From: "John Mullan"
I have never understood why the rest of the nation does not celebrate "Patriots Day" as observed in Massachusetts. "W" coopted the name to commemorate Sept 11, but truly the name belongs to the Mass. holiday. The holiday commemorates the opening shot in the battle for American independence, the battles at Lexington and Concord. The truly quirky holiday in Boston is Evacuation Day. Look that one up. It occurs on March 17. Does that date sound familiar? It recognizes the evacuation of British troops from Dorchester, ceding New England to the rebels.
Probably for the same reasons Halifax Day (April 12) is only a holiday in North Carolina.
If you want quirky holidays, try Easter Monday another holiday celebrated ONLY in North Carolina.
In the 1920s Wake Forest College (predecessor of Wake Forest University) and North Carolina State College (predecessor of North Carolina State University - not to be confused with the University of North Carolina) traditionally played their annual baseball game on the day after Easter.
The legislature declared Easter Monday a holiday so they could play hooky and attend the ball game.
Another interesting, but ultimately useless factoid - it used to be illegal in North Carolina to use elephants to pull a plow in a cotton field.
Haven't yet found out why. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
