December 9th - World Events & Holidays

Constitution Day - Northern Marianas

Independence Day - Tanzania (see above photo)

December 8th - World Events & Holidays

Battle of the Falklands Day - Falkland Islands (see photo above HMS Flexible-WW1)

Blessing of the Waters (Beach Day) - Uruguay

Constitution Day - Uzbekistan

Hari Raya Haji (Feast of the Sacrifice) - Singapore

Id al Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice) -
Benin,Comoros,Cyprus,Indonesia,Iran,Kenya,Malaysia,Morocco,Oman, Pakistan,Qatar,Saudi Arabia,Sierra Leone,Somalia,Sri Lanka

Immaculate Conception -
Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Chile, Colombia,East Timor,Equatorial Guinea, Irtaly, Liechtenstein,Macau,Malta,Monaco,Nicaragua,Paraguay,Peru,Portugal,San Marino, Seychelles, Spain, Switzerland,Vatican City State, Venezuela

Mother's Day - Palau,Panama National Tree Planting Day - Malawi

December 7th - Pearl Harbor Day 67 Years Later

The 7 December 1941 Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor was one of the great defining moments in history. A single carefully-planned and well-executed stroke removed the United States Navy's battleship force as a possible threat to the Japanese Empire's southward expansion. America, unprepared and now considerably weakened, was abruptly brought into the Second World War as a full combatant.

Eighteen months earlier, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had transferred the United States Fleet to Pearl Harbor as a presumed deterrent to Japanese agression. The Japanese military, deeply engaged in the seemingly endless war it had started against China in mid-1937, badly needed oil and other raw materials. Commercial access to these was gradually curtailed as the conquests continued. In July 1941 the Western powers effectively halted trade with Japan. From then on, as the desperate Japanese schemed to seize the oil and mineral-rich East Indies and Southeast Asia, a Pacific war was virtually inevitable.

By late November 1941, with peace negotiations clearly approaching an end, informed U.S. officials (and they were well-informed, they believed, through an ability to read Japan's diplomatic codes) fully expected a Japanese attack into the Indies, Malaya and probably the Philippines. Completely unanticipated was the prospect that Japan would attack east, as well.

The U.S. Fleet's Pearl Harbor base was reachable by an aircraft carrier force, and the Japanese Navy secretly sent one across the Pacific with greater aerial striking power than had ever been seen on the World's oceans. Its planes hit just before 8AM on 7 December. Within a short time five of eight battleships at Pearl Harbor were sunk or sinking, with the rest damaged. Several other ships and most Hawaii-based combat planes were also knocked out and over 2400 Americans were dead. Soon after, Japanese planes eliminated much of the American air force in the Philippines, and a Japanese Army was ashore in Malaya.

These great Japanese successes, achieved without prior diplomatic formalities, shocked and enraged the previously divided American people into a level of purposeful unity hardly seen before or since. For the next five months, until the Battle of the Coral Sea in early May, Japan's far-reaching offensives proceeded untroubled by fruitful opposition. American and Allied morale suffered accordingly. Under normal political circumstances, an accomodation might have been considered.

However, the memory of the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor fueled a determination to fight on. Once the Battle of Midway in early June 1942 had eliminated much of Japan's striking power, that same memory stoked a relentless war to reverse her conquests and remove her, and her German and Italian allies, as future threats to World peace. (source: http://www.history.navy.mil)

OTHER EVENTS ON TODAY's CALENDAR:

Earthquake Victim's Memorial Day	Armenia
Felix Houphouet-Boigny Remembrance Day	Ivory Coast
Good Neighbourliness Day	Turkmenistan
National Day	Ivory Coast
Pearl Harbor Day	United States of America
St. Ambrose Day (Milan Only)	Italy
International Civil Aviation Day	International

December 6th - World Events & Holidays

Arafa - Afghanistan

Constitution Day - Spain
The Constitution of Spain is regarded as the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy. It was enacted after a referendum on December 6, 1978.

Farmer's Day - Ghana

Foundation of Quito - Ecuador

Independence Day - Finland

St. Nicholas Day (Catholic) - Ukraine

St. Nicholas Day (non-Catholic) - Aruba, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Monaco
The tradition of Saint Nicholas Day, usually on 6 December, is a festival for children in many countries in Europe related to surviving legends of the saint, and particularly his reputation as a bringer of gifts. The American Santa Claus, as well as the Anglo-Canadian and British Father Christmas, derive from these legends. "Santa Claus" is itself derived from the Dutch Sinterklaas. The history of the festive Saint Nicholas celebration is complex and reflects conflicts between Protestantism and Catholicism. Since Nicholas was a canonised saint, Martin Luther replaced the festival that had become associated with the Papacy with a Christkind ("Christ child") celebration on Christmas Eve.The Nicholas celebrations still remain a part of tradition among many Protestants, albeit on a much smaller scale than Christmas. The Protestant Netherlands, however, retain a much larger Saint Nicholas tradition. Many Dutch Catholics, on the other hand, have adopted Luther's Christkind.

December 5th - World Events & Holidays

Discovery Day - Haiti

Discovery of Hispaniola - Dominican Republic

International Volunteers Day - Australia / International

King's Birthday - Thailand

SinterKlaas - Netherlands

Day of the Ninja - United States of America

December 4th - World Events & Holidays

Kamolol Day (Thanksgiving) - Marshall Islands

December 2nd - World Events & Holidays

National Day - Kyrgyzstan
(declared independence: 31 August completed independence: 25 December) The National Day
is a designated date on which celebrations mark the nationhood of a nation or non-sovereign country. Often the National Day will be a national holiday. The National Day is often taken as the date on which a state or territory achieved independence or the introduction of a democratic constitution. Other dates such as the country's patron saint day, or a significant historic date are sometimes used. Most countries have a single National Day per year, though a few, for example, India and Pakistan, have more than one.

National Higher Education Day - Myanmar / Burma

Republic Day - Laos

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery - International