Observances & Traditions
From religious and patriotic holidays to celebrations of ethnic pride, explore the history of Easter, New Year's Day, Veterans Day and more annual observances, plus traditions and rituals that take place all year long.
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Native American Heritage Month is a federal observance held each November to honor American Indians and Alaska Natives.
The idea dates back to 1895—and has been controversial ever since.
The Veterans Day holiday honors military veterans on November 11.
The winter solstice is the day of the year with the fewest hours of daylight. Humans may have celebrated the winter solstice as far back as the Stone Age.
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year in San Francisco
New Year's celebrations in China are thousands of years old, but across the Pacific, the holiday took on a life of its own.
3 Holidays Honoring U.S. Military Personnel
Armed Forces Day
Celebrated annually on the third Saturday in May, Armed Forces Day thanks those currently serving in the military for their service. It was created in 1949 by then-Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson to replace separate Army, Navy and Air Force Days.
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Competing viewpoints over the direction of the nascent republic manifested in partisan Independence Day festivities in the 1790s.
Observance of this bygone tradition from the 19th century combined celebration and protest.
The Independence Day tradition dates nearly as far back as the country's beginning and was proposed by one of the Founding Fathers.
Before the mid-19th century, Western weddings were often a colorful affair.
On July 4, 1826, two prominent presidents, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, took their final breaths within hours of each other. Some have wondered if it was somehow planned.
Americans have been honoring their dads since the early 20th century.
William Jackson Smart was a twice-married, twice-widowed father of 14 children.
Americans have been celebrating fatherhood since the early 20th century, but it took decades for Father’s Day to become a national holiday.
A century after the first observances, Juneteenth faced the possibility of becoming a forgotten tradition.
Eating red foods and promoting activism on Juneteenth pay tribute to the liberation of America’s formerly enslaved people.
Long before church services helped introduce Father’s Day to the American public, Catholics were observing St. Joseph’s Day.
The Fourth of July has been a cause for celebration since 1776.
For Muslims, the new year preserves a foundational moment of religious history.
A day dedicated to Old Glory picked up steam in the 19th century.
Roses are potent symbols of love, desire and secrecy that have been cultivated for millennia.
