Tag: Appreciation

2025 · National Day Calendar

Black Cat Appreciation Day 2025

TanjaLeave a comment

Have you ever feared a black cat crossing your path? This is from ancient superstitions where people thought this meant bad luck. For many cultures and historical settings, black cats were actually meant for positive things. So, to try and dispel these myths about black cats, National Black Cat Appreciation Day was created to be celebrated on August 17 every year.

Today, pop culture loves black cats. There’s the sarcastic Thackery Binx in “Hocus Pocus” and Salem, in “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” and we can’t forget the classic cartoon black cat, Luna, in “Sailor Moon.” Black cats are seen as loyal companions, and this is what they were seen as for a lot of cultures in history, too.

So, who’s to blame for this negative black cat spin? Superstition! But mostly because during the Middle Ages, people (mainly the Catholic Church) saw witches as shape-shifting black cats, and the damage was done. From then on, black cats were seen as evil entities for years and years to follow.

But not everyone sees black cats this way. In fact, black cats are actually welcomed by a lot of people. For some, a visit from a black cat means good luck, and for others, it means prosperity or romance. Hey — in some cultures, black cats are even worshipped. Basically, there’s no need to fear them. On this day, we celebrate our cuddly friends, no matter what color their coat is!

:https://nationaltoday.com/black-cat-appreciation-day/

2025 · National Day Calendar

World Elephant Day 2025 🐘

TanjaLeave a comment

Elephants and humans have come a long way together throughout the history of civilization. Thanks to the sheer expanse of the African elephant’s natural environment, as well as its size and threatening posture, it has largely managed to resist captivity and domestication. The Asian elephant, on the other hand, which has lived alongside humans for over 4,000 years, enjoys great respect and is associated with various cultural and spiritual customs. In Thailand, for example, the elephants are a national icon with a national holiday dedicated entirely to them, and they can even receive a royal title from the king.

Despite all of the above, we still don’t know much about elephants. They have the biggest brains of any land animal, making them clever, conscious, social, and empathetic — qualities humans strive for in themselves. Humans and elephants share many characteristics, and they are possibly more like us than any other animal. But we are putting their future in jeopardy and threatening their essential biodiverse habitats throughout Asia and Africa.

Elephants are a keystone species in their environments, as they promote healthy ecosystems and encourage biodiversity. As the World Elephant Day website says, “To lose the elephant is to lose an environmental caretaker and an animal from which we have much to learn.”

We can save elephants by enforcing stronger local- and international protection policies and legislation for wild elephants against poaching and the illegal trade of ivory, promoting better management of their natural habitats, educating people on the vital role of the elephant in ecosystems, improving the way elephants in captivity are treated, and, if necessary, reintroducing captive elephants into wildlife reserves to allow a natural replenishing of endangered populations. These are just some of the aims of various elephant conservation organizations around the world.

Elephants are running out of space and time. We have to work together to prevent senseless poaching and the trafficking of ivory, and establish protected natural sanctuaries in which elephants and other wildlife can thrive — before it’s too late and they’re all gone.

:https://nationaltoday.com/world-elephant-day/