During the 18th century the Maryland Eastern Shore town of Chestertown was a major seagoing port. The port town on the Chester River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, joined others in the cause to protest against King George III of Great Britain when asked to pay what they felt was unreasonable taxes.

In the Spring of 1774, just a few months after citizens of Boston dressed as Indians dumped a load of tea into the Boston Harbor, the town of Chestertown brought forward a list of grievances now known as the “Chestertown Resolves”.

Legend has it that on May 23, 1774 townsmen boarded the Geddes, a trade ship with a load of tea, and openly dump the tea into the Chester River. While the ‘Resolves’ are a part of record, there isn’t any primary evidence that the event occurred. It wasn’t until the local newspaper published a story from oral history in the late 19th century that the event was first record.

Since the mid 1970′s the town of Chestertown has held an annual Tea Party Festival on Memorial Day weekend. The highlight of the weekend is an reenactment of the protest against the British. Thousands come to the town each year to get a taste of the 18th century.

Whether or not it’s a legend or the truth, Chestertown did join in the protests that helped form a new, independent nation. And as much as the 19th century fountain in the town’s central park, its Colonial and Victorian Homes, and Washington College, the tea party has become a part of the town’s history.

Full text of the Chestertown Resolves:
Chestertown Resolves
1st- RESOLVED, that we acknowledge his majesty George III, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, to be our rightful and lawful sovereign to whom we owe and promise all dutiful allegiance and submission.

2nd – RESOLVED, that no duty or taxes can constitutionally be opposed on us, but by our own consent given personally, or by our own representatives.

3rd – RESOLVED, that the act of the British parliament of the 7th of George III, chapter 46, subjecting the colonies to a duty on tea, for the purpose of raising revenue in America, is unconstitutional, oppressive and calculated to enslave the Americas.

4th – RESOLVED, therefore, that whoever shall import, or in any way aid or assist in importing, or introducing from any part of Great Britain, or any other place whatsoever, into this town or country, any tea subject to the payment of a duty imposed by the aforesaid act of Parliament: or whoever shall willingly and knowingly sell, buy or consume, in any way assist with the sale, purchase or consumption of any tea imported as aforesaid subject to a duty, he or they, shall be stigmatized as enemies to the liberties of America.

5th – RESOLVED, that we will not only steadily adhere to the foregoing resolves, but will endeavor to excite our worthy neighbors to a like patriotic conduct, and to whoever, amongst, shall refuse his concurrence, or after complying, shall desert the cause, and knowingly deviate from the true spirit and meaning of these our resolutions, w will mark him out and inimical to the liberties of America, and unworthy member of the community, ad a person not deserving our notice our regard.

6th – RESOLVED, that the foregoing resolves be printed, that our brothers in the and other colonies may now our sentiments as therein contained.

Signed by order of the Committee, W Wright, Clerk

-**-**-
Information about the Chestertown Tea Party Festival can be found at www.chestertownteaparty.com

The act emancipated slaves in Washington DC. $1 million was set aside to give Union slaveholder up to $300 for their freed slave. This was nearly nine months before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. This is the only compensated emancipation plan enacted in the United States.

As a congressman in 1849 Lincoln first proposed the elimination of slavery in Washington.

April 16th has been celebrated as Emancipation Day in Washington DC since 1866. An annual parade was held to commemorate the signing of the act until 1901 when finances forced its discontinuance. It was restarted in 2002.

On January 4, 2005, legislation was signed to make Emancipation Day an official public holiday in the District of Columbia. Elsewhere in the United States, the emancipation of slaves is celebrated in Florida (May 20), Puerto Rico (March 22) and Texas (June 19).

Since April 16th is a Government Holiday in Washington DC and April 15th falls on a Sunday, in 2012 Federal Income Taxes do not need to be filed until April 17th.

He is believed to have died on March 17, 460 AD and it is on this day that the Irish and those once a year Irish celebrate St. Patrick Day.

Even before St. Patrick, who is credited as banishing all snakes from the island, there weren’t any snakes so he couldn’t have banished any. He was a converted Christian and helped transform the island from their pagan beliefs to Christianity.

St. Patrick Day has a celebrated history of parades. The first St. Patrick Day parade was not in Ireland, but in New York City. On March 17, 1762 Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through the city.

Leprechauns and St. Patrick are classic symbols of Ireland. Now a natural combination. Leprechauns have their origins from old Celtic folklore and were cranky souls known for their trickery to protect their much-fabled treasure. It wasn’t until Walt Disney and the film Darby O’Gill & the Little People which introduced a cheerful, friendly leprechaun, that they became a part of the Irish celebration.

Many of us will have Corn Beef and Cabbage on St. Patrick day, but this too is a fairly recent invention. Cabbage has long been a Irish food, it was usually served with bacon. That was until around the beginning of the 20th century when immigrants in New York City substituted corned beef to save money. This idea came from their Jewish neighbors.

The Greeks introduced the tradition of a baby to symbolize the rebirth of the god of fertility Dionysus. Early Christians denounced the practice as pagan, but due to its popularity as a new birth they reevaluate their view and allowed members to celebrate the New Year with a baby that symbolized the birth of Jesus.

The Tournament of Roses Parade, in Pasadena, California began in 1886 when members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers to celebrate the ripening of the orange crop. The Rose Bowl football game began as the sports centerpiece of the festival in 1916, although a game had been played on that day in 1902.

The song ‘Auld Lang Syne’, which is sung at midnight of New Years eve in almost every English-speaking country was written by Robert Burns in the 1700′s. It was first published after his death in 1796. The music came from an old Scotch tune. ‘Auld Lang Syne’ means ‘old long since’. In the United States the most popular version is by Bandleader Guy Lombardo, who ushered in the New Year with the song on radio and the early days of television, following a tradition he started at a New Year’s eve party at New York’s Roosevelt Hotel in 1929. He played it every New Year’s eve until his death in 1976.

The watching the ball drop on New Year’s eve at New York’s Times Square began in 1907. The original ball was made of wood and iron. The current ball is of Waterford crystal and weighs 1,070 pounds and is six feet in diameter.

January 1st is ushered in first at Kiritimati on the Christmas Islands, in Kiribati. Not all cultures celebrate January 1st as the beginning of the New Year. The Chinese New Year begins on the new moon of the first lunar month which falls between January 21 and February 21. The Jewish New Year begins on Rosh Hashanah, ‘head of the year’. The Iranian New Year is the moment of the vernal equinox in March or when spring begins.

No one knows the exact day not year of Jesus’ birth. With Bible references it is thought that he was born around 4 BC in the spring. Shepherds bring their sheep in during the winter and not tend to them as related in the Bible.

Christmas was not celebrated in the early days of the American Colonies. In some places the practice of celebrating Christmas was actually banned. It wasn’t until the Victorian times that it restored with a lot of assistance from Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, Clement Moore’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and the Santa drawings of Thomas Nast.

Santa Claus is a fairly modern invention although he has basis in history. There was a St. Nicholas, a third century saint. But it’s the Dutch Sinterklaas that is the biggest basis. The Sinterklaas feast celebrates the birthday of Saint Nicholas. In 1809 Washington Irving’s Knickerbocker’s History of New York features Sinterklaas.

Bing Crosby has not one but three of the biggest Christmas recording. Everyone knows that his White Christmas was a big hit, but so was his recording of Silent Night in 1935 and I’ll Be Home for Christmas first recorded in 1943 were also big hits. Crosby donated all of his royalties from Silent Night to charity.

The city of North Pole, Alaska with a population of 1750 and located 14 miles southeast of Fairbanks was incorporated on January 15, 1953. The name was selected in an effort to attract business. Many streets bear holiday names: Santa Claus Lane, Snowman Lane, Kris Kringle, Mistletoe, Holiday Rd., Saint Nicholas Drive, North Star Drive, Blitzen, and Donnor. northpolealaska.com

It’s possible that December 25 was selected as the date of Christ’s birth in the early days of Christianity as a way for all to participate.

Yule is one of the pagan holidays and the idea of the Yule log came from that.

Decorating a tree has its origins with the Druids who saw evergreen as symbols of everlasting life and decorating the trees may have also come from the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, a celebration of the Winter Solstice.

Mistletoe is from an ancient Druid custom at the winter solstice with kissing under the mistletoe coming from the Druids as well.