International Puzzle Day is celebrated on January
29, 2016. It was created in 1995 by game companies in the United
States. On International Puzzle Day, puzzles of all size, shape and form
will be honored. You can celebrate that day by solving one or more
puzzles. A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the
solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a
logical way in order to come up with the desired solution.
The first jigsaw puzzle was created around 1760, when John Spilsbury, a
British engraver and mapmaker, mounted a map on a sheet of wood that he
then sawed around each individual country. Spilsbury used the product to
aid in teaching geography. After catching on with the wider public,
this remained the primary use of jigsaw puzzles until about 1820. By the
early 20th century, magazines and newspapers found that they could
increase their daily subscriptions by publishing puzzle contests.
Puzzles may also include letters, numbers, shapes, and riddles.
Puzzles are a favorite pastime of millions of people, young and old. So,
what's with this fascination over puzzles? There's numerous reasons for it's
popularity. For many, doing puzzles is fun. Some people just like the challenge
of completing them, and graduating to evermore complex and difficult puzzle
solving levels. For others, it is a way to kill time, and to eliminate boredom.
Others still, do puzzles to keep their mind sharp, or to learn new words.
A long time ago, the Celts (who lived in Ireland, Scotland and Wales)
celebrated the new year on 1st November, and the night before that, 31st October, was the eve of
the Celtic new year, called "All Hallows' Eve". The Celts believed that souls of
dead people came back to the earth during that night to find a new body for themselves. Of course, no one
wanted a ghost to live in his body, so people dressed up to look like the souls of the dead. 
When Christianity came to Ireland, people no longer celebrated the new year on 1st November but
they didn't stop the tradition of dressing up as ghosts. When millions of Irish people
immigrated to the United States in the 1840s, the tradition came with them. These days, on 31st October
every year, people in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada celebrate
Halloween. It is a celebration mostly for children, although more and more adults celebrate
Halloween as well.
First inhabitants, the Aboriginal people, are believed to
have migrated from some unknown point in Asia to Australia between
50,000 and 60,000 years ago.
Most of his novels were published in serial form meaning that they
were accessible to the lower classes of society who would pay a
contribution to hear them read.
Many of the most famous literary characters come from Dicken's
stories; Scrooge, Fagin, Miss Havisham, Mr Micawber and many more.
Charles Dickens was born on 7th February, and that's a good excuse to
celebrate his birthday by finding out a little about him and enjoying
some of his stories!
“Reflect upon your present blessings -- of which every man has
many -- not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” ― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings.
National Pie Day was created by the
American Pie Council. The American Pie Celebration began in 1986 to
commemorate Crisco’s 75th anniversary of 'serving foods to families
everywhere'.
