Dates

This page is basically about questions where the answer is a date on the calendar. It's not about the dates when particular events occurred; and it's not about Moveable Feasts.

Most of these events happen on the same day each year. (But some of them may vary slightly – particularly those in the first section.)

Note that many of these dates apply in the UK only. Some of them may be exclusive to the UK; for others, there may be different dates in other parts of the world.

Astronomical Dates

Vernal (Spring) equinox		21 or 22 March
Longest day		21 or 22 June
Autumn equinox		21 or 22 September
Shortest day		21 or 22 December

Quarter Days

England, Wales and the Channel Islands

Lady Day (celebrating the Annunciation)		25 March
Midsummer Day		24 June
Michaelmas Day		29 September
Christmas Day		25 December

A former manager of mine, who had previously worked as an accountant, told me of an excellent mnemonic for remembering the English quarter days. You need to remember that they occur in the third month of each quarter (March, June, September and December) and that the actual dates are all in the twenties. Then, no one needs a mnemonic to remember when Christmas Day is. But for the other three, what you have to do is remember the number of letters in the name of the month: 5 for March, 4 for June and 9 for September. So Lady Day is 25 March, Midsummer Day is 24 June, and Michaelmas Day is 29 September.

There is another way to remember the date of Lady Day: it's the supposed date of the Annunciation, so it's exactly nine months before Christmas.

Scotland

The "Old Scottish term days" corresponded approximately to the Celtic quarter days:

Candlemas		2 February
Whit Sunday – now fixed as ...		15 May
Lammas		1 August
Martinmas		11 November

Saints' Days

St. David's Day		1 March
St. Patrick's Day		17 March
St. George's Day		23 April
St. Andrew's Day		30 November

Shooting and Fishing

		Season opens		Season closes
Coarse fishing (in unstocked waters)		16 June		14 March
Red grouse shooting		12 August		10 December
Pheasant shooting		1 October		1 February

If the normal start date falls on a Sunday, the seasons may start on the Monday.

There are many other shooting and fishing seasons; and I have, on very rare occasions, been asked about one or two of them. But the game fishing seasons vary from one river to the next, and the deer shooting seasons vary according to species (red, fallow, roe, sika or chinese water), gender (male or female) and whether you're in Scotland or the rest of the United Kingdom. There are also four other types of game birds that you're only allowed to shoot at certain times (different dates for each), and six different types of waterfowl; and for one of the latter (ducks and geese) it depends whether they're above or below the high water line. In these cases it's Northern Ireland that's out of kilter with the rest of the UK, as opposed to Scotland, which is the same as England and Wales – except for hares. Oh – did I forget to mention hares?

This is all, no doubt, crucial information for anyone who gets his or her pleasure by killing defenceless animals, but it's far too complicated for the simple quizzer. Any question setter who asks about them is having a laugh; they're not in my table.

For those who really must know the rest, I used to have a link to a page on the Countryside Alliance website; but it doesn't seem to be there any more. (Not that this was an endorsement of any kind.)

Other

Epiphany, or Old Christmas Day		6 January
Inauguration of US presidents (in the year following a Leap Year)		20 January
Burns Night		25 January
Australia Day (celebrates the landing of the First Fleet in 1788)		26 January
Groundhog Day (USA)		2 February
Waitangi Day (New Zealand)		6 February
Season for coarse fishing (in unstocked waters) closes		14 March
First day in the astrological calendar (start of Aries)		21 March
Earliest possible date for Easter Day (Sunday)		22 March
UK tax year ends		5 April
UK tax year begins		6 April
The Queen's real (as opposed to official) birthday		21 April
Latest possible date for Easter Day		25 April
ANZAC Day		25 April
International Labour Day		1 May
Star Wars Day (observed by fans of the films since 2011)		4 May
VE Day		8 May
Oak Apple Day (declared a holiday in England in 1660, to celebrate the birthday of Charles II; formally abolished in 1859)		29 May
Flag Day in the USA – celebrating the anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the nation's flag (in 1777)		14 June
Canada Day (the anniversary of confederation in 1867)		1 July
The middle (183rd) day of a non–leap year		2 July
Independence Day (USA)		4 July
US Presidents Jefferson, Adams and Monroe all died (the first two in 1826, the third in 1831) on
Bastille Day (national day of France)		14 July
St. Swithin's Day		15 July
VJ Day		15 August
The Birth (day) of the Virgin Mary is celebrated on		8 September
Battle of Britain Day		15 September
Trafalgar Day (not currently celebrated much by the public)		21 October
St. Crispin's Day (Battle of Agincourt, 1415)		25 October
Last day of the Celtic calendar		31 October
All Saints' Day		1 November
All Souls' Day		2 November
Russia celebrates the anniversary of its revolution		7 November
Armistice Day (also known as Remembrance Day – but Remembrance Sunday is different); known in the USA, since 1954, as Veterans' Day		11 November
St. Stephen's Day (better known in the UK as Boxing Day)		26 December
Holy Innocents' Day (in the Church of England – elsewhere 27th or 29th)		28 December
St. Sylvester's Day – celebrated in Germany, Austria and Poland (and other countries) as Silvester (after Pope Sylvester I, who died on this day in AD 335)		31 December

Celebrated on 22 April each year since 1970, when US Senator Gaylord Nelson took up an initiative previously proposed to a UNESCO conference in San Francisco by John McConnell

Earth Day

© Haydn Thompson 2017–24