Gautam
Buddha's Birthday
International Day of the Roma
April
8 : Gautam Buddha's Birthday
Buddha's
Birthday, the birthday of the Prince Siddhartha Gautama, is
a holiday traditionally celebrated in Mahayana Buddhism.
Japan adopted
the Gregorian calendar rather than the Chinese lunar calendar
in 1873. The 4th month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar is translated
into April or May. Therefore Buddha's birth is celebrated on
April 8 or May 8 in many Japanese temples, and rarely on the
orthodox Chinese calendar date.
In all east
Asian countries, except Japan beginning in 1873, it is held
on the 8th day of the 4th month in the Chinese lunar calendar,
and the day is an official holiday in Hong Kong, Macau, and
South Korea. The date varies from year to year in the Gregorian
calendar: 2011: May 17 ; 2012: May 28 ; 2013: May 17 ; 2014:
May 6 ; 2015: May 25
Birth of
Buddha or Tathagata is celebrated in India, especially in Sikkim,
Ladakh , Arunachal Pradesh, Bodh Gaya and Maharashtra (where
6% of total population are Buddhists) and other parts of India
as per Indian calendar. Buddhist People go to common Viharas
to observe a rather longer-than-usual, full-length Buddhist
sutra, as something like a service. The usual dress is pure
white. Non-vegetarian food is normally avoided. Kheer, a sweet
rice porridge is commonly served to recall the story of Sujata,
a maiden who, in Gautama Buddha's life, offered the Buddha a
bowl of milk porridge.
Events
1904 – Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan
is renamed Times Square after The New York Times.
1906 – Auguste Deter, the first person to be diagnosed with
Alzheimer's disease, dies.
1908 – Harvard University votes to establish the Harvard Business
School.
1911 – Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovers superconductivity.
1929 – Indian Independence Movement: At the Delhi Central Assembly,
Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt throw handouts and bombs to
court arrest.
1946 – The last meeting of the League of Nations, the precursor
of the United Nations, is held.
1946 – Électricité de France, the world's largest utility company,
is formed as a result of the nationalisation of a number of
electricity producers, transporters and distributors.
1954 – A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collided
with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose
Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 37 people.
1954 – South African Airways Flight 201 A de Havilland DH.106
Comet 1 crashes into the sea during night killing 21 people.
1959 – A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university
people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of
a new programming language that would be called COBOL.
1961 – A large explosion on board the MV Dara in the Persian
Gulf kills 238.
1968 – BOAC Flight 712 catches fire shortly after take off.
As a result of her actions in the accident, Barbara Jane Harrison
is awarded a posthumous George Cross, the only GC awarded to
a woman in peacetime.
1992 – Retired tennis great Arthur Ashe announces that he has
AIDS, acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two
heart surgeries.
1993 – The Republic of Macedonia joins the United Nations.
2005 – Over four million people attend the funeral of Pope John
Paul II.
2008 – The construction of the world's first building to integrate
wind turbines is completed in Bahrain.
For details, contact Datacentre
|