12 October 1492 – Columbus Day in the USA

Columbus Day, which is annually on the second Monday of October, remembers Christopher Columbus' arrival to the Americas on October 12, 1492. This holiday is controversial because the European settlement in the Americas led to the demise of the history and culture of the indigenous peoples.

What do people do?

Officially, the people of the USA are invited to celebrate the anniversary of the discovery of their country with church services and other activities. In some towns and cities, special church services, parades and large events are held. Most celebrations are concentrated around the Italian-American community. The celebrations in New York and San Francisco are particularly noteworthy. In Hawaii Columbus Day is also known as Landing Day or Discoverer's Day.

Not all parts of the United States celebrate Columbus Day. It is not a public holiday in California, Nevada and Hawaii. Moreover, Native Americans’ Day is celebrated in South Dakota, while Indigenous People’s Day is celebrated in Berkeley, California. 

9 October - The Apostle and Evangelist St. John, called the Theologian

The Apostle and Evangelist St. John, called the Theologian, was the son of Salome and Zebedee. Zebedee was a fisherman of Galilee who possessed rather vast holdings with workers. He was a member of some importance in the Jewish community, having access to the high priest. John's mother Salome is mentioned as being one of the ranks of women who served God with their possessions. 

John was at first the disciple of St. John the Baptist. Listening to his witness of Christ as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, he, together with Andrew the First-Called, followed the Saviour.

9 October 1940 – Birth of John Lennon , English singer, songwriter, musician, and the dominant personality of the Beatles.

John Winston Lennon was born in Liverpool, England on October 9, 1940 during a blitzkrieg attack by the German Luftwaffe. His parents were Julia and Arthur "Freddie" Lennon, and the middle name of "Winston" was given to John in honor of Winston Churchill. Alfred was in the merchant marine and was largely absent from Lennon's early years, although he reappeared after the Beatles had become mega-famous. By 1944, Julia was pregnant with another man's baby, and Julia's sister Mimi threatened to call Social Services unless John was handed over to her care. John lived with his Aunt Mimi and her husband, George Smith, until his late teens. (His childhood home at Mendips on Menlove Avenue, where he lived with his Aunt Mimi, can be seen in the photograph below.) It was George Smith who gave John his first harmonica.

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8 October - the Church commemorates saint Sergius of Radonezh

Saint Sergius raised the little boy from the dead

On October 8th (September 25th, old style) the Church commemorates the great Russian wonderworker, Saint Sergius of Radonezh. In 1314 the righteous noble couple, Cyril and Maria, who lived near Rostov the Great, gave birth to a son, Bartholomew. The infant refused his mother’s milk on Wednesdays and Fridays, and also on those days when Maria ate meat. At the age of seven Bartholomew was sent to school together with his brothers Stephen and Peter. Inspite of his diligence, learning came poorly to Bartholomew, and he tearfully prayed for the gift of “understanding book learning.”

One day Bartholomew saw a monk standing under an oak tree and praying. After finishing with his prayers, the elder gently asked the youth: “What do you want, child?” Bartholomew replied: “Pray to God for me and ask Him to open up my mind to book learning.” The elder prayed, then gave the youth a piece of prosfora and said: “Take this, child, and eat. It is given to you as a sign of God’s grace and for the sake of understanding the Holy Scriptures.” The monk then visited Bartholomew’s house, blessed his parents and commanded Bartholomew to read the Psalter. The boy began to fluently read the psalms.  Read more

 

World Smile Day

World Smile Day celebrates the ever popular yellow smiley. It also offers us an opportunity to do an act of kindness. According to the World Smile Day website, a proclamation of this day was made by the U.S. Congress. Now that should put a smiley on your face.

The smiley face became so popular, that the U.S. Post Office issued a stamp with the smiley face.

The intent of World Smile Day is to do an act of kindness, or help one person to smile. Why not do both!?

The yellow smiley stands brightly smiling upon this day, offering it's stamp of approval.

About the Smiley Face:

Harvey Ball, a commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts created the smiley face in 1963. The State Mutual Life Assurance Company hired Harvey as a free lance artist to create a smiley face for use in improving company morale. From there, the bright and cheerful smiley grew in popularity. It's popularity grew slowly at first. Then, it exploded in the 1970's. Ultimately, the smiley became wildly popular.

There is some controversy over the smiley's creation. French entrepreneur named Franklin Loufrani claimed to have invented it in 1968. In 1971 he patented it in 80 countries.

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С Днем Учителя, дорогие учителя!

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Мои дорогие и любимые коллеги, моя любимая сестренка-учитель (Ольга Николаевна Голубева, учитель русского языка и литературы), все мои учителя, встретившиеся мне в жизни, от всей души поздравляю вас

с Днем Учителя!

Желаю вам всего самого светлого и доброго в жизни, удачи и побед, а прежде всего - удачи и побед на личном фронте. Нелегка профессия учителя, но одновременно безумно интересна и не позволяющая стоять на месте. Если бы не мои учителя, я бы никогда не стала бы тем, чем я являюсь сейчас; если бы не моя сестра, научившая меня всему (читать, писать, считать) и поддерживавшая меня во всём, я бы никогда не смогла учиться в школе и университете так, как училась; если бы не мои коллеги, подбадривавшие меня и дающие ценные советы, я бы не смогла совершенствоваться и применять новые педагогические и методические идеи! 

Спасибо всем вам за всё! Доброй памяти всем моим учителям, которых уже нет с нами! 

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