แม่น้ำโขง มีต้นกำเนิดจากเทือกเขาหิมาลัย ไหลผ่านมณฑลชิงไห่ ประเทศจีน และบริเวณที่ราบสูงธิเบต ไหลลงสู่ทะเลจีนใต้ ผ่านประเทศจีน ประเทศลาว ประเทศพม่า ประเทศไทย ประเทศกัมพูชา และประเทศเวียดนาม มีความยาวทั้งหมด 4,880 กิโลเมตร เป็นความยาวในประเทศจีน 2,130 กิโลเมตร ช่วงที่แม่น้ำไหลผ่านประเทศจีนมีชื่อเรียกว่า แม่น้ำหลานชางเจียง หรือ แม่น้ำล้านช้าง และเมื่อไหลผ่านเข้าเขตประเทศพม่า และประเทศลาว เรียกว่า แม่น้ำของ ในภาษาไทยเรียกว่า แม่น้ำโขง ยังเป็นเส้นเขตแดนระหว่างประเทศไทยกับประเทศลาวด้วย

ลักษณะสำคัญของแม่น้ำโขงคือ มีตลิ่งที่สูงชันมากทั้งสองฝั่ง ไหลเลี้ยวเลาะไปตามไหล่เขา กระแสน้ำจะไหลจากทางเหนือลงสู่ทางใต้ตลอดทั้งปี ระดับน้ำในฤดูฝนกับฤดูแล้งจะมีความแตกต่างกันอย่างมาก ความเร็วของกระแสน้ำขึ้นอยู่กับแต่ละฤดูกาล ดินในแม่น้ำโขงเป็นดินทราย มีเกาะแก่งน้อยใหญ่กว่าหนึ่งร้อยแห่งเรียงรายตลอดแม่น้ำ ทำให้ได้รับการขนานนามว่า แม่น้ำดานูบตะวันออก

สัตว์น้ำขนาดใหญ่ที่มีความสำคัญและพบได้เฉพาะในแม่น้ำโขงได้แก่ ปลาบึก (Pangasianodon gigas)

แม่น้ำโขงกับความเชื่อพื้นบ้าน

คนไทยและคนลาวมีความเชื่อเกี่ยวกับพญานาค หรืองูขนาดใหญ่ที่มีฤทธิ์มาก ว่าอาศัยอยู่ในแม่น้ำโขง ตำนานพญานาคที่เกี่ยวข้องกับแม่น้ำโขงก็เช่น ตำนานวังนาคินทร์คำชะโนด

นอกจากนี้ ทุกวันออกพรรษาจะมีประชาชนจำนวนมากไปเยือนริมฝั่งแม่น้ำของในประเทศไทย แถบอำเภอโพนพิสัย จังหวัดหนองคาย เพื่อดูปรากฏการณ์บั้งไฟพญานาค ซึ่งสร้างรายได้ให้แก่จังหวัดเป็นอย่างมาก จังหวัดที่มีปรากฏการณ์บั่งไฟพญานาคที่มีประชาชนนิยมไปเฝ้าดูมากที่สุด คือ จังหวัดหนองคาย ซึ่งในช่วงระยะเวลาหลายปีที่ผ่านมา มีกลุ่มนักวิจัยจากหลายสถาบันได้ออกมาชี้ชัด หรือหาหลักฐานอธิบายปรากฏการณ์ดังกล่าว ว่าเกิดจากกลุ่มก๊าซธรรมชาติที่มีอยู่ในแม่น้ำโขง อาทิเช่น ก๊าซมีเทน เป็นต้น แต่ก็ยังมิได้มีหลักฐานชี้ชัดเป็นที่แน่นอน ว่าเหตุการณ์ดังกล่าว เกิดจากการกระทำของพญานาค หรือ เกิดจากการกระทำของธรรมชาติกันแน่

แหล่งท่องเที่ยวที่สำคัญสำหรับการชมภูมิทัศน์ของลำน้ำโขงที่มีชื่อเสียงได้แก่ บริเวณสามเหลี่ยมทองคำ ตอนบนของจังหวัดเชียงราย ซึ่งเป็นบริเวณที่เป็นรอยต่อระหว่างพรมแดน 3 ประเทศ ได้แก่ ไทย ลาว และพม่า

Jackie Evancho

Jacqueline Marie "Jackie" Evancho (born April 9, 2000) is an American classical crossover singer who has gained wide recognition at an early age.

Between 2008 and 2010, Evancho entered several talent competitions; made singing appearances, mostly in Pennsylvania (including atPittsburgh Pirates baseball games); issued an independent album, Prelude to a Dream; and attracted interest on YouTube. Later in 2010, at the age of 10, she gained wider popularity with her performances in the fifth season of the America's Got Talent (AGT) competition, finishing in second place. With the subsequent release of her O Holy Night EP, she became the best-selling debut artist of 2010, the youngest top-10 debut artist in U.S. history and the youngest solo artist ever to go platinum. In June 2011, her first full-length major-label album, Dream With Me, debuted at #2 on American album charts, and she became the youngest top-5 debut artist in UK history. Billboard ranked Evancho the top Classical Albums Artist for 2011.

Evancho impressed composers Tim Janis and David Foster, each of whom included her in his concerts beginning in 2009. Foster laterproduced Evancho's album, Dream With Me, and her first PBS special for the television series, Great Performances. Evancho first performed in front of U.S. President Barack Obama at the 2010 National Christmas Tree lighting in Washington, D.C. She is the ambassador for "Mission: Humane", a Humane Society program which encourages children's involvement in the protection of animals. She features songs from Dream With Me in a 2011–12 concert tour with symphony orchestras. Evancho released another studio album, Heavenly Christmas, in November 2011. The same month, she became the youngest person ever to give a solo concert atLincoln Center in New York City. A national cotillion organization listed her as one of the "ten best-mannered people of 2011".

Sara Kruzan: Sentenced to Life Without Parole at Age 16

The Boat That Went Both on Land and on Water

There, was once a great kingdom whose king had a daughter to marry off. A bit proud she was, but more beautiful than any. The king was in no hurry to find her a husband. He loved to have her with him, for she was as quick as a warbler, as straight as an arrow, and as sunny as an Easter day. He didn't look forward to letting any young man have her, not even a king's son. "Anyway," thought he, "where will I ever find a real match for her? She's my daughter, after all, the daughter of a great king."




But in time, the queen, the dishwasher, the minister, and the cobbler, in fact everyone in the castle and in the streets, began reminding the king at every turn that this daughter of his was his only child and that he had to get her married -- not to a prince, perhaps, if he couldn't think of a suitable one, but at least to a capable lad who could one day govern the kingdom.



"Is that what you want?" cried the king one morning, as his minister brought the subject up for the umpteenth time. "Is that your wish? You want a capable lad? All right, at the stroke of noon, have it announced with a flourish of trumpets that I'll give my daughter to anyone who takes wood from my forest and builds me a boat that goes both on land and on water. Yes, I'll say, to anyone who comes asking for her riding a boat like that!"



To himself he said, "A lot of water will flow under the bridges before any mother's son brings me a boat you can sail over fields and waves. These fools won't pester me any more with their nonsense about having to get my girl married!"


In the same kingdom, near the castle, lived two brothers, both country boys. The elder was so clever, I tell you, his hands could make him anything he wanted. He could have made a cat a new pair of eyes, as they say.




He knew he was clever, though. In fact, he knew it a bit too well. Self-confidence is fine, but you see, you shouldn't count too much on your own cleverness. The lad said to himself, "If anyone's to build this boat that goes both on land and on water, why, it has to be me! I'll build it and I'll win the king's daughter. If I don't, no one else around here will!"



He took up his saw, his ax, and his adze; he filled his toolbox with chisels, gouges, and hammer. Then with a light step he set off for the king's forest.



On his way over Three Beech Trees Hill he met an old woman like the ones who comb the woods for dead branches. She greeted him.



"Good day, journeyman carpenter!" she cried. "Did you wake up this morning in good spirits?"



Courtesy should have made him stop, since she'd struck up a conversation. But he strode proudly by, filled as he was that morning with self-importance -- he who always seemed to have the world at his fingertips. He only nodded to her.



"Where are you off to?" she asked.

"To look after my business."

"What are you going to do with all your tools?"

"Make me some skittles!"

"Very well then, journeyman, skittles they shall be!"



When he got to work in the king's forest, everything he felled, shaped, or carved turned to skittles. He began again with elm and ash instead of beech, but it all ended up the same: skittles, nothing but skittles.




Being hot-tempered, he got angry and swore, then hurled adze, gouge, saw, and chisel through the trees. That way he labored twice: first throwing, then picking up.



In the evening he came home looking as though he'd been taken down a peg or two. "I ran into one of those old women with the evil eye," he complained to his younger brother. "Anyway, it was stupid of me to get wrapped up in the idea of building that boat. A boat that sails both on land and on water! Why, it'll be a month of Sundays before anyone builds such a contraption! The king just wanted to show everyone who's boss."



"You never know!" the younger objected. "Time is the father of miracles. You should have kept at it."



"You keep at it, then," growled the elder, angry again. "You go to the king's forest tomorrow and waste your time."



The younger didn't answer. He wouldn't have started the job on his own, but he wasn't going to turn away from it now. You have to let yourself be led and trust that you will be led.


The next morning he took the toolbox and set off for the king's forest, humming a song. On Three Beech Trees Hill he met an old woman hobbling along, bent in two, with one hand on her hip. She looked like one of the women who gather deadwood in the forest.




"Good day, journeyman carpenter," she greeted him.

"And to you, good lady."

"Where are you off to work?"

"My brother sent me to the king's forest. He wants me to see if I can build this boat the king's asking for. I don't know quite what I'll do, but sometimes ideas come when you try."

"A good thought, journeyman. Why shouldn't you succeed? Just get to work."

"Oh, don't worry, I will."

"And when you've built it, go up and show it to the king. On the way you'll meet six men-at-arms. Have them board your boat one after the other. The time will come when you'll need them."



The younger brother tipped his hat to her and took careful note of what she'd said. Then he thanked her and said good-bye.


He came to the king's forest, took off his jacket, and began felling trees.




Believe it or not, the wood he cut fell into place all by itself. One branch made an axle, another the rudder; one length made the gunwale, another the rail. The pieces joined themselves each to each by tenon and mortise, fitted themselves where they belonged, and worked out what the next piece would be. The whole design grew by itself. At last the boat the king had dreamed of, without even knowing what it might look like, took shape Under the lad's fingers just as a pine cone takes shape on the tree -- but a mite faster.



The journeyman sang and the work went forward. By midday the boat was finished -- perfectly finished, and even rather nicely decorated with delicate carvings.



The lad went aboard to try it out. The boat rolled down to the pond, launched itself, came back to land, and sailed as well on land as on water! So he steered it toward the castle where the king lived.



Without horses or mules, this carriage-boat sailed so straight over rivers, ponds, fields, and moors chat the tall poplars bent low out of its path and the whole landscape glided swiftly by. The lad rolled along, hair to the wind; but he still didn't assume, as many others would have done in his place, that he was the best in the world.


The first person he met on the way was a man-at-arms with a belly like a huge water-skin, lying flat on his stomach by the river. When someone wanted to cross, he'd swallow the river at one gulp so the person could go dry-shod.




"Ahoy, what are you doing there?" the lad cried.

"Drinking up the river!"

"That's all you do?"

"Yes, and I live very well by it!"

"Come aboard, I'll take you to the king's castle."



A little farther on he found another man-at-arms with a mouth like that of an oven, gnawing furiously at a mountain.



"Say, what are you doing there?"

"Chewing up the mountain!"

"That's all you do?"

"Yes, and I live very well by it!"

"Come aboard, I'll take you to the king's castle."


What did he see a little farther on? Another man-at-arms with a backside as round as the full moon. The fellow was lying on his back, and the wind from his behind was turning nine mills on the hill.




"Say, what are you doing there?"

"Living off my wind!"

"That's all you do?"

"Yes, and I live very well by it!"



The lad took this third man-at-arms on board his rolling boat.



Next was a fourth man-at-arms with ears like cabbage leaves. He was lying full-length on his side, with one ear to the earth, listening to dandelions grow on the other side of the world. This Sharp-Ears had no other trade and he lived very well. The lad had him come aboard, then sailed on toward the king's castle.



And next? A fifth man-at-arms, with arms like staves, who was throwing stones and knocking down larks for a hundred leagues around. That was all he did, and it gave him a good living! On board, on board! He too boarded the boat that went both on land and on water.



And last? A sixth man-at-arms, with legs like poles, who'd put on these legs to catch hares and who could out-race any hare! That was all he did, and it gave him a good living.



"Come aboard, come aboard!" cried the lad, "you too!" The man-at-arms with the long legs got in, and they sailed off to see the king.

In no time all seven reached the castle. Everyone came out to look and shouted with amazement. People rushed to the castle from all around and they couldn't believe their eyes, which they opened very wide. The grubby kitchen boy was there; and the old woman who darned the rags (she came panting up, needle in hand); and the king, the queen, and the damsel too.




The king stared and stared, with his crown askew on his head. Though amazed and frustrated, he'd given his word. He'd said what he'd said and he'd had it announced with flourishes of trumpets. Could he refuse his daughter to the one who came asking for her, quite simply and honestly, with just the boat he himself had requested -- the one that went both on land and on water?

Pocahontas (born Matoaka, and later known as Rebecca Rolfe, c. 1595 – March 1617) was a Virginia Indian[1] notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in the Tidewater region of Virginia. In a well-known historical anecdote, she is said to have saved the life of an Indian captive, Englishman John Smith, in 1607 by placing her head upon his own when her father raised his war club to execute him.




Pocahontas was captured by the English during Anglo-Indian hostilities in 1613, and held for ransom. During her captivity, she converted to Christianity and took the name Rebecca. When the opportunity arose for her to return to her people, she chose to remain with the English. In April 1614, she married tobacco planter John Rolfe, and, in January 1615, bore him a son, Thomas Rolfe.

In 1616, the Rolfes traveled to London. Pocahontas was presented to English society as an example of the civilized "savage" in hopes of stimulating investment in the Jamestown settlement. She became something of a celebrity, was elegantly fêted, and attended a masque at Whitehall Palace. In 1617, the Rolfes set sail for home, but Pocahontas died at Gravesend of unknown causes. She was buried in England, but her resting place is not known.

Numerous places, landmarks, and products in the United States have been named after Pocahontas. Her story has been romanticized over the years, and she is the subject of art, literature, and film. Her descendants through her son Thomas include members of the First Families of Virginia‎, First Ladies Edith Wilson and Nancy Reagan, astronomer Percival Lowell and American reality television personality Benjamin Wade.

baguette

The word itself was not used to refer to a type of bread until apparently 1920, but what is now known as "baguette" may have existed well before that. Though the baguette today is often considered one of the symbols of French culture viewed from abroad, the association of France with long loaves predates any mention of it. Long, if wide, loaves had been made since the time of Louis XIV, long thin ones since the mid-eighteenth century and in fact by the nineteenth century some were far longer than the baguette: "loaves of bread six feet long that look like crowbars!" (1862); "Housemaids were hurrying homewards with their purchases for various Gallic breakfasts, and the long sticks of bread, a yard or two in length, carried under their arms, made an odd impression upon me." (1898)

A less direct link can be made however with deck ovens, or steam ovens. Deck/steam ovens are a combination of a gas-fired traditional oven and a brick oven, a thick "deck" of stone or firebrick heated by natural gas instead of wood. The first steam oven was brought (in the early nineteenth century) to Paris by the Austrian officer August Zang, who also introduced the pain viennois (and the croissant) and whom some French sources thus credit with originating the baguette.

Deck ovens use steam injection, through various methods, to create the proper baguette. The oven is typically well over 205 °C (400 °F). The steam allows the crust to expand before setting, thus creating a lighter, more airy loaf. It also melts the dextrose on the bread's surface, giving a slightly glazed effect.

An article in The Economist states that in October 1920 a law prevented bakers from working before 4am, making it impossible to make the traditional, round loaf in time for customers' breakfasts. The slender baguette, the article claims, solved the problem because it could be prepared and baked much more rapidly. Unfortunately, the article is not sourced and at any rate France had already had long thin breads for over a century at that point.^{[citation needed]}

The law in question appears in fact to be one from March 1919, though some say it took effect on October 1920: "It is forbidden to employ workers at bread and pastry making between ten in the evening and four in the morning."The rest of the account remains to be verified, but the use of the word for a long thin bread does appear to be a twentieth century innovation.

The 1896 supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary cites Punch magazine which wrote that the term was coined in Britain in 1895 to describe a Sunday meal for "Saturday-night carousers" in the writer Guy Beringer's article "Brunch:A Plea" in Hunter's Weekly' Instead of England's early Sunday dinner, a postchurch ordeal of heavy meats and savory pies, why not a new meal, served around noon, that starts with tea or coffee, marmalade and other breakfast fixtures before moving along to the heavier fare? By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday-night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well. Brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting. It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week. - Guy Beringer, "Brunch: A Plea," Hunter's Weekly, 1895

It is sometimes credited to reporter Frank Ward O'Malley who wrote for the New York newspaper The Sun from 1906 until 1919, allegedly based on the typical mid-day eating habits of a newspaper report

Meerkat

The meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta, is a small mammal belonging to the mongoose family. Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan". A meerkat clan often contains about 20 meerkats, but some super-families have 50 or more members. In captivity, meerkats have an average life span of 12–14 years, and about half this in the wild. "Meerkat" is a loanword from Afrikaans. The name has a Dutch origin but by misidentification. Dutch meerkat refers to the "guenon", a monkey of the Cercopithecus genus. The word "meerkat" is Dutch for "lake cat", but the suricata is not in the cat family, and neither suricatas nor guenons are attracted to lakes; the word possibly started as a Dutch adaptation of a derivative of Sanskrit markaţa मर्कट = "monkey", perhaps in Africa via an Indian sailor on board a Dutch East India Company ship. The traders of the Dutch East India Company were likely familiar with monkeys, but the Dutch settlers attached the name to the wrong animal at the Cape. The suricata is called stokstaartje = "little stick-tail" in Dutch. According to African popular belief (mainly in the Zambian/Zimbabwean region), the meerkat is also known as the sun angel, as it protects villages from the moon devil or the werewolf which is believed to attack stray cattle or lone tribesmen.

RIP WHITNEY HOUSTON

A pop music superstar whose fame was once nearly as big as her once-in-a-generation voice, Whitney Houston died today at the age of 48. Police are investigating the cause of death, though there are no obvious signs of criminal intent. Houston died in a Beverly Hills hotel room, where she was staying while in town to perform at a musical tribute for her mentor, music executive Clive Davis, which still went on as scheduled this evening. Also moving forward is tomorrow’s Grammy telecast, a show Houston once owned and once again will overshadow, only this time for horribly shocking reasons.

Even with Houston’s successful comeback release, 2009’s I Look To You (which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart with sales of 305,000 copies, her best opening-week tally ever), and the planned remake of 1976’s Sparkle she was to star in with Jordin Sparks and Mike Epps, the dark clouds that hung over the back-half of her career never parted completely. Just last month, it was reported that Houston was broke, and financially supported by her record label as she worked on a new album.

Still, Houston had survived so much—gaining and losing tremendous stardom, a troubled (to put it lightly) marriage to Bobby Brown that later became fodder for a bottom-feeding reality show, and countless public humiliations that somehow never prevented people from inviting her to sing at the next award show or music-industry party—that her death at a still-young age can hardly be seen as predictable. Houston had been such a huge star, and her talents as a vocalist still seemed so singular and titanic, that a triumphant return to her former vaunted status always seemed right around the corner. Sadly, that’s all over now.

Houston will inevitably be compared with Amy Winehouse, another prodigiously talented singer whose history with drug abuse first made her a tabloid punchline in the later years of her life, and then a martyr after her untimely demise. But Winehouse’s career lasted only last a few years; Houston in her prime was the most popular female pop singer who ever lived. Statistics tell part of the story: More than 55 million albums sold in the U.S. alone (and more than 100 million more around the world), a record seven consecutive No. 1 singles, and one of the biggest selling songs ever, the lung-busting tear-jerker “I Will Always Love You,” from the mega-selling soundtrack to The Bodyguard. But Houston’s reach can be most plainly heard in the voices of aspiring singers all over the globe. Whether it’s on American Idol or The Voice, or the karaoke night at your neighborhood bar, there are tens of millions people (consciously or not) actively trying to be Whitney Houston. Her loss leaves an Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson-sized hole in popular music.

As much as this can be said about any celebrity, everybody seemed to love Whitney Houston at one time. Even Osama Bin Laden put aside his seething hatred of Western culture for Whitney, obsessing about the day when he might finally meet her. The cover of her 1985 self-titled debut helps to explain why: The 21-year-old Houston is so exotically beautiful that she hardly seems real; the same could be said of her voice, a stunning multi-octave instrument that she wielded like a virtuoso. Just as Eddie Van Halen influenced a generation of guitarists to play faster and flashier then previously seemed humanly possible, Houston inspired legions of pop singers to try and match the awe-inspiring vocal pyrotechnics that gracefully leapt out her larynx.

But like that young woman on the Whitney Houston album cover, the voice was untouchable, even as it seduced millions of listeners. While some singers (most notably Mariah Carey) could match Houston’s notes, nobody could ever quite approach the quality of her tone or the purity of its expression.

Ford Mustang

The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car.[1] Introduced early on April 17, 1964,[2] dubbed as a "1964½" model by Mustang fans, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A.[3] The model is Ford's third oldest nameplate in production[citation needed] and has undergone several transformations to its current fifth generation.

The Mustang created the "pony car" class of American automobiles—sports car-like coupes with long hoods and short rear decks[4]—and gave rise to competitors such as GM's Chevrolet Camaro,[5] AMC's Javelin,[6] and Chrysler's revamped Plymouth Barracuda.[7] It also inspired coupés such as the Toyota Celica and Ford Capri, which were exported to the United States


The Ford Mustang was brought out five months before the normal start of the 1965 production year. The earliest versions are often referred to as 1964½ models, but VIN coded by Ford and titled as 1965 models[8] with production beginning in Dearborn, Michigan on March 9, 1964[9] and the new car was introduced to the public on April 17, 1964[10] at the New York World's Fair.[11]

Executive stylist John Najjar, who was a fan of the World War II P-51 Mustang fighter plane, is credited by Ford to have suggested the name.[12] He was involved in design work on the prototype Ford Mustang I. An alternative view was that Robert J. Eggert, Ford Division market research manager, first suggested the Mustang name. Eggert, a breeder of quarterhorses, received a birthday present from his wife of the book, The Mustangs by J. Frank Dobie in 1960. Later, the book’s title gave him the idea of adding the “Mustang” name for Ford’s new concept car. The designer preferred Cougar or Torino (and an advertising campaign using the Torino name was actually prepared), while Henry Ford II wanted T-bird II.[13] As the person responsible for Ford’s research on potential names, Eggert added “Mustang” to the list to be tested by focus groups; “Mustang,” by a wide margin, came out on top under the heading: “Suitability as Name for the Special Car.”[14][15] The name could not be used in Germany,[16] however, because it was owned by Krupp, which had manufactured trucks between 1951 and 1964 with the name Mustang. Ford refused to buy the name for about US$10,000 from Krupp at the time. Kreidler, a manufacturer of mopeds, also used the name, so Mustang was sold in Germany as the "T-5" until December 1978.

Mustangs grew larger and heavier with each model year until, in response to the 1971–1973 models, Ford returned the car to its original size and concept for 1974. It has since seen several platform generations and designs. Although some other pony cars have seen a revival, the Mustang is the only original pony car to remain in uninterrupted production over five decades of development and revision.

Mothers Day

Mother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and celebrating motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, yet most commonly in March, April, or May. It complements Father's Day, the celebration honoring fathers.

Celebrations of mothers and motherhood occur throughout the world; many of these can be traced back to ancient festivals, like the Greek cult to Cybele or the Roman festival of Hilaria. The modern US holiday is not directly related to these



Gregorian calendar
Occurrence Dates Country
Second Sunday of February
Feb 13, 2011
Feb 12, 2012
Feb 10, 2013
Norway


3 Mar
Georgia

8 Mar
Afghanistan
Albania
Armenia†

Azerbaijan
Belarus†
Bosnia and Herzegovina†

Bulgaria†
Kazakhstan†
Laos

Macedonia†
Republic of Moldova
Montenegro†
Romania†[10]

Serbia†
Ukraine†
Viet Nam†*


Fourth Sunday in Lent
Apr 3, 2011
Mar 18, 2012
Mar 10, 2013
Ireland
Nigeria

United Kingdom
Bangladesh


21 Mar
(vernal equinox)
Bahrain
Egypt
Jordan
Kuwait
Libya

Lebanon[11]
Oman
Palestinian territories
Qatar
Israeli Arabs[12]

Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Syria

United Arab Emirates
Yemen (all Arab countries in general)
Iraq[13]

25 Mar
Slovenia


7 Apr
Armenia


First Sunday in May
May 1, 2011
May 6, 2012
May 5, 2013
Hungary
Lithuania

Mozambique
Portugal

Spain


8 May
South Korea (Parents' Day)
Pakistan


10 May
El Salvador
Guatemala

Mexico


Second Sunday of May
May 8, 2011
May 13, 2012
May 12, 2013

Anguilla
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Bermuda
Bonaire
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei

Canada
Chile
People's Republic of China†[14]
Colombia
Croatia
Cuba[15]
Curaçao
Cyprus
Czech Republic[16]
Denmark

Dominica
Ecuador
Estonia
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
Germany
Gold Coast
Greece
Grenada
Guyana
Honduras
Hong Kong
Iceland
India

Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Latvia*
Liechtenstein*
Macao
Malaysia
Malta
Burma
Netherlands
New Zealand
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Peru[17]

Philippines
Puerto Rico
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
Singapore
Sint Maarten
Slovakia[16]
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Suriname

Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanganyika
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United States
Uruguay
Viet Nam
Venezuela
Zambia
Zimbabwe


15 May
Paraguay (same day as Día de la Patria)[18]


26 May
Poland "Dzień Matki"


27 May
Bolivia[9]

Last Sunday of May
May 29, 2011
May 27, 2012
May 26, 2013
Algeria
Dominican Republic

France (First Sunday of June if Pentecost occurs on this day)
French Antilles (First Sunday of June if Pentecost occurs on this day)

Haiti[19] Mauritius
Morocco

Sweden
Tunisia


30 May
Nicaragua[20]


1 Jun
Mongolia† (The Mothers and Children's Day.)


Second Sunday of June
Jun 12, 2011
Jun 10, 2012
Jun 9, 2013
Luxembourg


Last Sunday of June
Jun 26, 2011
Jun 24, 2012
Jun 30, 2013
Kenya


12 Aug
Thailand (The birthday of Queen Sirikit)

15 Aug
Costa Rica
Antwerp (Belgium)

Second Monday of October
Oct 10, 2011
Oct 8, 2012
Oct 14, 2013
Malawi


14 Oct
Belarus


Third Sunday of October
Oct 16, 2011
Oct 21, 2012
Oct 20, 2013
Argentina (Día de la Madre)[21]


Last Sunday of November
Nov 27, 2011
Nov 25, 2012
Nov 24, 2013
Russia


8 Dec (Feast of the Immaculate Conception)
Panama[22]


22 Dec
Indonesia[23]


Other calendars
Occurrence Gregorian dates Country
Shevat 30
Between 30 January and 1 March Israel[24]

Baisakh Amavasya (Mata Tirtha Aunsi)
Between 19 and 29 April Nepal

20 Jumada al-thani[n 1]
24 May 2011 Iran[25]

POSEIDON

Poseidon (Greek: Ποσειδῶν) was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker,"[1] of the earthquakes in Greek mythology.[2] The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon. Linear B tablets show that Poseidon was venerated at Pylos and Thebes in pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, but he was integrated into the Olympian gods as the brother of Zeus and Hades.[2] Poseidon has many children. There is a Homeric hymn to Poseidon, who was the protector of many Hellenic cities, although he lost the contest for Athens to Athena
Poseidon was a major civic god of several cities: in Athens, he was second only to Athena in importance, while in Corinth and many cities of Magna Graecia he was the chief god of the polis.[2]

In his benign aspect, Poseidon was seen as creating new islands and offering calm seas. When offended or ignored, he supposedly struck the ground with his trident and caused chaotic springs, earthquakes, drownings and shipwrecks. Sailors prayed to Poseidon for a safe voyage, sometimes drowning horses as a sacrifice; in this way, according to a fragmentary papyrus, Alexander the Great paused at the Syrian seashore before the climactic battle of Issus, and resorted to prayers, "invoking Poseidon the sea-god, for whom he ordered a four-horse chariot to be cast into the waves."[9]

According to Pausanias, Poseidon was one of the caretakers of the oracle at Delphi before Olympian Apollo took it over. Apollo and Poseidon worked closely in many realms: in colonization, for example, Delphic Apollo provided the authorization to go out and settle, while Poseidon watched over the colonists on their way, and provided the lustral water for the foundation-sacrifice. Xenophon's Anabasis describes a group of Spartan soldiers in 400–399 BCE singing to Poseidon a paean—a kind of hymn normally sung for Apollo.

Like Dionysus, who inflamed the maenads, Poseidon also caused certain forms of mental disturbance. A Hippocratic text of ca 400 BCE, On the Sacred Disease[10] says that he was blamed for certain types of epilepsy