August 19th - Holidays and Observances

(click on the day for details)

• Afghan Independence Day, commemorates the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919, granting independence from Britain (Afghanistan)
• August Revolution Commemoration Day (Vietnam)
• Birthday of Crown Princess Mette-Marit (Norway)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Bernardo Tolomei
  • Bertulf of Bobbio
  • Saint Calminius
  • Ezequiél Moreno y Díaz
  • Feast of the Transfiguration (Julian calendar), and its related observances:
    • Buhe (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church)
    • Saviour's Transfiguration, popularly known as the "Apples Feast" (Russian Orthodox Church and Georgian Orthodox Church)
  • Jean-Eudes de Mézeray
  • Louis of Toulouse
  • Maginus
  • Magnus of Anagni
  • Magnus of Avignon
  • Sebaldus
  • August 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Manuel Luis Quezón Day (Quezon City and other places in the Philippines named after Manuel L. Quezon)
• National Aviation Day (United States)
• World Humanitarian Day^[57]

 

Observances (click on the day or week for details)

International Orangutan Day

Potato Day

International Bow Day

 

Fun Observances

World Photo Day

August 19 is World Photo Day. The unofficial holiday, which is also sometimes known as Photo Day or World Photography Day, is an annual celebration of the art and science of photography.

Created in 2009 by Australian photographer Korske Ara, the day encourages people to pick up their camera and be inspired by other fellow photographers to take pictures and share them with the world.

A Modern Innovation

While photography is a fairly modern innovation, the human desire to capture moments and memories and share them with others is as old as the history of humankind itself. One of the oldest attempts to record events was through the discovery of the camera obscura. It is a device with a hole through which light passes and creates an inverted image of the scene outside. Known to have been used as a way to recreate events - artists would sketch or trace the image in order to record it - for centuries, the earliest records of camera obscura date back to 400 BCE China.

Photography, as we know it today, did not come about the early 1900s when people found a way to permanently capture a scene on a surface using chemicals that reacted to light. The earliest surviving photograph dates back to 1826 or 1827. It was taken by French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. The photograph is a view of Niépce's estate in Burgundy, France.

A Hobby of Many

Cameras and photography went through a lot of technological innovations in the 20th century. Today, the availability of affordable and high-quality digital cameras has made photography a widespread hobby.

How to Celebrate?

Whether you are an amateur, a professional, or someone who spends most of his or her day taking phone pictures and sharing them with your social media followers, World Photography Day is an easy holiday to celebrate. Here are some ways you can enjoy this day:

• Learn and read more about the history and science behind photography.
• If you have always wanted to learn photography, maybe today is the time to start taking lessons.
• If you are a photographer, why not volunteer your time to teach your craft and trade to others?

Did You Know…

…that some 12 Hasselblad cameras were left on the Moon by various missions? Some suggest that this was done in order to compensate for the weight of rock and soil samples the astronauts brought back to Earth.

 

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Did you hear about the weekly poker game with Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, Leif Eriksson and Francisco Pizarro?

They can never seem to beat the Straights of Magellan.

 

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Noah and the Snakes

 

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My wife and I run a small restaurant where we often name our specials after our employees—dishes like "Chicken Mickey," after our dishwasher who gave us the recipe, and "Rod's Ribs," after a waiter who had his personal style of barbecue.

One evening after rereading the menu, I broke with this tradition and changed the description of the special we had named after our chef.

Despite her skills and excellent reputation, somehow I didn't think an entrée named "Salmon Ella" would go over big with our customers.  

 

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sandrewn