image by: Tim Mossholder

HWN Suggests

We need a national holiday to honor health policy

Let’s create a holiday for health policy. Not now. But eventually. A holiday that celebrates that the worst of the pandemic is behind us and makes a space to mourn what we’ve lost. A holiday to talk about health care policy.

It’s an unrepentantly dry topic. But it has earned a holiday.

One very American thing about our holidays is that they are never celebrated in a unified way, but they prompt us to grapple over the same issue. July Fourth: What does it mean to be an American and who gets to celebrate that? Memorial Day: What do we as a society owe veterans for their sacrifices? Even LGBTQ Pride Day: Behind the glitter and the flags, who gets to claim this day, and what’s…

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Featured

  Holidays and Observances Around the World

Public holidays and other special days in 200+ countries. Carefully researched and constantly updated.

  Public Holidays Global

We've already thought ahead for your next getaway. Whether you're searching for a short local break, or an extended international itinerary — we're here to help you start planning.

 The U.S. needs a National Vaccine Day

The holiday itself would be a large scale, innovative public health intervention that focuses the nation’s attention on vaccination.

 Why are so few people born on Christmas Day, New Year’s and other holidays?

Christmas and New Year’s are days of celebration in many parts of the world when people gather with family and friends. One thing many typically don’t celebrate on those days is a birthday.

Previously Featured

Social holidays improve overall well-being

Social holidays improve holiday makers' overall satisfaction with life, as well as satisfaction with the quantity and quality of their leisure time, and social life, according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland. The study analysed the effect of social holidays on holiday makers' subjective well-being and experience of inclusion.

Stop canceling school for Columbus Day

Columbus Day is the most useless holiday on the federal calendar — and it's time to stop using it as an excuse for a day off school. Set aside, for a moment, the controversy over whether Christopher Columbus's journey to the Americas should be celebrated at all.

Talking about advance directives is a perfect holiday conversation

As families gather for the holidays, fretting about food, finances, gift giving, politics, and more, I urge them to ask everyone around the holiday table — middle-aged, old, young at heart, and everywhere in between — the following questions. (They’re the same ones I ask my patients who find themselves at various stages in the trajectory of life-limiting illnesses, bringing into razor-sharp focus what matters in the time they have left.)

Why you should avoid hospitals on weekends and holidays

Hospitals have worse outcomes on weekends and holidays — but it's not clear why The effect that weekends and holidays can have on patient care remains contentious, despite extensive research on the subject.

Resources

Boxing Day, explained

Christmas has come and gone, but in some countries, the celebration is far from over. Yes, gentle readers, December 26 is Boxing Day, which for Americans is the day we recover from our eggnog and gift-exchange hangovers but for other parts of the world is a holiday in its own right.

Juneteenth, explained

The holiday’s 155-year history holds a lot of meaning in the fight for black liberation today.

What Was the Most Significant Event to Happen on a Holiday?

On Christmas Eve 1914, thousands of British, French, and German troops along the Western Front of World War I initiated an unofficial cease-fire known as the Christmas Truce. Men from both sides entered no-man’s-land to sing carols, exchange cards and presents, enjoy games, and share cigarettes, treats, and whiskey. Though the truce was short-lived, it stands as a remarkable example of peace on Earth and goodwill toward men.