Holidays Calendar for May 13, 2017

The Royal Ploughing Ceremony is an ancient fertility rite annually held in many Asian countries, including Thailand. The ceremony officially marks the beginning of the rice growing season.

The King's birthday is one of the national holidays in Cambodia. The reigning King of Cambodia Norodom Shiamoni was born on May 14, 1953. The festivities last for three days, from May 13 to May 15.

The Pretos Velhos Festival is observed on May 13 by Brazilians who practice the Umbanda religion. It commemorates the abolition of slavery in Brazil.

Hummus is a very popular dip in a number of countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Every year thousands of people from another countries try this dip and find out it's amazing taste. If you've never tried hummus, then May 13 is a perfect day to do it, and thus join celebration of International Hummus Day.

Treat yourself to your favorite cocktail on May 13 because it is World Cocktail Day. This amazing holiday commemorates the day when the first definition of a cocktail as an alcoholic beverage was published.

World Fair Trade Day is an annual observance held on the second Saturday in May. It is held by the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), a global association of more than 300 hundred organizations that promote fair trade.

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World Belly Dance Day, also spelled World Bellydance Day, is observed annually on the second Saturday of May. It was created to raise awareness of the ancient art of belly dance and dispel common misconceptions surrounding it.

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Black Sea Fleet Day is an annual celebration in the Russian Navy held on May 13. It commemorates the creation of the Black Sea Fleet in 1783.

Russian counterpart of Arbor Day is called National Forest Planting Day. It is celebrated on the second Saturday in May. The campaign was launched in 2011 by the Federal Forestry Agency and has been held annually ever since.

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World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is an annual awareness campaign held on the second weekend in May. It is supported by the United Nations Environment Program as well as a number of international organizations.

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Many countries around the world celebrate only one Arbor Day during the year. Mongolia is one of the few countries, that celebrates National Tree Planting Day twice a year. The tree planting events are organized on the second Saturday in May and October respectively.

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National Mills Day in the Netherlands is celebrated on the second Saturday in May. On this day, may wind- and watermills open their doors to general public.

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Rotuma Day is an annual holiday celebrated on the island of Rotuma, a Fijian dependency. It commemorates the anniversary of the island's cession to the UK in 1881.

Apple pie is considered to be a signature American dessert. Enjoy a slice or even two of apple pie to celebrate the unofficial National Apple Pie Day, celebrated falls on May 13.

May 13 is a perfect day to finish off your meal with some delicious and vitamin-laden fruit because it is National Fruit Cocktail Day. This amazing holiday celebrates an appetizer/dessert that is very easy to make and extremely enjoyable.

May 13 is a perfect day to have a bowl of soup or a salad topped with delicious crunchy croutons because it is National Crouton Day. It was created to celebrate a tasty food topping that is often overlooked.

National Cycling Day (Landelijke Fietsdag) is an informal observance in the Netherlands celebrated annually on the second Saturday in May.

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This Day in History

  • 2019 Died: Doris Day, American actress, singer, and animal welfare activist. She was one of the biggest female film stars in the early 1960s; through 2012,Day was one of only eight performers to be the top box-office earner in the US four times.
  • 2014 The worst mine disaster in Turkey's history: 301 miners died of an explosion at an underground coal mine in south-western Turkey.
  • 2005 Died: George Dantzig, American mathematician and academic, who made important contributions to operations research, economics, statistics and computer sciences.
  • 2001 Died: Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayanaswami, better known under pen name R. K. Narayan, Indian author, one of the three leading figures of early Indian literature in English. He brought the genre of fiction, mythology and non-fiction to the rest of the world.
  • 2000 A firework factory exploded in Enschende, the Netherlands. 22 were killed, 950 wounded. The explosion caused an approximately €450 million damage.
  • 1996 600 people were killed during severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh.
  • 1988 Died: Chet Baker, American singer and trumpet player, one of the fathers of modern jazz. He rose to fame during the 1950s for albums featuring his vocals.
  • 1986 Born: Robert Pattinson, English actor, singer, and producer, best known for the role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight series.
  • 1983 Born: Grégory Lemarchal, French singer, who rose to fame by winning the forth series of the reality TV Star Academy France. Despite the short life, he became one of the most popular French singers.
  • 1981 Mehmet Ali Ağca attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Rome. The Pope was rushed to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic to undergo emergency surgery.
  • 1979 Born: Mickey Madden, American bass player, best known as the member of the pop rock bank Maroon 5.
  • 1969 Born: Brian Patrick Carroll, better known under his stagename Buckethead, American guitarist and songwriter. He recorded and released 132 own studio albums and performed on more than 50 albums by other artists, including Guns N' Roses and Iggy Pop.
  • 1961 Died: Gary Cooper, American actor and singer, a major movie star of the end of the silent film era and through the golden age of Classical Hollywood.
  • 1958 Ben Carlin became the first person to circumnavigate the world by amphibious vehicle, having traveled over 17,000 kilometers (11,000 mi) by sea and 62,000 kilometers (39,000 mi) by land during a ten-year journey.
  • 1954 The original Broadway production of The Pajama Game opened and ran for another 1,063 performances. It later received three Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, and Best Choreography.
  • 1950 Born: Stevie Wonder, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer, one of the most loved musical performers of the late 20th century. He received 25 Grammy Awards during his career.
  • 1950 The first round of the Formula One World Championship was held at Silverstone Circuit in England.
  • 1940 Following the invasion of German troops to the Netherlands, Queen Wilhelmina fled her country to Great Britain. Princess Juliana took her children to Canada for their safety.
  • 1938 Died: Charles Édouard Guillaume, Swiss-French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate in recognition of the service he had rendered to precision measurements in physics by his discovery of anomalies in nickel steel alloys.
  • 1937 Born: Roger Zelazny, American author and poet, best known for his series of The Chronicles of Amber, a three-time winner of the Nebula award and a six-time winner of Hugo award.
  • 1937 Born: Trevor Baylis, English inventor, best-known for invention of the wind-up radio. The radio was powered by the user winding a crank for several seconds, rather than by the batteries.
  • 1930 Died: Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian scientist, explorer, and academic, Nobel Peace Prize laureate for his work on behalf of the displaced victims of the First World War and related conflicts.
  • 1916 Died: Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, better known under pen name Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian-American author and playwright, one of the fathers of modern Yiddish literature.
  • 1907 Born: Daphne du Maurier, English author and playwright. Many of her works were adapted into films, including Rebeca and Jamaica Inn. The adaptations of her works were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
  • 1888 Brazil abolished slavery after the passage of the Lei Áurea (Golden Law).
  • 1885 Died: Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German physician, pathologist, and anatomist, an important figure in the development of modern medicine. He discovered the loop of Henle in the kidney and argued for the germ theory of disease.
  • 1861 John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia, discovered the Great Comet of 1861. The comet was visible for 3 months and it's categorized as one of the eight greatest comets of the 19th century.
  • 1857 Born: Ronald Ross, ndian-English physician, Nobel Prize laureate for work on malaria. He discovered that the malaria parasite is transmitted by mosquitoes.
  • 1840 Born: Alphonse Daudet, French author, best known for the stories about the life of Provence and creation of the character Tartarin de Tarascon.
  • 1832 Died: Georges Cuvier, French zoologist, a major figure in natural sciences research in the early 19th century and instrumental in establishing of comparative anatomy and paleontology.
  • 1782 Died: Daniel Solander, Swedish botanist, the first university educated scientist to set foot on Australian continent. His reputation was severely influenced by limited number of publication and premature death.