Today is St. Lucia Day. It is the national day of St. Lucia and marks the Feast Day of Saint Lucia, the patron saint of the island.
The Windward Island now known as Saint Lucia was first discovered by Europeans in the late 15th or early 16th century. The first settlers were French and they named the island after Saint Lucia. It is the only country in the world named after a female.
In Saint Lucia, The National Festival of Lights and Renewal starts on the evening before Saint Lucy’s day heralding the Christmas period. Castries, the capital of Saint Lucia is illuminated by many light numerous decorative lights. Local workers will compete to make the best-decorated lantern and festivities end with a fireworks display.
Interestingly, Saint Lucia is also the patron saint of another small island – Malta, which also has a public holiday on December 13th. This is Republic Day, which marks the day in 1974 when Malta became a republic. She is the patron saint of the blind, throat infections, epidemics, writers, and salesmen.
Probably no books…
Today is the birthday, in 1989, of American singer-songwriter, Taylor Swift. Her third single, ‘Our Song’, made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a No.1 song on the US country chart. Swift is one of the world’s best-selling music artists, with over 200 million units sold and a record seven albums that moved one million copies first-week. She is the highest-grossing touring act, the first billionaire with music as primary income, and the world’s richest female musician. Her accolades include 14 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, 40 American Music Awards, 30 MTV Video Music Awards, and 50 Billboard Music Awards, having won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year and the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year at least four times each. She is an advocate of artists’ rights and women’s empowerment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zHicybHGV0
