Today is...

[IceWizard]

Saturday 10 Dec 2016

World Human Rights Day



Every so often a thing comes to pass that is of such astounding importance that we must stand up and recognize it. We must place this thing on the pedestal it deserves, and ensure that the precepts and policies put in place by it are adhered to, appreciated, and spread as far as the human voice will carry. Such is the sort of message sent by Human Rights Day.

History of Human Rights Day

Human Rights Day was established in 1948, and ever since that auspicious day it has stood as the first major stride forward in ensuring that the rights of every human across the globe are protected.

From the most basic human needs such as food, shelter, and water, all the way up to access to free and uncensored information, such has been the goals and ambitions laid out that day.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was a shout across the world by the leading countries in the world, stating loud and clear that no matter where we live, what we believe, or how we love, we are each individually deserving of the most basic fundaments of human needs.

Every year Human Rights Day marks conferences around the world dedicated to ensuring that these ideals are pursued, and that the basic Human Rights of every person is made a priority in the global theater.



And



Gingerbread Decorating Day



“Run, run as fast as you can! You can’t catch me. I’m the Gingerbread Man!”

December 13th means that Christmas is creeping closer and closer, and it’s getting to be time to prepare for this holiday associated with so many traditions.

One of those traditions is the baking of gingerbread.

What child hasn’t dreamed of baking, building and decorating an entire gingerbread house, that could then be inhabited by a colorful little gingerbread family?

Gingerbread Decorating Day is here to help all kids, from ages 1 to 92, get as much fun out of the season as possible!

The History of Gingerbread Decorating Day

Gingerbread is though to have been brought to Europe by an Armenian monk named Gregory of Nicopolis in the 10th century who had brought the necessary spices back from the Middle East, and then taught the art of gingerbread making, what with the spices and the molasses, to French Christians until his death.

Gingerbread then made its way around Europe–in the 13th century, it made its way to Sweden, where it was baked by nuns to help soothe indigestion. There, it slowly became popular to paint the cookies and use them as window decorations as well. The 13th century also saw gingerbread make its debut in the city of Toruń in Poland, where the honey supplied by the local villages made the cookies especially delicious.

To this day Pierniki Toruńskie, as they are known in Poland, are an icon of Poland’s national cuisine. From the 17th century onwards, gingerbread was sold in monasteries and pharmacies in England, where it was thought to have medicinal properties, and gingerbread became the symbol of the town of Market Drayton, which was particularly known for it. In the play, “Love’s Labour’s Lost”, Shakepeare himself wrote, “And I had but one penny in the world, thou should’st have it to buy gingerbread.”

In 1875, the gingerbread man was first introduced to holiday traditions through a fairytale published in St. Nicholas magazine, where he was depicted as a holiday treat that was eventually eaten by a hungry fox.