Showing posts with label Falkland Islands. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Falkland Islands. Show all posts

December 26 - Boxing Day in Great Britain and many other nations

Posted on December 26, 2020
This is an update of my December 26, 2009, post:



Especially common in countries that were once part of the British Empire, this bank and public holiday originally came from the tradition of giving Christmas boxes to people of "lower class." For example, merchants would give gifts to tradespeople; alms boxes in churches would be opened, and the contents would be distributed to the poor; and masters would give servants the day off and a Christmas box (gift).

Nowadays, many people use the day to make yearly donations to charities, but the day has also become associated, for many people, with shopping and sales.

Boxing Day in the U.K. will NOT look like this, not this year!
Global pandemic makes this sort of mob scene dang

Various countries have taken Boxing Day and given it their own twist - although the celebrations will be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year: 

Annual Sports Day – Falkland Islands
The sports played on this day include horse racing, bull riding, and sheepdog trials.

Day of Goodwill – South Africa
In 1980 Boxing Day was changed to Day of Goodwill so that South Africans could continue the “spirit of Christmas” to everyone in the country.


Family Day – Namibia, Zimbabwe, and other African nations
On this day, families play games together, feast, and remember their ancestors.


Junkanoo – British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas
This is a street parade with music. It is named after an African slave master and trader named “John Canoe,” and the festival celebrated the slaves' freedom.




Contribute!

You could continue the tradition of giving to the less fortunate by gathering boxes of canned goods for a soup kitchen, used clothes and blankets for a homeless shelter, and new cleaning supplies for a family aid organization—just to give a few examples. 

Or how about honoring people who have served the community? Make up boxes (care packages) for our overseas troops, and make boxes of homemade goodies for fire fighters.


April 2 – Malvinas Day

Posted on April 2, 2019

April 2, in Argentina, is Day of the Veterans and Fallen of the Falklands War. The shorter name, Malvinas Day, takes its name for the Spanish name for the Falkland Islands.


The Falkland Islands (or Islas Malvinas) are really close to Argentina, which is why that nation has claimed them as Argentinian territories.



But most of the Falkland Islanders are of British descent, and almost all of them wish to to remain a U.K. overseas territory, as they have been since 1833. They like the fact that they have self-rule for internal issues, but they can rely on the much larger and more powerful United Kingdom for defense and foreign affairs. Which is why the U.K. continues to claim the islands as British territories.

After about 150 years, Argentina got sick of having their claims ignored, and on this date in 1982, Argentinian forces attacked and occupied the islands. British forces fought back, of course. After 74 days of conflict, the Brits won.

Almost 650 Argentinian soldiers died in the war, compared with only about 250 British soldiers. Their loss prompted the Argentinian people to protest and then overturn their military government. But...

...Argentina still claims those islands!

Check out some of the beautiful landscapes of the Falklands/Malvinas:






 

December 8 – Battle of Falkland Islands Day

Posted on December 8, 2016

I don't think of World War I being fought near South America, do you? 

But I guess they don't call it a “world war” for nothing!

Imperial Germany had a squadron of ships that disrupted other nations' shipping by attacking merchant ships and supply bases.

And on this date in 1914, this overseas naval group was effectively destroyed!

The Germans' squadron was made up of eight ships under Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee. In November of 1914 they had sunk two British cruisers with all hands (“with all hands” means ALL of the sailors and officers died) in the South Pacific Ocean, near Chile. This was the first defeat for the Royal Navy in a century. In response to the defeat, the British sent a large squadron to track down and destroy the German ships.

The British were waiting at the port of Stanley, in the Falkland Islands, when the German squadron tried to raid the supply base. The weather was good, and the visibility was excellent, so I wondered why Spee would attack seeing the British squadron in port. Well, it seems that he was confident that he could outdistance the big battleships he saw – the British Dreadnoughts – and he was probably overconfident because of his earlier victory.

He paid for his mistake.

It turns out that the Brits also had two swift battle cruisers designed to combine speed and maneuverability with power and big guns. Even as early as nine in the morning it was obvious that the Germans were outgunned and would be easily caught.

Eventually, all but one German ship were hunted down and sunk.

The British suffered only very light casualties – only 10 dead compared to more than 2,000 German sailors, including Admiral Spee and both of his sons. (The three Spees were each on a different ship. But remember, 7 out of 8 ships were sunk.) There were a couple of hundred German sailors who survived and were taken aboard the British ships as prisoners. It was considered the most decisive naval battle of World War I – and it provided a much-needed surge of confidence for the Allies.



Also on this date:








































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