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This article originally appeared in the January-February
2006 issue
of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.
2006 Multicultural Calendar
U.N. International Decade for a Culture of Peace
January
1 New Year’s Day (Gregorian calendar) • Emancipation Proclamation took effect 1863.
2 Ancestor’s Day (Haiti).
6 Armenian (Orthodox) Christmas, Epiphany, Día de los Reyes, Twelfth Day: Christians celebrate the visits of the Magi.
7 Ethiopian, Greek, and Ukranian (Orthodox) Christmas (Julian calendar).
8 Midwife’s or Women’s Day ( Greece): Men do housework and women spend time in cafes.
9 Birthday of Rigoberta Menchú (1959- ): Quiche Maya activist for indigenous peoples’ rights in Guatemala.
13 Frisbee invented (1957).
14 Makar Sankranti, Gujarat ( India): Hindus celebrate the sun’s changing position by flying kites.
15 Humanitarian Day: celebrates those who changed U.S. racial segregation laws • World Religion Day: dedicated to increasing interfaith understanding.
16 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day (1929-68): birthday of African American civil rights leader.
17 Día de San Antonio ( Mexico): blessing of animals.
18 Birthday of Alan Alexander Milne (1882-1956): author of Winnie the Pooh.
20 Ati-Atihan ( Philippines): celebrates an ancient peace pact between migrants to the islands • Babin Den ( Bulgaria): Grandmother and Midwives’ Day.
24 Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) addressed the first African American women’s rights convention in 1851.
27 Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nazism.
29 Yuan Tuan ( China): New Year, Year of the Dog, celebrated with firecrackers, parades, and special family meals • Tet ( Vietnam), Seol-Nal ( Korea): New Year, children pay respect to their elders and receive gifts of money.
31 Awwal Muharram, Al Hijra (Islam): New Year (1427) begins at sundown.
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February
African American History Month
1 National Freedom Day: commemorates the 1865 abolition of slavery • African American students staged a nonviolent protest of segregation at a North Carolina lunch counter, launching civil rights activism, 1960 • Birthday of Langston Hughes (1902-67): African American writer.
2 Groundhog Day • Día de la Candelaria ( Mexico): celebration with dances and processions.
3 Setsubun ( Japan): Bean-throwing Festival celebrates winter’s end • Birthday of Rosa Parks (1913-2005): civil rights activist.
6 Birthday of Bob Marley (1945-81): influential reggae musician in the Rastafarian movement.
9 Birthday of Alice Walker (1944- ): African American author and activist.
12 Teng Chieh (Lantern Festival, China): ends the New Year holiday period • Tu B’Shevat (Jewish): day to appreciate trees and plants, begins at sundown • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) established, 1909.
14 Valentine’s Day.
15 Birthday of Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906): early women’s rights advocate • Birthday of John Trudell (1946- ): Lakota activist and poet.
17 International Friendship Week.
18 Birthday of Toni Morrison (1931- ): African American author.
19 Japanese Internment National Day of Remembrance: remembers the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans • Birthday of Amy Tan (1952- ): Chinese American author.
20 Presidents’ Day.
23 Birthday of W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963): sociologist who helped found the NAACP.
24 Día de la Bandera: Mexican flag day • Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890-1964) led 20,000 women in the 1912 “Bread & Roses” textile strike.
28 Carnival, Mardi Gras ( Brazil, Caribbean, Italy): celebration of the cycles of life with music, costume balls, and parades.
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March
Women’s History Month
2 Read Across America Day • Birthday of Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel, 1904-91): children’s book author.
3 Hina Matsuri ( Japan): Doll Festival, special festival for girls • First law regulating children’s hours of employment passed, 1824.
6 Birthday of Gabriel García Márquez (1928- ): Colombian author.
8 International Women’s Day: holiday started by U.S. women garment workers demonstrating for the right to vote.
9 Barbie debuts 1959.
10 Death of Harriet Tubman (1821-1913): Underground Railroad leader and self-liberated slave.
12 Youth Day ( Zambia).
13 Purim (Jewish): celebrates ancient rescue of Jews from religious persecution with plays and pastries, begins at sundown.
14 Holi ( India): Hindu spring festival of colors.
17 St. Patrick’s Day (Irish) • South African referendum to end apartheid, 1992.
20 Vernal Equinox (Northern Hemisphere) • Ibu Afo Festival ( Nigeria): New Year celebrated with shouts and applause.
21 Noruz (Persian): New Year celebrated with ancient rituals, including seven symbolic dishes beginning with the Farsi letter ‘s’ • Day of the Indian Child ( Mexico) • Birthday of Benito Juarez (1806-72): Zapotec leader of resistance to foreign invasion of Mexico • International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (U.N.)
24 Birthday of Harry Houdini (1874-1926): magician and escape artist.
29 Youth Day ( Taiwan) • Varsha-Pratipada (Hindu): New Year begins (2063).
31 Cesar Chavez Day (1927-93): celebrates the birthday of the Mexican American labor leader who organized migrant farmworkers.
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April
Child Abuse Prevention Month
Month of the Young Child
1 April Fool’s Day.
2 Week of the Young Child begins.
4 Birthday of Maya Angelou (1928- ): African American author.
5 Ch’ing Ming ( China), Han Sik’il ( Korea): celebrates spring and honors ancestors • Birthday of Booker T. Washington (1856-1915): African American leader and educator.
9 Birthday of Paul Robeson (1898-1976): African American actor, activist.
10 Mawlid al Nabi (Islam): celebrates the birthday of the prophet Muhammad (570-632), begins at sundown • Birthday of Dolores Huerta (1930- ): Chicana labor rights leader and social activist.
12 Passover (Jewish): Jewish celebration of liberation from slavery, begins at sundown.
13 Thingyan ( Burma), Songkran ( Thailand): New Year, celebrated by splashing water on others and on Buddha images.
16 Easter.
21 Birthday of Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852): father of kindergarten, an originator of the progressive education movement • Birthday of John Muir (1838-1914): naturalist and conservationist.
22 Earth Day: day to honor the earth and promote environment-friendly living.
24 Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.
28 Arbor Day.
30 Día de los Niños ( Mexico, U.S.) • Spank Out Day: promotes alternative methods of discipline.
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May
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
1 Worthy Wage Day: day to advocate for adequate wages for child care workers to ensure quality care for children • International Workers’ Day, May Day: honors workers • Lei Day (Hawai’i): leis are made and worn • Mother Goose Day.
2 World Asthma Day.
5 Cinco De Mayo ( Mexico) • Children’s Day ( Japan and Korea) • Occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, by the American Indian Movement ended, 1973.
9 National Teachers’ Day.
12 National Provider Appreciation Day: honors child care providers and teachers.
14 Mothers’ Day.
17 Brown v. Board of Education mandated desegregation in public schools, 1954.
19 Birthday of Malcolm X (1925-65): African American nationalist, civil rights activist.
22 Birthday of Harvey Milk (1930-78): gay rights leader.
25 African Freedom Day: independence day for many African countries, celebrated with contests, rallies, and dances.
29 Memorial Day.
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June
Gay and Lesbian Pride Month
1 Stand for Children Day: day to advocate for children • International Children’s Day (U.N.)
4 Dano ( Korea): celebrates summer’s beginning.
11 Multicultural American Children’s Awareness Day.
12 Philippines Independence Day • Birthday of Anne Frank (1929).
16 Cherokees were forced to begin the 1,200 mile Trail of Tears to Oklahoma, 1838.
17 World Juggling Day.
18 Fathers’ Day.
19 Juneteenth: celebrates the 1865 proclamation that freed the slaves of Texas • Birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi (1945- ): Burmese leader for democracy and nonviolence.
21 Summer solstice (Northern Hemisphere).
24 Inti Raymi (Inca): sun god festival, celebrated with bonfires, dances, processions.
28 Stonewall Riot (1969): launched the gay liberation movement.
29 Birthday of Julia Lathrop (1856-1932): pioneer in the struggle to establish child labor laws.
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July
1 Canada Day.
2 Birthday of Thurgood Marshall (1908-93): first African American Supreme Court justice.
3 Child laborers struck for an 11-hour work day and six-day work week, 1835.
4 U.S. Independence Day.
6 Birthday of the Dalai Lama (1935- ): Tibet’s spiritual leader.
7 Star Festival ( Japan): children tie poems and wishes to bamboo sticks and offer them to the stars.
12 Birthday of Pablo Neruda (1904-73): Chilean poet and diplomat.
13 Bon Festival ( Japan): lanterns and bonfires honor the dead.
18 Birthday of Nelson Mandela (1918- ): South African black leader against apartheid. Imprisoned for 27 years, he was president of South Africa (1994-99) • Children’s Defense Fund founded by Marian Wright Edelman, 1967.
19 Seneca Falls convention: women drafted the “Declaration of Sentiments” asserting women’s right to equality, 1848.
20 First Special Olympics held, 1968.
26 Americans with Disabilities Act signed, 1990.
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August
1 International Clown Week begins.
6 Hiroshima Day: remembers the 1945 atomic bombing and promotes peace.
9 Raksha Bandhan (India): brothers and sisters promise to be good to each other • International Day of the World’s Indigenous People (U.N.) • Birthday of Jean Piaget (1896-1980): Swiss philosopher and psychologist who studied children’s mental development.
15 Birthday of Oscar Romero (1917-80): archbishop who worked for justice and peace in El Salvador.
18 Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave women the right to vote, 1920.
27 Birthday of Mother Teresa (1910-97): devoted her life to caring for the destitute of Calcutta, India.
28 March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the “I Have a Dream” speech, 1963.
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September
Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15)
1 Childhood Injury Prevention Week begins.
3 Frederick Douglass (1817-95) escaped from slavery in 1838 and became a leader in the struggle.
4 Labor Day (U.S., Canada): honors workers.
10 Grandparents’ Day.
11 Ethiopian New Year (1999) • Coptic New Year (1723).
16 Mexican Independence Day.
17 U.S. Constitution signed in 1787.
21 International Peace Day (U.N.)
22 Rosh Hashanah (Jewish): New Year, begins at sundown (Year 5767) • California Native American Day: a day to learn and teach about Native American Indian cultures and histories • Autumn Equinox (Northern Hemisphere) • Birthday of the ice cream cone, 1913. Originated by Italo Marchiony, who sold lemon ice from a pushcart.
23 Ramadan (Islam): month of fasting and prayer, begins at sundown • Banned Books Week begins.
28 Teachers’ Day and Confucius’s birthday (551-479 B.C.E.), Taiwan, China.
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October
Child Health Month
1 Yom Kippur (Jewish): Day of Atonement, begins at sundown.
2 Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948): leader of India’s nonviolent struggle for independence • Birthday of Charlie Brown and Snoopy (1950).
4 Walk to School Day.
5 Chusok (Korea): harvest thanksgiving festival • Death of Tecumseh (1768?-1813): Shawnee leader who spoke out against unfair treaties with white settlers.
6 Tet Trung Thu (Vietnam): autumn festival, children parade through the streets with lanterns • Succot: Jewish harvest festival, begins at sundown.
7 Birthday of Desmond Tutu (1931- ): South African archbishop and leader in the struggle against apartheid.
8 White Sunday (Samoa): parents prepare a feast for their children.
9 Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
10 Birthday of Ken Saro Wiwa (1941-95): Ogoni environmental and human rights activist in Nigeria.
12 Día de la Raza (Mexico) • Lights on Afterschool! publicizes the need for more afterschool programs.
17 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (U.N.)
21 Diwali (India): Festival of Lights, celebrates fortune and generosity.
23 Eid-al-Fitr (Islam): end of Ramadan, celebrated with feasting and praying.
24 United Nations founded to work for world peace, 1945.
31 Halloween.
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November
Native American Indian Heritage Month
1 Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, Mexico): honors departed loved ones at cemeteries and by decorating shrines • Child Protection Act passed, banning hazardous toys, 1966.
9 Berlin Wall opened, symbolizing the end of the Cold War, 1989.
10 Sesame Street, the children’s educational television program, premiered, 1969.
11 Veteran’s Day.
13 National Children’s Book Week begins.
14 Children’s Day (India): commemorates the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), India’s first prime minister.
18 Birthday of Wilma Mankiller (1945-): Chief of the Cherokee nation (1985-95) • Children’s Advocate newspaper began publication, 1973.
20 Universal Children’s Day (U.N.)
23 Thanksgiving.
24 Buy Nothing Day: established to advocate against over-consumption.
25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (UN)
29 Education for All Handicapped Children Act passed, 1975.
30 Andres Bonifacio Day (1863-97): Birthday of Filipino leader who led the revolt against Spain.
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December
1 World AIDS Day • Arrest of civil rights leader Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat in a bus, 1955. This launched a boycott which ended segregation on buses throughout the southern U.S.
3 International Day of Disabled Persons (U.N.) • Birthday of Anna Freud (1895-1982): authority on children’s mental disorders. She warned against neglect and harsh discipline.
10 Human Rights Day (U.N.) • Birthday of Thomas Gallaudet (1787-1851), pioneer in the education of deaf people.
11 United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) established, 1946.
12 Feast of the Virgen de Guadalupe: patroness of Mexico.
16 Chanukah (Jewish): Festival of Lights, begins at sundown • Las Posadas (U.S., Mexico), Simbang Gabi (Philippines): celebrated with candlelight parades, lasts until January 6.
20 Birthday of Sandra Cisneros (1954- ): Mexican American author.
21 Winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere).
25 Christmas.
26 Kwanzaa (African American): seven-day family celebration, commemorates traditional African harvest festivals.
30 Rizal Day (Philippines): date of execution of Dr. Jose Rizal (1861-96), Filipino reformer and writer.
31 New Year’s Eve • World Peace Meditation.
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Calendar compiled by Daphne Muse. Updated by Jessine Foss. Drawings by students attending after-school programs at the Bay Area Hispano Institute for Advancement (BAHIA) in Berkeley.
For a Multicultural Calendar poster, order online or send $3 to: Children’s Advocate, Action Alliance for Children, The Hunt House, 1201 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland, CA 94612-1217.
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