Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2016 i Faces People, Places, and World Culture for Kids and Children

Fireworks, noise makers, the countdown to midnight. . . Happy New Year! The start of a new year is a reason for celebration around the world. But the December 31 party in New York City’s Times Square is not the only way to ring in the New Year – it’s not even the only time of year people recognize the start of a new year! Read on to find out more about New Year’s celebrations around the world. 1. Welcome to the Year of the Monkey! According to the Chinese zodiac, those born this year will be intelligent, mischievous, and quick learners. Legend says that Buddha called for all the animals and the 12 that arrived each had a year named in its honor. 2. New Year’s celebrations have been…

Wearing stripes, plaids, or solid colors to a New Year’s celebration in the Philippines would be considered a bad idea. For the Filipino people, the holiday is all about circles — symbols of wealth and prosperity. People wear polka dot clothing, fill their drawers with coins, and eat fruits that are round. Stomachs are filled with pancit, a dish made with long noodles. The length of the noodles symbolizes longevity and good health. Filipinos also set off fireworks, blow horns, and bang on pots and pans to scare away evil spirits. Throughout the Philippines as well as the rest of the world, people believe their actions on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day will impact their luck for the following year. Superstitions abound, and many of them are quite…

On October 22, 1707, twenty-one British Naval ships were returning to port in England. Four of the ships and more than 1,400 sailors never made it home. The ships ended up at the bottom of the ocean after hitting rocks near the Isles of Scilly. Navigational errors caused the fleet commander to mistakenly believe his ships were headed into the English Channel. He was among the many that died that day. Maritime accidents due to navigational errors were very common at the time. Latitude could be calculated by measuring the altitude of the sun, but longitude was more difficult to determine. Why? Because accurate longitudinal measurements required knowing the answer to a seemingly simple question: What time is it? The clocks that existed at the time did not perform well…

It is Rosh Hashanah eve, the beginning of the Jewish New Year. I welcome my grandparents to our house with the traditional Rosh Hashanah greeting, L’Shanah Tovah (luh-SHAH-nah TOE-vah), Hebrew for “to a good year”. My grandparents return the greeting. Rosh Hashanah means “head of the year” and celebrates the birthday of the world. It is one of the holiest days of the Jewish year and is observed for two days, beginning on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishri, which falls in September or early October. We gather around the dining room table for the blessings before our holiday dinner. Mom recites the blessing over two tall candlesticks. Dad holds up a goblet and says the blessing over the wine. Next, we recite the Sheheheyanu (sheh-heh-hee-YAH-noo), a…

Kurds celebrate the new year on March 21, when flowers are budding and day and night are the same length. New Ruz — or New Day — began more than 2,500 years ago, when legend and history tell of deliverance from an evil ruler. King Zohak enslaved the Kurdish people around 700 B.C. History says he ruled from the ancient city of Halwan. According to legend, King Zohak killed people to feed the snakes growing out of his shoulders. Kawe, a blacksmith with shoulders powerful from hard work with anvils and hammers, led the Kurdish people in surrounding King Zohak’s palace. While the people attacked the guards, Kawe rushed behind them and grabbed Zohak by the neck. Kawe killed King Zohak with his hammer and dragged him off his throne.…

Welcome to 2016, the Chinese “Year of the Monkey.” According to legend, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on the Chinese New Year. Only 12 animals showed up. Buddha named a year after each one, and announced that people born in each animal’s year would have some of the characteristics of that animal. Astrologers (people who try to relate the position of the stars to human lives) believe that people born in the Year of the Monkey are intelligent, mischievous, and learn quickly. If you were born in a Year of the Monkey (2004, 1992, 1980, and so on, in a 12-year cycle), you have some famous company, including Leonardo da Vinci, Charles Dickens, and Christina Aguilera. It turns out that there is more to the classifying monkey-business…

One of the oldest calendars in the world is the Coptic calendar. The Egyptian Coptic church was one of the earliest forms of Christianity, and Coptic Christians were persecuted and killed by the Romans. In A.D. 283 they adopted their own Coptic calendar, and as a way of remembering the martyrs who died under the Romans, they incorporated that remembrance with the celebration of the New Year, which they named the Feast of Nayrouz. The word “Nayrouz” comes from the Coptic word “nilaroouz,” which means rivers. The Coptic New Year begins on September 11th or 12th (depending on the leap year), which is the end of the rainy season and the time when Sirius, the Dog Star, rises in the sky. It is when the Nile River in Egypt traditionally…

Whoops! Fireworks were believed to have been created accidentally in China about 2,000 years ago, when bamboo was thrown into a fire. Air pockets in the bamboo created a bang when heated. Eventually, the Chinese began experimenting by putting chemicals such as charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter (potassium nitrate) into the bamboo shoots. Tada! Fireworks! Fireworks were used as a weapon during battles beginning in the 10th century. Some credit Marco Polo with bringing fireworks to Europe in 1295. Other historians claim they were more likely brought by Arab traders. On July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, that fireworks should be used to celebrate U.S. independence from England. Norway holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s biggest fireworks display. In November 2014, 540,382 were used in…

Aline of animals had gathered on the riverbank — a pig, a dog, a rooster, a monkey, a goat, a horse, a snake, a dragon, a rabbit, a tiger, an ox, and a rat. “How will we get across the river to the Jade Emperor?” they asked each other. “He invited us to race to his Heavenly Palace!” “How will I get to the other side first?” thought the crafty rat. The powerful ox, confident in his strength, plunged in and began to swim across. The others followed, except for the rat. He had already climbed up on the ox’s back for a free ride. As soon as the ox arrived at the opposite bank, the rat leaped off and scampered to the Jade Emperor, first in line. The ox…

New Year’s celebrations are nothing new — they have been taking place for more than 4,000 years. Around 2000 B.C., the Babylonians of ancient Mesopotamia marked the arrival of the new year with an 11-day festival. On the fourth day, the king’s crown was taken away and he was forced to his knees at the foot of a statue of Marduk, the god credited with the creation of the universe. After swearing that he had been a faithful ruler, the king was slapped in the face by the high priest. The slap was delivered with force, and its purpose was to bring the king to tears. Marduk was said to be pleased with the king only if his tears flowed freely. This annual ritual served to remind the king of…

Splash! Splat! Imagine the biggest water fight ever! People all around you have buckets and big water guns. Picture huge crowds filling the streets, completely soaking one another. Even elephants are spraying water! If you were celebrating the New Year in Thailand, you would not need to be using your imagination at all. This is Songkran, Thailand’s New Year’s celebration! Songkran, one of Thailand’s oldest celebrations, marks the beginning of the Buddhist New Year. Songkran has similarities to other celebrations around the globe, but is unique in several ways. Distinguished by a three-day public holiday from April 13-15, Songkran ranks as Thailand’s most important celebration. People get time off from work, perform rites of renewal and purification, show respect, and ask for blessings. The major differences include the time of…

Not every New Year’s celebration is a party. And not every New Year takes place on January 1. For followers of the Islamic religion, the new year, or hijri, may take place on a different date each year. The Islamic religion follows its own lunar calendar, based on the appearance of the crescent moon in the sky every month (and which is why many flags from Islamic countries have a crescent symbol on them). Most Muslims rely on Islamic authorities to determine when a new month begins, as cloudy skies or bad weather might make it impossible to actually see the crescent moon. As a result, the Islamic calendar is different from the Gregorian calendar that much of the world uses, by 11 days. It only has 354 days instead…

A Fireworks Drawing on New Year’s Eve Materials: • Black paper for pastels• Newsprint• Chalk pastels• Fixative or hairspray Every year people all around the world use fireworks to celebrate the New Year. The bright colors and shapes that whistle and boom across the city night skyline fill spectators with a sense of awe and excitement. Often fireworks are exploded over a lake or ocean so the viewer has the double pleasure of seeing the display reflected in water. Of course, wherever there are beautiful sights to see, you’ll be sure to find an artist trying to capture the sight through sketches, paintings, or photography. Does your city have a fireworks presentation on New Year’s? You could capture it in a sketch. STEP 1: Inspiration Find some photos of your city’s (or another city’s)…