September 19
Holidays
12 holidays recorded on September 19 throughout history
Quote of the Day
“Novelists do not write as birds sing, by the push of nature. It is part of the job that there should be much routine and some daily stuff on the level of carpentry.”
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Saint Kitts and Nevis celebrates its independence from the United Kingdom every September 19.
Saint Kitts and Nevis celebrates its independence from the United Kingdom every September 19. This national holiday commemorates the 1983 transition to sovereignty, ending centuries of British colonial rule and establishing the twin-island nation as a constitutional monarchy within the Commonwealth.
Chile's Fiestas Patrias runs two days — September 18 for independence and September 19 for the military.
Chile's Fiestas Patrias runs two days — September 18 for independence and September 19 for the military. The second day features the Gran Parada Militar, one of South America's largest military parades, watched by hundreds of thousands in Santiago. It's a country celebrating its army the day after celebrating freedom from colonial rule. The two days together tell a complicated national story that Chileans debate every year.
Theodore of Tarsus arrived in England in 669 AD at the age of 66 — already old for the era — sent by Rome to fix a ch…
Theodore of Tarsus arrived in England in 669 AD at the age of 66 — already old for the era — sent by Rome to fix a church in chaos. He proceeded to organize the entire English church from scratch, calling the first synod to unite it under one structure, building schools, and introducing the study of Greek. He ran Canterbury for 21 years. The intellectual foundation of Anglo-Saxon England was largely built by a Greek-speaking monk from what is now southern Turkey.
Saint Januarius is venerated across southern Italy, but Naples takes it to another level.
Saint Januarius is venerated across southern Italy, but Naples takes it to another level. A vial of his dried blood — kept in a cathedral since the 14th century — is said to liquefy on his feast day. It usually does. Scientists have studied it. Nobody's agreed on an explanation. When it doesn't liquefy, Neapolitans historically took it as a sign of coming disaster. Eruptions, plagues, and earthquakes have followed years when the blood stayed solid. The city still watches, closely, every September.
The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar marks today with commemorations drawn from centuries of canonized lives — mo…
The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar marks today with commemorations drawn from centuries of canonized lives — monks, martyrs, bishops who died in obscure corners of Anatolia or the Egyptian desert. Most of their names are unknown outside the church. But the Orthodox tradition preserves them anyway, name by name, feast day by feast day, in a calendar that treats remembrance as an act of faith.
Chile's Armed Forces Day falls in September, close to the anniversary of the 1810 declaration of independence — but t…
Chile's Armed Forces Day falls in September, close to the anniversary of the 1810 declaration of independence — but the date carries more than one meaning in Chilean memory. September 19 is the official celebration, a day of military parades and formal ceremony. It sits just days after September 11, the anniversary of the 1973 coup that brought Pinochet to power. In Chile, military commemoration and military trauma occupy the same week of the calendar, every year.
Januarius is the patron saint of Naples, and his dried blood — kept in a sealed vial since the 4th century — is said …
Januarius is the patron saint of Naples, and his dried blood — kept in a sealed vial since the 4th century — is said to liquefy three times a year during public ceremony. It did so in September 2015 when Pope Francis held the vial. When it doesn't liquefy, Neapolitans treat it as an omen. Eruptions, earthquakes, and epidemics have historically followed a failed miracle. The city watches very, very closely.
The Slovak National Council first appeared publicly on August 29, 1944 — the day of the Slovak National Uprising agai…
The Slovak National Council first appeared publicly on August 29, 1944 — the day of the Slovak National Uprising against Nazi occupation. It was the clandestine resistance government stepping into the open, declaring Slovak political identity separate from the Nazi-aligned puppet state. The uprising was crushed within months, but the Council survived, and Slovakia marks this appearance as the moment its modern democratic identity announced itself under the worst possible conditions.
Goeric of Metz served as bishop in 7th-century Frankish Gaul, succeeding the more famous Saint Arnulf — who happened …
Goeric of Metz served as bishop in 7th-century Frankish Gaul, succeeding the more famous Saint Arnulf — who happened to be the great-great-grandfather of Charlemagne. Goeric reportedly went blind later in life and, according to hagiography, had his sight miraculously restored. He founded a convent near Metz before his death around 647. What survives isn't the miracles. It's the institutional church infrastructure he helped build across the Moselle valley.
Two friends invented it as a joke in 1995 — Dave Barry mentioned it in a 2002 column, and suddenly it was everywhere.
Two friends invented it as a joke in 1995 — Dave Barry mentioned it in a 2002 column, and suddenly it was everywhere. International Talk Like a Pirate Day lands every September 19th, for no particular historical reason. The 'pirates' most people imitate — growling 'arr,' wearing eyepatches — are mostly based on Robert Newton's 1950 film performance, not actual 17th-century sailors. Real pirates, it turns out, kept financial ledgers and elected their captains democratically.
Saint Kitts and Nevis celebrates its independence from Great Britain, ending centuries of colonial rule that began wi…
Saint Kitts and Nevis celebrates its independence from Great Britain, ending centuries of colonial rule that began with British settlement in 1623. This sovereignty allowed the dual-island nation to establish its own parliamentary democracy and join the United Nations, granting the country full control over its foreign policy and economic development as a sovereign state.
The sixth day of the Eleusinian Mysteries began with a torchlit procession from the Kerameikos cemetery district in A…
The sixth day of the Eleusinian Mysteries began with a torchlit procession from the Kerameikos cemetery district in Athens, winding 14 miles along the Sacred Way to Eleusis. Thousands walked through the night, singing hymns, carrying torches, crossing a bridge where initiates were ritually mocked by masked figures — the rite of "gephyrismoi." The procession replicated Demeter's search for Persephone. What exactly happened when they arrived at the Telesterion sanctuary remained secret. No initiate ever broke the silence. We still don't fully know.