It’s time to party it up, and ….eat!!

Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday. It is also known as Mardi Gras Day or Shrove Day. It is a day when people eat all they want of everything and anything they want as the following day is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of a long fasting period for Christians. In addition to fasting, christians also give up something special that they enjoy. So, Fat Tuesday is a celebration and the opportunity to enjoy that favorite food or snack that you give up for the long lenten season.

Nowhere on the planet is Fat Tuesday celebrated more than on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The day is celebrated with festivities and parades and of course much food and drink. While in New Orleans, a big tradition is in wearing Mardi Gras beads and giving them to others. And tradition requires that if a guy gives a girl some beads, she has to do something for him…..this can be just loads of fun………

Since 1968, it is celebrated on the third Monday in February President’s Day is a day set aside to honor all of the U.S. presidents. We often think of two great presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln when we celebrate this holiday as it falls by design between their birthdays. But more and more of us, look at this day as a tribute to each and every person who has ever served in the office as President of the United States of America.

Chinese Year 4708, February 14, 2010. It’s the  year of the Tiger, a Yang (negative) year. The date of Chinese New Years changes every year. It is a 15 day celebration, beginning on the first day of the new moon, and ends on the full moon. The celebration on the15th day is called the Lantern Festival.

Chinese culture is amongst the oldest in the world. While the rest of the world is in the early years of but the third millennium, Chinese culture is in their fifth millennium.

In Chinese astrology, every year is represented by an animal. The cycle is twelve years, with a different animal each year. This is the year of the “Rat”. According to Chinese astrology, it is a “Yang” or positive year. Every person is born under one of these animals that also dictates your personality and character. To find out more about your sign, see Chinese Astrology.

Chinese New years or Spring Festival, is the biggest holiday in chinese culture. It is celebrated with festivities, fireworks, brightly colored lights, special meals with family and gift giving. Like Christmas in the western world, most chinese travel home to be with family for the new year celebration.

Every American knows President Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. “Honest Abe”, as he was commonly known as, was born in the wilderness country of Hardin County, Kentucky on February 12, 1809.

Abraham Lincoln became president in 1861. Although he hated war, he was drawn into it as he believed it was the only was to save the nation after the southern states declared their secession to the Union.

In addition to serving as president during the civil war and saving the Union,  Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation that ended slavery in the U.S. forever.He also wrote and gave The Gettysburg Address, memorializing the bloodiest and most important battle of the Civil War. Gettysburg proved to be the turning point of the war.

Shortly after the war ended, Abraham Lincoln became the first U.S. President to be assassinated. He was shot and mortally wounded on Good Friday, April 14, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s Theatre.