Today is Jāņi, a public holiday in Latvia. The previous day, Midsummer Eve (Ligo) is also a public holiday. Depending on what day of the week, these holidays fall on, then additional bridge holidays may also be declared (Latvians know how to live).
Jāņi marks the summer solstice and the shortest night of the year and it has become one of the most important holidays in Latvia. Since ancient times, this midsummer day has been observed and celebrated by many cultures. In the agricultural calendar, it was a time to celebrate the sowing of the crops and enjoy the short break before harvest began. In Northern Europe, its effects are more pronounced with very long days, which of course is contrasted six months later when the winter solstice (Ziemassvētki) results in very long nights in that part of the world.
With the Christianisation of Latvia, Jāņi was moved to St. John’s Day.
During the Soviet era, the celebration of ethnic holidays such as Jāņi were suppressed by the authorities as they were seen as nationalistic when the focus should be on the Soviet Union as a collective.
Since independence in 1990, the holiday has been reinstated and the (at least) two-day break for Ligo and St. John’s Day has proved a popular holiday period for Latvians to take some time off and enjoy the weather at this time of year.
Cat Math
TRIANGLE
SQUARE
RECTANGLE
CIRCLE
HORIZONTAL
VERTICAL
OBLIQUE
EVEN NUMBER
ODD NUMBER
PRIME NUMBER
CONCENTRIC CIRCLES
EQUATION
MULTIPLICATION
DIVISION
PERPENDICULAR
RIGHT ANGLE
OBTUSE ANGLE
SPHERE
BELL CURVE
FIBONACCI SERIES
INFINITY
(all according to Bluebird of Bitterness)
Today is the birthday, in 1947, of Mick Fleetwood, drummer and co-founder of the rock band Fleetwood Mac who had the 1968 UK No.1 hit ‘Albatross’ and the hits ‘Man of the World’ and ‘Oh Well. In 1977 they scored the US No.1 single ‘Dreams’ taken from their worldwide No.1 album Rumours which spent 31 weeks on the US chart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3ywicffOj4
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