Fast Day was a holiday observed in some parts of the United States between 1670 and 1991.
"A day of public fasting and prayer," it was traditionally observed in the New England states. It had its origin in days of prayer and repentance proclaimed in the early days of the British American colonies by Royal Governors, to avoid such calamities as plagues, natural disasters or crop failures; it was common to hold a Fast Day before the spring planting (cf. rogation days).[1] It was observed by church attendance, fasting, and abstinence from secular activities.
A Fast Day could be added for any particular reason in a particular year, rather than being instituted as an ongoing annual holiday. The earliest known Fast Day was proclaimed in colonial Boston, held on September 8, 1670.[1] The colonial Province of New Hampshire proclaimed a Fast Day for February 26, 1680, seeking "God's blessing" on an upcoming General Assembly and for good weather during spring planting.[1] The following year, when illness struck John Cutt, the president of the Province of New Hampshire, and a comet was seen in the sky, the province designated March 17, 1681 a Fast Day in response to these signs of "divine displeasure".[1] The image at right shows that Jonathan Belcher, colonial governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, declared a Fast Day in 1735 because of "the holy Anger of Almighty God, evidently manifested in the various judgments inflicted on us", specifically highlighting a "mortal sickness" that had been divinely inflicted on the colonists.
Fast Day had lost its significance as a religious holiday by the late 19th century. It was abolished by Massachusetts in 1894, when that state replaced their Fast Day, celebrated on the third Monday in April, with Patriots' Day, commemorating the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Menotomy on the first day (April 19, 1775) of the American Revolutionary War.[2]Maine, which also celebrated Fast Day on the third Monday in April, changed it to Patriot's Day in 1907.[2] Fast Day continued in New Hampshire until 1991, with the late April holiday signifying only the opening of the summer tourist season; the state dropped Fast Day in 1991, replacing it with the January Civil Rights Day, which they renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Day (the last U.S. state to do so) in 1999.[1][3]
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Good Friday is a Christian holy day observing the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Black Friday, Holy Friday, Great Friday, Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord, Great and Holy Friday.
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Federal holidays in the United States are 11 calendar dates designated by the U.S. federal government as holidays. On these days non-essential U.S. federal government offices are closed and federal employees are paid for the day off.
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Lists of holidays by various categorizations.
The following are minor or locally celebrated holidays related to the American Revolution.
In the United States there are a number of observed holidays where employees receive paid time off. The labor force in the United States comprises about 62% of the general population. In the United States, 97% of the private sector businesses determine what days this sector of the population gets paid time off, according to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management. The following holidays are observed by the majority of US businesses with paid time off: New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, the day after known as Black Friday, Christmas Eve and Christmas. There are also numerous holidays on the state and local level that are observed to varying degrees.
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