observed in memory of Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the desert. In the early centuries of Christianity, there were strict requirements for fasting during the period of preparation for Easter. Although these rules have been relaxed in the Western church, many Roman Catholics and Protestants choose to give up a favorite food or activity during Lent. There are many symbolic meanings to the use of ashes on this holiday. Generally, ashes symbolize death. The priest or minister’s placing of ashes on one’s forehead in the shape of a cross is part of the preparation for fasting and resistance to temptation by those observing Lent that ends in the symbolic renewal of life on Easter. The word Lent comes from Middle English lenten or lente, from the Old English lencten or lengten, meaning spring—the time of year when the days begin to lengthen.

Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: Before inviting someone to lunch or hosting a meal, check to see whether invitee is observing a special diet for this period. (m)

 International Mother Language Day : International.  This commemorates the day in 1952 when Bengali lives were sacrificed in an effort to make Bengali one of the national languages of Pakistan, at a time when Bangladesh was part of Pakistan. This day was declared International Mother Language Day by Bangladesh and UNESCO on November 17, 1999. (See entry for Martyrs’ Day (Shaheed Dibash) on February 21.)

 Martyrs’ Day (Shaheed Dibash) : Bangladesh.  Also known as Language Martyrs’ Day or National Mourning Day, this commemorates the lives sacrificed in the effort to make Bengali (or Bangla) one of the national languages when Bangladesh was part of Pakistan. At the time, the West Pakistani regime was trying to force Urdu as the national language. On this day in 1952 a procession by Bengalis in Dhaka was shot at by police, resulting in the death of four martyrs. The nascent Bengali nationalism ultimately led to the creation of the nation of Bangladesh. This day was declared International Mother Language Day by Bangladesh and UNESCO on November 17, 1999.

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 Santiago Iglesias (1872–1939) : Puerto Rican, Spanish.  Labor organizer and political leader. Iglesias first became involved in activities demanding civil rights for workers as a 12-year-old apprentice carpenter in his native Spain. Immigrating to Cuba three years later, he continued to organize laborers to demand better working conditions first there and then in Puerto Rico, where he rose to leadership of the Federación Libre de Trabajadores de Puerto Rico. He was the organization's president from 1900 to 1935. An active Socialist, he eventually entered electoral politics, serving in the Puerto Rican senate from 1917 to 1933 and as Puerto Rico's representative to the U.S. Congress from 1933 until his death.

 Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin) (1876–1938) : American Indian (Sioux).  Writer and activist. Born in South Dakota to a full-blooded Sioux mother and a white father, Zitkala-Sa became an eloquent writer of essays and memoirs and a leader in the movement to advance the civic, educational, and economic opportunities of American Indians while recognizing and preserving American Indian cultures. As secretary of the Society of American Indians and then president of the National Council of American Indians, she lectured, wrote, and lobbied on behalf of Indian legislation, and was instrumental in the passage of the Indian Citizenship Bill of 1924. (See entry for June 2.)

 People Power Day (2/22-2/25) : Philippines.  This commemorates the overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the Philippines as a dictatorship from 1972 to 1986, by the democracy movement. This holiday is commonly celebrated from February 22 to February 25. It was on February 25 that Ferdinand Marcos left the Philippines and Corazon Aquino was recognized by the United States as president.

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 W[illiam] E[dward] B[urkhardt] Du Bois (1868–1963) : African American.  Writer and civil rights activist. Scholar, writer, and editor, Du Bois was the most important leader of the effort to secure basic civil and human rights for African Americans in the first half of the twentieth century. Trained in sociology, history, and philosophy, he wrote a number of scholarly works about the social conditions of Blacks in America. The most famous of these, The Souls of Black Folk, was especially influential; it attacked Booker T. Washington's strategy of accommodation and urged a more activist approach to improving the conditions of Black Americans. Du Bois founded the Niagara Movement, an organization of Black intellectuals working for civil rights, in 1905, and in 1909 helped to found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He edited the NAACP magazine The Crisis until 1934, when he resigned to devote his time to teaching and writing.

 Casimir Funk (1884–1967) : Jewish Polish American.  Scientist. Funk discovered vitamins as well as making contributions to understanding sex hormones, hormone-vitamin balance, and cancer treatment. His work stimulated public interest in diseases caused by vitamin deficiencies.

 Defenders of the Motherland Day : Russia.  On this day, Russia honors those who are serving in the Armed Forces and those who have served in the past.

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 Flag Day : Mexico.  Public holiday.

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 Enrico Caruso (1873–1931) : Italian American.  Opera singer. The most acclaimed operatic tenor of his time, Caruso was also the first great singer whose voice is preserved in recordings.

 Haing Ngor (1951–1996) : Cambodian American.  Physician, actor. Haing Ngor arrived in the United States after escaping imprisonment by the Khmer Rouge following the 1975 takeover of Cambodia by that party, and endured four years of torture and starvation. He had to conceal his medical training to escape, which he did after a Vietnamese invasion ousted the Khmer Rouge. He immigrated to the United States in 1980 to resume his medical practice. In 1984, Ngor won the Academy Award for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Dith Pran in the movie The Killing Fields. Ngor was the first nonprofessional to win an Oscar for acting since Harold Russell in 1946 for The Best Years of Our Lives. He was shot to death outside his home on this date. He was 45 years old.

 José de San Martín (1778–1850) : Argentina.  Soldier and statesman. With Simón Bolívar, San Martín led the movement of Spain's South American colonies to win their freedom from Spain. In 1811 he resigned from the Spanish army to organize the armed resistance to Spanish rule in the land of his birth, modern-day Argentina. He raised an army there and led it over the Andes to Chile, taking Santiago in 1817, and then organized a Chilean navy to transport the rebel army to Lima. There he proclaimed the establishment of a new country on July 28, 1821. Although he was made leader of the new nation, he came into political conflict with Bolívar and retired to France.

 National Day (2/25-2/26) : Kuwait.  Also observed on February 26, this two-day holiday marks the successful pushing back of Iraqi troops from Kuwait during the Gulf War in 1991.

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 Intercalary Days (2/26-3/1) : Baha'i.  The days from February 26 to March 1 adjust the Baha'i year, which consists of 19 months with 19 days each month, to the solar calendar. These days are observed with gift-giving, special acts of charity, and preparation for fasting that precedes the new year.

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 Independence Day : Dominican Republic.  This day commemorates the retreat in 1844 of the Haitians who had controlled the country.

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