May 2009

Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month began in 1979 as Asian Heritage Week, established by congressional proclamation. From then until 1993, the period for recognizing Asian/Pacific Americans was created by congressional proclamation each year. President George H. W. Bush, on October 23, 1992, signed legislation into law that made May of each year Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.

Jewish American Heritage Month. On April 20, 2006, President George W. Bush issued a presidential proclamation designating the month of May as Jewish American Heritage Month. In his proclamation, the president said, “During Jewish American Heritage Month, we celebrate the rich history of the Jewish people in America and honor the great contributions they have made to our country. As a nation of immigrants, the United States is better and stronger because Jewish people from all over the world have chosen to become American citizens . . . Through their deep commitment to faith, family, and community, Jewish Americans remind us of a basic belief that guided the founding of this Nation . . . Jewish American Heritage Month is also an opportunity to remember and thank the many Jewish Americans who defend our ideals as members of the United States Armed Forces.”

Older Americans Month. Older Americans Month was established by presidential proclamation to honor the contributions of older Americans to society.

May 1, Friday

Beltaine : Pagan and Wiccan. Beltaine, second to Samhain in importance, falls opposite Samhain on the Wheel of the Year. It marks the beginning of the summer season and celebrates life and fertility. Customs for celebrating Beltaine vary from country to country; however, one of the rituals most familiar to people in the United States is dancing around a May Pole and doing the Morris Dance, the English name for May Day dances. (See entry for Imbolc.)

May Day (Labor Day) : International. In many countries the first day of May is celebrated as a spring festival, a time to celebrate the rebirth of life after winter. Some May Day customs can be traced back to ancient observances. The tradition of dancing around a pole hung with ribbons probably had its origin in the tree worship of the Celtic Druids, and the custom of filling baskets with flowers is derived from the ancient Romans’ practice of gathering spring flowers on the festival of Floralia.

May Day later took on another meaning: In 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada drafted a resolution in support of an eight-hour working day to begin on May 1, 1886, and called for a general strike to achieve that goal. This strike led to the infamous Haymarket Affair in Chicago on May 4, 1886. On that day an anarchist labor rally was held in Haymarket Square to protest the police killing of strikers at a factory the day before. When the police tried to disperse the rally, someone threw a bomb that killed several policemen, and a riot ensued. Despite a lack of evidence, eight of Chicago’s leading anarchists were charged with conspiracy to murder—four were hanged, one committed suicide in prison, and the remaining three were later pardoned. The Haymarket Affair was a pivotal event in the history of the labor movement, leading to a crackdown on labor organizations and a splintering of the Knights of Labor, the strongest U.S. labor organization, which was eventually supplanted by the American Federation of Labor. In 1889, an international Socialist congress convened in Paris and voted to support the United States labor movement’s demands, choosing May 1, 1890 as a day of demonstration in support of an eight-hour working day. Many countries now celebrate May Day, sometimes called Labor Day, as an official holiday honoring working people. The United States and Canada, however, celebrate Labor Day in September.

May 2, Saturday

Satyajit Ray (1921–1992) : Indian. Filmmaker. Ray's films depicting the lives of ordinary people in his native Bengal brought him international recognition as one of the great creators in the medium. He was involved in every aspect of the filmmaking process; in addition to writing and directing each film, he sometimes wrote the musical score, designed the sets, and even operated the camera. His best-known work is a trilogy (Pather Pachali, Aparajito, and The World of Apu) tracing the life of a single character, the young boy Apu, from his village through his education and migration to the city.

May 3, Sunday

James Brown (1933–2006) : African American. Singer, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer. Known as “the Godfather of Soul,” James Brown was a captivating performer and one of the most innovative and influential figures in twentieth century popular music. Born in Barnwell, South Carolina during the Depression, James Brown started out as a gospel singer and then incorporated gospel elements into a new kind of rhythm and blues that came to be known as soul music. Brown captured his dynamic and exhilarating performance in one of the first live recordings, Live at the Apollo (1962), which hit no. 2 on Billboard’s album chart. His breakthrough hits “Out of Sight” (1963) and “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (1965) were the beginning of funk as a distinct genre. With its interlocking, driving rhythms and percussive style, funk influenced music for decades to come—disco, hip hop, rap, reggae, and Nigerian Afro-beat all have their roots in this innovative style. Among Brown’s other hits are “Please Please Please” (1956), “Try Me” (1959), “I Got You (I Feel Good)” (1965) and “Say It Loud—I’m Black and I’m Proud” (1968). In 1986, James Brown was one of the first group of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Paul G. Hearne (1950?–1998) : People with Disabilities. Activist for the disabled. Hearne was a founder or officer of virtually every national organization devoted to the disabled. He started the first legal services office for the disabled, ran the first job placement agency for the disabled, served as director of the National Council on Disability, and was influential in writing the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. He also helped to start and run the Dole Foundation for Employment of People with Disabilities, the Association of People with Disabilities, and the Disabilities Study Group. Born with a debilitating disorder that limited his growth to four feet tall and caused him to spend his childhood in body casts and traction until he was 15, Hearne finally was able to enroll in a new school for the disabled, the Human Resources Center in Albertson, New York.

Constitution Day : Poland. This holiday commemorates the passage in 1791 of Poland's first constitution, which was the second written constitution in the world after that of the United States and the first in Europe. It provided for the separation of powers between the executive (the king and his ministers), the legislative (the Sejm), and the judicial branches of government. Although the constitution was hailed throughout the West as a triumph for progressive forces, it was suppressed in 1792 by the invading army of Catherine II of Russia, who saw the movement toward democracy across her western border as a threat to her own absolute rule.

May 4, Monday

Keith Haring (1959–1990) : Gay. Pop artist. Haring created a wide variety of public art, such as subway drawings of animals and human images and murals, including the first mural in a school yard on New York City's Lower East Side and a mural on the Berlin Wall. He also created designs for performances and for Swatch watches. In 1987, he used his art to support campaigns for AIDS awareness and created the Keith Haring Foundation to contribute to a wide variety of social concerns.

Jane Jacobs (1916–2006) : Jewish Canadian. Urban activist and writer. A visionary who was also a pragmatist, Jane Jacobs revolutionized the field of urban planning in the United States and Canada. Jacobs was critical of urban renewal programs that segregated low income housing projects and businesses into separate areas, and advocated instead “mixed-use” development. She saw cities as dynamic organisms that evolved in response to the people who lived in them and believed that “lively, diverse, intense cities contain the seeds of their own regeneration.” Her landmark book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), was, as New York Times critic Paul Goldberger noted, “to urban planning what Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was to the environmental movement.” In 1962 Jacobs became chairman of the Joint Committee to Stop the Lower Manhattan Expressway in order to prevent New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses from building a highway through Washington Square Park and the West Village. In 1968, in opposition to the Vietnam War, Jacobs and her family moved to Toronto, where she continued her urban activism by helping to preserve the beauty of Toronto’s inner-city neighborhoods. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Jacobs became a Canadian citizen in 1974.

Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916) : Polish. Writer. Sienkiewicz's best known works are his historical novels, which include Quo Vadis? set in Rome in the early Christian era, and a trilogy depicting the Poles' struggles against foreign invaders in the seventeenth century. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905.

Youth Day : People's Republic of China.

Greenery Day (Midori No Hi) : Japan.

This day is dedicated to the environment and is celebrated as a day to appreciate nature.

Restoration of Independence : Latvia.

May 5, Tuesday

Del Martin (born Dorothy L. Taliaferro) (1921–2008) : Lesbian. Activist. Born in San Francisco, Del Martin was a founding member and first president in 1955 of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first social and political organization for lesbians in the United States. From 1960 to 1962 Martin was the editor of the organization’s newsletter, The Ladder. In 1964 she helped found the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, which sought to end discriminatory laws against gays and lesbians. On June 16, 2008, Martin married her partner of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon, in the first legal gay union in California. Martin and Lyon were among the original plaintiffs in the series of lawsuits that led to the California Supreme Court’s striking down the ban on same-sex marriage a month earlier, making California the second state, after Massachusetts, to permit gays and lesbians to wed.

Liberation Day : Netherlands. This day marks the end of the World War II Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in 1945.

Children's Day (Kodomo No Hi) : Japan.

Formerly known as Tango No Sekku or Boys' Day, Children's Day is celebrated by attaching wind socks in the shape of carp to poles. The carp symbolizes perseverance, power, and strength. A special meal including a rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves is served.

Children's Day (Tano) : South Korea. This holiday is celebrated as a day of rest from work. Wrestling matches are held, as are swinging contests in which girls use swings hung from high branches of trees to see who can swing with the widest arc.

Cinco de Mayo : Mexico.

The French attempted to occupy Mexico and make it part of its empire under Napoleon III, probably in an attempt to offset the growing power of the United States. On the morning of May 5, 1862, under General Ignacio Zaragoza, five thousand ill-equipped Mestizo and Zapotec Indians defeated the French army in what came to be known as the Batalla de Puebla, which later was called Cinco de Mayo. The holiday tends to be celebrated more among Chicanos than in Mexico.

Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: This holiday is a time for fun and dance. People of Mexican descent in the United States celebrate by having parades, mariachi music, folklorico dancing, and other types of festive activities.

Coronation Day : Thailand. On May 5, 1950, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej was crowned as Rama IX, the ninth king of the Chakri Dynasty. Every year, the Thai people rejoice and express their affection and loyalty to him by organizing a celebration on his coronation day.

May 6, Wednesday

Amadeo Giannini (1870–1949) : Italian American. Banker. One of the most creative and successful financiers of the early twentieth century, Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco as a bank for small businessmen. His innovations, which included branch banking and home mortgages with monthly payments, brought him tremendous success, and when he resigned as chairman of the board in 1945, his bank, renamed Bank of America, was the largest commercial bank in the world. Giannini also founded Transamerica Corporation, one of the nation's largest business conglomerates.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) : Indian. Writer and composer. A prolific and versatile writer in the Bengali language, Tagore wrote poems, plays, and stories that won a worldwide readership and brought him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. (This date for celebrating his birthday is based on the Bengali calendar.)

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.

—Rabindranath Tagore

Constitution Day (Kempo Kinen Bi) observed : Japan.

This holiday celebrates the establishment of the current constitution in 1947.

May 7, Thursday

National Day of Prayer : United States. The U.S. Congress has declared that “[t]he President shall issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.” Even before this official declaration, there had been days of prayer in the United States, such as when the Continental Congress issued a day of prayer in 1775 as a “time for prayer in forming a new nation.” On April 17, 1952 a National Day of Prayer was officially signed into law by President Truman, and in 1988 President Reagan signed a bill into law decreeing that the National Day of Prayer should be held on the first Thursday in May. (m)

May 8, Friday

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753–1811) : Mexican. Political and military leader. A village priest who helped lead the insurgency against Mexico's Spanish rulers in 1810–1811, Father Hidalgo is best known for ringing the church bell that signaled the beginning of the rebellion. (See entry for September 16.) As a revolutionary leader he freed slaves in areas under the control of his army and advocated redistribution of land from Spanish owners to poor Indians and mestizos. After early military successes, his army was defeated by a Spanish force on January 17, 1811. Stripped of his priestly orders by the Church, he was tried by a Spanish military court and executed by a firing squad.

Victory Day, WWII : France. This holiday commemorates the defeat of the German army in Europe in 1945.

May 9, Saturday

Visakaha (vye-sak-hah) Day : Buddhist. In the Theravada Buddhist tradition that predominates in Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and nirvana are all celebrated on this day. (m)

May 10, Sunday

Mother's Day : Finland, United States. Public holiday. (m)

Mother's Day : Mexico. Public holiday.

May 11, Monday

William Grant Still (1895–1978) : African American. Composer and conductor. Still was the first African American to compose a symphony and the first to conduct a symphony orchestra, but he made his living playing in orchestras and jazz bands. In his own compositions, the most famous of which are his Afro-American Symphony (1951) and the opera Troubled Island (1949), he often incorporated jazz elements.

Victory Day observed : Russia, Ukraine. This day, observed by most of the countries of the former Soviet Union, commemorates the victory of the Allies over Nazi Germany ending World War II in Europe in 1945. Victory Day also honors the 20 million Soviet people who died during the war.

May 12, Tuesday

Oscar De Priest (1871–1951) : African American. Legislator. De Priest was the first African American to win a seat in Congress in the twentieth century and the first African American congressman from the North. He represented the First Congressional District of Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1929 to 1934, serving three consecutive terms as the only Black representative in Congress. In 1933 De Priest attached an anti-discrimination amendment to the bill establishing the Civilian Conservation Corps, which was passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This is the date of his death.

Lag B'Omer : Jewish.

This holiday occurs thirty-three days from the second night of Passover, called the "counting of the omer," during the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuoth and allows a break from the usual prohibitions during this period, such as having weddings. It is a minor holiday and work is permitted. (m)

May 13, Wednesday

Our Lady of Fatima Day : Portugal. This commemorates the miracle of the vision of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, to shepherd children on May 13, 1917.

May 17, Sunday

Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) : African American. On this date the Supreme Court unanimously issued its historic decision holding that segregation in public education was a denial of the right to equal protection under the law and directing the lower courts to oversee the desegregation of the nation's schools "with all deliberate speed." This decision, which established the principle that segregation is unconstitutional, formed the legal basis for the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and 1960s.

Santo Christo Day : Portugal. This holiday begins on the fifth Sunday after Easter and is celebrated for a full week. It commemorates the gift to the Cathedral of Sâo Miguel in the Azore Islands (off the coast of Portugal) of a statue depicting Jesus wearing a crown of thorns. The holiday is celebrated by processions, religious services, and festive gatherings. (m)

National Day : Norway. On this date, Norwegians celebrate the 1814 signing of the Norwegian Constitution, signifying Norway's breaking away from its 434–year union with Denmark. The focus of the celebration is on children and family. Virtually every community has a parade that features students and teachers marching, often in national costumes, singing patriotic songs, and carrying the Norwegian flag. Many midwestern communities in the United States with large numbers of people of Scandinavian ancestry, such as in Wisconsin and Minnesota, have their own celebrations of Syttende Mai.

May 18, Monday

Frank Capra (1897–1991) : Italian American. Film director. From the 1920s to the 1950s, Capra was one of Hollywood's most successful directors. Remembered especially for his comedies celebrating the integrity and spirit of the common man, Capra won three Academy Awards as Best Director for It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and You Can't Take It With You.

Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyla) (1920–2005) : Polish. Polish priest and head of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II was the first Polish pope and the first non-Italian pope since the Dutch pope, Adrian VI, who served from 1522–1523. The second longest serving pope, John Paul II was fluent in nine languages and traveled more than any pope in history, visiting more than 100 countries. He beatified 1,340 people, more than any previous pope, and canonized nearly 500 saints, believed to be more than all his predecessors combined. Pope John Paul II is credited with hastening the fall of communism in Poland and other Eastern bloc countries. He adhered to conservative church doctrines regarding birth control and women’s role in the church, opposed the death penalty, and was a great champion of the poor and underprivileged.

Victoria Day observed : Canada. This public holiday in Canada commemorates the birth of Queen Victoria, who lived from 1819 to 1901 and ruled Britain from 1837 to 1901, during which time England became the world's leading industrial power and the center of the British Empire. (m)

May 19, Tuesday

Lorraine Hansberry (1930–1965) : African American. Playwright and civil rights activist. Hansberry is best known for her play A Raisin in the Sun, the first play by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway. The play was an enormous success with critics and audiences when it opened in 1959, was made into a popular film, and has attained the status of a modern classic. Before her brilliant career was cut short by cancer, she wrote several other stage and television plays and a number of essays, and devoted much of her time to working and speaking out for the civil rights movement.

Malcolm X (1925–1965) : African American. Civil rights leader. Malcolm Little adopted the name Malcolm X when he joined the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims), a religious movement advocating Black separatism, while serving a prison term for burglary. Upon his release in 1952 he became a leading spokesman for the Muslims. In 1964 he broke with the group, rejecting racial separatism and forming his own group, the Organization of Afro-American Unity. He continued to speak out until his assassination on February 21, 1965, urging Blacks to take pride in their race and to take action to claim their civil and human rights.

Atatürk and Youth Day : Turkey. Kemal Atatürk was the first president of the Turkish Republic, which he founded in 1923. (See entry for October 29.)

May 20, Wednesday

Independence Day : Cuba. This day commemorates the proclamation of the Cuban Republic in 1902, whereby Cuba declared its independence from the United States, which had occupied the country since the Spanish-American War of 1898. In 1902 the Cuban people elected Tomás Estrada Palma as the first president of the Republic of Cuba.

May 21, Thursday

Lázaro Cárdenas (1895–1970) : Mexican. Political and military leader. As president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940, Cárdenas did more than any other Mexican chief executive to achieve the goals of the Mexican Revolution: redistributing land from large landowners to peasants, organizing confederations of workers and peasants, and taking control over foreign-owned industries. He emerged from retirement in 1943 to serve as defense minister and then chief of the army, retiring again in 1945.

Ascension Day : Christian. This marks the anniversary of the day Christians believe that Jesus rose to heaven. (m)

Battle of Iquique : Chile. This marks one of the major naval battles in 1879 in the war between Chile and Peru.

May 22, Friday

Harvey Milk (1930–1978) : Gay. Politician. Having grown up on Long Island and been involved in conservative politics, Harvey Milk moved to San Francisco, became more liberal in his politics, and successfully ran for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. A strong advocate of gay rights, he and San Francisco's mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by a former city supervisor.

May 23, Saturday

Declaration of the Bab : Baha'i. This holiday commemorates the Bab's prediction in Shiraz, Persia, in 1844 of the imminent appearance of the new messenger of God.

National Day (Amendment of the Constitution) : Morocco. This commemorates the May 23, 1980 referendum on the amendment of the Constitution.

May 24, Sunday

James Francis "Jim" Thorpe (1888–1953) : American Indian (Sauk and Fox). Athlete. Chosen as the best athlete of the first half of the century in an Associated Press poll, Jim Thorpe won the decathlon at the 1912 Olympic Games and went on to play professional baseball and then professional football, and to be named to the college and professional football Halls of Fame. Thorpe was forced to give up his Olympic medals when it was discovered that he had briefly played professional baseball, disqualifying him from competition as an amateur. This action was rescinded in 1983 by the International Olympic Committee, which retroactively recognized his amateur status and presented his heirs with duplicates of his medals.

Battle of Pichincha : Ecuador. This was a key victory in 1822, when Royalist forces loyal to Spain were defeated by an army under General Antonio José de Sucre, liberating Quito and securing the future independence of Ecuador.

May 25, Monday

Africa Day : Zambia, Zimbabwe. In these and some other African states, this is a holiday commemorating independence from colonial rule.

Independence Day : Jordan. This marks the day in 1946 that Jordan under the Hashemite Monarchy gained independence from Britain.

Anniversary of the May Revolution : Argentina. This commemorates the beginning of the war of independence from Spain in 1810 led by José de San Martín.

Memorial Day observed : United States. Originally a day of remembrance for those who died for the Union in the Civil War, this national holiday, observed on the last Monday in May, now honors those who gave their lives in all wars. (A number of southern states also have designated days for honoring the Confederate dead.) Many American families observe Memorial Day as a time for paying respects to deceased family members. (m)

May 26, Tuesday

Susette LaFlesche Tibbles (1854–1903) : American Indian (Omaha). Activist. Daughter of a chief, Susette LaFlesche joined with her father, her brother, and her future husband, journalist Thomas Tibbles, to bring national attention to the plight of the Poncas, a kindred tribe that had been forcibly removed to Indian territory. This is the anniversary of her death.

Independence Day : Republic of Georgia.

May 28, Thursday

Ascension Day : Coptic Orthodox Christian, Eastern Orthodox Christian. This marks the anniversary of the day Coptic Orthodox Christians and Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that Jesus rose to heaven. (m)

Dragon Boat Festival (Tuan-wu) : China.

This public holiday honors Ch'ü Yuan, China's first major poet, who drowned himself in 278 B.C.E. to protest the injustice and corruption of his prince's government. In the traditional dragon boat races, teams from different towns compete in long boats with bows shaped like large dragon heads. The customary holiday food is a dumpling made of rice with a sweet filling wrapped in a bamboo leaf. (m)

Republic Day : Azerbaijan.

Restoration of Statehood Day : Armenia. On this day, Armenians celebrate the establishment in 1918 of the first republic following the genocide of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire and the collapse of the Russian Empire under the Czars.

May 29, Friday

Chien-Shiung Wu (1912–1997) : Chinese American. Physicist. Dr. Wu was one of the giants of physics and the first woman to gain equal stature for her accomplishments in experimental physics with men in the field. Born near Shanghai, China, she came to the United States in the 1930s and received a doctorate in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1940. She joined the physics faculty at Columbia University after World War II and was named a full professor in 1958 and the first Pupin Professor of physics in 1973. In 1957, she and her colleagues conducted an experiment that overthrew a law of symmetry in physics called the principle of conservation of parity that had been considered incontrovertible. In 1975, Dr. Wu became the first woman to be elected president of the American Physical Society. She also received the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest award for achievement in science, as well as the Wolf Prize in physics.

Ascension of Baha'u'llah : Baha'i. This observance commemorates the anniversary of the death of the founder of the Baha'i faith in 1892.

Shavuot (Festival of Weeks) : Jewish.

Shavuoth, taking place seven weeks after Passover, is the festival of the first fruits, and the weeks between are the most important in the harvesting season. The holiday is also celebrated in commemoration of the day when Moses received the Torah and the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.

Recognizing the Festival/Holiday: Many Jews restrict their diet during this period to dairy foods. Popular dishes include cheese blintzes, cheesecake, and cheese knishes, all of which can be found at a Jewish delicatessen. (m)

May 30, Saturday

Harvest Festival : Malaysia.

Mother's Day : Nicaragua. Public holiday.

May 31, Sunday

Pentecost (Whit Sunday) : Christian. This spring festival takes its name from the Greek word for fifty because Pentecost originally occurred on the fiftieth day after the first day of Passover, corresponding to the Jewish festival of Shavuoth. Christians now celebrate Pentecost on the seventh Sunday after Easter to commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. The day is sometimes called Whit Sunday (White Sunday) because the newly baptized wore white baptismal robes. Among foods associated with Pentecost is Sopa do Espirito Santo, Holy Spirit Soup, a hearty mixture of meats, from the Azores. Azorean communities in Massachusetts retain the custom. (m)