Brits Pick Magna Carta Day for Natl Celebration

[livius drusus]

A few months ago Chancellor Gordon Brown suggested a new national holiday (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=1H4AG3R2O1NR1QFIQMFSFF4AVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2006/01/14/nbrown14.xml) as a means of reclaiming patriotism from the extreme right-wing British National Party. BBC History did a poll asking people what day they would pick, and June 15th, the day the Magna Carta was signed, came out on top (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/30/nmagna30.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/05/30/ixuknews.html).

It beat out the miltaristic appeal of VE Day and D-Day, no less, which I think is pretty damn cool. Of course, as the article points out, it's a lot more English than British, but the Magna Carta has become a symbol of constitutional boundaries, of government bound by law, far beyond England.

Not that this is going to come to pass, mind you. It's just a poll and some politician rhetoric right now, but ya never know.

[Leesifer]

Well we could do with a holiday June. We don't get another one now until August. :(

[godfry n. glad]

Well we could do with a holiday June. We don't get another one now until August. :(

You get a holiday in August? How nice.

[Petra]

What about Queen's Birthday? That's usually the first weekend in June, isn't it? I know it's coming up real soon.

And what's with the holiday in August? Don't you guys ever work?!




:wink:


Incidentally, Zoe's school has a huge mural in it's dining room of the signing of the Magna Carta. It's very cool. :yup:

[Dingfod]

Queen Elizabeth II's birthday is in April. Is the June one an earlier Queen or something?

[Petra]

Queen Elizabeth II's birthday is in April. Is the June one an earlier Queen or something?

I've no idea. I just know we have a long weekend called "Queen's Birthday Weekend" coming up. It must be this coming weekend. Perhaps I should look at a calendar. :chin:

[Leesifer]

She has two birthdays and we don't get a day off for either one of them. :darn:

[Dingfod]

Perhaps April 21st (QE2's actual birthday) is too close to Easter.

[Petra]

You might be onto something there, Dingfod.


I'm amazed you don't get at least one of the birthday's off, Lees. I'm pretty sure the rest of the Commonwealth does.

[Dingfod]

So far as I've been able to ascertain, only New Zealand and Australia celebrate Queen's B-day, and they don't even do it on the same day.

http://goaustralia.about.com/cs/eventsfestivals/a/queensbirthday.htm

[Petra]

Hmmm. Cheers, Dingfod. And it is this weekend for us, so that means I'm a week out. Bugga.


Back on topic, I'm not all that surprised that the Brit's chose the Magna Carta over VE Day an' stuff, as those dates are too recent, and Britian prides itself on a much longer, richer history than a couple of 21st century World Wars.

Still, it is heartnening to know that, in the madness of the 21st Century so far, they haven't forgotten that old time magic. :cool:

[Dingfod]

Personally, I think they should celebrate MY birthday. It should be a global holiday, a week-long festival of fun and frivolity. Oh, wait, they already do, it's called Oktoberfest.

[JoeP]

We have a public holiday on June 16th. In total we have twelve public holidays (http://www.info.gov.za/aboutsa/holidays.htm). It gets a bit much. From mid-December to mid-January no work can be done because the people who haven't gone on leave have to wait for the people who have before they can progress with projects, make decisions, etc. And the same thing happens in April.

[Dingfod]

We USAans have been shortchanged, we only have 10.
1 New Year's Day
2 Martin Luther King's Birthday
3 Washington's Birthday
4 Memorial Day
5 Independence Day
6 Labor Day
7 Columbus Day
8 Veterans Day
9 Thanksgiving Day
10 Christmas Day