BLACK FRIDAY
Today is “Black Friday”, the day after Thanksgiving which we all know and love. The beginning of the Holiday shopping season.
Actually, the term “Black Friday” is used in several contexts and dates back to the US financial crisis of 1869 which appears to be the first recorded use, and the term has been used for many events marking financial downturns since then.
In 1966, the term "Black Friday" was applied—and not as a term of endearment—to the day after Thanksgiving by Philadelphia Police Department. That day officially opened the Christmas shopping season as well as being the day of the annual Amy-Navy football game. Both brought massive traffic jams, over-crowded sidewalks, and general chaos. The Philadelphia Police Department hated it and tagged it “Black Friday.”
The designation came into more general use around 1975 and by the 1980s, merchants were objecting to the negative connotation. So, being the innovative business people we are, someone came up with the argument that this was the point in in the year when businesses (which traditionally operated at a loss or “in the red”) started making profits and operated “in the black.” Tah-dah! Now, merchants love it so much they are spreading it to all times of the year. Whoopee!
Black Monday occurred on October 19, 1987, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost almost 22% in a single day. The event marked the beginning of a global stock market decline, making "Black Monday" one of the most notorious days in recent financial history. By the end of the month, most of the major exchanges had dropped more than 20%.
"Black Tuesday" is the day marked as the great Wall Street Crash of 1929. A second Black Tuesday event was the Tasmanian fires in 1967.
September 16, 1992, is commonly known as the day that George Soros broke the Bank of England. He made one billion dollars profit that day, and the British government was forced to withdraw the pound from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
Thursdays seem to be “black” for a lot of reasons, some of which include:
•February 6, 1851, a day of devastating bushfires in Victoria, Australia.
•The Panic of 1873 when the US bank Jay Cooke & Company declared bankruptcy, triggering a series of bank failures.
•October 24, 1929, was the beginning of the Crash of 1929, followed by “Black Tuesday” on October 29, 1929.
•October 14, 1943, when the Allies suffered large losses during bombing in the Second Raid on Scheweinfurt during World War II.
On February 7, 2009, Victoria, Australia, was savaged with disastrous bushfires that became Australia’s most devastating. More than 170 people were killed, more than 400 injured and more than 7500 forced out of their homes. Bushfires also caused about $4.5 billion worth of damage to the state.
The worst dust storm ever seen on the Great Plains hit Rolla, Oklahoma on Sunday, April 14, 1935.
MORE COLORFUL DAYS
There are some “good” days out there, too. At least, days with different colors and some dedicated to some worthy endeavors.
The day Green Monday (coined by eBay) is an online retail industry term defined by the business research organization comScore as the last Monday with at least ten days prior to Christmas.
It also refers to a network of sustainable development practitioners in the UK, which meets on the first Monday of every month to discuss critical environmental issues such as climate change.
The days of the week in Thai are named after ‘god’ planets and each are associated with a specific color. Thais believe wearing the color of the day brings good luck. In 2006, in order to commemorate the King’s 60 years on the throne and to show their respect and love for the King, the Thai people started to wear yellow shirts every Monday.
Cyber Monday is the first Monday after Thanksgiving. It was christened by Shop.org in 2005. At that time, shoppers needed the faster internet speeds from work computers to shop online. Now, personal laptops and mobile devices are as fast as work computers. In 2017, it was the biggest shopping day of the year, replacing Black Friday in terms of billions spent.
On Giving Tuesday, people around the globe show their “true blue colors” and take action by donating to the causes they care about. Many charities launch their campaigns on “Giving Tuesday”, all associated to the color blue.
Masih Alinejad is an Iranian journalist who is an advocate and activist for religious freedom and women’s rights. Her “White Wednesdays” movement is a relatively new initiative, starting after the May 2017 reelection of Rouhani as women took to the streets waving white hijabs like flags in protest of the compulsory hijab laws.
Purple Wednesday is the Global Day of Epilepsy Awareness. People in countries around the world are invited to wear purple and host events in support of epilepsy awareness.
Purple Day was founded in 2008, by nine-year-old Cassidy Megan of Nova Scotia, Canada, with the help of the Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia. Cassidy chose the color purple after the international color for epilepsy, lavender. The lavender flower is also often associated with solitude, which is representative of the feelings of isolation many people affected by epilepsy and seizure disorders often feel.
"Pink Wednesday" is the International Day against Discrimination, Bullying, Homophobia and Transphobia in schools and communities.
There is already an anti-bullying day but once a year is not enough. Pink Thursdays as an initiative which aims to serve as a reminder that bullying in all forms is unacceptable, whether in a school, in an organization or in our personal lives.
Nobody is immune to bullying, any person can be affected, young or old, citizen or immigrant, high paying executive or front line worker. Our goal is to create greater knowledge of and access to resources for those who are experiencing or have been witness to any form of bullying.
This colorful day is a Christian inspired awareness day when Christians will be remembered and prayed for and will be called to action to end religious persecution around the world. The Red Wednesday Campaign’s call is “Stand up for Faith and Freedom.” Red is the color of blood and martyrdom.
Orange Thursday, also referred to as California Thursday, is a collaboration between the Center for Ecoliteracy and participating school districts to serve healthy, freshly prepared school meals featuring California-grown foods.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Wearing purple on Fridays in October is to increase awareness of Domestic Violence.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, an annual worldwide campaign involving thousands of organizations, to highlight the importance of breast cancer awareness, education and research. Friday, October 19 was this year’s “Wear It Pink” Day.
"National Wear Red Day" is celebrated annually on the first Friday during the month of February. It is the day both men and women wear the color red to raise awareness of heart disease in women, the number one health problem of American women, and to show support for women's heart health.
Red Friday, also a day for wearing red, is a way of demonstrating appreciation to our soldiers for their bravery and sacrifice. It is the same in Canada, where wearing red on Friday shows support for Canadian Troops.
On Blue Saturday, wear Blue to honor fallen law enforcement officers.
Even though there are many more samples, I'm done. You can go back to this ▼ or this ▼ or this▼
Sources:
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