Calendar Site Revisions and Changes

 

12-4-10  The Baha'i 19 Day Fast on March 2-20 is being added to the annual calendars. Dates of the Hindu observance of Deepavali are being increased in order to include the two days before and two days after Diwali making it a five day event.

11-16-10 Error report. The Ethiopian Orthodox Christian holy day of Timkat was listed twice on all calendars through 2020. It has been corrected to show in the month of June on either the 19 or 20th. Thanks to all who report errors.

9-11-10 St. George's Day April 23 has been added to all calendars in response to a reminder from a calendar user.

8-3-10 A Site Map has been added at long last. The process revealed several errors which are being corrected today.

6-21-10 First Nations Day is also known as National Aboriginal Day in Canada. The culture and religions of native peoples are celebrated.

6-20-10 A page for the Mormon Christian tradition has been added to Christianity page.

6-14-10 The designation for Wicca is being changed to Wicca/Pagan in order to be more inclusive. There are many Pagan traditions with Wicca being the most widely know at the present time.

5-25-10 A revision of the primary holy days is underway. The first change is to add the additional Christian Day of Pentecost. An additional holy day will gradually be added to the other world religions if warranted.

3-15-10 A Google Calendar version of the calendar has been added. Presently the challenge is to create a way for hand held devices to access the calendar. The folks at the Mall of America Apple Store did not know how to enable an iPhone to access the calendar. It appears that this project will be challenging.

10-15-09 Materialism has been added as one of the "religious" traditions of the human family. A level playing field leads to including all systems of thought that give meaning to the lives of people. Interfaith Calendar uses a unique definition of "religion". 10-2-09 Finally a Google Calendar format for the Interfaith Calendar is on line as of today. This is a first step in making the calendar available in a variety of formats. 9-15-09 A full year archive version of the 2009 calendar is now online. It is found at www.interfaithcalendar.org/Fullyeararchive2009.htm  8-20-09 An incorrect 2010 date is now changed. Hanukkah is December 2-9, 2010.

4-23-09 The Resource Mart page is receiving enough attention to demand revision. Additional pages will be added and more categories created. Enlarged link placement is available for $50.00 presently.

3-23-09 How can the calendar best display holy days that begin in the evening or at sundown?  For Judaism, Islam and Baha'i this is the common practice. Presently the calendar uses an asterisk * to indicate this practice. For these traditions the date begins at sundown whereas for traditions using the Gregorian calendar model the date begins at midnight. My problem is that the more detail that is added to each entry, the more complex. lengthy and inaccessible the calendar becomes. I am working on this and welcome any ideas. DK

3-20-09 Equinox and Solstice entries have been adjusted to allow for both northern and southern hemispheres.

3-10-09 As of 9:30 am DST the editing of calendars 2009-2019 is complete. This does not mean that all errors have been discovered and corrected. A most likely error is multiple listing of a sacred day in a year. The titles are not totally consistent in that spellings vary and decisions on primary holy days may vary. We ask that your comments and ideas on holy days be submitted to Interfaith Calendar.

2-21-09 The basic calendars for 2009-2019 were completed this afternoon at 5:15 pm DST, USA. They have not yet been proofed so errors are yet to be corrected. Readers who find errors are asked to send an Email. Thank you!

2-17-09 Apologies to Orthodox Christians. We have now corrected the dates for Lazarus Saturday so that it appears before Palm Sunday rather than Easter Sunday.

2-6-09 Yearly calendars are now upgraded through 2015.

1-31-09  Yearly calendars are being upgraded so that 2009-2019 will all be as complete as we can make them. It has taken 15 years to get a reliable data base in place. Revisions will continue as new information arrives. Errors happen in the complexity of the calendars. We invite corrections and reactions. Email

1-14-09  The Christian Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul for 2009 was incorrect. It is now correctly shown as June 29. Calendars through 2019 now show this date correctly. Thanksgiving in both the US and Canada have been added to years 09-19 as has the National Day of Prayer, US.

12-29-08  The USA National Day of Prayer is being added to the calendar. It was declared so by an Act of Congress in 1952. It happens on the first Thursday of May each year. Christmas for Armenian Christians is on January 6. This observance is being added to the calendar.

12-24-08  Calendar Credibility is a new addition to this site. School Districts that wish to use the Calendar as a primary site to determine employee no work days and also to determine when students are to have religious days off need to know the reliability of the information. This page gives facts that can help users to know who authors the site and something of  his background and qualifications.

12-18-08  A category of "Green" Sites is now added to ResourceSites.htm page of the Calendar.  With the rising interest in eco-friendly products this Interfaith Calendar is the right place for companies and firms with a earth friendly conscious to place their links. All the religions with which I am acquainted value caring for the created world.

12-10-08  The issue of using "Peace Be Upon Him" (PBUH) after the names of Muhammad and the other prophets of Islam in statements specifically regarding Islam is being addressed. The policy of the BBC* is being used in this change which does not directly affect the calendar but does come in sections given over to describing Islam. My understanding is that when the Prophets name is written Muslims add the initials pubh after the phrase Peace Be Upon Him. "When the site refers to the Prophet on pages that are not in the Islam section, we do not use the phrase. The phrase is only used on the first occurrence of the Prophet's name, and not throughout each article." bbc.co.uk/religion

11-22-08  The issue of including Kwanzaa in the Interfaith Calendar has been raised by Tracy of Waterloo, Iowa, USA. Kwanza is not included in the Interfaith Calendar because several sources have informed me that it has no originating connection with a religious body. Local groups use Kwanzaa for their purposes but to my knowledge it does not appear on any official religious body calendar so I treat it as a civil community observance. I am open to counsel on this matter.  email

10-24-08 Reformation Day problem. The perpetual date for Reformation Day is October 31 but the generally observed date is the last Sunday in October. Both dates are now on the 2008 calendar. I have not yet decided about showing both dates for all years because of the precedent it may set. The issue was called to my attention by a Student Advisor at the Clayton Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources at the U of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada.

9-2-08 Hindu holy days added to 2010 and 2011 calendars.

8-30-08  Baha'i date for Birth of the B'ab was mistakenly listed twice in 2008 and 2009 calendars. The correct date is October 20. A spelling correction was made for Ganesha Chaturthi.

8-19-08  Reformation Day corrections are made for 2008 and 2009. This is a Protestant Christian date which has two commonly accepted dates - I have chosen to use the observed date which is the Sunday before the technical date.

8-13-08  Google Translation technology is being applied to some of the site pages. The mechanical equipment does not handle some religious words well. Since I do not read all 24 of the translated language it will take counsel from those who speak various languages to let me know how this service a works. Send email to info@interfaithcalendar.org

8-8-08     Islamic calendar upgrading continues. Nearly all Islamic dates will have the ** notation indicating that moonsightings in various parts of the world can adjust calendar dates near to this calendar given date.

6-21-08  Several Islamic accuracy changes have been made in 2009 plus calendars.

4-25-08  Accuracy Inventory of 2009 completed. A number of additions and adjustments.  More to come.

4-23-08 Accuracy Inventory of 2008 adds October 29 as Baha'i Birth of the Bab; December 7 as Islamic Waqf al Arafa; and Shinto is added to the July 13-16 listing for Obon. Lailat al miraj is on July 31. Assumption of the Virgin Mary is on August 15.

3-6-08  Date corrections on 2008 Christian dates: Pentecost is May 11; Trinity is May 18; Corpus Christi is May 22. They were mistakenly listed in both May and June.

12-20-07   The Spanish Language print out page is back. In order to avoid grammar and meaning difficulties this version will include on the date, the name of the holy day, and the source religion.

11-27-07  Jewish Calendar 2008 corrections for Lag B'Omer and Pesach conclusion.

11-23-07  The Spanish Language print out page will be discontinued until proper translation services can be obtained. Machine translation does not deal with the nuances of religious expressions or the details of proper grammar. An alternative action  for viewers is to go to language translation services such as the Google website, enter the English format and request English to Spanish being aware of the shortcomings noted above.

11-19-07  Saint Nicholas Day added to 2007-17 calendars.

11-9-07  2009 calendar is now revised.

10-29-07 Quds Day - In the light of further research including contact with Muslim leadership in the Minnesota metro area and Palestinian sources in Jerusalem it is apparent that Quds Day is primarily a political based observance. It will not be included in the Interfaith Calendar listing.

10-26-07  Thanksgiving in Canada has been added to the 2008-2011 calendars on the second Monday of October. It is an interfaith observance.

10-24-07 Quds Day Question is raised as to why this Muslim Holy Day is not on the interfaith calendar pages. Several years ago serious question was raised about the day since it relates to the tensions between Muslim and Jewish peoples and some see it as a civic observance. Now I receive arguments that it should be included since it promotes a human rights issue. As this issue is addressed I will appreciate input from interested parties. Contact me at info@interfaithcalendar.org

10-3-07  2008 Calendar accuracy review with Jain and Rastafarian additions.

9-28-07 Chinese Taoist Moon Cake festival added to 2008 September listing.

9-27-07  Equinox and Solstice dates through 2017 are now accurate. A helpful source is at Vanderbilt University - http://brahms.phy.vanderbilt.edu/a201/usno_earth_perihelia.html