History – Juneteenth

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What is Juneteenth?

According to History.com, Juneteenth or June nineteenth marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people were freed.

The event took place a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, on January 1, 1863, and more than two months after Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. On June 17, 2021, Juneteenth officially became a federal holiday. It commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement.

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History – April Fools’ Day

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Do you know why the first of April is called April Fools’ Day?

It is believed that this tradition started in France in the reign of Charles IX. Till the year 1564, the first of April was New Year’s Day. People celebrated the day by visiting one another and by giving and receiving gifts. 

In 1564, Charles IX declared that the year should begin from the first of January (switching from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar). Many people did not like the change and refused to go by the new calendar. The ones who accepted the new calendar, made fun of those who didn’t by sending them make-believe gifts and inviting them to non-existent parties on the first of April. And so, the day came to be known as April Fools’ Day or All Fools’ Day. 

Later, people started playing other harmless pranks on one another on the first of April and the tradition continues to this day.

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