Holy Cross Day is also known as the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Triumph of the Cross, or Holyrood Day (“rood” meaning “cross”. It commemorates the recovery of the Holy Cross on which Jesus was crucified. (It had been taken from Jerusalem by the Persians in a war in A.D. 614. In A.D. 629, Byzantine Emperor Heraclius recovered and returned the Cross to Jerusalem.)
Holy Cross Day is one of four annual markers for the “Ember Days,” which occur on the first Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday following Holy Cross Day, Whit Sunday (Pentecost), the first Sunday in Lent, and St. Lucy Day. The Ember Days are special times for prayer, fasting, and the ordination of clergy in certain Christian denominations. The weather on each of the three Ember Days is supposed to foretell the weather for each of the three succeeding months. A Spanish proverb notes, “On Holy Cross Day / Vineyards are gay.”
Born
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov(physiologist)–
Margaret Higgins Sanger(founder of the birth control movement)–
Douglas Kennedy(“Lone Ranger” actor)–
Kate Millett(feminist writer)–
Sam Neill(actor)–
Michelle Stafford(actress)–
Kimberly Williams-Paisley(actress)–
Katie Lee Biegel(chef)–
Tony Finau(golfer)–
Died
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin(architect)–
Arthur Wellesley(1st Duke of Wellington)–
Henry Bliss(first American automobile fatality)–
William McKinley(25th U.S. president)–
Princess Grace of Monaco(former actress Grace Kelly)–
Mickey Hargitay(actor & world champion bodybuilder)–
Patrick Swayze(actor)–
Norm Macdonald(comedian)–
Events
The first lighthouse in North America, Boston Light, was lit –
Composer George Handel completed The Messiah –
Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner”
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Typewriter ribbon patented –
Sound-absorbing material patented –
The world’s largest airship, Graf Zeppelin II, made its first flight –
The first helicopter flight was made by Igor Sikorsky –
Zond 5 was launched; 4 days later it became the first spacecraft to circle the Moon and return to Earth –
The Waltons premiered on CBS –
Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, the first U.S. born saint, was canonized by Pope Paul VI –
World Series was cancelled due to strike –
Roger Craig, a University of Delaware graduate student, won $77,000 on Jeopardy!. It was the show’s highest one-day total ever. –
Crayola announced crayon name “Bluetiful”
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Weather
Seattle, Washington, had a high temperature of 92 degrees F –
