Топик: USA holidays
Freedom rings from every mountain,
From sea to sea.
July 4th is Independence Day. Another name for Independence Day is the Fourth of July. On this day in 1776 the final of the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, was adopted.
Independence Day is a national holiday. Government offices, banks, and schools close. Most people don’t go to work. Families and friends get together outside for picnics and cookouts.
Traditionally the Fourth of July is celebrate with firing of guns and fireworks, parades open – air meetings and speeches praising “Americanism, democracy, free enterprise.”
Independence Day isn’t only day for cookouts, noise, and fireworks. It is also a day to think about freedom. The Declaration of Independence says everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of Independence more than 200 years old, but its ideas are important today.
FATHER’S DAY
Everything to both of us is so new.
As you learn about the world
I learn about you,
There’s no need to fear.
Daddy will be here,
And I’ll love and care for you
Through the years.
People in the United States honor their fathers with special day: Father’s Day. This holiday is celebrated on the third Sunday in June.
Father’s Day dates back to 1909, when one daughter, a certain Mrs. Dodd from Spokane, Washington, wanted to honor her own father who had raised four sons and a daughter after her mother’s death. Although the first Father’s Day was observed in Spokane in 1910 and it has been likewise observed in many other states for many decades, Father’s Day did not become a national holiday until Senator Margaret Chase Smith helped to establish it as such in 1972.
Giving cards and gifts is the tradition of this holiday. Children make them in schools. Many people make their own presents. Greeting cards, stores, florists, candy makers, bakeries, telephone companies and other stores do a lot of business during this day.
LABOR DAY
Labor Day is a legal holiday. It is celebrated each year on the first Monday in September. It was planned as a day to honor workers in America and to give them a long weekend holiday from work.
Labor Day was started in 1882 by a union called the Knights of Labor. The first celebration was a long parade followed by a picnic in New York City. In 1894 Congress made it a legal holiday.
Labor Day is traditionally celebrated with parades, speeches, and recognition of the labor unions. Labor Day sales are a popular event held on this holiday. Barbecues and picnics are popular on Labor Day. They mark the end of the summer season. Schools usually open after this holiday.
COLUMBUS DAY
The American continent was discoved in 1492 by the Spanish seaman Christopher Columbus. Columbus is said to be the first Euaropen man, stepping on the American land, and that day, when it was happend, the 12th of October, became the holiday, which is called Columbus Day. This holiday is celebrated in 34 States of the USA and Puerto Rico. There are parades and parties in San Francisco and New York. One of the squares of New York is called Columbus Circle with the monument of Columbus in the middle of it.
HALLOWEEN
It’s Halloween! It’s Halloween!
The moon is full and bright
And we shall see what we can’t be seen
On any other night.
Halloween is the day or evening before All Saints Day. The name is a shortened version of “All Hallows Eve” the night before All Saints Day which is celebrated on November 1st by the Catolic Church. Halloween customs date back to a time when people believed in devils, witches and ghost. They thought that these evil spirits could do all kinds of damage to property. Some people tried to ward off witches by paintings signs on their barns. Others tried to scare them away by nailing a piece of iron, such as horseshoe, over the door.
Now most of people do not believe in evil spirits. On this day they just have a nice holiday. Children dress up as ghosts and witches and go out into the street to beg. They from house to house and say: “Trick or treat!”, meaning “Give me a treat or I’ll play a trick on you”. People give them candy, cookies and apples. This custom comes from the Celts in ancient Britain who feared the coming of winter and dressed in frightening costumes so the demons of winter would think they were one of them and do them no harm. Hence, the origin of costumes for today’s celebration: It represents a devil coming to your home whom you can placate with a treat.
A favorite custom is making a jack – o – lantern. Children scrape out a pumpkin and cut the outlines of eyes, nose and mouth in its side. They light a candle inside the pumpkin to scare their friends. This custom refers to a man named Jack who still wanders around the earth lighting his way with a pumpkin lantern.
ELECTION DAY
The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November is Election Day. It is a legal holiday. Since 1845, by Act of Congress, this date has been set aside for elections.
On this day American citizen elect their public officials, president, congressmen, governors, mayors and judges. All states require that voters be citizens of the United States.
“Election Day” sales in stories are very popular on this day. The night of the election, people watch the election results on TV. They listen to the speeches made by the winners.