If you\u2019ve read this blog over the past few years, you know that today, December 28, is considered to be the unluckiest day of the year on the Christian calendar. If you\u2019re interested in more details, you can check the archives of this blog for the entries on December 28 \u2014 but briefly\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At one time, the day, known as the Feast of the Holy Innocents, or alternatively, as Childermass, was considered cursed. The past is littered with warnings about Childermass \u2014 like, \u201cno important affair is taken in hand on Childermass Day, and the sailors are heedful not to leave their port in the way of beginning a voyage under consideration.\u201d Or, \u201cit is very unlucky to begin any work whatever on this day.\u201d And, \u201cthis day is of most unlucky omen. None ever marries on a childermass day.\u201d\u00a0
But children had the most to fear on the 28th of December \u2014 up until the seventeenth century, it was believed that ritually beating a child with a stick on Childermass brought the beater good luck and reminded the child of both King Herod\u2019s viciousness and Jesus\u2019s suffering.
Catholics still observe December 28 with prayers and readings referencing King Herod\u2019s slaughter of babies as recorded in Matthew.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So \u2014 folklore, superstition, and traditions have all contributed to today being an unlucky day.\u00a0
But \u2014 I think an argument can be made that my birthday \u2014 August 6 \u2014 just might be the unluckiest day. Take a look at some events that have occurred on August 6.
1890 \u2014 The first ever execution by electric chair occurred at Auburn Prison in New York.
1914 \u2014 Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia, pitting two of the major powers of World War I against one another.
1945 \u2014 The Enola Gay dropped the first-ever atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan \u2014 instantly killing 80,000 people.\u00a0
1951 \u2014 4,800 people died when a massive typhoon hit the coast of Manchuria in northeast Asia.
1964 \u2014 The world\u2019s oldest tree, known as \u201cPrometheus,\u201d was cut down by a graduate student conducting climate research. The tree, located in Great Basin National Park, was around 4,900 years old.
1997 \u2014 a Korean Air flight crashed on the island of Guam. Of the 254 people aboard, only 26 survived.
2013 \u2014 Twenty-five people were killed and 60 others injured when a series of car bombs detonated in Baghdad.
2019 \u2014 The Department of Health in Manila, Philippines, declared a national epidemic after the dengue outbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ll let you decide if maybe my birthday is unluckier than December 28, but superstition aside, today is a good day to remember that not a whole lot has changed in our world \u2014\u00a0 it\u2019s not a safe place for many people. Unfortunately, innocent people are still put death \u2014 I guess Childermass is a good day to remember that.
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If you\u2019ve read this blog over the past few years, you know that today, December 28, is considered to be the unluckiest day of the year on the Christian calendar. If you\u2019re interested in more details, you can check the … Continue reading