SHAMROCK NEATWAY EASTER BUCKET pink Scandinavia Norwegian Spring lamb bunny RARE

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Seller: sidewaysstairsco ✉️ (1,180) 100%, Location: Santa Ana, California, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 195684331618 SHAMROCK NEATWAY EASTER BUCKET pink Scandinavia Norwegian Spring lamb bunny RARE. Check out our store for more great new and used items! FOR SALE: A vintage, springtime collectible featuring adorable vignettes SHAMROCK NEATWAY CO. SCANDINAVIAN EASTER BUCKET W/ HANDLE DETAILS: For all your Easter egg collecting needs! This wonderfully whimsical Shamrock Neatway Co. plastic bucket with handle features the cutest screen-printed Scandinavian springtime scenes. All around the bucket you'll notice various forms of life: 2 lovely little girls, a couple of lamb (or sheep) wandering, a peep of chickens being feed, a pair of soaring chicks (or birds), the yellowest set of sitting ducks in a pond, one yellow and one white fluffy rabbit, and there's even a few insects - a bee, a butterfly, and a dragonfly. Can we talk about the color of the bucket? That pink is so pretty and enchanting. Some will say it's just pale pink but we say it's like a '90s Barbie pink but warmer, or a deep powder pink or cotton candy mixed with salmon pink. However you describe it it's also beautiful. One thing was unclear to us for a while in regards to the artwork - where are the girls supposed to be or where are they from if this product was made in the U.S.A.? This Easter or Spring-themed bucket is a high quality product that was manufactured in Minneapolis, Minnesota so why Scandinavian Spring vignettes? Today we learned that Minnesota has the largest population of Norwegians and Swedes outside of Scandinavia, making the traditional Norwegian dresses the girls are wearing make so much more sense as they don't appear to be traditional style American dresses. So we have a Scandinavian Spring-themed pink plastic Easter bucket made in the United States likely by an outstanding Nordic worker. Use as the main part of a centerpiece in your springtime decorated home, hunt for eggs and keep them safe, carry collected flowers or harvested goods, or fill with Easter grass and gifts and give to someone special. Dimensions: Height: approx. 6.5" Rim Diameter: approx. 8.5" A rare Easter find! If you do the searching yourself you'll find very little in regards to the history of Shamrock Neatway Co. as operation was closed many years ago and current documentation is insufficient. That said, it's evident that Shamrock Neatway Co. (AKA Shamrock Plastics) designed, manufactured, and sold fantastic, quality made-in-the-USA products and was likely owned by an ambitious Scandinavian immigrant . Through the groovy, design-forward '60s and '70s Shamrock Neatway created a variety of sturdy, useful, and fun-colored molded plastic products for the kitchen and home. Though Shamrock Plastics was relatively impermanent they made an impact with their limited Nordic-inspired designs and products because consumers are still seeking out their awesome creations today - making Shamrock Neatway a sought after and collectible vintage brand. CONDITION: In very good, pre-owned condition. The bucket has acquired some visible wear but for being about 60 years old it looks great. Please see photos. To ensure safe delivery all items are carefully packaged before shipping out. THANK YOU FOR LOOKING. QUESTIONS? JUST ASK. *ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF SIDEWAYS STAIRS CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.* "Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of the term varies according to local climate, cultures and customs. When it is spring in the Northern Hemisphere, it is autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. At the spring (or vernal) equinox, days and nights are approximately twelve hours long, with daytime length increasing and nighttime length decreasing as the season progresses until the Summer Solstice in June (Northern Hemisphere) and December (Southern Hemisphere). Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and also to ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth. Subtropical and tropical areas have climates better described in terms of other seasons, e.g. dry or wet, monsoonal or cyclonic. Cultures may have local names for seasons which have little equivalence to the terms originating in Europe. Meteorological reckoning Further information: Meteorological seasons Meteorologists generally define four seasons in many climatic areas: spring, summer, autumn (fall), and winter. These are determined by the values of their average temperatures on a monthly basis, with each season lasting three months. The three warmest months are by definition summer, the three coldest months are winter, and the intervening gaps are spring and autumn. Meteorological spring can therefore, start on different dates in different regions. In the US and UK, spring months are March, April, and May.[1][2] In Ireland, following the Irish calendar, spring is often defined as February, March, and April.[3][4] In Sweden, meteorologists define the beginning of spring as the first occasion on which the average 24 hours temperature exceeds zero degrees Celsius for seven consecutive days, thus the date varies with latitude and elevation (but no earlier than 15th Feb, and no later than 31st July).[5] In Australia, the spring months are September, October, and November.[6] In New Zealand, spring begins on 22nd or 23rd of September and ends on 21 December.[7][8] In Brazil, spring months are September, October, November. Astronomical and solar reckoning In the Northern Hemisphere (e.g. Germany, the United States, Canada, and the UK),[9] the astronomical vernal equinox (varying between 19 and 21 March) can be taken to mark the first day of spring with the summer solstice (around 21 June) marked as first day of summer. By solar reckoning[citation needed], Spring is held to begin 1 February until the first day of Summer on May Day, with the summer solstice being marked as Midsummer instead of the beginning of Summer as with astronomical reckoning. In Persian culture the first day of spring is the first day of the first month (called Farvardin) which begins on 20 or 21 March. In the traditional Chinese calendar, the "spring" season (春) consists of the days between Lichun (3–5 February), taking Chunfen (20–22 March) as its midpoint, then ending at Lixia (5–7 May). Similarly, according to the Celtic tradition, which is based solely on daylight and the strength of the noon sun, spring begins in early February (near Imbolc or Candlemas) and continues until early May (Beltane). The spring season in India is culturally in the months of March and April, with an average temperature of approx 32 °C.[10] Some people in India especially from Karnataka state celebrate their new year in spring, Ugadi. Ecological reckoning The beginning of spring is not always determined by fixed calendar dates. The phenological or ecological definition of spring relates to biological indicators, such as the blossoming of a range of plant species, the activities of animals, and the special smell of soil that has reached the temperature for micro flora to flourish. These indicators, along with the beginning of spring, vary according to the local climate and according to the specific weather of a particular year.[citation needed] In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the National Trust runs the #BlossomWatch campaign, which encourages people to share images of blossom with one another, as an early indicator of the arrival of the season.[11] Some ecologists divide the year into six seasons. In addition to spring, ecological reckoning identifies an earlier separate prevernal (early or pre-spring) season between the hibernal (winter) and vernal (spring) seasons. This is a time when only the hardiest flowers like the crocus are in bloom, sometimes while there is still some snowcover on the ground.[12] Natural events Hundreds of sour cherry blooming in Extremadura, Spain, during spring Late April in the Alps. At high elevations[13] (or latitudes),[14] spring is often the snowiest period of the year. A willow in Stockholm in April 2016 Sowing at spring in Estonia During early spring, the axis of the Earth is increasing its tilt relative to the Sun, and the length of daylight rapidly increases for the relevant hemisphere. The hemisphere begins to warm significantly, causing new plant growth to "spring forth," giving the season its name.[15] Any snow begins to melt, swelling streams with runoff and any frosts become less severe. In climates that have no snow, and rare frosts, air and ground temperatures increase more rapidly. Many flowering plants bloom at this time of year, in a long succession, sometimes beginning when snow is still on the ground and continuing into early summer.[16] In normally snowless areas, "spring" may begin as early as February (Northern Hemisphere) or August (Southern Hemisphere), heralded by the blooming of deciduous magnolias, cherries, and quince.[17] Many temperate areas have a dry spring, and wet autumn (fall), which brings about flowering in this season, more consistent with the need for water, as well as warmth. Subarctic areas may not experience "spring" at all until May. While spring is a result of the warmth caused by the changing orientation of the Earth's axis relative to the Sun, the weather in many parts of the world is affected by other, less predictable events. The rainfall in spring (or any season) follows trends more related to longer cycles—such as the solar cycle—or events created by ocean currents and ocean temperatures—for example, the El Niño effect and the Southern Oscillation Index. Unstable spring weather may occur more often when warm air begins to invade from lower latitudes, while cold air is still pushing from the Polar regions. Flooding is also most common in and near mountainous areas during this time of year, because of snow-melt which is accelerated by warm rains. In North America, Tornado Alley is most active at this time of year, especially since the Rocky Mountains prevent the surging hot and cold air masses from spreading eastward, and instead force them into direct conflict. Besides tornadoes, supercell thunderstorms can also produce dangerously large hail and very high winds, for which a severe thunderstorm warning or tornado warning is usually issued. Even more so than in winter, the jet streams play an important role in unstable and severe Northern Hemisphere weather in springtime.[18] In recent decades, season creep has been observed, which means that many phenological signs of spring are occurring earlier in many regions by around two days per decade.[citation needed] Spring in the Southern Hemisphere is different in several significant ways to that of the Northern Hemisphere for several reasons, including:     There is no land bridge between Southern Hemisphere countries and the Antarctic zone capable of bringing in cold air without the temperature-mitigating effects of extensive tracts of water;     The vastly greater amount of ocean in the Southern Hemisphere at most latitudes;     There is a circumpolar flow of air (the roaring 40s and 50s) uninterrupted by large land masses;     No equivalent jet streams; and     The peculiarities of the reversing ocean currents in the Pacific.[19] Cultural associations Holi in Nepal Carnival Main article: Carnival Further information: Mardi Gras Carnival is practiced by many Christians around the world in the days before Lent (40 days, without Sundays, before Easter). It is the first spring festival of the new year for many.[20] Easter Main article: Easter Easter procession, commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus Easter is the most important religious feast in the Christian liturgical year.[21] Christians believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the "third day"[note 1] (two days after his crucifixion), and celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day, two days after Good Friday. Since the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, the date of Easter can be calculated as the first Sunday after the start of Passover. This is usually (see Passover below) the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. The date of Easter varies between 22 March and 25 April (which corresponds to between 4 April and 8 May in the Gregorian Calendar for the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches using the Julian Calendar). In this celebration, the children do an easter egg hunt. May Day Main article: May Day Further information: Beltane The First of May is the date of many public holidays.[22] In many countries, May Day is synonymous with International Workers' Day, or Labour Day, which celebrates the social and economic achievements of the labour movement. As a day of celebration, the holiday has ancient origins, and it can relate to many customs that have survived into modern times. Many of these customs are due to May Day being a cross-quarter day, meaning that (in the Northern Hemisphere where it is almost exclusively celebrated) it falls approximately halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. In the Celtic tradition, this date marked the end of spring and the beginning of summer. Passover Main article: Passover The Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan, which typically falls in March or April of the Gregorian calendar on the night of a full moon after the northern spring equinox.[23] However, due to leap months falling after the vernal equinox, Passover sometimes starts on the second full moon after vernal equinox, as in 2016. Jews celebrate this holiday to commemorate their escape from slavery in Egypt as described in the book of Exodus in the Torah. Foods consumed during Passover seders, such as lamb and barley, are tied to springtime seasonal availability. In this celebration, children recite the Four Questions during the seder and hunt for the afikoman afterwards. Allhallowtide The Western Christian season encompassing the triduum of All Saints' Eve (Halloween), All Saints' Day (All Hallows') and All Souls' Day are observed in the spring in the Southern hemisphere." (wikipedia.org) "The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behavior at the start of the season of Eastertide,[1] similar to the "naughty or nice" list made by Santa Claus. As part of the legend, the creature carries colored eggs in its basket, as well as candy, and sometimes toys, to the homes of children. As such, the Easter Bunny again shows similarities to Santa (or the Christkind) and Christmas by bringing gifts to children on the night before a holiday. The custom was first[2][unreliable source?] mentioned in Georg Franck von Franckenau's De ovis paschalibus[3] ('About Easter eggs') in 1682, referring to a German tradition of an Easter Hare bringing eggs for the children. Symbols Rabbits and hares Inflatable Easter Bunny in front of San Francisco City Hall The hare was a popular motif in medieval church art. In ancient times, it was widely believed (as by Pliny, Plutarch, Philostratus, and Aelian) that the hare was a hermaphrodite.[4][5][6] The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary, with hares sometimes occurring in illuminated manuscripts and Northern European paintings of the Virgin and Christ Child. It may also have been associated with the Holy Trinity, as in the three hares motif.[4][7][unreliable source?][8] Eggs Main articles: Easter egg and Egg decorating Eggs have been used as fertility symbols since antiquity.[9] Eggs became a symbol in Christianity associated with rebirth as early as the 1st century AD, via the iconography of the Phoenix egg, and they became associated with Easter specifically in medieval Europe, when eating them was prohibited during the fast of Lent. A common practice in England at that time was for children to go door-to-door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children prior to their fast.[10] As a special dish, eggs would probably have been decorated as part of the Easter celebrations. Later, German Protestants retained the custom of eating colored eggs for Easter, though they did not continue the tradition of fasting.[11] Eggs boiled with some flowers change their color, bringing the spring into the homes, and some over time added the custom of decorating the eggs.[12] Many Christians of the Eastern Orthodox Church to this day typically dye their Easter eggs red,[13] the color of blood, in recognition of the blood of the sacrificed Christ (and, of the renewal of life in springtime). Some also use the color green, in honor of the new foliage emerging after the long-dead time of winter. The Ukrainian art of decorating eggs for Easter, known as pysanky, dates to ancient, pre-Christian times. Similar variants of this form of artwork are seen amongst other eastern and central European cultures.[14] The idea of an egg-giving hare went to the U.S. in the 18th century. Protestant German immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area told their children about the "Osterhase" (sometimes spelled "Oschter Haws"[15]). Hase means "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is a hare. According to the legend, only good children received gifts of colored eggs in the nests that they made in their caps and bonnets before Easter.[16] Gallery     Dreihasenfenster ('Window of Three Hares') in Paderborn Cathedral in Paderborn, Germany     Dreihasenfenster ('Window of Three Hares') in Paderborn Cathedral in Paderborn, Germany     Easter bunnies and Easter eggs as Easter biscuits     Easter bunnies and Easter eggs as Easter biscuits     Marshmallow bunnies and candy eggs in an Easter basket     Marshmallow bunnies and candy eggs in an Easter basket     A real live bunny with decorated Easter eggs     A real live bunny with decorated Easter eggs     Chocolate Easter bunnies     Chocolate Easter bunnies     Chocolate Easter Bunny molds from Alsace Musée du pain d'épices     Chocolate Easter Bunny molds from Alsace Musée du pain d'épices Alleged association with Ēostre In a publication from 1874 German philologist Adolf Holtzmann stated "The Easter Hare is unintelligible to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara".[17] The connection between Easter and that goddess had been made by Jacob Grimm in his 1835 Deutsche Mythologie.[18] This proposed association was repeated by other authors including Charles Isaac Elton[19] and Charles J. Billson.[20] In 1961 Christina Hole wrote, "The hare was the sacred beast of Eastre (or Ēostre), a Saxon goddess of Spring and of the dawn."[21][page needed] The belief that Ēostre had a hare companion who became the Easter Bunny was popularized when it was presented as fact in the BBC documentary Shadow of the Hare (1993).[22] The Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore however states "... there is no shred of evidence" that hares were sacred to Ēostre, noting that Bede does not associate her with any animal." (wikipedia.org) "In art, literature, and culture Main article: Rabbits and hares in art     This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Rabbits are often used as a symbol of fertility or rebirth, and have long been associated with spring and Easter as the Easter Bunny. The species' role as a prey animal with few defenses evokes vulnerability and innocence, and in folklore and modern children's stories, rabbits often appear as sympathetic characters, able to connect easily with youth of all kinds (for example, the Velveteen Rabbit, or Thumper in Bambi). With its reputation as a prolific breeder, the rabbit juxtaposes sexuality with innocence, as in the Playboy Bunny. The rabbit (as a swift prey animal) is also known for its speed, agility, and endurance, symbolized (for example) by the marketing icons the Energizer Bunny and the Duracell Bunny. Folklore Main article: List of fictional hares and rabbits The rabbit often appears in folklore as the trickster archetype, as he uses his cunning to outwit his enemies.     In Aztec mythology, a pantheon of four hundred rabbit gods known as Centzon Totochtin, led by Ometochtli or Two Rabbit, represented fertility, parties, and drunkenness.     In Central Africa, the common hare (Kalulu), is "inevitably described" as a trickster figure.[78]     In Chinese folklore, rabbits accompany Chang'e on the Moon. In the Chinese New Year, the zodiacal rabbit is one of the twelve celestial animals in the Chinese zodiac. Note that the Vietnamese zodiac includes a zodiacal cat in place of the rabbit, possibly because rabbits did not inhabit Vietnam.[citation needed] The most common explanation is that the ancient Vietnamese word for "rabbit" (mao) sounds like the Chinese word for "cat" (卯, mao).[79]     In Japanese tradition, rabbits live on the Moon where they make mochi, the popular snack of mashed sticky rice. This comes from interpreting the pattern of dark patches on the moon as a rabbit standing on tiptoes on the left pounding on an usu, a Japanese mortar.     In Jewish folklore, rabbits (shfanim שפנים) are associated with cowardice, a usage still current in contemporary Israeli spoken Hebrew (similar to the English colloquial use of "chicken" to denote cowardice).     In Korean mythology, as in Japanese, rabbits live on the moon making rice cakes ("Tteok" in Korean).     In Anishinaabe traditional beliefs, held by the Ojibwe and some other Native American peoples, Nanabozho, or Great Rabbit, is an important deity related to the creation of the world.     A Vietnamese mythological story portrays the rabbit of innocence and youthfulness. The gods of the myth are shown to be hunting and killing rabbits to show off their power.     Buddhism, Christianity, and Judaism have associations with an ancient circular motif called the three rabbits (or "three hares"). Its meaning ranges from "peace and tranquility", to purity or the Holy Trinity, to Kabbalistic levels of the soul or to the Jewish diaspora. The tripartite symbol also appears in heraldry and even tattoos. The rabbit as trickster is a part of American popular culture, as Br'er Rabbit (from African-American folktales and, later, Disney animation) and Bugs Bunny (the cartoon character from Warner Bros.), for example. Anthropomorphized rabbits have appeared in film and literature, in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (the White Rabbit and the March Hare characters), in Watership Down (including the film and television adaptations), in Rabbit Hill (by Robert Lawson), and in the Peter Rabbit stories (by Beatrix Potter). In the 1920s Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was a popular cartoon character. A rabbit's foot may be carried as an amulet, believed to bring protection and good luck. This belief is found in many parts of the world, with the earliest use being recorded in Europe c. 600 BC.[80] On the Isle of Portland in Dorset, UK, the rabbit is said to be unlucky and even speaking the creature's name can cause upset among older island residents. This is thought to date back to early times in the local quarrying industry where (to save space) extracted stones that were not fit for sale were set aside in what became tall, unstable walls. The local rabbits' tendency to burrow there would weaken the walls and their collapse resulted in injuries or even death. Thus, invoking the name of the culprit became an unlucky act to be avoided. In the local culture to this day, the rabbit (when he has to be referred to) may instead be called a “long ears” or “underground mutton”, so as not to risk bringing a downfall upon oneself.[81] While it was true 50 years ago[when?] that a pub on the island could be emptied by calling out the word "rabbit", this has become more fable than fact in modern times.[citation needed] In other parts of Britain and in North America, invoking the rabbit's name may instead bring good luck. "Rabbit rabbit rabbit" is one variant of an apotropaic or talismanic superstition that involves saying or repeating the word "rabbit" (or "rabbits" or "white rabbits" or some combination thereof) out loud upon waking on the first day of each month, because doing so will ensure good fortune for the duration of that month." (wikipedia.org) "Rabbits and hares (Leporidae) are common motifs in the visual arts, with variable mythological and artistic meanings in different cultures. The rabbit as well as the hare have been associated with moon deities and may signify rebirth or resurrection.[1] They may also be symbols of fertility or sensuality, and they appear in depictions of hunting and spring scenes in the Labours of the Months. Judaism The rabbit as a gift in courtship, exterior detail of a red-figure kylix, (Athens c. 480 BC) In Judaism, the rabbit is considered an unclean animal, because "though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof."[2][note 1] This led to derogatory statements in the Christian art of the Middle Ages, and to an ambiguous interpretation of the rabbit's symbolism. The "shafan" in Hebrew has symbolic meaning. Although rabbits were a non-kosher animal in the Bible, positive symbolic connotations were sometimes noted, as for lions and eagles. 16th century German scholar Rabbi Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, saw the rabbits as a symbol of the Diaspora. In any case, a three hares motif was a prominent part of many Synagogues.[1][3] Classical Antiquity In Classical Antiquity, the hare, because it was prized as a hunting quarry, was seen as the epitome of the hunted creature that could survive only by prolific breeding. Herodotus,[4] Aristotle, Pliny and Claudius Aelianus all described the rabbit as one of the most fertile of animals. It thus became a symbol of vitality, sexual desire and fertility. The hare served as an attribute of Aphrodite and as a gift between lovers. In late antiquity it was used as a symbol of good luck and in connection with ancient burial traditions. Christian art Venus, Mars and Cupid by Piero di Cosimo, a Cupid lying on Venus clings to a white rabbit. In Early Christian art, hares appeared on reliefs, epitaphs, icons and oil lamps although their significance is not always clear. The Physiologus, a resource for medieval artists, states that when in danger the rabbit seeks safety by climbing high up rocky cliffs, but when running back down, because of its short front legs, it is quickly caught by its predators.[5] Likewise, according to the teaching of St. Basil, men should seek his salvation in the rock of Christ, rather than descending to seek worldly things and falling into the hands of the devil. The negative view of the rabbit as an unclean animal, which derived from the Old Testament, always remained present for medieval artists and their patrons. Thus the rabbit can have a negative connotation of unbridled sexuality and lust or a positive meaning as a symbol of the steep path to salvation. Whether a representation of a hare in Medieval art represents man falling to his doom or striving for his eternal salvation is therefore open to interpretation, depending on context. The three hares at Paderborn Cathedral The Hasenfenster (hare windows) in Paderborn Cathedral and in the Muotathal Monastery in Switzerland, in which three hares are depicted with only three ears between them, forming a triangle, can be seen as a symbol of the Trinity, and probably go back to an old symbol for the passage of time. Though they have six ears, the three hares shown in Albrecht Dürer's woodcut, The Holy Family with Three Hares (1497), can also be seen as a symbol of the Trinity.[citation needed] The idea of rabbits as a symbol of vitality, rebirth and resurrection derives from antiquity. This explains their role in connection with Easter, the resurrection of Christ. The unusual presentation in Christian iconography of a Madonna with the Christ Child playing with a white rabbit in Titian's Madonna of the Rabbit can thus be interpreted Christologically. Together with the basket of bread and wine, a symbol of the sacrificial death of Christ, the picture may be interpreted as the resurrection of Christ after death. The phenomenon of superfetation, where embryos from different menstrual cycles are present in the uterus, results in hares and rabbits being able to give birth seemingly without having been impregnated, which caused them to be seen as symbols of virginity.[6] Rabbits also live underground, an echo of the tomb of Christ. Titian, Madonna of the Rabbit, Paris, Louvre, c. 1530 As a symbol of fertility, white rabbits appear on a wing of the high altar in Freiburg Minster. They are playing at the feet of two pregnant women, Mary and Elizabeth. Martin Schongauer's engraving Jesus after the Temptation (1470) shows nine (three times three) rabbits at the feet of Jesus Christ, which can be seen as a sign of extreme vitality. In contrast, the tiny squashed rabbits at the base of the columns in Jan van Eyck's Rolin Madonna symbolize "Lust", as part of a set of references in the painting to all the Seven Deadly Sins.[7] St. Jerome Reading in the Countryside, by Giovanni Bellini, with a white hare, 1505 Hunting scenes in the sacred context can be understood as the pursuit of good through evil. In the Romanesque sculpture (c. 1135) in the Königslutter imperial Cathedral, a hare pursued by a hunter symbolises the human soul seeking to escape persecution by the devil. Another painting, Hares Catch the Hunters, shows the triumph of good over evil. Alternatively, when an eagle pursues the hare, the eagle can be seen as symbolizing Christ and the hare, uncleanliness and the evil's terror in the face of the light. In Christian iconography, the hare is an attribute of Saint Martin of Tours and Saint Alberto di Siena, because legend has it that both protected hares from persecution by dogs and hunters. They are also an attribute of the patron saint of Spanish hunters, Olegarius of Barcelona. White hares and rabbits were sometimes the symbols of chastity and purity.[8] In secular art Hunting still life with lap dog and monkey by Jan Weenix, 1714 Hare flask by German glassworks, 18th century, National Museum in Warsaw In non-religious art of the modern era, the rabbit appears in the same context as in antiquity: as prey for the hunter, or representing spring or autumn, as well as an attribute of Venus and a symbol of physical love. In cycles of the Labours of the Months, rabbits frequently appear in the spring months. In Francesco del Cossa's painting of April in the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara, Italy, Venus' children, surrounded by a flock of white rabbits, symbolize love and fertility. In Italian Renaissance and Baroque art, rabbits are depicted more often than hares. In an allegory on lust by Pisanello, a naked woman lies on a couch with a rabbit at her feet. Pinturicchio's scene of Susanna in the Bath is displayed in the Vatican's Borgia Apartment. Here, each of the two old men are accompanied by a pair of hares or rabbits, clearly indicating wanton lust. In Piero di Cosimo's painting of Venus and Mars, a cupid resting on Venus clings to a white rabbit for similar reasons. Still lifes in Dutch Golden Age painting and their Flemish equivalents often included a moralizing element which was understood by their original viewers without assistance: fish and meat can allude to religious dietary precepts, fish indicating fasting while great piles of meat indicate voluptas carnis (lusts of the flesh), especially if lovers are also depicted. Rabbits and birds, perhaps in the company of carrots and other phallic symbols, were easily understood by contemporary viewers in the same sense. As small animals with fur, hares and rabbits allowed the artist to showcase his ability in painting this difficult material. Dead hares appear in the works of the earliest painter of still life collections of foodstuffs in a kitchen setting, Frans Snyders, and remain a common feature, very often sprawling hung up by a rear leg, in the works of Jan Fyt, Adriaen van Utrecht and many other specialists in the genre. By the end of the 17th century, the grander subgenre of the hunting trophy still life appeared, now set outdoors, as though at the back door of a palace or hunting lodge. Hares (but rarely rabbits) continued to feature in the works of the Dutch and Flemish originators of the genre, and later French painters like Jean-Baptiste Oudry.[9] From the Middle Ages until modern times, the right to hunt was a vigorously defended privilege of the ruling classes. Hunting Still lifes, often in combination with hunting equipment, adorn the rooms of baroque palaces, indicating the rank and prestige of their owners. Jan Weenix' painting shows a still life reminiscent of a trophy case with birds and small game, fine fruits, a pet dog and a pet monkey, arranged in front of a classicising garden sculpture with the figure of Hercules and an opulent palace in the background. The wealth and luxurious lifestyle of the patron or owner is clearly shown. The children's tales of the English author Beatrix Potter, illustrated by herself, include several titles featuring the badly behaved Peter Rabbit and other rabbit characters, including her first and most successful book The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902), followed by The Tale of Benjamin Bunny (1904), and The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies (1909). Potter's anthropomorphic clothed rabbits are probably the most familiar artistic rabbits in the English-speaking world, no doubt influenced by illustrations by John Tenniel of the White Rabbit in Lewis Carroll's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Joseph Beuys, who always finds a place for a rabbit in his works, sees it as symbolizing resurrection. In the context of his action "How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare", he stated that the rabbit "...has a direct relationship to birth... For me, the rabbit is the symbol of incarnation. Because the rabbit shows in reality what man can only show in his thoughts. He buries himself, he buries himself in a depression. He incarnates himself in the earth, and that alone is important." Masquerade (book) (1979), written and illustrated by the artist Kit Williams, is ostensibly a children's book, but contains elaborate clues to the location of a jewelled golden hare, also made by Williams, which he had buried at the location in England to which the clues in the book led. The hare was not found until 1982, in what later emerged as dubious circumstances. The Welsh sculptor Barry Flanagan (1944-2009) was best known for his energetic bronzes of hares, which he produced throughout his career. Many have a comic element, and the length and thinness of the hare's body is often exaggerated. Dürer's Young Hare Young Hare, by Albrecht Dürer (1502) Wolpertinger (2005), in the style of Albrecht Dürer Probably one of the most famous depictions of an animal in the history of European art is the painting Young Hare by Albrecht Dürer, completed in 1502 and now preserved in the Albertina in Vienna. Dürer's watercolor is seen in the context of his other nature studies, such as his almost equally famous Meadow or his Bird Wings. He chose to paint these in watercolor or gouache, striving for the highest possible precision and "realistic" representation. The hare pictured by Dürer probably does not have a symbolic meaning, but it does have an exceptional reception history. Reproductions of Dürer's Hare have often been a permanent component of bourgeois living rooms in Germany. The image has been printed in textbooks; published in countless reproductions; embossed in copper, wood or stone; represented three-dimensionally in plastic or plaster; encased in plexiglas; painted on ostrich eggs; printed on plastic bags; surreally distorted in Hasengiraffe ("Haregiraffe") by Martin Missfeldt;[10] reproduced as a joke by Fluxus artists;[11] and cast in gold; or sold cheaply in galleries and at art fairs Since early 2000, Ottmar Hörl has created several works based on Dürer's Hare, including a giant pink version.[12] Sigmar Polke has also engaged with the hare on paper or textiles, or as part of his installations,[13] and even in rubber band form.[14] Dieter Roth's Köttelkarnikel ("Turd Bunny") is a copy of Dürer's Hare made from rabbit droppings,[15] and Klaus Staeck enclosed one in a little wooden box, with a cutout hole, so that it could look out and breathe. Dürer's Hare has even inspired a depiction of the mythological Wolpertinger." (wikipedia.org) "Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). Oryctolagus cuniculus includes the European rabbit species and its descendants, the world's 305 breeds[1] of domestic rabbit. Sylvilagus includes 13 wild rabbit species, among them the seven types of cottontail. The European rabbit, which has been introduced on every continent except Antarctica, is familiar throughout the world as a wild prey animal and as a domesticated form of livestock and pet. With its widespread effect on ecologies and cultures, the rabbit is, in many areas of the world, a part of daily life—as food, clothing, a companion, and a source of artistic inspiration. Although once considered rodents, lagomorphs like rabbits have been discovered to have diverged separately and earlier than their rodent cousins and have a number of traits rodents lack, like two extra incisors. Terminology and etymology A male rabbit is called a buck; a female is called a doe. An older term for an adult rabbit used until the 18th century is coney (derived ultimately from the Latin cuniculus), while rabbit once referred only to the young animals.[2] Another term for a young rabbit is bunny, though this term is often applied informally (particularly by children) to rabbits generally, especially domestic ones. More recently, the term kit or kitten has been used to refer to a young rabbit. A group of rabbits is known as a colony or nest (or, occasionally, a warren, though this more commonly refers to where the rabbits live).[3] A group of baby rabbits produced from a single mating is referred to as a litter[4] and a group of domestic rabbits living together is sometimes called a herd.[5] The word rabbit itself derives from the Middle English rabet, a borrowing from the Walloon robète, which was a diminutive of the French or Middle Dutch robbe.[6] Taxonomy See also: List of leporids Rabbits and hares were formerly classified in the order Rodentia (rodent) until 1912, when they were moved into a new order, Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas).... Differences from hares Main article: Hare Hare Johann Daniel Meyer (1748) Rabbit Johann Daniel Meyer (1748) The term rabbit is typically used for all Leporidae species excluding the genus Lepus. Members of that genus are instead known as hares or jackrabbits. Lepus species are typically precocial, born relatively mature and mobile with hair and good vision, while rabbit species are altricial, born hairless and blind, and requiring closer care. Hares live a relatively solitary life in a simple nest above the ground, while most rabbits live in social groups in burrows or warrens. Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with ears that are more elongated, and with hind legs that are larger and longer. Descendants of the European rabbit are commonly bred as livestock and kept as pets, whereas no hares have been domesticated – the breed called the Belgian hare is actually a domestic rabbit which has been selectively bred to resemble a hare." (wikipedia.org) "A bucket is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone or square, with an open top and a flat bottom, attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the bail.[1][2] A bucket is usually an open-top container. In contrast, a pail can have a top or lid and is a shipping container. In common usage, the two terms are often used interchangeably. Types and uses A number of bucket types exist, used for a variety of purposes. Though most of these are functional purposes, a number, including those constructed from precious metals, are used for ceremonial purposes.... nglish language phrases and idioms The bucket has been used in many phrases and idioms in the English language,[5] some of which are regional or specific to the use of English in different English-speaking countries.     Kick the bucket: an informal term referring to someone's death     Drop the bucket on: to implicate a person in something (from Australian slang)     A drop in the bucket: a small, inadequate amount in relation to how much is requested or asked, taken from the biblical Book of Isaiah, chapter 40, verse 15[citation needed]     Bucket list: a list of activities an individual wishes to undertake before death." (wikipedia.org) "Cottontail rabbits are the leporid species in the genus Sylvilagus, found in the Americas.[1] Most Sylvilagus species have stub tails with white undersides that show when they retreat, giving them their characteristic name. However, this feature is not present in all cottontails nor is it unique to the genus. The genus is widely distributed across North America, Central America and northern and central South America, though most species are confined to some particular regions. Most species live in nests called forms, and all have altricial young. An adult female averages three litters per year, which can occur in any season; occurrence, and litter size depend on several factors including time of the year, weather, and location. The average litter size is four but can range from as few as two to as many as eight, most of whom do not go on to survive to adulthood. Cottontail rabbits show a greater resistance to myxomatosis than European rabbits.[2] Evolution Cottontails are one of several species of Sylvilagus; their closest relative is Brachylagus, the pygmy rabbit. They are more distantly related to the European and other rabbits, and more distantly still to the hares." (wikipedia.org) "Sheep or domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term sheep can apply to other species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated sheep. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Numbering a little over one billion, domestic sheep are also the most numerous species of sheep. An adult female is referred to as a ewe (/juː/), an intact male as a ram, occasionally a tup, a castrated male as a wether, and a young sheep as a lamb. Sheep are most likely descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia, with Iran being a geographic envelope of the domestication center.[1] One of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes, sheep are raised for fleeces, meat (lamb, hogget or mutton) and milk. A sheep's wool is the most widely used animal fiber, and is usually harvested by shearing. In Commonwealth countries, ovine meat is called lamb when from younger animals and mutton when from older ones; in the United States, meat from both older and younger animals is usually called lamb. Sheep continue to be important for wool and meat today, and are also occasionally raised for pelts, as dairy animals, or as model organisms for science. Sheep husbandry is practised throughout the majority of the inhabited world, and has been fundamental to many civilizations. In the modern era, Australia, New Zealand, the southern and central South American nations, and the British Isles are most closely associated with sheep production. There is a large lexicon of unique terms for sheep husbandry which vary considerably by region and dialect. Use of the word sheep began in Middle English as a derivation of the Old English word scēap; it is both the singular and plural name for the animal. A group of sheep is called a flock. Many other specific terms for the various life stages of sheep exist, generally related to lambing, shearing, and age. Being a key animal in the history of farming, sheep have a deeply entrenched place in human culture, and are represented in much modern language and symbolism. As livestock, sheep are most often associated with pastoral, Arcadian imagery. Sheep figure in many mythologies—such as the Golden Fleece—and major religions, especially the Abrahamic traditions. In both ancient and modern religious ritual, sheep are used as sacrificial animals. History Main article: History of the domestic sheep The exact line of descent from wild ancestors to domestic sheep is unclear.[2] The most common hypothesis states that Ovis aries is descended from the Asiatic (O. gmelini) species of mouflon; the European mouflon (Ovis aries musimon) is a direct descendant of this population.[3] Sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated by humankind (although the domestication of dogs probably took place 10 to 20 thousand years earlier); the domestication date is estimated to fall between 11,000 and 9,000 B.C in Mesopotamia[4][5][6][7] and possibly around 7,000 B.C. in Mehrgarh in the Indus Valley.[8][9] The rearing of sheep for secondary products, and the resulting breed development, began in either southwest Asia or western Europe.[10] Initially, sheep were kept solely for meat, milk and skins. Archaeological evidence from statuary found at sites in Iran suggests that selection for woolly sheep may have begun around 6000 BC,[3][11] and the earliest woven wool garments have been dated to two to three thousand years later.[12] Sheep husbandry spread quickly in Europe. Excavations show that in about 6000 BC, during the Neolithic period of prehistory, the Castelnovien people, living around Châteauneuf-les-Martigues near present-day Marseille in the south of France, were among the first in Europe to keep domestic sheep.[13] Practically from its inception, ancient Greek civilization relied on sheep as primary livestock, and were even said to name individual animals.[14] Ancient Romans kept sheep on a wide scale, and were an important agent in the spread of sheep raising. Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (Naturalis Historia), speaks at length about sheep and wool.[15] European colonists spread the practice to the New World from 1493 onwards.[16][17] Characteristics Domestic sheep are relatively small ruminants, usually with a crimped hair called wool and often with horns forming a lateral spiral. They differ from their wild relatives and ancestors in several respects, having become uniquely neotenic as a result of selective breeding by humans.[18][19] A few primitive breeds of sheep retain some of the characteristics of their wild cousins, such as short tails. Depending on breed, domestic sheep may have no horns at all (i.e. polled), or horns in both sexes, or in males only. Most horned breeds have a single pair, but a few breeds may have several.[16] Sheep in Turkmenistan Another trait unique to domestic sheep as compared to wild ovines is their wide variation in color. Wild sheep are largely variations of brown hues, and variation within species is extremely limited. Colors of domestic sheep range from pure white to dark chocolate brown, and even spotted or piebald.[20][21] Sheep keepers also sometimes artificially paint "smit marks" onto their sheep in any pattern or color for identification.[22] Selection for easily dyeable white fleeces began early in sheep domestication, and as white wool is a dominant trait it spread quickly. However, colored sheep do appear in many modern breeds, and may even appear as a recessive trait in white flocks.[20][21] While white wool is desirable for large commercial markets, there is a niche market for colored fleeces, mostly for handspinning.[23] The nature of the fleece varies widely among the breeds, from dense and highly crimped, to long and hairlike. There is variation of wool type and quality even among members of the same flock, so wool classing is a step in the commercial processing of the fibre. Suffolks are a medium wool, black-faced breed of meat sheep that make up 60% of the sheep population in the U.S.[24] Depending on breed, sheep show a range of heights and weights. Their rate of growth and mature weight is a heritable trait that is often selected for in breeding.[24] Ewes typically weigh between 45 and 100 kilograms (100 and 220 lb), and rams between 45 and 160 kilograms (100 and 350 lb).[25] When all deciduous teeth have erupted, the sheep has 20 teeth.[26] Mature sheep have 32 teeth. As with other ruminants, the front teeth in the lower jaw bite against a hard, toothless pad in the upper jaw. These are used to pick off vegetation, then the rear teeth grind it before it is swallowed. There are eight lower front teeth in ruminants, but there is some disagreement as to whether these are eight incisors, or six incisors and two incisor-shaped canines. This means that the dental formula for sheep is either 0.0.3.34.0.3.3 or 0.0.3.33.1.3.3 [27] There is a large diastema between the incisors and the molars. In the first few years of life one can calculate the age of sheep from their front teeth, as a pair of milk teeth is replaced by larger adult teeth each year, the full set of eight adult front teeth being complete at about four years of age. The front teeth are then gradually lost as sheep age, making it harder for them to feed and hindering the health and productivity of the animal. For this reason, domestic sheep on normal pasture begin to slowly decline from four years on, and the life expectancy of a sheep is 10 to 12 years, though some sheep may live as long as 20 years.[16][28][29] Skull Sheep have good hearing, and are sensitive to noise when being handled.[30] Sheep have horizontal slit-shaped pupils, with excellent peripheral vision; with visual fields of about 270° to 320°, sheep can see behind themselves without turning their heads.[23][31] Many breeds have only short hair on the face, and some have facial wool (if any) confined to the poll and or the area of the mandibular angle; the wide angles of peripheral vision apply to these breeds. A few breeds tend to have considerable wool on the face; for some individuals of these breeds, peripheral vision may be greatly reduced by "wool blindness", unless recently shorn about the face.[32] Sheep have poor depth perception; shadows and dips in the ground may cause sheep to baulk. In general, sheep have a tendency to move out of the dark and into well-lit areas,[33] and prefer to move uphill when disturbed. Sheep also have an excellent sense of smell, and, like all species of their genus, have scent glands just in front of the eyes, and interdigitally on the feet. The purpose of these glands is uncertain,[34] but those on the face may be used in breeding behaviors.[24] The foot glands might also be related to reproduction,[24] but alternative functions, such as secretion of a waste product or a scent marker to help lost sheep find their flock, have also been proposed.[34] Comparison with goats Sheep and goats are closely related: both are in the subfamily Caprinae. However, they are separate species, so hybrids rarely occur and are always infertile. A hybrid of a ewe and a buck (a male goat) is called a sheep-goat hybrid, known as geep. Visual differences between sheep and goats include the beard of goats and divided upper lip of sheep. Sheep tails also hang down, even when short or docked, while the short tails of goats are held upwards. Also, sheep breeds are often naturally polled (either in both sexes or just in the female), while naturally polled goats are rare (though many are polled artificially). Males of the two species differ in that buck goats acquire a unique and strong odor during the rut, whereas rams do not... Cultural impact See also: Mammals in culture, List of fictional sheep, Bellwether, and Black sheep The proverbial black sheep Sheep have had a strong presence in many cultures, especially in areas where they form the most common type of livestock. In the English language, to call someone a sheep or ovine may allude that they are timid and easily led.[168] In contradiction to this image, male sheep are often used as symbols of virility and power; the logos of the Los Angeles Rams football team and the Dodge Ram pickup truck allude to males of the bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis. Counting sheep is popularly said to be an aid to sleep, and some ancient systems of counting sheep persist today. Sheep also enter in colloquial sayings and idiom frequently with such phrases as "black sheep". To call an individual a black sheep implies that they are an odd or disreputable member of a group.[169] This usage derives from the recessive trait that causes an occasional black lamb to be born into an entirely white flock. These black sheep were considered undesirable by shepherds, as black wool is not as commercially viable as white wool.[169] Citizens who accept overbearing governments have been referred to by the Portmanteau neologism of sheeple. Somewhat differently, the adjective "sheepish" is also used to describe embarrassment.[170] In heraldry Head of ram pictured in the former coat of arms of Sääminki In British heraldry, sheep appear in the form of rams, sheep proper and lambs. These are distinguished by the ram being depicted with horns and a tail, the sheep with neither and the lamb with its tail only. A further variant of the lamb, termed the Paschal lamb, is depicted as carrying a Christian cross and with a halo over its head. Rams' heads, portrayed without a neck and facing the viewer, are also found in British armories. The fleece, depicted as an entire sheepskin carried by a ring around its midsection, originally became known through its use in the arms of the Order of the Golden Fleece and was later adopted by towns and individuals with connections to the wool industry.[171] A sheep on a blue field is depicted on the greater/royal arms of the king of Denmark to represent the Faroe Islands. In 2004 a modernized arms has been adopted by the Faroe Islands, which based on a 15th century coat of arms. Religion and folklore Ancient Greek red-figure ram-head rhyton, ca. 340 BC In antiquity, symbolism involving sheep cropped up in religions in the ancient Near East, the Mideast, and the Mediterranean area: Çatalhöyük, ancient Egyptian religion, the Cana'anite and Phoenician tradition, Judaism, Greek religion, and others. Religious symbolism and ritual involving sheep began with some of the first known faiths: Skulls of rams (along with bulls) occupied central placement in shrines at the Çatalhöyük settlement in 8,000 BCE.[172] In Ancient Egyptian religion, the ram was the symbol of several gods: Khnum, Heryshaf and Amun (in his incarnation as a god of fertility).[23] Other deities occasionally shown with ram features include the goddess Ishtar, the Phoenician god Baal-Hamon, and the Babylonian god Ea-Oannes.[23] In Madagascar, sheep were not eaten as they were believed to be incarnations of the souls of ancestors.[173] There are many ancient Greek references to sheep: that of Chrysomallos, the golden-fleeced ram, continuing to be told through into the modern era. Astrologically, Aries, the ram, is the first sign of the classical Greek zodiac, and the sheep is the eighth of the twelve animals associated with the 12-year cycle of in the Chinese zodiac, related to the Chinese calendar.[173] It is said in Chinese traditions that Hou ji sacrificed sheep. Mongolia, shagai are an ancient form of dice made from the cuboid bones of sheep that are often used for fortunetelling purposes. Jesus is depicted as "The Good Shepherd", with the sheep being Christians Sheep play an important role in all the Abrahamic faiths; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, King David and the Islamic prophet Muhammad were all shepherds. According to the Biblical story of the Binding of Isaac, a ram is sacrificed as a substitute for Isaac after an angel stays Abraham's hand (in the Islamic tradition, Abraham was about to sacrifice Ishmael). Eid al-Adha is a major annual festival in Islam in which sheep (or other animals) are sacrificed in remembrance of this act.[174][175] Sheep are occasionally sacrificed to commemorate important secular events in Islamic cultures.[176] Greeks and Romans sacrificed sheep regularly in religious practice, and Judaism once sacrificed sheep as a Korban (sacrifice), such as the Passover lamb.[173] Ovine symbols—such as the ceremonial blowing of a shofar—still find a presence in modern Judaic traditions. Collectively, followers of Christianity are often referred to as a flock, with Christ as the Good Shepherd, and sheep are an element in the Christian iconography of the birth of Jesus. Some Christian saints are considered patrons of shepherds, and even of sheep themselves. Christ is also portrayed as the Sacrificial lamb of God (Agnus Dei) and Easter celebrations in Greece and Romania traditionally feature a meal of Paschal lamb. A church leader is often called the pastor, which is derived from the Latin word for shepherd. In many western Christian traditions bishops carry a staff, which also serves as a symbol of the episcopal office, known as a crosier, which is modeled on the shepherd's crook. Sheep are key symbols in fables and nursery rhymes like The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Little Bo Peep, Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, and Mary Had a Little Lamb; novels such as George Orwell's Animal Farm and Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase; songs such as Bach's Sheep may safely graze (Schafe können sicher weiden) and Pink Floyd's "Sheep", and poems like William Blake's "The Lamb"." (wikipedia.org) "Scandinavia[b] (/ˌskændɪˈneɪviə/ SKAN-di-NAY-vee-ə) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. Scandinavia most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. In English usage, it can sometimes also refer more narrowly to the Scandinavian Peninsula (which excludes Denmark but includes part of Finland), or more broadly to all of the Nordic countries, also including Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands.[4][c] The geography of the region is varied, from the Norwegian fjords in the west and Scandinavian mountains covering parts of Norway and Sweden, to the low and flat areas of Denmark in the south, as well as archipelagos and lakes in the east. Most of the population in the region live in the more temperate southern regions, with the northern parts having long, cold, winters. The region became notable during the Viking Age, when Scandinavian peoples participated in large-scale raiding, conquest, colonization and trading mostly throughout Europe. They also used their longships for exploration, becoming the first Europeans to reach North America. These exploits saw the establishment of the North Sea Empire which comprised large parts of Scandinavia and Great Britain, though it was relatively short-lived. Scandinavia was eventually Christianized, and the coming centuries saw various unions of Scandinavian nations, most notably the Kalmar Union of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, which lasted for over 100 years until the Swedish king Gustav I led Sweden to independence. It also saw numerous wars between the nations, which shaped the modern borders. The most recent union was the union between Sweden and Norway, which ended in 1905. In modern times the region has prospered, with the economies of the countries being amongst the strongest in Europe. Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Finland all maintain welfare systems considered to be generous, with the economic and social policies of the countries being dubbed the "Nordic model". Geography See also: Geography of Denmark, Geography of Finland, Geography of Iceland, Geography of Norway, and Geography of Sweden Galdhøpiggen is the highest point in Scandinavia and is a part of the Scandinavian Mountains. The geography of Scandinavia is extremely varied. Notable are the Norwegian fjords, the Scandinavian Mountains covering much of Norway and parts of Sweden, the flat, low areas in Denmark and the archipelagos of Finland, Norway and Sweden. Finland and Sweden have many lakes and moraines, legacies of the ice age, which ended about ten millennia ago. The southern regions of Scandinavia, which are also the most populous regions, have a temperate climate.[5][6] Scandinavia extends north of the Arctic Circle, but has relatively mild weather for its latitude due to the Gulf Stream. Many of the Scandinavian mountains have an alpine tundra climate. The climate varies from north to south and from west to east: a marine west coast climate (Cfb) typical of western Europe dominates in Denmark, the southernmost part of Sweden and along the west coast of Norway reaching north to 65°N, with orographic lift giving more mm/year precipitation (<5000 mm) in some areas in western Norway. The central part – from Oslo to Stockholm – has a humid continental climate (Dfb), which gradually gives way to subarctic climate (Dfc) further north and cool marine west coast climate (Cfc) along the northwestern coast.[7] A small area along the northern coast east of the North Cape has tundra climate (Et) as a result of a lack of summer warmth. The Scandinavian Mountains block the mild and moist air coming from the southwest, thus northern Sweden and the Finnmarksvidda plateau in Norway receive little precipitation and have cold winters. Large areas in the Scandinavian mountains have alpine tundra climate. The warmest temperature ever recorded in Scandinavia is 38.0 °C in Målilla (Sweden).[8] The coldest temperature ever recorded is −52.6 °C in Vuoggatjålme [sv], Arjeplog (Sweden).[9] The coldest month was February 1985 in Vittangi (Sweden) with a mean of −27.2 °C.[9] Southwesterly winds further warmed by foehn wind can give warm temperatures in narrow Norwegian fjords in winter. Tafjord has recorded 17.9 °C in January and Sunndal 18.9 °C in February. Etymology Scandinavia originally referred vaguely to Scania, a formerly Danish region that became Swedish in the seventeenth century. The original areas inhabited (during the Bronze Age) by the peoples now known as Scandinavians included what is now Northern Germany (particularly Schleswig-Holstein), all of Denmark, southern Sweden, the southern coast of Norway and Åland in Finland while namesake Scania found itself in the centre. The term Scandinavia in local usage covers the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The majority national languages of these three belong to the Scandinavian dialect continuum, and are mutually intelligible North Germanic languages.[10] The words Scandinavia and Scania (Skåne, the southernmost province of Sweden) are both thought to go back to the Proto-Germanic compound *Skaðin-awjō (the ð represented in Latin by t or d), which appears later in Old English as Scedenig and in Old Norse as Skáney.[11] The earliest identified source for the name Scandinavia is Pliny the Elder's Natural History, dated to the first century AD. Various references to the region can also be found in Pytheas, Pomponius Mela, Tacitus, Ptolemy, Procopius and Jordanes, usually in the form of Scandza. It is believed that the name used by Pliny may be of West Germanic origin, originally denoting Scania.[12] According to some scholars, the Germanic stem can be reconstructed as *skaðan-, meaning "danger" or "damage".[13] The second segment of the name has been reconstructed as *awjō, meaning "land on the water" or "island". The name Scandinavia would then mean "dangerous island", which is considered to refer to the treacherous sandbanks surrounding Scania.[13] Skanör in Scania, with its long Falsterbo reef, has the same stem (skan) combined with -ör, which means "sandbanks". Alternatively, Sca(n)dinavia and Skáney, along with the Old Norse goddess name Skaði, may be related to Proto-Germanic *skaðwa- (meaning "shadow"). John McKinnell comments that this etymology suggests that the goddess Skaði may have once been a personification of the geographical region of Scandinavia or associated with the underworld.[14] Another possibility is that all or part of the segments of the name came from the pre-Germanic Mesolithic people inhabiting the region.[15] In modernity, Scandinavia is a peninsula, but between approximately 10,300 and 9,500 years ago the southern part of Scandinavia was an island separated from the northern peninsula, with water exiting the Baltic Sea through the area where Stockholm is now located.[16] Appearance in medieval Germanic languages The Latin names in Pliny's text gave rise to different forms in medieval Germanic texts. In Jordanes' history of the Goths (AD 551), the form Scandza is the name used for their original home, separated by sea from the land of Europe (chapter 1, 4).[17] Where Jordanes meant to locate this quasi-legendary island is still a hotly debated issue, both in scholarly discussions and in the nationalistic discourse of various European countries.[18][19] The form Scadinavia as the original home of the Langobards appears in Paul the Deacon' Historia Langobardorum,[20] but in other versions of Historia Langobardorum appear the forms Scadan, Scandanan, Scadanan and Scatenauge.[21] Frankish sources used Sconaowe and Aethelweard, an Anglo-Saxon historian, used Scani.[22][23] In Beowulf, the forms Scedenige and Scedeland are used while the Alfredian translation of Orosius and Wulfstan's travel accounts used the Old English Sconeg.[23] Possible influence on Sámi languages The earliest Sámi joik texts written down refer to the world as Skadesi-suolu in Northern Sámi) and Skađsuâl in Skolt Sámi, meaning "Skaði's island". Svennung considers the Sámi name to have been introduced as a loanword from the North Germanic languages;[24] "Skaði" is the giant (jötunn) stepmother of Freyr and Freyja in Norse mythology. It has been suggested that Skaði to some extent is modeled on a Sámi woman. The name for Skade's father Þjazi is known in Sámi as Čáhci, "the waterman"; and her son with Odin, Sæmingr, can be interpreted as a descendant of Saam, the Sámi population.[25][26] Older joik texts give evidence of the old Sámi belief about living on an island and state that the wolf is known as suolu gievra, meaning "the strong one on the island". The Sámi place name Sulliidčielbma means "the island's threshold" and Suoločielgi means "the island's back". In recent substrate studies, Sámi linguists have examined the initial cluster sk- in words used in the Sámi languages and concluded that sk- is a phonotactic structure of alien origin.[27] Reintroduction of the term Scandinavia in the eighteenth century Main article: Scandinavism See also: Politics of Denmark, Politics of Norway, and Politics of Sweden Scandinavism—a Norwegian, a Dane and a Swede Although the term Scandinavia used by Pliny the Elder probably originated in the ancient Germanic languages, the modern form Scandinavia does not descend directly from the ancient Germanic term. Rather the word was brought into use in Europe by scholars borrowing the term from ancient sources like Pliny, and was used vaguely for Scania and the southern region of the peninsula.[28] The term was popularised by the linguistic and cultural Scandinavist movement, which asserted the common heritage and cultural unity of the Scandinavian countries and rose to prominence in the 1830s.[28] The popular usage of the term in Sweden, Denmark and Norway as a unifying concept became established in the nineteenth century through poems such as Hans Christian Andersen's "I am a Scandinavian" of 1839. After a visit to Sweden, Andersen became a supporter of early political Scandinavism. In a letter describing the poem to a friend, he wrote: "All at once I understood how related the Swedes, the Danes and the Norwegians are, and with this feeling I wrote the poem immediately after my return: 'We are one people, we are called Scandinavians!'". The influence of Scandinavism as a Scandinavist political movement peaked in the middle of the nineteenth century, between the First Schleswig War (1848–1850) and the Second Schleswig War (1864). The Swedish king also proposed a unification of Denmark, Norway and Sweden into a single united kingdom. The background for the proposal was the tumultuous events during the Napoleonic Wars in the beginning of the century. This war resulted in Finland (formerly the eastern third of Sweden) becoming the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809 and Norway (de jure in union with Denmark since 1387, although de facto treated as a province) becoming independent in 1814, but thereafter swiftly forced to accept a personal union with Sweden. The dependent territories Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, historically part of Norway, remained with Denmark in accordance with the Treaty of Kiel. Sweden and Norway were thus united under the Swedish monarch, but Finland's inclusion in the Russian Empire excluded any possibility for a political union between Finland and any of the other Nordic countries. The end of the Scandinavian political movement came when Denmark was denied the military support promised from Sweden and Norway to annex the (Danish) Duchy of Schleswig, which together with the (German) Duchy of Holstein had been in personal union with Denmark. The Second war of Schleswig followed in 1864, a brief but disastrous war between Denmark and Prussia (supported by Austria). Schleswig-Holstein was conquered by Prussia and after Prussia's success in the Franco-Prussian War a Prussian-led German Empire was created and a new power-balance of the Baltic Sea countries was established. The Scandinavian Monetary Union, established in 1873, lasted until World War I. Use of Nordic countries vs. Scandinavia   Scandinavia according to the local definition   The extended usage in English, which includes Iceland and the Faroe Islands, Åland and Finland Further information on this terminology: Nordic countries and Fennoscandia The term Scandinavia (sometimes specified in English as Continental Scandinavia or mainland Scandinavia) is ordinarily used locally for Denmark, Norway and Sweden as a subset of the Nordic countries (known in Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish as Norden; Finnish: Pohjoismaat, Icelandic: Norðurlöndin, Faroese: Norðurlond).[29] However, in English usage, the term Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym or near-synonym for what are known locally as Nordic countries.[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] Usage in English is different from usage in the Scandinavian languages themselves (which use Scandinavia in the narrow meaning), and by the fact that the question of whether a country belongs to Scandinavia is politicised, people from the Nordic world beyond Norway, Denmark and Sweden may be offended at being either included in or excluded from the category of "Scandinavia".[40] Nordic countries is used unambiguously for Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, including their associated territories Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Åland Islands.[30] A large part of modern-day Finland was part of Sweden for more than four centuries (see: Finland under Swedish rule), thus to much of the world associating Finland with Scandinavia. But the creation of a Finnish identity is unique in the region in that it was formed in relation to two different imperial models, the Swedish[41] and the Russian.[42][43][44] There is also the geological term Fennoscandia (sometimes Fennoscandinavia), which in technical use refers to the Fennoscandian Shield (or Baltic Shield), that is the Scandinavian Peninsula (Norway and Sweden), Finland and Karelia (excluding Denmark and other parts of the wider Nordic world). The terms Fennoscandia and Fennoscandinavia are sometimes used in a broader, political sense to refer to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.[45] Scandinavian as an ethnic term and as a demonym Further information on this terminology: North Germanic peoples The term Scandinavian may be used with two principal meanings, in an ethnic or cultural sense and as a modern and more inclusive demonym. As an ethnic or cultural term In the ethnic or cultural sense the term "Scandinavian" traditionally refers to speakers of Scandinavian languages, who are mainly descendants of the peoples historically known as Norsemen, but also to some extent of immigrants and others who have been assimilated into that culture and language. In this sense the term refers primarily to native Danes, Norwegians and Swedes as well as descendants of Scandinavian settlers such as the Icelanders and the Faroese. The term is also used in this ethnic sense, to refer to the modern descendants of the Norse, in studies of linguistics and culture.[46] As a demonym Additionally the term Scandinavian is used demonymically to refer to all modern inhabitants or citizens of Scandinavian countries. Within Scandinavia the demonymic term primarily refers to inhabitants or citizens of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In English usage inhabitants or citizens of Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Finland are sometimes included as well. English general dictionaries often define the noun Scandinavian demonymically as meaning any inhabitant of Scandinavia (which might be narrowly conceived or broadly conceived).[47][48][49] There is a certain ambiguity and political contestation as to which peoples should be referred to as Scandinavian in this broader sense. Sámi people who live in Norway and Sweden are generally included as Scandinavians in the demonymic sense; the Sámi of Finland may be included in English usage, but usually not in local usage; the Sámi of Russia are not included. However, the use of the term "Scandinavian" with reference to the Sámi is complicated by the historical attempts by Scandinavian majority peoples and governments in Norway and Sweden to assimilate the Sámi people into the Scandinavian culture and languages, making the inclusion of the Sámi as "Scandinavians" controversial among many Sámi. Modern Sámi politicians and organizations often stress the status of the Sámi as a people separate from and equal to the Scandinavians, with their own language and culture, and are apprehensive about being included as "Scandinavians" in light of earlier Scandinavian assimilation policies." (wikipedia.org) "Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway,[a] is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of Norway.[note 5] Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency of Norway; it also lays claims to the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo. Norway has a total area of 385,207 square kilometres (148,729 sq mi)[12] and had a population of 5,488,984 in January 2023.[14] The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden at a length of 1,619 km (1,006 mi). It is bordered by Finland and Russia to the northeast and the Skagerrak strait to the south, on the other side of which are Denmark and the United Kingdom. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. The maritime influence dominates Norway's climate, with mild lowland temperatures on the sea coasts; the interior, while colder, is also significantly milder than areas elsewhere in the world on such northerly latitudes. Even during polar night in the north, temperatures above freezing are commonplace on the coastline. The maritime influence brings high rainfall and snowfall to some areas of the country. Harald V of the House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway. Jonas Gahr Støre has been prime minister since 2021, replacing Erna Solberg. As a unitary sovereign state with a constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the parliament, the cabinet and the supreme court, as determined by the 1814 constitution. The kingdom was established in 872 as a merger of many petty kingdoms and has existed continuously for 1,151 years. From 1537 to 1814, Norway was a part of the Kingdom of Denmark–Norway, and, from 1814 to 1905, it was in a personal union with the Kingdom of Sweden. Norway was neutral during the First World War, and also in World War II until April 1940 when the country was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany until the end of the war. Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels: counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have a certain amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament and the Finnmark Act. Norway maintains close ties with both the European Union and the United States. Norway is also a founding member of the United Nations, NATO, the European Free Trade Association, the Council of Europe, the Antarctic Treaty, and the Nordic Council; a member of the European Economic Area, the WTO, and the OECD; and a part of the Schengen Area. In addition, the Norwegian languages share mutual intelligibility with Danish and Swedish. Norway maintains the Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system, and its values are rooted in egalitarian ideals.[20] The Norwegian state has large ownership positions in key industrial sectors, having extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, and fresh water. The petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).[21] On a per-capita basis, Norway is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas outside of the Middle East.[22][23] The country has the fourth-highest per-capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists.[24] On the CIA's GDP (PPP) per capita list (2015 estimate) which includes autonomous territories and regions, Norway ranks as number eleven.[25] It has the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, with a value of US$1 trillion.[26] Although the majority of Norway's population is ethnic Norwegian, in the 21st century immigration has accounted for more than half of population growth; in 2021, the five largest minority groups in the country were the descendants of Polish, Lithuanian, Somali, Pakistani, and Swedish immigrants.[7] Etymology Opening of Ohthere's Old English account, translated: "Ohthere told his lord Ælfrede king that he lived northmost of all Norwegians…" Norway has two official names: Norge in Bokmål and Noreg in Nynorsk. The English name Norway comes from the Old English word Norþweg mentioned in 880, meaning "northern way" or "way leading to the north", which is how the Anglo-Saxons referred to the coastline of Atlantic Norway[27][28][29] similar to leading theory about the origin of the Norwegian language name.[30] The Anglo-Saxons of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land.[27][28] There is some disagreement about whether the native name of Norway originally had the same etymology as the English form. According to the traditional dominant view, the first component was originally norðr, a cognate of English north, so the full name was Norðr vegr, "the way northwards", referring to the sailing route along the Norwegian coast, and contrasting with suðrvegar "southern way" (from Old Norse suðr) for (Germany), and austrvegr "eastern way" (from austr) for the Baltic. In the translation of Orosius for Alfred, the name is Norðweg, while in younger Old English sources the ð is gone.[31] In the tenth century many Norsemen settled in Northern France, according to the sagas, in the area that was later called Normandy from norðmann (Norseman or Scandinavian[32][33]), although not a Norwegian possession.[34] In France normanni or northmanni referred to people of Norway, Sweden or Denmark.[35] Until around 1800, inhabitants of Western Norway were referred to as nordmenn (northmen) while inhabitants of Eastern Norway were referred to as austmenn (eastmen).[36] According to another theory, the first component was a word nór, meaning "narrow" (Old English nearu), referring to the inner-archipelago sailing route through the land ("narrow way"). The interpretation as "northern", as reflected in the English and Latin forms of the name, would then have been due to later folk etymology. This latter view originated with philologist Niels Halvorsen Trønnes in 1847; since 2016 it is also advocated by language student and activist Klaus Johan Myrvoll and was adopted by philology professor Michael Schulte.[27][28] The form Nore is still used in placenames such as the village of Nore and lake Norefjorden in Buskerud county, and still has the same meaning.[27][28] Among other arguments in favour of the theory, it is pointed out that the word has a long vowel in Skaldic poetry and is not attested with <ð> in any native Norse texts or inscriptions (the earliest runic attestations have the spellings nuruiak and nuriki). This resurrected theory has received some pushback by other scholars on various grounds, e. g. the uncontroversial presence of the element norðr in the ethnonym norðrmaðr "Norseman, Norwegian person" (modern Norwegian nordmann), and the adjective norrǿnn "northern, Norse, Norwegian", as well as the very early attestations of the Latin and Anglo-Saxon forms with <th>.[31][28] In a Latin manuscript of 840, the name Northuagia is mentioned.[29] King Alfred's edition of the Orosius World History (dated 880), uses the term Norðweg.[29] A French chronicle of c. 900 uses the names Northwegia and Norwegia.[37] When Ohthere of Hålogaland visited King Alfred the Great in England in the end of the ninth century, the land was called Norðwegr (lit. "Northway") and norðmanna land (lit. "Northmen's land").[37] According to Ohthere, Norðmanna lived along the Atlantic coast, the Danes around Skagerrak og Kattegat, while the Sámi people (the "Fins") had a nomadic lifestyle in the wide interior.[38][39] Ohthere told Alfred that he was "the most northern of all Norwegians", presumably at Senja island or closer to Tromsø. He also said that beyond the wide wilderness in Norway's southern part was the land of the Swedes, "Svealand".[40][41] The adjective Norwegian, recorded from c. 1600, is derived from the latinisation of the name as Norwegia; in the adjective Norwegian, the Old English spelling '-weg' has survived.[42] After Norway had become Christian, Noregr and Noregi had become the most common forms, but during the 15th century, the newer forms Noreg(h) and Norg(h)e, found in medieval Icelandic manuscripts, took over and have survived until the modern day." (wikipedia.org) "The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or Norden; lit. 'the North')[2] are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway[b] and Sweden; the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland; and the autonomous region of Åland.[4] The Nordic countries have much in common in their way of life, history, religion and social structure. They have a long history of political unions and other close relations but do not form a singular entity today. The Scandinavist movement sought to unite Denmark, Norway and Sweden into one country in the 19th century. With the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden (Norwegian independence), the independence of Finland in the early 20th century and the 1944 Icelandic constitutional referendum, this movement expanded into the modern organised Nordic cooperation. Since 1962, this cooperation has been based on the Helsinki Treaty that sets the framework for the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers. The Nordic countries cluster near the top in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life and human development.[5] Each country has its own economic and social model, sometimes with large differences from its neighbours. Still, they share aspects of the Nordic model of economy and social structure to varying degrees.[6] This includes a mixed market economy combined with strong labour unions and a universalist welfare sector financed by high taxes, enhancing individual autonomy and promoting social mobility. There is a high degree of income redistribution, commitment to private ownership and little social unrest.[7][8] North Germanic peoples, who comprise over three-quarters of the region's population, are the largest ethnic group, followed by the Baltic Finnic Peoples, who comprise the majority in Finland; other ethnic groups are the Greenlandic Inuit, the Sami people and recent immigrants and their descendants. Historically, the main religion in the region was Norse paganism. This gave way first to Roman Catholicism after the Christianisation of Scandinavia. Then, following the Protestant Reformation, the main religion became Lutheran Christianity, the state religion of several Nordic countries.[9][10] Although the area is linguistically heterogeneous, with three unrelated language groups, the common linguistic heritage is one factor that makes up the Nordic identity. Most Nordic languages belong to North Germanic languages, Finno-Ugric languages and Eskimo–Aleut languages. Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are considered mutually intelligible, and they are the working languages of the region's two political bodies. Swedish is a mandatory subject in Finnish schools and Danish in Faroese and Greenlandic schools. Danish is also taught in schools in Iceland. The combined area of the Nordic countries is 3,425,804 square kilometres (1,322,710 sq mi). Uninhabitable icecaps and glaciers comprise about half of this area, mainly Greenland. In September 2021, the region had over 27 million people. Especially in English, Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for the Nordic countries. Still, that term more properly refers to the three monarchies of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Geologically, the Scandinavian Peninsula comprises the mainland of Norway and Sweden and the northernmost part of Finland.[11][12][13][14][15] Etymology and concept of the Nordic countries The term Nordic countries found mainstream use after the advent of Foreningen Norden. The term is derived indirectly from the local term Norden, used in the Scandinavian languages, which means 'The North(ern lands)'.[16] Unlike the Nordic countries, the term Norden is in the singular. The demonym is nordbo, literally meaning 'northern dweller'. Similar or related regional terms include:     Scandinavia refers typically to the cultural and linguistic group formed by Denmark, Norway and Sweden, or the Scandinavian Peninsula, which is formed by mainland Norway and Sweden as well as the northwesternmost part of Finland. Outside of the Nordic region the term Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for the Nordic countries. First recorded use of the name by Pliny the Elder about a "large, fertile island in the North" (possibly referring to Scania).[17]     Fennoscandia refers to the area that includes the Scandinavian Peninsula, Finland, Kola Peninsula and Karelia. This term is mostly restricted to geology, when speaking of the Fennoscandian Shield.     Cap of the North consists of the provinces and counties of Lapland in Finland; Finnmark, Nordland and Troms in Norway; and Lapland and Norrbotten in Sweden. This Arctic area is located around and north of the Arctic Circle in the three Nordic European countries Norway, Sweden and Finland and the Kola Peninsula in Russia.     Barents Region is formed by the Cap of the North as well as the Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu regions of Finland, Swedish provinces of Lapland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten, Russian Oblasts of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, as well as the Republics of Karelia and Komi. This area cooperates through the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and Barents Regional Council.[citation needed]" (wikipedia.org) "A Norwegian Minnesotan (colloquially sometimes known as a Minnewegian) is a Norwegian American in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2009, 868,361 Minnesotans claim Norwegian ancestry — equivalent to 16.5% of Minnesota's population and 18.7% of the total Norwegian American population.[1][needs update] Settlement Many Norwegian settlers arrived and lived in various other locations in the United States before permanently settling in Minnesota. Minneapolis has the largest concentration of Norwegian descendants outside Norway, at 42,469.     This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Many Norwegian settlers arrived and lived in various other locations in the United States before permanently settling in Minnesota. The first Norwegian emigrants to come to the United States often settled in the eastern Midwest. As more and more new immigrants came to America there was a rapid increase in population at the original Norwegian settlements (which was helped along by a high birth rate). Thus, as more and more Norwegian settlers arrived, the original Norwegian settlements would move westward where land was plentiful and less expensive and where new settlements could be created.[citation needed] Norwegian settlement in Minnesota increased after the American Civil War and the Dakota War of 1862, especially to the Minnesota River Valley, where land was taken through the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. Following the war, the majority of the Dakota people were expelled from Minnesota and European settlement subsequently increased rapidly. Because the land of Minnesota was taken by force from the American Indians, land was cheap for European immigrants. Before long, this immigrant population grew exponentially in Minnesota.[citation needed] Norwegians settled all over the state, but they established the first permanent settlements in the southeast. The first Norwegian settlement in Minnesota was Norwegian Ridge, in what is now Spring Grove, Minnesota. Another such settlement was the 1851 colony in Goodhue County, Minnesota. They soon settled in Fillmore County as well. By 1860, half of Minnesota's 12,000 Norwegians resided in Goodhue, Fillmore, and Houston Counties. Ten years later, these three counties were home to nearly 25,000 of Minnesota's 50,000 Norwegian residents. By 1880, there were Norwegian settlements, beyond what has been previously listed, in the counties of Freeborn, Steele, and Waseca. Norwegians also made settlements in Blue Earth, Brown, and Watonwan (the "Linden Settlement"), Lac qui Parle County, the Park Region in west-central Minnesota, and the prairies of southwestern Minnesota.[citation needed] Immigrants also came to the Red River Valley in northwestern Minnesota, settling in the counties of Clay, Marshall, Norman, and Polk. During the early 1870s, the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad helped increase migration to the Red River Valley. As a result, by 1875 Norwegian immigrants made up a 30 percent of the total population of the counties of Polk and Clay. Later, immigrants also made homes in Grant, Pennington, Red Lake, Roseau, and Kittson Counties. Much of this land belonged to the Lakota and Nakota peoples.[citation needed] The city of Duluth was also a center for Norwegian immigration. Its location on Lake Superior provided Norwegian fishermen with ample employment. As a result, the Norwegian population of Duluth increased dramatically between 1870 and 1900. In 1870, 242 Norwegians were counted in Duluth. By 1900 the population had reached 7,500 people of Norwegian ancestry.[citation needed] By the middle of the 1880s, Norwegian migration to Minnesota began to shift to the cities. There was a large influx of Norwegian immigrants into the city of Minneapolis from the 1880s to early 20th century, along with a less substantial migration to St. Paul.[citation needed] Demographics     This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2022) Of Minnesota's population in the year 2000, 850,742 said that they have Norwegian ancestry. Of them 414,901 (48.8%) were male, and 435,841 (51.2%) were female. As of 2008, the median age was 36, in contrast to 35 for the whole Minnesotan population, 36.7 for the whole American population, and 39.4 for Norway's population. Among Norwegians in Minnesota, 54,411 were younger than the age of 5 (or 6.9% of all those with Norwegian ancestry); of the whole Minnesotan population, 327,988 were younger than the age of 5 (or 6.6% of all Minnesotans). Among Norwegian Minnesotans, 65,039 were between 5 and 17 years of age (or 7.6% of all those with Norwegian ancestry), compared to 365,136 between 5 and 17 for the whole Minnesotan population (or 7.4% of all Minnesotans). Among the group, 628,343 were between 18 and 64 (or 73.8% of all Norwegian Minnesotans), compared to 3,632,940 between 18 and 64 for the whole Minnesotan population (or 73.8% of all Minnesotans). Among the group, 102,949 were older than 65 (or 12.1% of all those with Norwegian ancestry), compared to 593,415 older than 65 for the whole Minnesota population (or 12.0% of all Minnesotans). The household population number 835,511, when the group quarters population number 15,231. The average household size is 2, when the average family size is 3. Occupied housing units number 335,537; of them, owner-occupied housing units number 263,911 and renter-occupied housing units number 71,626. 550,208 are 25 years, or over. Of them, 503,360 are high school graduate or higher, and 156,568 bachelor's degree or higher. 82,959 is civilian veterans (civilian population 18 years and over). 105,537 has disability status (population 5 years and over). 2,034 are foreign born. 191,907 is male, now married, except separated (population 15 years and over) and 197,012 is female, now married, except separated (population 15 years and over). Approximately 24,235 said they speak a language other than English at home (population 5 years and over). 479,191 are in labor force (population 16 years and over). Mean travel time to work in minutes (workers 16 years and over) is 21. Median household income in 1999 (dollars) were 48,441, while median family income in 1999 (dollars) were 57,893, per capita income in 1999 (dollars) were 23,443. Families below poverty level number 7,421, while individuals below poverty level number 43,935. Single-family owner-occupied homes number 207,799. Of them, median value (dollars) number 118,700, median of selected monthly owner costs is not applicable, with a mortgage (dollars) number 1,010, while not mortgaged (dollars) number 263.[13] Year     Norwegian Minnesotans[14]     Minnesotans     Percent of Minnesota's population     Norwegian Americans     Percent of Norwegian Americans 1980     712,258     4,075,970     19.1%     3,453,839     20.6% 1990     757,212     4,375,099     17.3%     3,869,395     19.5% 2000     850,742     4,919,479     17.3%     4,477,725     18.9% 2009     868,361     5,266,215     16.5%     4,642,526     18.7% Norwegian communities in Minnesota The 25 Minnesotan communities with the highest percentage of residents claiming Norwegian ancestry are:[15]     Fertile, Minnesota 54.4%     Spring Grove, Minnesota 52.0%     Twin Valley, Minnesota 49.9%     Rushford, Minnesota 46.5%     Starbuck, Minnesota 45.0%     Hawley, Minnesota 44.5%     Ada, Minnesota 42.9%     Ulen, Minnesota 42.2%     Dawson, Minnesota 42.2%     Fosston, Minnesota 42.1%     Bagley, Minnesota 41.0%     Karlstad, Minnesota 39.4%     Thief River Falls, Minnesota 39.0%     Dane Prairie Township, Otter Tail County, Minnesota 39.0%     Madison, Minnesota 38.8%     Harmony, Minnesota 38.4%     Sparta Township, Minnesota 38.1%     Clarkfield, Minnesota 38.0%     Wanamingo, Minnesota 38.0%     Lake Park, Minnesota 37.2%     Montevideo, Minnesota 35.9%     Dunn Township, Minnesota 35.2%     Cormorant Township, Minnesota 34.9%     Oakport, Minnesota 34.3%     Houston, Minnesota 34.1% Norwegian counties in Minnesota The 25 Minnesotan counties with the highest percentage of residents claiming Norwegian ancestry are:[16]     Norman County, Minnesota 58.9%     Pennington County, Minnesota 50.6%     Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota 47.9%     Marshall County, Minnesota 46.9%     Grant County, Minnesota 43.8%     Polk County, Minnesota 43.3%     Clearwater County, Minnesota 42.6%     Roseau County, Minnesota 42.3%     Clay County, Minnesota 42.2%     Pope County, Minnesota 39.7%     Chippewa County, Minnesota 39.4%     Fillmore County, Minnesota 39.0%     Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota 38.9%     Freeborn County, Minnesota 37.1%     Kittson County, Minnesota 35.4%     Red Lake County, Minnesota 33.9%     Houston County, Minnesota 33.4%     Swift County, Minnesota 33.4%     Otter Tail County, Minnesota 32.9%     Wilkin County, Minnesota 32.2%     Becker County, Minnesota 28.7%     Dodge County, Minnesota 28.6%     Kandiyohi County, Minnesota 28.6%     Douglas County, Minnesota 27.1%     Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota 27.0%" (wikipedia.org) "Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals who are raised for consumption, and sometimes used to refer solely to farmed ruminants, such as cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs.[1] Horses are considered livestock in the United States.[2] The USDA classifies pork, veal, beef, and lamb (mutton) as livestock, and all livestock as red meat. Poultry and fish are not included in the category.[3] The latter is likely due to the fact that fish products are not governed by the USDA, but by the FDA. The breeding, maintenance, slaughter and general subjugation of livestock, called animal husbandry, is a part of modern agriculture and has been practiced in many cultures since humanity's transition to farming from hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animal husbandry practices have varied widely across cultures and time periods. It continues to play a major economic and cultural role in numerous communities. Livestock farming practices have largely shifted to intensive animal farming.[4] Intensive animal farming increases the yield of the various commercial outputs, but also negatively impacts animal welfare, the environment, and public health.[5] In particular, beef, dairy and sheep are an outsized source of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Etymology This Australian road sign uses the less common term "stock" for livestock. The word livestock was first used between 1650 and 1660, as a compound word combining the words "live" and "stock".[6] In some periods, "cattle" and "livestock" have been used interchangeably. Today,[specify] the modern meaning of cattle is domesticated bovines, while livestock has a wider sense.[7] United States federal legislation defines the term to make specified agricultural commodities eligible or ineligible for a program or activity. For example, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 (P.L. 106–78, Title IX) defines livestock only as cattle, swine, and sheep, while the 1988 disaster assistance legislation defined the term as "cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry (including egg-producing poultry), equine animals used for food or in the production of food, fish used for food, and other animals designated by the Secretary".[8] Deadstock is defined in contradistinction to livestock as "animals that have died before slaughter, sometimes from illness or disease". It is illegal in many countries, such as Canada, to sell or process meat from dead animals for human consumption.[9] History Further information: History of agriculture Animal-rearing originated during the cultural transition to settled farming communities from hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animals are domesticated when their breeding and living conditions are controlled by humans. Over time, the collective behaviour, lifecycle and physiology of livestock have changed radically. Many modern farmed animals are unsuited to life in the natural world. Dogs were domesticated early; dogs appear in Europe and the Far East from about 15,000 years ago.[10] Goats and sheep were domesticated in multiple events sometime between 11,000 and 5,000 years ago in Southwest Asia.[11] Pigs were domesticated by 8,500 BC in the Near East[12] and 6,000 BC in China.[13] Domestication of horses dates to around 4,000 BC.[14] Cattle have been domesticated since approximately 10,500 years ago.[15][specify] Chickens and other poultry may have been domesticated around 7,000 BC.... Farming practices Goat family with one-week-old kid Farrowing site in a natural cave in northern Spain Main article: Animal husbandry Traditionally, animal husbandry was part of the subsistence farmer's way of life, producing not only the food needed by the family but also the fuel, fertiliser, clothing, transport and draught power. Killing the animal for food was a secondary consideration, and wherever possible their products, such as wool, eggs, milk and blood (by the Maasai) were harvested while the animal was still alive.[17] In the traditional system of transhumance, humans and livestock moved seasonally between fixed summer and winter pastures; in montane regions the summer pasture was up in the mountains, the winter pasture in the valleys.[18] Animals can be kept extensively or intensively. Extensive systems involve animals roaming at will, or under the supervision of a herdsman, often for their protection from predators. Ranching in the Western United States involves large herds of cattle grazing widely over public and private lands.[19] Similar cattle stations are found in South America, Australia and other places with large areas of land and low rainfall. Ranching systems have been used for sheep, deer, ostrich, emu, llama and alpaca.[20] In the uplands of the United Kingdom, sheep are turned out on the fells in spring and graze the abundant mountain grasses untended, being brought to lower altitudes late in the year, with supplementary feeding being provided in winter.[21] In rural locations, pigs and poultry can obtain much of their nutrition from scavenging, and in African communities, hens may live for months without being fed, and still produce one or two eggs a week.[17] At the other extreme, in the more Western parts of the world, animals are often intensively managed; dairy cows may be kept in zero-grazing conditions with all their forage brought to them; beef cattle may be kept in high density feedlots;[22] pigs may be housed in climate-controlled buildings and never go outdoors;[23] poultry may be reared in barns and kept in cages as laying birds under lighting-controlled conditions. In between these two extremes are semi-intensive, often family-run farms where livestock graze outside for much of the year, silage or hay is made to cover the times of year when the grass stops growing, and fertiliser, feed and other inputs are bought onto the farm from outside." (wikipedia.org) "Pasture (from the Latin pastus, past participle of pascere, "to feed") is land used for grazing.[1] Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs (non-grass herbaceous plants). Pasture is typically grazed throughout the summer, in contrast to meadow which is ungrazed or used for grazing only after being mown to make hay for animal fodder.[2] Pasture in a wider sense additionally includes rangelands, other unenclosed pastoral systems, and land types used by wild animals for grazing or browsing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are distinguished from rangelands by being managed through more intensive agricultural practices of seeding, irrigation, and the use of fertilizers, while rangelands grow primarily native vegetation, managed with extensive practices like controlled burning and regulated intensity of grazing. Soil type, minimum annual temperature, and rainfall are important factors in pasture management.[3] Hillside pasture in Pennsylvania. Sheepwalk is an area of grassland where sheep can roam freely. The productivity of sheepwalk is measured by the number of sheep per area. This is dependent, among other things, on the underlying rock.[4] Sheepwalk is also the name of townlands in County Roscommon, Ireland, and County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Unlike factory farming, which entails in its most intensive form entirely trough-feeding, managed or unmanaged pasture is the main food source for ruminants. Pasture feeding dominates livestock farming where the land makes crop sowing or harvesting (or both) difficult, such as in arid or mountainous regions, where types of camel, goat, antelope, yak and other ruminants live which are well suited to the more hostile terrain and very rarely factory-farmed. In more humid regions, pasture grazing is managed across a large global area for free range and organic farming. Certain types of pasture suit the diet, evolution and metabolism of particular animals, and their fertilising and tending of the land may over generations result in the pasture combined with the ruminants in question being integral to a particular ecosystem.[5] Examples of pasture habitats     Grassland     Heathland     Machair     Maquis     Moorland     Potrero (landform)     Prairie     Rangeland     Rough pasture     Savanna     Steppe     Wood pasture     Veld" (wikipedia.org) "A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression, either naturally or artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake[1] and there are no official criteria distinguishing the two, although defining a pond to be less than 5 hectares (12 acres) in area, less than 5 metres (16 ft) in depth and with less than 30% with emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing the ecology of ponds from those of lakes and wetlands.[2][3]: 460  Ponds can be created by a wide variety of natural processes (e.g. on floodplains as cutoff river channels, by glacial processes, by peatland formation, in coastal dune systems, by beavers), or they can simply be isolated depressions (such as a kettle hole, vernal pool, prairie pothole, or simply natural undulations in undrained land) filled by runoff, groundwater, or precipitation, or all three of these.[4] They can be further divided into four zones: vegetation zone, open water, bottom mud and surface film.[3]: 160–163  The size and depth of ponds often varies greatly with the time of year; many ponds are produced by spring flooding from rivers. Ponds may be freshwater or brackish in nature. 'Ponds' with saltwater, with a direct connection to the sea that maintains full salinity, would normally be regarded as part of the marine environment because they would not support fresh or brackish water organisms, so not really within the realm of freshwater science. Ponds are usually by definition quite shallow water bodies with varying abundances of aquatic plants and animals. Depth, seasonal water level variations, nutrients fluxes, amount of light reaching the ponds, the shape, the presence of visiting large mammals, the composition of any fish communities and salinity can all affect the types of plant and animal communities present.[5] Food webs are based both on free-floating algae and upon aquatic plants. There is usually a diverse array of aquatic life, with a few examples including algae, snails, fish, beetles, water bugs, frogs, turtles, otters and muskrats. Top predators may include large fish, herons, or alligators. Since fish are a major predator upon amphibian larvae, ponds that dry up each year, thereby killing resident fish, provide important refugia for amphibian breeding.[5] Ponds that dry up completely each year are often known as vernal pools. Some ponds are produced by animal activity, including alligator holes and beaver ponds, and these add important diversity to landscapes.[5] Ponds are frequently manmade or expanded beyond their original depths and bounds by anthropogenic causes. Apart from their role as highly biodiverse, fundamentally natural, freshwater ecosystems ponds have had, and still have, many uses, including providing water for agriculture, livestock and communities, aiding in habitat restoration, serving as breeding grounds for local and migrating species, decorative components of landscape architecture, flood control basins, general urbanization, interception basins for pollutants and sources and sinks of greenhouse gases. ...     Create account     Log in Personal tools Contents     (Top)     Classification     Formation     Uses     Pond biodiversity     Stratification     Conservation and management     Examples     See also     References     Further reading Pond     Article     Talk     Read     Edit     View history Tools From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Pond (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Pound. Pond at Cornjum, Netherlands A man made pond at sunset in Montgomery County, Ohio. Stereoscopic image of a pond in Central City Park, Macon, GA, circa 1877. A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression, either naturally or artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake[1] and there are no official criteria distinguishing the two, although defining a pond to be less than 5 hectares (12 acres) in area, less than 5 metres (16 ft) in depth and with less than 30% with emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing the ecology of ponds from those of lakes and wetlands.[2][3]: 460  Ponds can be created by a wide variety of natural processes (e.g. on floodplains as cutoff river channels, by glacial processes, by peatland formation, in coastal dune systems, by beavers), or they can simply be isolated depressions (such as a kettle hole, vernal pool, prairie pothole, or simply natural undulations in undrained land) filled by runoff, groundwater, or precipitation, or all three of these.[4] They can be further divided into four zones: vegetation zone, open water, bottom mud and surface film.[3]: 160–163  The size and depth of ponds often varies greatly with the time of year; many ponds are produced by spring flooding from rivers. Ponds may be freshwater or brackish in nature. 'Ponds' with saltwater, with a direct connection to the sea that maintains full salinity, would normally be regarded as part of the marine environment because they would not support fresh or brackish water organisms, so not really within the realm of freshwater science. Ponds are usually by definition quite shallow water bodies with varying abundances of aquatic plants and animals. Depth, seasonal water level variations, nutrients fluxes, amount of light reaching the ponds, the shape, the presence of visiting large mammals, the composition of any fish communities and salinity can all affect the types of plant and animal communities present.[5] Food webs are based both on free-floating algae and upon aquatic plants. There is usually a diverse array of aquatic life, with a few examples including algae, snails, fish, beetles, water bugs, frogs, turtles, otters and muskrats. Top predators may include large fish, herons, or alligators. Since fish are a major predator upon amphibian larvae, ponds that dry up each year, thereby killing resident fish, provide important refugia for amphibian breeding.[5] Ponds that dry up completely each year are often known as vernal pools. Some ponds are produced by animal activity, including alligator holes and beaver ponds, and these add important diversity to landscapes.[5] Ponds are frequently manmade or expanded beyond their original depths and bounds by anthropogenic causes. Apart from their role as highly biodiverse, fundamentally natural, freshwater ecosystems ponds have had, and still have, many uses, including providing water for agriculture, livestock and communities, aiding in habitat restoration, serving as breeding grounds for local and migrating species, decorative components of landscape architecture, flood control basins, general urbanization, interception basins for pollutants and sources and sinks of greenhouse gases. Classification The technical distinction between a pond and a lake has not been universally standardized. Limnologists and freshwater biologists have proposed formal definitions for pond, in part to include 'bodies of water where light penetrates to the bottom of the waterbody,' 'bodies of water shallow enough for rooted water plants to grow throughout,' and 'bodies of water which lack wave action on the shoreline.' Each of these definitions are difficult to measure or verify in practice and are of limited practical use, and are mostly not now used. Accordingly, some organizations and researchers have settled on technical definitions of pond and lake that rely on size alone.[6] Vegetated pond within the sand dunes of the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Brazil Some regions of the United States define a pond as a body of water with a surface area of less than 10 acres (4.0 ha). Minnesota, known as the "land of 10,000 lakes", is commonly said to distinguish lakes from ponds, bogs and other water features by this definition,[7] but also says that a lake is distinguished primarily by wave action reaching the shore.[8] Even among organizations and researchers who distinguish lakes from ponds by size alone, there is no universally recognized standard for the maximum size of a pond. The international Ramsar wetland convention sets the upper limit for pond size as 8 hectares (80,000 m2; 20 acres).[9] Researchers for the British charity Pond Conservation (now called Freshwater Habitats Trust) have defined a pond to be 'a man-made or natural waterbody that is between 1 m2(0.00010 hectares; 0.00025 acres) and 20,000 m2 (2.0 hectares; 4.9 acres) in area, which holds water for four months of the year or more.' Other European biologists have set the upper size limit at 5 hectares (50,000 m2; 12 acres).[10] In North America, even larger bodies of water have been called ponds; for example, Crystal Lake at 33 acres (130,000 m2; 13 ha), Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts at 61 acres (250,000 m2; 25 ha), and nearby Spot Pond at 340 acres (140 ha). There are numerous examples in other states, where bodies of water less than 10 acres (40,000 m2; 4.0 ha) are being called lakes. As the case of Crystal Lake shows, marketing purposes can sometimes be the driving factor behind the categorization.[11] The Pond in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City In practice, a body of water is called a pond or a lake on an individual basis, as conventions change from place to place and over time. In origin, a pond is a variant form of the word pound, meaning a confining enclosure.[12] In earlier times, ponds were artificial and utilitarian, as stew ponds, mill ponds and so on. The significance of this feature seems, in some cases, to have been lost when the word was carried abroad with emigrants. However, some parts of New England contain "ponds" that are actually the size of a small lake when compared to other countries. In the United States, natural pools are often called ponds. Ponds for a specific purpose keep the adjective, such as "stock pond", used for watering livestock. The term is also used for temporary accumulation of water from surface runoff (ponded water). There are various regional names for naturally occurring ponds. In Scotland, one of the terms is lochan, which may also apply to a large body of water such as a lake. In the South Western parts of North American, lakes or ponds that are temporary and often dried up for most parts of the year are called playas.[13]  These playas are simply shallow depressions in dry areas that may only fill with water on certain occasion like excess local drainage, groundwater seeping, or rain. Formation Pond formation through seeping groundwater in South Tufa, California Any depression in the ground which collects and retains a sufficient amount of water can be considered a pond, and such, can be formed by a variety of geological, ecological, and human terraforming events. Ornamental pond with waterfall in Niagara Falls Rock Garden Natural ponds are those caused by environmental occurrences. These can vary from glacial, volcanic, fluvial, or even tectonic events. Since the Pleistocene epoch, glacial processes have created most of the Northern hemispheric ponds; an example is the Prairie Pothole Region of North America.[14][15] When glaciers retreat, they may leave behind uneven ground due to bedrock elastic rebound and sediment outwash plains.[16] These areas may develop depressions that can fill up with excess precipitation or seeping ground water, forming a small pond. Kettle lakes and ponds are formed when ice breaks off from a larger glacier, is eventually buried by the surrounding glacial till, and over time melts.[17] Orogenies and other tectonic uplifting events have created some of the oldest lakes and ponds on the globe. These indentions have the tendency to quickly fill with groundwater if they occur below the local water table. Other tectonic rifts or depressions can fill with precipitation, local mountain runoff, or be fed by mountain streams.[18] Volcanic activity can also lead to lake and pond formation through collapsed lava tubes or volcanic cones. Natural floodplains along rivers, as well as landscapes that contain many depressions, may experience spring/rainy season flooding and snow melt. Temporary or vernal ponds are created this way and are important for breeding fish, insects, and amphibians, particularly in large river systems like the Amazon.[19] Some ponds are solely created by animals species such as beavers, bison, alligators and other crocodilians through damning and nest excavation respectively.[20][21] In landscapes with organic soils, local fires can create depressions during periods of drought. These have the tendency to fill up with small amounts of precipitation until normal water levels return, turning these isolated ponds into open water.[22] Manmade ponds are those created by human intervention for the sake of the local environment, industrial settings, or for recreational/ornamental use. Uses Many ecosystems are linked by water and ponds have been found to hold a greater biodiversity of species than larger freshwater lakes or river systems.[23] As such, ponds are habitats for many varieties of organisms including plants, amphibians, fish, reptiles, waterfowl, insects and even some mammals. Ponds are used for breeding grounds for these species but also as shelter and even drinking/feeding locations for other wildlife.[24][25] Aquaculture practices lean heavily on artificial ponds in order to grow and care for many different type of fish either for human consumption, research, species conservation or recreational sport. A small agricultural retention pond in Swarzynice, Poland In agriculture practices, treatment ponds can be created to reduce nutrient runoff from reaching local streams or groundwater storages. Pollutants that enter ponds can often be mitigated by natural sedimentation and other biological and chemical activities within the water. As such, waste stabilization ponds are becoming popular low-cost methods for general wastewater treatment. They may also provide irrigation reservoirs for struggling farms during times of drought. As urbanization continues to spread, retention ponds are becoming more common in new housing developments. These ponds reduce the risk of flooding and erosion damage from excess storm water runoff in local communities.[26] Siddha Pokhari, a reservoir pond in Bhaktapur, Nepal Experimental ponds are used to test hypotheses in the fields of environmental science, chemistry, aquatic biology, and limnology.[27] Some ponds are the life blood of many small villages in arid countries such as those in sub-Saharan Africa where bathing, sanitation, fishing, socialization, and rituals are held.[28] In the Indian subcontinent, Hindu temple monks care for sacred ponds used for religious practices and bathing pilgrims alike.[29] In Europe during medieval times, it was typical for many monastery and castles (small, partly self-sufficient communities) to have fish ponds. These are still common in Europe and in East Asia (notably Japan), where koi may be kept or raised. In Nepal artificial ponds were essential elements of the ancient drinking water supply system. These ponds were fed with rainwater, water coming in through canals, their own springs, or a combination of these sources. They were designed to retain the water, while at the same time letting some water seep away to feed the local aquifers." (wikipedia.org) "Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form taxon; they do not represent a monophyletic group (the group of all descendants of a single common ancestral species), since swans and geese are not considered ducks. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, and may be found in both fresh water and sea water. Ducks are sometimes confused with several types of unrelated water birds with similar forms, such as loons or divers, grebes, gallinules and coots. Etymology The word duck comes from Old English dūce 'diver', a derivative of the verb *dūcan 'to duck, bend down low as if to get under something, or dive', because of the way many species in the dabbling duck group feed by upending; compare with Dutch duiken and German tauchen 'to dive'. Pacific black duck displaying the characteristic upending "duck" This word replaced Old English ened/ænid 'duck', possibly to avoid confusion with other words, such as ende 'end' with similar forms. Other Germanic languages still have similar words for duck, for example, Dutch eend, German Ente and Norwegian and. The word ened/ænid was inherited from Proto-Indo-European; cf. Latin anas "duck", Lithuanian ántis 'duck', Ancient Greek νῆσσα/νῆττα (nēssa/nētta) 'duck', and Sanskrit ātí 'water bird', among others. A duckling is a young duck in downy plumage[1] or baby duck,[2] but in the food trade a young domestic duck which has just reached adult size and bulk and its meat is still fully tender, is sometimes labelled as a duckling. A male is called a drake and the female is called a duck, or in ornithology a hen.[3][4] Taxonomy All ducks belong to the biological order Anseriformes, a group that contains the ducks, geese and swans, as well as the screamers, and the magpie goose.[5] All except the screamers belong to the biological family Anatidae.[5] Within the family, ducks are split into a variety of subfamilies and 'tribes'. The number and composition of these subfamilies and tribes is the cause of considerable disagreement among taxonomists.[5] Some base their decisions on morphological characteristics, others on shared behaviours or genetic studies.[6][7] The number of suggested subfamilies containing ducks ranges from two to five.[8][9] The significant level of hybridisation that occurs among wild ducks complicates efforts to tease apart the relationships between various species.[9] Mallard landing in approach In most modern classifications, the so-called 'true ducks' belong to the subfamily Anatinae, which is further split into a varying number of tribes.[10] The largest of these, the Anatini, contains the 'dabbling' or 'river' ducks – named for their method of feeding primarily at the surface of fresh water.[11] The 'diving ducks', also named for their primary feeding method, make up the tribe Aythyini.[12] The 'sea ducks' of the tribe Mergini are diving ducks which specialise on fish and shellfish and spend a majority of their lives in saltwater.[13] The tribe Oxyurini contains the 'stifftails', diving ducks notable for their small size and stiff, upright tails.[14] A number of other species called ducks are not considered to be 'true ducks', and are typically placed in other subfamilies or tribes. The whistling ducks are assigned either to a tribe (Dendrocygnini) in the subfamily Anatinae or the subfamily Anserinae,[15] or to their own subfamily (Dendrocygninae) or family (Dendrocyganidae).[9][16] The freckled duck of Australia is either the sole member of the tribe Stictonettini in the subfamily Anserinae,[15] or in its own family, the Stictonettinae.[9] The shelducks make up the tribe Tadornini in the family Anserinae in some classifications,[15] and their own subfamily, Tadorninae, in others,[17] while the steamer ducks are either placed in the family Anserinae in the tribe Tachyerini[15] or lumped with the shelducks in the tribe Tadorini.[9] The perching ducks make up in the tribe Cairinini in the subfamily Anserinae in some classifications, while that tribe is eliminated in other classifications and its members assigned to the tribe Anatini.[9] The torrent duck is generally included in the subfamily Anserinae in the monotypic tribe Merganettini,[15] but is sometimes included in the tribe Tadornini.[18] The pink-eared duck is sometimes included as a true duck either in the tribe Anatini[15] or the tribe Malacorhynchini,[19] and other times is included with the shelducks in the tribe Tadornini.... Domestication Main article: Domestic duck Indian Runner ducks, a common breed of domestic ducks Ducks have many economic uses, being farmed for their meat, eggs, and feathers (particularly their down). Approximately 3 billion ducks are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide.[45] They are also kept and bred by aviculturists and often displayed in zoos. Almost all the varieties of domestic ducks are descended from the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), apart from the Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata).[46][47] The Call duck is another example of a domestic duck breed. Its name comes from its original use established by hunters, as a decoy to attract wild mallards from the sky, into traps set for them on the ground. The call duck is the world's smallest domestic duck breed, as it weighs less than 1 kg (2.2 lb).[48] Ducks in the Wild Heraldry Three black-colored ducks in the coat of arms of Maaninka[49] Ducks appear on several coats of arms, including the coat of arms of Lubāna (Latvia)[50] and the coat of arms of Föglö (Åland).[51] Cultural references In 2002, psychologist Richard Wiseman and colleagues at the University of Hertfordshire, UK, finished a year-long LaughLab experiment, concluding that of all animals, ducks attract the most humor and silliness; he said, "If you're going to tell a joke involving an animal, make it a duck."[52] The word "duck" may have become an inherently funny word in many languages, possibly because ducks are seen as silly in their looks or behavior. Of the many ducks in fiction, many are cartoon characters, such as Walt Disney's Donald Duck, and Warner Bros.' Daffy Duck. Howard the Duck started as a comic book character in 1973[53][54] and was made into a movie in 1986. The 1992 Disney film The Mighty Ducks, starring Emilio Estevez, chose the duck as the mascot for the fictional youth hockey team who are protagonists of the movie, based on the duck being described as a fierce fighter. This led to the duck becoming the nickname and mascot for the eventual National Hockey League professional team of the Anaheim Ducks, who were founded with the name the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.[citation needed] The duck is also the nickname of the University of Oregon sports teams as well as the Long Island Ducks minor league baseball team.[5" (wikipedia.org) Since its origins, Easter has been a time of celebration and feasting and many traditional Easter games and customs developed, such as egg rolling, egg tapping, pace egging, cascarones or confetti eggs and egg decorating. Today Easter is commercially important, seeing wide sales of greeting cards and confectionery such as chocolate Easter eggs as well as other Easter food such as turkey. Even many non-Christians celebrate these features of the holiday while ignoring the religious aspects. Games There are a large number of traditional Easter games and customs in the Christian world. Many of these games incorporate Easter eggs. Although adopted into the Christian tradition of Easter, these games are probably based in ancient fertility cults[1] (this is a classic example of syncretism). Of these the most well known, widespread and popular until the modern times are the egg rolling, egg hunt, egg tapping, and egg dance. Their rules may vary in different cultures and localities. At the same time, there exist less known peculiar customs. Nowadays child entertainers and kindergartens invent various new Easter games, often adapting well-known games to Easter topics, such as word puzzles involving Easter-related words. Egg games     The rules of egg rolling may vary significantly, with the basic idea being an egg race. The eggs are either rolled down a steep hill or pushed across a lawn with sticks.     Egg hunt is a kind of treasure hunt game: children have to collect as many hidden eggs as possible.     Egg tapping is a contest for the hardest egg: the contestants tap each other's eggs with egg tips and optionally with other parts: "butts" or sides.     Egg dance requires dancing among eggs while keeping them undamaged. In some traditions the egg dancer may be blindfolded. Africa Ethiopia and Eritrea Main article: Fasika Easter, known as Fasika (Ge'ez: ፋሲካ, sometimes transcribed as Fasica; from Greek Pascha),[2] also called Tensae (Ge'ez: ትንሣኤ, "to rise")[3] is celebrated among Ethiopian and Eritrean Christians. In Ethiopia, the most prominent and longstanding religion has been the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (then including the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church) since the times of Frumentius. Ethiopian (Ethio-Eritrean, Eastern) Easter, or Fasika, however, takes place in all the Christian Churches throughout the country, whether it be Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant, and follows the eastern method of calculating Easter (see Computus for details), thus tending to fall after Easter in the Western calendar (some years both fall on the same date). Fasika is a much more important festival than Christmas, since the Death and Resurrection of Jesus is more significant in Orthodox and Ethiopian Evangelical theology than his birth. Jesus' crucifixion which led to his death on a Friday, according to Orthodox thought was for the purpose of fulfilling the word of God, and led to the conquest of death and Jesus' resurrection from the tomb after three days, the third day being the Sunday when Ethiopian Easter is celebrated. Fasika is a climactic celebration. Fasting becomes more intense over the 55-day period of Lent for Orthodox Christians, Catholics and optionally for some Protestant denominations, when no meat or animal products of any kind, including milk and butter, are eaten.[4][5][6] Good Friday starts off by church going, and is a day of preparation for the breaking of this long fasting period. The Orthodox Christians prostrate themselves in church, bowing down and rising up until they get tired. The main religious service takes place with the Paschal Vigil on Saturday night. It is a somber, sacred occasion with music and dancing until the early hours of the morning. At 3:00 a.m. everyone returns home to break their fast, and a chicken is slaughtered at midnight for the symbolic occasion. In the morning, after a rest, a sheep is slaughtered to start the feasting on Easter Sunday. While Catholics and Protestant denominations have special Easter Services/Masses bringing in people from various smaller community churches together to participate in an Easter sermon and celebration. In Ethiopian-Eritrean Orthodox Christianity or the Tewahedo faith, it is believed the near-sacrifice of Abraham's loved son Isaac (Genesis 22), which was a test of faith from God to Abraham, was interrupted by a voice of an angel from the heavens, and the sending of a Lamb for the sacrifice instead. This Old Testament story is said to be a prophetic foreshadowing of God sending his only beloved son for the world as a sacrifice and the fulfilling of Abraham's promise. Easter in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and its diaspora communities, is a day when people celebrate; there is a release of enjoyment after the long build-up of suffering which has taken place, to represent Christ's fasting for forty days and forty nights. People often have food and for most Orthodox Christians locally brewed alcohol from fresh honey (tej, tella and katikalla), while to a certain extent Ethiopian-Eritrean Protestantism generally discourages heavy alcohol. Ethiopians and Eritreans in the West especially those of the Catholic and Protestant denominations celebrate Easter on both the Eastern and Western days. While most Ethiopian-Eritrean Orthodox Christians in the West refrain from doing so because celebrating the Western Easter celebration would interfere with the Orthodox Eastern Fasting Season. In most cases the Catholic Western Fasting Season ends earlier than the Orthodox Eastern Fasting Season as can be seen in the difference between the when the Eastern and Western Churches celebrate Easter (Fasika). Nigeria Since the arrival of Christianity in Nigeria with the missionaries that came to the country from the early 1800s, Easter has been observed among the Christian population.[7] Asia Malaysia Despite Malaysia being a Muslim majority country, Easter is celebrated in the states of Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia as there is a significant Christian indigenous population in both states.[8] The Americas Marshmallow bunnies and candy eggs in an Easter basket. In many cultures rabbits, which represent fertility, are a symbol of Easter. Bermuda In the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, historically famous for growing and exporting the Easter lily, the most notable feature of the Easter celebration is the flying of kites to symbolize Christ's ascent.[9] Traditional Bermuda kites are constructed by Bermudians of all ages as Easter approaches, and are normally only flown at Easter. In addition to hot cross buns and Easter eggs, fish cakes are traditionally eaten in Bermuda at this time. Jamaica In Jamaica, eating bun and cheese is a highly anticipated custom by Jamaican nationals all over the world. The Jamaica Easter Buns are spiced and have raisins, and baked in a loaf tin. The buns are sliced and eaten with a slice of cheese. It is a common practice for employers to make gifts of bun and cheese or a single loaf of bun to staff members. According to the Jamaica Gleaner, "The basic Easter bun recipe requires wheat flour, brown sugar, molasses, baking powder or yeast and dried fruits."[10] Easter egg traditions and the Easter Bunny activities are not widespread in Jamaica. Also, Jamaican traditions include sometimes include throwing garlic onto the floor as a sign of good luck during Easter dinner. United States In Louisiana, USA, egg tapping is known as egg-knocking. Marksville, Louisiana claims to host the oldest egg-knocking competition in the US, dating back to the 1950s. Competitors pair up on the steps of the courthouse on Easter Sunday and knock the tips of two eggs together. If a participant's egg shell cracks they have to forfeit it, a process that continues until just one egg remains.[11] Venetia Newall describes egg eating competitions in Western Germany and among German emigrants to Pennsylvania, United States.[12] Europe Central and Eastern Europe Ritual whipping of girls in Moravia (1910) Slovak korbáč (a special handmade whip) Traditional Slovenian Easter breakfast with eggs, ham with horseradish, and potica Many central and eastern European ethnic groups, including the Albanians, Armenians, Belarusians, Bulgarians, Croats, Czechs, Estonians, Georgians, Germans, Hungarians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Macedonians, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Serbs, Slovaks, Slovenes, and Ukrainians, decorate eggs for Easter. In Bulgaria, the Easter eggs are decorated on Thursday or Saturday before Easter. Widespread tradition is to fight with eggs by pair, and the one whose egg is the last surviving is called borak (Bulgarian: борак or борец, fighter). The tradition is to display the decorated eggs on the Easter table together with the Easter dinner consisting of roasted lamb, a salad called Easter salad (lettuce with cucumbers), and a sweet bread called kozunak. In the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and some parts of Hungary, a tradition of spanking or whipping is carried out on Easter Monday. In the morning, men spank women with a special handmade whip called "Easter switches"[13] called a pomlázka (in Czech) or korbáč (in Slovak); in eastern regions of former Czechoslovakia Moravia and Slovakia they also pour cold water on them. The pomlázka/korbáč consists of eight, 12 or even 24 withies (willow rods), is usually from half a metre to two meters long and decorated with coloured ribbons at the end. In some regions it might be replaced by a stick of a juniper tree. The spanking may be painful, but it's not intended to cause suffering. A legend says that women should be spanked with a whip in order to keep their health, beauty, and fertility during the whole next year.[14] An additional purpose can be for men to exhibit their attraction to women; unvisited women can even feel offended. Traditionally, the spanked woman gives a coloured egg (kraslice) they've prepared by themselves as invitations to eat and drink and as a sign of her thanks to the man. If the visitor is a small boy, he is usually provided with sweets and a small amount of money. In some regions, the women can get revenge in the afternoon or the following day when they can pour a bucket of cold water on any man. The habit slightly varies across Slovakia and the Czech Republic. A similar tradition existed in Poland (where it is called Dyngus Day), but it is now little more than an all-day water fight. Osterbrunnen in Heiligenstadt, Germany In Germany, decorated eggs are hung on branches of bushes and trees to make them Easter egg trees. Eggs are also used to dress wells for Easter, the Osterbrunnen, most prominently in the Fränkische Schweiz (Franconian Switzerland).[15] In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia, a basket of food is prepared, covered with a handmade cloth, and brought to the church to be blessed. A typical Easter basket includes bread, colored eggs, ham, horseradish, and a type of nut cake called "potica".[16] In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo, jumping over flames (Serbian Cyrillic: Крљавештице, romanized: Krljaveštice) is a customary requirement to jump over fire.[17] Cyprus As well as the common painted easter egg hunt, in Cyprus it is customary for people to light great fires[18] (Greek: λαμπρατζια) in schools or church yards. The fires are made up of scrap wood, gathered usually by enthusiastic young boys which scour their neighbourhoods for them, in order to make their fire as great as it can be (and bigger than the neighbouring one). More than often this competition leads to fights happening over scraps of wood and the police or fire department being called to put out the fires that have gone out of control. It is customary for a small doll representing Judas Iscariot to be burnt. The same thing happens on Crete, but it is non-competitive, and the fire is called "founara" which means "big fire" in Cretan Greek. The founara burns coupled with the detonation of small dynamites called "plakatzikia" in plural, and with gunshots in the air. Typical German Easter bread Germany In northern Germany, Easter Fires (in German: Osterfeuer, listen (help·info)) are lit around sunset on Holy Saturday. Each of the federal states have their own regulations for allowing and/or the way of staging Easter Fires: While in the city and state of Hamburg, private persons are allowed to have an Easter Fire of any size on their own premises, in Schleswig-Holstein, for example, only the widespread voluntary fire brigades are allowed to organize and stage them on open fields. Over the past years, Easter Fires themselves have become larger and developed to smaller versions of Volksfests with some snack stands selling Bratwurst, steak in bread rolls, beer, wine, and soft drinks as well as maybe one or two rides for the children. Usually, Easter Fires are kept burning over hours until dawn (roughly around 6 o'clock) and cause therefore a special atmosphere during the whole Easter Night with their bright lights in the dark and the omnipresent smell of smoke. During the weeks before Easter, special Easter bread is sold (in German: Osterbrot). This is made with yeast dough, raisins, and almond splinters. Usually, it is cut in slices and spread with butter. People enjoy it either for breakfast or for tea time (in German: Kaffee und Kuchen, literally ″coffee and cake″). In many parts of Germany a popular Easter pastime is egg throwing. In this "game" there are no winners or losers, nor any apparent aim. Participants throw a painted and decorated hard boiled egg as far as they can across the fields. This is repeated until eventually the egg bursts apart, an event that takes a sometimes surprising number of throws. In other versions it is a competitive event when pairs throw a raw egg to each other while moving further and further apart. United Kingdom In Scotland, the north of England, and Northern Ireland, the traditions of rolling decorated eggs down steep hills and pace egging are still adhered to. Strutt and Hone in their 1867 book The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England describe an Easter tradition from the Isles of Scilly called goose dancing. For goose dancing the maidens dress up as young men and vice versa. In this disguise they visit neighbours for dancing and making joke stories.[19] Hungary In Hungary, Transylvania, Southern Slovakia, Kárpátalja, Northern Serbia - Vojvodina, and other territories with Hungarian-speaking communities, the day following Easter is called Locsoló Hétfő, "Watering Monday". Men usually visit families with girls and women. Water, perfume or perfumed water is sprinkled on the women and girls of the house by the visiting men, who are given in exchange an Easter egg. Traditionally Easter ham, colored boiled eggs and horseradish sauce is consumed on Sunday morning. In the Eastern part of the country, an Easter specialty known as sárgatúró (literally "yellow curd cheese") is made for the occasion.[20] Ireland Easter was traditionally the most important date in the Christian calendar in Ireland, with a large feast marking the end of lent on Easter Sunday. Among the food commonly eaten were lamb, veal, and chicken, with a meal of corned beef, cabbage, and floury potatoes was a popular meal. It was traditional for farmers to share the meat from a slaughtered bullock or lamb with neighbours and or the less fortunate. Another tradition was that if a beggar called to a house, they would be given roasted potatoes. At this time of year, eggs were plentiful, and would be eaten at each meal.[21] Eggs were dyed for good luck, using a variety of methods such as boiling them with certain lichens and plants. The coloured eggshells would be kept to decorate the May bush. A tradition among children was to collect their own food for a feast, including eggs and potatoes, which they would cook outdoors using a fire. They would also eat buttered bread, sweet cakes, with milk of homemade cordial. The place the children's feast was held would be known as a clúdóg. As a game on Easter Sunday, it was a custom to roll hard boiled eggs down a hill. There are records of Easter Sunday being referred to as Easter Egg Day as far back as 1827, recounting the consumption of eggs.[22] Easter is a day of remembrance for the men and women who died in the Easter Rising which began on Easter Monday 1916. Until 1966, there was a parade of veterans, past the headquarters of the Irish Volunteers at the General Post Office (GPO) on O'Connell Street, Dublin, and a reading of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. It is usually celebrated on Easter Monday. Italy Italian traditional Easter cake called the Colomba Pasquale In Florence, Italy, the unique custom of the Scoppio del carro is observed in which a holy fire lit from stone shards from the Holy Sepulchre are used to light a fire during the singing of the Gloria of the Easter Sunday Mass, which is used to ignite a rocket in the form of a dove, representing peace and the Holy Spirit, which following a wire in turn lights a cart containing pyrotechnics in the small square before the cathedral.[citation needed] The Netherlands, Belgium and France Church bells are silent as a sign of mourning for one or more days before Easter in The Netherlands, Belgium and France. This has led to an Easter tradition that says the bells fly out of their steeples to go to Rome (explaining their silence), and return on Easter morning bringing both colored eggs and hollow chocolate shaped like eggs or rabbits. In both The Netherlands and Dutch-speaking Belgium many of more modern traditions exist alongside the Easter Bell story. The bells ("de Paasklokken") leave for Rome on Holy Saturday, called "Stille Zaterdag" (literally "Silent Saturday") in Dutch. In the northern and eastern parts of the Netherlands (Twente and Achterhoek), Easter Fires (in Dutch: Paasvuur) are lit on Easter Day at sunset. In French-speaking Belgium and France the same story of Easter Bells (« les cloches de Pâques ») bringing eggs from Rome is told, but church bells are silent beginning Maundy Thursday, the first day of the Paschal Triduum. Nordic countries In Norway, in addition to staying at mountain cabins, cross-country skiing and painting eggs, a contemporary tradition is to read or watch murder mysteries at Easter. All the major television channels run crime and detective stories (such as Agatha Christie's Poirot), magazines print stories where the readers can try to figure out "Whodunnit", and new detective novels are scheduled for publishing before Easter. Even the milk cartons are altered for a couple of weeks. Each Easter a new short mystery story is printed on their sides. Stores and businesses close for five straight days at Easter, with the exception of grocery stores, which re-open for a single day on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. A girl dressed up as an Easter witch In Sweden and Finland, traditions include egg painting and small children dressed as Easter witches (påskkärring[23] or in Finland påskhäxa, typically dressed as old folks) collecting candy door-to-door, in exchange for decorated hand-made greetings such as cards[24] or pussy willows, called virvonta in Finland, which is a result of the mixing of an old Orthodox tradition (blessing houses with willow branches) and the Swedish Easter witch tradition.[25] Brightly coloured feathers and little decorations are also attached to birch branches in a vase. In Finland, it is common to plant ryegrass in a pot as a symbol of spring and new life. After the grass has grown, many people put chick decorations on it. Children busy themselves painting eggs and making paper bunnies. Denmark has the gækkebrev tradition of sending relatives and friends artful paper cuttings, often with a snowdrop, and a rhyme with the letters of the sender's name replaced by dots. If the recipient guesses who sent it, the sender owes them a chocolate egg; and vice versa if they can't.[26] The decorated letter custom was originally a means of proposal or courtship, but is now considered mostly for children. Gækkebrev, a Danish Easter letter For lunch or dinner on Holy Saturday, families in Sweden and Denmark traditionally feast on a smörgåsbord of herring, salmon, potatoes, eggs, and other kinds of food. In Finland, it is common to eat roasted lamb with potatoes and other vegetables. In Finland, the Lutheran majority enjoys mämmi as another traditional Easter treat, while the Orthodox minority's traditions include eating pasha (also spelled paskha) instead. In the western parts of Sweden and in Finnish Ostrobothnia, bonfires have at least since the 18th century been lit during Holy Saturday. This tradition is claimed to have its origin in Holland. During the last decades though, the bonfires have in many places been moved to Walpurgis Night, as this is the traditional date for bonfires in many other parts of the country. Poland Main article: Easter in Poland In Poland, white sausage and mazurek are typical Easter breakfast dishes. The butter lamb (Baranek wielkanocny) is a traditional addition to the Easter meal for many Polish Catholics. Butter is shaped into a lamb either by hand or in a lamb-shaped mold. Ukraine Preparations for Easter celebration in Ukraine begin weeks before the feast day, with Great Lent being part of it. The Ukrainian Easter eggs include pysanky,[27] krashanky (edible, one-colour dyed eggs), driapanky (a design is scratched on the eggshell) etc. During the Easter Vigil a priest also blesses the parishioners' Easter baskets, which include Easter eggs, paska,[28] butter, cheese, kovbasa, salt and a few other products. With this food, on their return home, people break their fast. The ritual is called 'rozhovyny'. People visit their relatives and neighbours exchanging Easter greetings. Celebration of Easter in Ukraine is filled with many other customs and rituals, most of which are centuries-old.[29] Oceania Hot cross buns New Zealand In New Zealand, the Auckland Easter Show is an annual tradition, also." (wikipedia.org) "Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea. They are presently considered a clade, called Anthophila. There are over 16,000 known species of bees in seven recognized biological families.[1][2] Some species – including honey bees, bumblebees, and stingless bees – live socially in colonies while most species (>90%) – including mason bees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees, and sweat bees – are solitary. Bees are found on every continent except Antarctica, in every habitat on the planet that contains insect-pollinated flowering plants. The most common bees in the Northern Hemisphere are the Halictidae, or sweat bees, but they are small and often mistaken for wasps or flies. Bees range in size from tiny stingless bee species, whose workers are less than 2 millimetres (0.08 in) long,[3] to Megachile pluto, the largest species of leafcutter bee, whose females can attain a length of 39 millimetres (1.54 in). Bees feed on nectar and pollen, the former primarily as an energy source and the latter primarily for protein and other nutrients. Most pollen is used as food for their larvae. Vertebrate predators of bees include primates and birds such as bee-eaters; insect predators include beewolves and dragonflies. Bee pollination is important both ecologically and commercially, and the decline in wild bees has increased the value of pollination by commercially managed hives of honey bees. The analysis of 353 wild bee and hoverfly species across Britain from 1980 to 2013 found the insects have been lost from a quarter of the places they inhabited in 1980.[4] Human beekeeping or apiculture (meliponiculture for stingless bees) has been practised for millennia, since at least the times of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. Bees have appeared in mythology and folklore, through all phases of art and literature from ancient times to the present day, although primarily focused in the Northern Hemisphere where beekeeping is far more common. In Mesoamerica, the Mayans have practiced large-scale intensive meliponiculture since pre-Columbian times.... Relationship with humans In mythology and folklore Main article: Bees in mythology Gold plaques embossed with winged bee goddesses. Camiros, Rhodes. 7th century BC. Homer's Hymn to Hermes describes three bee-maidens with the power of divination and thus speaking truth, and identifies the food of the gods as honey. Sources associated the bee maidens with Apollo and, until the 1980s, scholars followed Gottfried Hermann (1806) in incorrectly identifying the bee-maidens with the Thriae.[92] Honey, according to a Greek myth, was discovered by a nymph called Melissa ("Bee"); and honey was offered to the Greek gods from Mycenean times. Bees were also associated with the Delphic oracle and the prophetess was sometimes called a bee.[93] The image of a community of honey bees has been used from ancient to modern times, in Aristotle and Plato; in Virgil and Seneca; in Erasmus and Shakespeare; Tolstoy, and by political and social theorists such as Bernard Mandeville and Karl Marx as a model for human society.[94] In English folklore, bees would be told of important events in the household, in a custom known as "Telling the bees".[95] In art and literature Beatrix Potter's illustration of Babbity Bumble in The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse, 1910 Some of the oldest examples of bees in art are rock paintings in Spain which have been dated to 15,000 BC.[96] W. B. Yeats's poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree (1888) contains the couplet "Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee, / And live alone in the bee loud glade." At the time he was living in Bedford Park in the West of London.[97] Beatrix Potter's illustrated book The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse (1910) features Babbity Bumble and her brood (pictured). Kit Williams' treasure hunt book The Bee on the Comb (1984) uses bees and beekeeping as part of its story and puzzle. Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees (2004), and the 2009 film starring Dakota Fanning, tells the story of a girl who escapes her abusive home and finds her way to live with a family of beekeepers, the Boatwrights. The 2007 animated comedy film Bee Movie used Jerry Seinfeld's first script and was his first work for children; he starred as a bee named Barry B. Benson, alongside Renée Zellweger. Critics found its premise awkward and its delivery tame.[98] Dave Goulson's A Sting in the Tale (2014) describes his efforts to save bumblebees in Britain, as well as much about their biology. The playwright Laline Paull's fantasy The Bees (2015) tells the tale of a hive bee named Flora 717 from hatching onwards.[99] Beekeeping Main article: Beekeeping A commercial beekeeper at work Western honey bee on a honeycomb Humans have kept honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, for millennia. Beekeepers collect honey, beeswax, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly from hives; bees are also kept to pollinate crops and to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers. Depictions of humans collecting honey from wild bees date to 15,000 years ago; efforts to domesticate them are shown in Egyptian art around 4,500 years ago.[100] Simple hives and smoke were used;[101][102] jars of honey were found in the tombs of pharaohs such as Tutankhamun. From the 18th century, European understanding of the colonies and biology of bees allowed the construction of the moveable comb hive so that honey could be harvested without destroying the colony.[103][104] Among Classical Era authors, beekeeping with the use of smoke is described in Aristotle's History of Animals Book 9.[105] The account mentions that bees die after stinging; that workers remove corpses from the hive, and guard it; castes including workers and non-working drones, but "kings" rather than queens; predators including toads and bee-eaters; and the waggle dance, with the "irresistible suggestion" of άροσειονται ("aroseiontai", it waggles) and παρακολουθούσιν ("parakolouthousin", they watch).[106][b] Beekeeping is described in detail by Virgil in his Georgics; it is also mentioned in his Aeneid, and in Pliny's Natural History." (wikipedia.org) "Butterflies (Rhopalocera) are insects that have large, often brightly coloured wings, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises the superfamilies Hedyloidea (moth-butterflies in the Americas) and Papilionoidea. Butterfly fossils date to the Paleocene, about 56 million years ago. Butterflies have a four-stage life cycle, as like most insects they undergo complete metamorphosis. Winged adults lay eggs on the food plant on which their larvae, known as caterpillars, will feed. The caterpillars grow, sometimes very rapidly, and when fully developed, pupate in a chrysalis. When metamorphosis is complete, the pupal skin splits, the adult insect climbs out, and after its wings have expanded and dried, it flies off. Some butterflies, especially in the tropics, have several generations in a year, while others have a single generation, and a few in cold locations may take several years to pass through their entire life cycle. Butterflies are often polymorphic, and many species make use of camouflage, mimicry, and aposematism to evade their predators.[1] Some, like the monarch and the painted lady, migrate over long distances. Many butterflies are attacked by parasites or parasitoids, including wasps, protozoans, flies, and other invertebrates, or are preyed upon by other organisms. Some species are pests because in their larval stages they can damage domestic crops or trees; other species are agents of pollination of some plants. Larvae of a few butterflies (e.g., harvesters) eat harmful insects, and a few are predators of ants, while others live as mutualists in association with ants. Culturally, butterflies are a popular motif in the visual and literary arts. The Smithsonian Institution says "butterflies are certainly one of the most appealing creatures in nature".[2] Etymology Possibly the original butter-fly.[3] A male brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) in flight The Oxford English Dictionary derives the word straightforwardly from Old English butorflēoge, butter-fly; similar names in Old Dutch and Old High German show that the name is ancient, but modern Dutch and German use different words (vlinder and Schmetterling) and the common name often varies substantially between otherwise closely-related languages. A possible source of the name is the bright yellow male of the brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni); another is that butterflies were on the wing in meadows during the spring and summer butter season while the grass was growing.[3][4] Paleontology Further information: Prehistoric Lepidoptera The earliest Lepidoptera fossils date to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, around 200 million years ago.[5] Butterflies evolved from moths, so while the butterflies are monophyletic (forming a single clade), the moths are not. The oldest known butterfly is Protocoeliades kristenseni from the Palaeocene aged Fur Formation of Denmark, approximately 55 million years old, which belongs to the family Hesperiidae (skippers).[6] Molecular clock estimates suggest that butterflies originated sometime in the mid-Cretaceous, but only significantly diversified during the Cenozoic.[7] The oldest American butterfly is the Late Eocene Prodryas persephone from the Florissant Fossil Beds,[8][9] approximately 34 million years old.[... In culture Ancient Egyptian relief sculpture, 26th dynasty, Thebes. c. 664–525 BC In art and literature Butterfly and Chinese wisteria, by Xü Xi. Early Song Dynasty, c. 970 A butterfly in the coat of arms of Perho Butterflies have appeared in art from 3500 years ago in ancient Egypt.[100] In the ancient Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan, the brilliantly coloured image of the butterfly was carved into many temples, buildings, jewellery, and emblazoned on incense burners. The butterfly was sometimes depicted with the maw of a jaguar, and some species were considered to be the reincarnations of the souls of dead warriors. The close association of butterflies with fire and warfare persisted into the Aztec civilisation; evidence of similar jaguar-butterfly images has been found among the Zapotec and Maya civilisations.[101] Butterflies are widely used in objects of art and jewellery: mounted in frames, embedded in resin, displayed in bottles, laminated in paper, and used in some mixed media artworks and furnishings.[102] The Norwegian naturalist Kjell Sandved compiled a photographic Butterfly Alphabet containing all 26 letters and the numerals 0 to 9 from the wings of butterflies.[103] Alice meets the caterpillar. Illustration by Sir John Tenniel in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, c. 1865 Sir John Tenniel drew a famous illustration of Alice meeting a caterpillar for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, c. 1865. The caterpillar is seated on a toadstool and is smoking a hookah; the image can be read as showing either the forelegs of the larva, or as suggesting a face with protruding nose and chin.[3] Eric Carle's children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar portrays the larva as an extraordinarily hungry animal, while also teaching children how to count (to five) and the days of the week.[3] A butterfly appeared in one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, "The Butterfly that Stamped".[104] One of the most popular, and most often recorded, songs by Sweden's eighteenth-century bard, Carl Michael Bellman, is "Fjäriln vingad syns på Haga" (The butterfly wingèd is seen in Haga), one of his Fredman's Songs.[105] Madam Butterfly is a 1904 opera by Giacomo Puccini about a romantic young Japanese bride who is deserted by her American officer husband soon after they are married. It was based on John Luther Long's short story written in 1898.[106] In mythology and folklore Der Schmetterlingsjäger (The butterfly hunter) painting by Carl Spitzweg, 1840 According to Lafcadio Hearn, a butterfly was seen in Japan as the personification of a person's soul; whether they be living, dying, or already dead. One Japanese superstition says that if a butterfly enters your guest room and perches behind the bamboo screen, the person whom you most love is coming to see you. Large numbers of butterflies are viewed as bad omens. When Taira no Masakado was secretly preparing his famous revolt, a vast a swarm of butterflies appeared in Kyoto. The people were frightened, thinking the apparition to be a portent of coming evil.[107] A serving tray decorated with butterfly wings Diderot's Encyclopédie cites butterflies as a symbol for the soul. A Roman sculpture depicts a butterfly exiting the mouth of a dead man, representing the Roman belief that the soul leaves through the mouth.[108] In line with this, the ancient Greek word for "butterfly" is ψυχή (psȳchē), which primarily means "soul" or "mind".[109] According to Mircea Eliade, some of the Nagas of Manipur claim ancestry from a butterfly.[110] In some cultures, butterflies symbolise rebirth.[111] The butterfly is a symbol of being transgender, because of the transformation from caterpillar to winged adult.[112] In the English county of Devon, people once hurried to kill the first butterfly of the year, to avoid a year of bad luck.[113] In the Philippines, a lingering black or dark butterfly or moth in the house is taken to mean an impending or recent death in the family.[114] Several American states have chosen an official state butterfly.[115] Collecting, recording, and rearing Nō robe Japan 1700s. Silk embroidered with silk thread and stenciled with gold foil "Collecting" means preserving dead specimens, not keeping butterflies as pets.[116][117] Collecting butterflies was once a popular hobby; it has now largely been replaced by photography, recording, and rearing butterflies for release into the wild.[3][dubious – discuss][full citation needed] The zoological illustrator Frederick William Frohawk succeeded in rearing all the butterfly species found in Britain, at a rate of four per year, to enable him to draw every stage of each species. He published the results in the folio sized handbook The Natural History of British Butterflies in 1924.[3] Butterflies and moths can be reared for recreation or for release.[118] In technology Further information: Biomimetics Study of the structural coloration of the wing scales of swallowtail butterflies has led to the development of more efficient light-emitting diodes,[119] and is inspiring nanotechnology research to produce paints that do not use toxic pigments and the development of new display technologies." (wikipedia.org) "Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (/ˈeɪviːz/), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) common ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute the only known living dinosaurs. Likewise, birds are considered reptiles in the modern cladistic sense of the term, and their closest living relatives are the crocodilians. Birds are descendants of the primitive avialans (whose members include Archaeopteryx) which first appeared during the Late Jurassic. According to DNA evidence, modern birds (Neornithes) evolved in the Middle to Late Cretaceous, and diversified dramatically around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 mya, which killed off the pterosaurs and all non-avian dinosaurs.[5] Many social species pass on knowledge across generations, which is considered a form of culture. Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and songs, and participating in such behaviours as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are socially (but not necessarily sexually) monogamous, usually for one breeding season at a time, sometimes for years, and rarely for life. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous (one male with many females) or, rarely, polyandrous (one female with many males). Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction. They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers. Songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano (bird excrement) is harvested for use as a fertiliser. Birds figure throughout human culture. About 120 to 130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then. Human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry. Evolution and classification Main article: Evolution of birds Slab of stone with fossil bones and feather impressions Archaeopteryx lithographica is often considered the oldest known true bird. The first classification of birds was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae.[7] Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use.[8] Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy. Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the clade Theropoda.[9] Definition Aves and a sister group, the order Crocodilia, contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria. During the late 1990s, Aves was most commonly defined phylogenetically as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of modern birds and Archaeopteryx lithographica.[10] However, an earlier definition proposed by Jacques Gauthier gained wide currency in the 21st century, and is used by many scientists including adherents to the PhyloCode. Gauthier defined Aves to include only the crown group of the set of modern birds. This was done by excluding most groups known only from fossils, and assigning them, instead, to the broader group Avialae,[11] in part to avoid the uncertainties about the placement of Archaeopteryx in relation to animals traditionally thought of as theropod dinosaurs.... At the time of their hatching, chicks range in development from helpless to independent, depending on their species. Helpless chicks are termed altricial, and tend to be born small, blind, immobile and naked; chicks that are mobile and feathered upon hatching are termed precocial. Altricial chicks need help thermoregulating and must be brooded for longer than precocial chicks. The young of many bird species do not precisely fit into either the precocial or altricial category, having some aspects of each and thus fall somewhere on an "altricial-precocial spectrum".[230] Chicks at neither extreme but favouring one or the other may be termed semi-precocial[231] or semi-altricial.[232] Looking down on three helpless blind chicks in a nest within the hollow of a dead tree trunk Altricial chicks of a white-breasted woodswallow The length and nature of parental care varies widely amongst different orders and species. At one extreme, parental care in megapodes ends at hatching; the newly hatched chick digs itself out of the nest mound without parental assistance and can fend for itself immediately.[233] At the other extreme, many seabirds have extended periods of parental care, the longest being that of the great frigatebird, whose chicks take up to six months to fledge and are fed by the parents for up to an additional 14 months.[234] The chick guard stage describes the period of breeding during which one of the adult birds is permanently present at the nest after chicks have hatched. The main purpose of the guard stage is to aid offspring to thermoregulate and protect them from predation.[235]" (wikipedia.org) "The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl[1] that are originally from Southeast Asia. Rooster and cock are terms for adult male birds, and a younger male may be called a cockerel. A male that has been castrated is a capon. An adult female bird is called a hen, and a sexually immature female is called a pullet. Humans keep chickens primarily as a source of food (consuming both their meat and eggs) or as pets. Traditionally they were also bred for cockfighting, which is still practiced in some places. Chickens domesticated for meat are broilers and for eggs are layers. Chickens are one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, with a total population of 23.7 billion as of 2018,[2] up from more than 19 billion in 2011. There are more chickens in the world than any other bird. There are numerous cultural references to chickens—in myth, folklore and religion, and in language and literature. Genetic studies have pointed to multiple maternal origin theories of within South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia,[3] but the clade found in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa originated from the Indian subcontinent. From ancient India, the chicken spread to the Eastern Mediterranean. They appear in ancient Egypt in the mid-15th century BC, with the "bird that gives birth every day" having come from the land between Syria and Shinar, Babylonia, according to the annals of Thutmose III.[4][5][6] They are known in ancient Greece from the 5th century BC.[7][8] Terminology An adult male is a called a cock or (in the United States) a rooster and an adult female is called a hen.[9][10] Other terms are:     Biddy: a newly hatched chicken[11][12]     Capon: a castrated or neutered male chicken[a]     Chick: a young chicken[13]     Chook /tʃʊk/: a chicken (Australia/New Zealand, informal)[14]     Cockerel: a young male chicken less than a year old[15]     Dunghill fowl: a chicken with mixed parentage from different domestic varieties.[16]     Pullet: a young female chicken less than a year old.[17] In the poultry industry, a pullet is a sexually immature chicken less than 22 weeks of age.[18]     Yardbird: a chicken (southern United States, dialectal)[19] Chicken may also mean a chick (see for example Hen and Chicken Islands).[20] In fact, chicken was originally a term only for an immature, or at least young, bird.[when?] In older sources, chicken as a species were typically referred to as common fowl or domestic fowl.[21][page needed][failed verification] In Australian vernacular English the word chook provides the generic term for the species (e.g. "a cooked chook" or "she keeps chooks"); which enables chicken to commonly retain its original sense of a young or recently hatched bird. Chick is then rarely used to mean chicken, but is mainly used in Merriam-Webster's "Sense 1b" viz. the young of any bird. Etymology According to Merriam-Webster, the term rooster (i.e. a roosting bird) originated in the mid- or late 18th century as a euphemism to avoid the sexual connotation of the original English cock,[22][23][24] and is widely used throughout North America. Roosting is the action of perching aloft to sleep at night.[25] History Two red junglefowl, a cock and a hen An early domestication of chickens in Southeast Asia is probable, since the word for domestic chicken (*manuk) is part of the reconstructed Proto-Austronesian language (see Austronesian languages). Chickens, together with dogs and pigs, were the domestic animals of the Lapita culture,[26] the first Neolithic culture of Oceania.[27] The first pictures of chickens in Europe are found on Corinthian pottery of the 7th century BC.[28][29] Chickens were spread by Polynesian seafarers and reached Easter Island in the 12th century AD, where they were the only domestic animal, with the possible exception of the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans). They were housed in chicken coops built from stone, which was first reported as such to Linton Palmer in 1868, who also "expressed his doubts about this".... Use by humans Farming Main articles: Poultry farming and Chicken as food A former battery hen, five days after release. Note the pale comb – the comb may be an indicator of health or vigor.[79] More than 50 billion chickens are reared annually as a source of meat and eggs.[80] In the United States alone, more than 8 billion chickens are slaughtered each year for meat,[81] and more than 300 million chickens are reared for egg production.[82] The vast majority of poultry is raised in factory farms. According to the Worldwatch Institute, 74% of the world's poultry meat and 68% of eggs are produced this way.[83] An alternative to intensive poultry farming is free-range farming. Friction between these two main methods has led to long-term issues of ethical consumerism. Opponents of intensive farming argue that it harms the environment, creates human health risks and is inhumane.[84] Advocates of intensive farming say that their highly efficient systems save land and food resources owing to increased productivity, and that the animals are looked after in state-of-the-art environmentally controlled facilities.[85] " (wikipedia.org) "Egg decorating is the art or craft of decorating eggs. It has been" (wikipedia.org) "A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world. Adult dragonflies are characterized by a pair of large, multifaceted, compound eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches, and an elongated body. Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural colouration, making them conspicuous in flight. An adult dragonfly's compound eyes have nearly 24,000 ommatidia each. Dragonflies can be mistaken for the closely related damselflies, which make up the other odonatan infraorder (Zygoptera) and are similar in body plan, though usually lighter in build; however, the wings of most dragonflies are held flat and away from the body, while damselflies hold their wings folded at rest, along or above the abdomen. Dragonflies are agile fliers, while damselflies have a weaker, fluttery flight. Dragonflies are predatory insects, both in their aquatic nymphal stage (also known as "naiads") and as adults. In some species, the nymphal stage lasts up to five years, and the adult stage may be as long as 10 weeks, but most species have an adult lifespan in the order of five weeks or less, and some survive for only a few days.[2] They are fast, agile fliers capable of highly accurate aerial ambush, sometimes migrating across oceans, and often live near water. They have a uniquely complex mode of reproduction involving indirect insemination, delayed fertilization, and sperm competition. During mating, the male grasps the female at the back of the head, and the female curls her abdomen under her body to pick up sperm from the male's secondary genitalia at the front of his abdomen, forming the "heart" or "wheel" posture. Fossils of very large dragonfly-like insects, sometimes called griffinflies, are found from 325 million years ago (Mya) in Upper Carboniferous rocks; these had wingspans up to about 750 mm (30 in), though they were only distant relatives, not true dragonflies. Dragonflies are represented in human culture on artefacts such as pottery, rock paintings, statues, and Art Nouveau jewellery. They are used in traditional medicine in Japan and China, and caught for food in Indonesia. They are symbols of courage, strength, and happiness in Japan, but seen as sinister in European folklore. Their bright colours and agile flight are admired in the poetry of Lord Tennyson and the prose of H. E. Bates. Etymology The infraorder Anisoptera comes from Greek ἄνισος anisos "unequal"[3] and πτερόν pteron "wing"[4] because dragonflies' hindwings are broader than their forewings.[5] Evolution The giant Upper Carboniferous dragonfly relative, Meganeura monyi, attained a wingspan around 680 mm (27 in).[6] Museum of Toulouse Mesurupetala, Late Jurassic (Tithonian), Solnhofen limestone, Germany Dragonflies in Oze National Park Dragonflies and their relatives are similar in structure to an ancient group, the Meganisoptera, from the 325 Mya Upper Carboniferous of Europe, a group that included the largest insect that ever lived, Meganeuropsis permiana from the Early Permian, with a wingspan around 750 mm (30 in).[7] Known informally as "griffinflies", their fossil record ends with the Permian–Triassic extinction event (about 247 Mya). The Protanisoptera, another ancestral group that lacks certain wing-vein characters found in modern Odonata, lived from the Early to Late Permian age until the end Permian event, and are known from fossil wings from current-day United States, Russia, and Australia, suggesting they might have been cosmopolitan in distribution. While both of those groups are sometimes referred to as "giant dragonflies", in fact true dragonflies/odonata are more modern insects that had not evolved yet. Further information on the extinct genus of dragonfly: Libellulium Modern dragonflies do retain some traits of their distant predecessors, and are in a group known as the Palaeoptera, ancient-winged. They, like the gigantic predinosaur griffinflies, lack the ability to fold their wings up against their bodies in the way modern insects do, although some evolved their own different way to do so. The forerunners of modern Odonata are included in a clade called the Panodonata, which include the basal Zygoptera (damselflies) and the Anisoptera (true dragonflies).[8] Today, some 3,000 species are extant around the world." (wikipedia.org) " A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns),[3][4] with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Alhough villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighborhoods. Villages are normally permanent, with fixed dwellings; however, transient villages can occur. Further, the dwellings of a village are fairly close to one another, not scattered broadly over the landscape, as a dispersed settlement. The old village of Hollókő, Nógrád, Hungary (UNESCO World Heritage Site) In the past, villages were a usual form of community for societies that practice subsistence agriculture and also for some non-agricultural societies. In Great Britain, a hamlet earned the right to be called a village when it built a church.[5] In many cultures, towns and cities were few, with only a small proportion of the population living in them. The Industrial Revolution attracted people in larger numbers to work in mills and factories; the concentration of people caused many villages to grow into towns and cities. This also enabled specialization of labor and crafts and development of many trades. The trend of urbanization continues, although not always in connection with industrialization. Historically homes were situated together for sociability and defence, and land surrounding the living quarters was farmed. Traditional fishing villages were based on artisan fishing and located adjacent to fishing grounds. In toponomastic terminology, the names of individual villages are called Comonyms (from Ancient Greek κώμη / village and ὄνυμα / name, [cf. ὄνομα])... United Kingdom See also: List of the largest villages in England and List of towns and villages in the Scottish Highlands A village in the UK is a compact settlement of houses, smaller in size than a town, and generally based on agriculture or, in some areas, mining (such as Ouston, County Durham), quarrying or sea fishing. They are very similar to those in Ireland. The main street of the village of Castle Combe, Wiltshire, England The major factors in the type of settlement are: location of water sources, organization of agriculture and landholding, and likelihood of flooding. For example, in areas such as the Lincolnshire Wolds, the villages are often found along the spring line halfway down the hillsides, and originate as spring line settlements, with the original open field systems around the village. In northern Scotland, most villages are planned to a grid pattern located on or close to major roads, whereas in areas such as the Forest of Arden, woodland clearances produced small hamlets around village greens.[28][29] Because of the topography of the Clent Hills the north Worcestershire village of Clent is an example of a village with no centre but instead consists of series of hamlets scattered on and around the Hills. Kilmaurs in East Ayrshire, Scotland Some villages have disappeared (for example, deserted medieval villages), sometimes leaving behind a church or manor house and sometimes nothing but bumps in the fields. Some show archaeological evidence of settlement at three or four different layers, each distinct from the previous one. Clearances may have been to accommodate sheep or game estates, or enclosure, or may have resulted from depopulation, such as after the Black Death or following a move of the inhabitants to more prosperous districts. Other villages have grown and merged and often form hubs within the general mass of suburbia—such as Hampstead, London and Didsbury in Manchester. Many villages are now predominantly dormitory locations and have suffered the loss of shops, churches and other facilities. Finchingfield, Essex - a quintessential English village. For many British people, the village represents an ideal of Great Britain. Seen as being far from the bustle of modern life, it is represented as quiet and harmonious, if a little inward-looking. This concept of an unspoilt Arcadia is present in many popular representations of the village such as the radio serial The Archers or the best kept village competitions.[30] Bisley, Gloucestershire, a village in the Cotswolds Many villages in South Yorkshire, North Nottinghamshire, North East Derbyshire, County Durham, South Wales and Northumberland are known as pit villages. These (such as Murton, County Durham) grew from hamlets when the sinking of a colliery in the early 20th century resulted in a rapid growth in their population and the colliery owners built new housing, shops, pubs and churches. Some pit villages outgrew nearby towns by area and population; for example, Rossington in South Yorkshire came to have over four times more people than the nearby town of Bawtry. Some pit villages grew to become towns; for example, Maltby in South Yorkshire grew from 600 people in the 19th century[31] to over 17,000 in 2007.[32] Maltby was constructed under the auspices of the Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Company and included ample open spaces and provision for gardens.[33] In the UK, the main historical distinction between a hamlet and a village was that the latter had a church,[5] and so usually was the centre of worship for an ecclesiastical parish. However, some civil parishes may contain more than one village. The typical village had a pub or inn, shops, and a blacksmith. But many of these facilities are now gone, and many villages are dormitories for commuters. The population of such settlements ranges from a few hundred people to around five thousand. A village is distinguished from a town in that:     A village should not have a regular agricultural market, although today such markets are uncommon even in settlements which clearly are towns.     A village does not have a town hall nor a mayor.     If a village is the principal settlement of a civil parish, then any administrative body that administers it at parish level should be called a parish council or parish meeting, and not a town council or city council. However, some civil parishes have no functioning parish, town, or city council nor a functioning parish meeting. In Wales, where the equivalent of an English civil parish is called a Community, the body that administers it is called a Community Council. However, larger councils may elect to call themselves town councils.[34] In Scotland, the equivalent is also a community council, however, despite being statutory bodies they have no executive powers.[35]     There should be a clear green belt or open fields, as, for example, seen on aerial maps for Ouston surrounding its parish[36] borders. However this may not be applicable to urbanised villages: although these may not be considered to be villages, they are often widely referred to as being so; an example of this is Horsforth in Leeds.... United States Main article: Village (United States) A church in Newfane, Vermont Incorporated villages In twenty U.S. states, the term "village" refers to a specific form of incorporated municipal government, similar to a city but with less authority and geographic scope. However, this is a generality; in many states, there are villages that are an order of magnitude larger than the smallest cities in the state. The distinction is not necessarily based on population, but on the relative powers granted to the different types of municipalities and correspondingly, different obligations to provide specific services to residents. In some states such as New York and Michigan, a village is an incorporated municipality, within a single town or civil township. In some cases, the village may be coterminous with the town or township, in which case the two may have a consolidated government. There are also villages that span the boundaries of more than one town or township; some villages may straddle county borders. There is no population limit to villages in New York. Hempstead, the largest village, has 55,000 residents; making it more populous than some of the state's cities. However; villages in the state may not exceed five square miles (13 km2) in area. Michigan and Illinois also have no set population limit for villages and there are many villages that are larger than cities in those states. The village of Schaumburg, Illinois had 78,723 residents as of the 2020 census. A village also has no written figure against how small a population can be, with the United States' smallest incorporated village being Dering Harbor, NY, with a population of just over 10. In Michigan, a village is always legally part of a township. Villages can incorporate land in multiple townships and even multiple counties. The largest village in the state is Beverly Hills in Southfield Township which had a population of 10,267 people as of the 2010 census. In the state of Wisconsin, a village is always legally separate from the towns that it has been incorporated from. The largest village is Menomonee Falls, which has over 32,000 residents. In Pennsylvania law, the term borough is used to refer to the same type of entity. 80% of Pennsylvania's 956 boroughs have populations of less than 5,000 but about thirty have populations of over 10,000 with State College having more than 40,000 residents. In Ohio villages are often legally part of the township from which they were incorporated, although exceptions such as Hiram exist, in which the village is separate from the township.[38] They have no area limitations, but become cities if they grow a population of more than 5,000.[39] In Maryland, a locality designated "Village of ..." may be either an incorporated town or a special tax district.[40] An example of the latter is the Village of Friendship Heights. In North Carolina, the only difference between cities, towns, and villages is the term itself." (wikipedia.org) "Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type. Temperate grassland regions include the Pampas of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, and the steppe of Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. Lands typically referred to as "prairie" tend to be in North America. The term encompasses the area referred to as the Interior Lowlands of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, which includes all of the Great Plains as well as the wetter, hillier land to the east. In the U.S., the area is constituted by most or all of the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, and sizable parts of the states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and western and southern Minnesota. The Palouse of Washington and the Central Valley of California are also prairies. The Canadian Prairies occupy vast areas of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Prairies contain various lush flora and fauna, often contain rich soil maintained by biodiversity, with a temperate climate and a varied view.[1][2] Etymology Approximate regional types of prairie in the United States   Shortgrass prairie   Mixed grass prairie   Tallgrass prairie According to Theodore Roosevelt:     We have taken into our language the word prairie, because when our backwoodsmen first reached the land [in the Midwest] and saw the great natural meadows of long grass—sights unknown to the gloomy forests wherein they had always dwelt—they knew not what to call them, and borrowed the term already in use among the French inhabitants.[3] Prairie (pronounced [pʁɛʁi]) is the French word for "meadow" formed ultimately from the Latin root word pratum (same meaning).[4] Formation Tallgrass prairie flora (Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie) The formation of the North American Prairies started with the uplift of the Rocky Mountains near Alberta. The mountains created a rain shadow that resulted in lower precipitation rates downwind.[5] The parent material of most prairie soil was distributed during the last glacial advance that began about 110,000 years ago. The glaciers expanding southward scraped the landscape, picking up geologic material and leveling the terrain. As the glaciers retreated about 10,000 years ago, they deposited this material in the form of till. Wind based loess deposits also form an important parent material for prairie soils.[6] Tallgrass prairie evolved over tens of thousands of years with the disturbances of grazing and fire. Native ungulates such as bison, elk, and white-tailed deer roamed the expansive, diverse grasslands before European colonization of the Americas.[7] For 10,000-20,000 years, native people used fire annually as a tool to assist in hunting, transportation, and safety.[8] Evidence of ignition sources of fire in the tall grass prairie are overwhelmingly human as opposed to lightning.[9] Humans, and grazing animals, were active participants in the process of prairie formation and the establishment of the diversity of graminoid and forbs species. Fire has the effect on prairies of removing trees, clearing dead plant matter, and changing the availability of certain nutrients in the soil from the ash produced. Fire kills the vascular tissue of trees, but not prairie species, as up to 75% (depending on the species) of the total plant biomass is below the soil surface and will re-grow from its deep (upwards of 20 feet[10]) roots. Without disturbance, trees will encroach on a grassland and cast shade, which suppresses the understory. Prairie and widely spaced oak trees evolved to coexist in the oak savanna ecosystem.... Geographical regions Prairie grasses Prairie in North America is usually split into three groups: wet, mesic, and dry.[14] They are generally characterized by tallgrass prairie, mixed, or shortgrass prairie, depending on the quality of soil and rainfall. Wet In wet prairies the soil is usually very moist, including during most of the growing season, because of poor water drainage. The resulting stagnant water is conducive to the formation of bogs and fens. Wet prairies have excellent farming soil. The average precipitation is 10–30 inches (250–760 mm) a year. Mesic Mesic prairie has good drainage, but good soil during the growing season. This type of prairie is the most often converted for agricultural usage; consequently, it is one of the most endangered types of prairie. Dry Wheatfield intersection in the Southern Saskatchewan prairies, Canada. Dry prairie has somewhat wet to very dry soil during the growing season because of good drainage in the soil. Often, this type of prairie can be found on uplands or slopes. Dry soil usually doesn't get much vegetation due to lack of rain.[15] This is the dominant biome in the Southern Canadian agricultural and climatic region known as Palliser's Triangle. Once thought to be completely unarable, the Triangle is now one of the most important agricultural regions in Canada thanks to advances in irrigation technology. In addition to its very high local importance to Canada, Palliser's Triangle is now also one of the most important sources of wheat in the world as a result of these improved methods of watering wheat fields (along with the rest of the Southern prairie provinces which also grow wheat, canola and many other grains). Despite these advances in farming technology, the area is still very prone to extended periods of drought, which can be disastrous for the industry if it is significantly prolonged.[16] An infamous example of this is the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, which also hit much of the United States Great Plains ecoregion, contributing greatly to the Great Depression.... Farming and ranching Prairie Homestead, Milepost 213 on I-29, South Dakota (May 2010) The very dense soil plagued the first European settlers who were using wooden plows, which were more suitable for loose forest soil. On the prairie, the plows bounced around, and the soil stuck to them. This problem was solved in 1837 by an Illinois blacksmith named John Deere who developed a steel moldboard plow that was stronger and cut the roots, making the fertile soils ready for farming. Former grasslands are now among the most productive agricultural lands on Earth.[17] The tallgrass prairie has been converted into one of the most intensive crop producing areas in North America.[18] Less than one tenth of one percent (<0.09%) of the original landcover of the tallgrass prairie biome remains.[19] Much of what persists is in cemetery prairies, railroad rights-of-way, or rocky/sandy/hilly places unsuitable for agriculture.[20] States formerly with landcover in native tallgrass prairie such as Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Missouri have become valued for their highly productive soils and are included in the Corn Belt. As an example of this land use intensity, Illinois and Iowa rank 49th and 50th, out of 50 US states, in total uncultivated land remaining.[21] Drier shortgrass prairies were once used mostly for open-range ranching. With the development of barbed wire in the 1870s and improved irrigation techniques, this region has mostly been converted to cropland and small fenced pastures. " (wikipedia.org) "Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red.[2][3] It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century.[4] According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, sensitivity, tenderness, sweetness, childhood, femininity, and romance. A combination of pink and white is associated with chastity and innocence, whereas a combination of pink and black links to eroticism and seduction.[5] In the 21st century, pink is seen as a symbol of femininity, though this has not always been true; in the 1920s, pink was seen as a color that reflected masculinity.[6] In nature and culture See also: Shades of pink     Various shades of pink     Various shades of pink     The color pink takes its name from the flowers called pinks, members of the genus Dianthus.     The color pink takes its name from the flowers called pinks, members of the genus Dianthus.     In most European languages, pink is called rose or rosa, after the rose flower.     In most European languages, pink is called rose or rosa, after the rose flower.     Cherry blossoms in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. In Japanese the word for cherry blossom pink is (sakura-iro), and peach blossoms (momo-iro).     Cherry blossoms in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. In Japanese the word for cherry blossom pink is (sakura-iro), and peach blossoms (momo-iro).     Greater pink flamingoes in flight over Pocharam Lake in Andhra Pradesh, India.     Greater pink flamingoes in flight over Pocharam Lake in Andhra Pradesh, India.     Rhodochrosite is one of the many pink gemstones.     Rhodochrosite is one of the many pink gemstones. Etymology and definitions The color pink is named after the flowers, pinks,[7] flowering plants in the genus Dianthus, and derives from the frilled edge of the flowers. The verb "to pink" dates from the 14th century and means "to decorate with a perforated or punched pattern" (possibly from German picken, "to peck").[8] It has survived to the current day in pinking shears, hand-held scissors that cut a zig-zagged line to prevent fraying. History, art and fashion The color pink has been described in literature since ancient times. In the Odyssey, written in approximately 800 BCE, Homer wrote "Then, when the child of morning, rosy-fingered dawn appeared..."[9] Roman poets also described the color. Roseus is the Latin word meaning "rosy" or "pink." Lucretius used the word to describe the dawn in his epic poem On the Nature of Things (De rerum natura).[10] Pink was not a common color in the fashion of the Middle Ages; nobles usually preferred brighter reds, such as crimson. However, it did appear in women's fashion and religious art. In the 13th and 14th centuries, in works by Cimabue and Duccio, the Christ child was sometimes portrayed dressed in pink, the color associated with the body of Christ. In the high Renaissance painting the Madonna of the Pinks by Raphael, the Christ child is presenting a pink flower to the Virgin Mary. The pink was a symbol of marriage, showing a spiritual marriage between the mother and child.[11] During the Renaissance, pink was mainly used for the flesh color of faces and hands. The pigment commonly used for this was called light cinabrese; it was a mixture of the red earth pigment called sinopia, or Venetian red, and a white pigment called Bianco San Genovese, or lime white. In his famous 15th century manual on painting, Il Libro Dell'Arte, Cennino Cennini described it this way: "This pigment is made from the loveliest and lightest sinopia that is found and is mixed and mulled with St. John’s white, as it is called in Florence; and this white is made from thoroughly white and thoroughly purified lime. And when these two pigments have been thoroughly mulled together (that is, two parts cinabrese and the third white), make little loaves of them like half walnuts and leave them to dry. When you need some, take however much of it seems appropriate. And this pigment does you great credit if you use it for painting faces, hands, and nudes on walls..."[12]     The Greek poet Homer wrote of "the child of morning, rose-fingered dawn" in the Odyssey. Sunrise at Serifos, Greece.     The Greek poet Homer wrote of "the child of morning, rose-fingered dawn" in the Odyssey. Sunrise at Serifos, Greece.     In the early Renaissance, the infant Jesus was sometimes shown dressed in pink, the color associated with the body of Christ. This is The Virgin and Child Enthroned with Two Angels, by Cimabue. (1265–1280)     In the early Renaissance, the infant Jesus was sometimes shown dressed in pink, the color associated with the body of Christ. This is The Virgin and Child Enthroned with Two Angels, by Cimabue. (1265–1280)     In the 1280s, Duccio also painted the Christ child dressed in pink     In the 1280s, Duccio also painted the Christ child dressed in pink     A knight in red receiving a helmet from a damsel in pink, from an English manuscript of The Romance of Alexander (1338-1344).     A knight in red receiving a helmet from a damsel in pink, from an English manuscript of The Romance of Alexander (1338-1344).     In the painting Madonna of the Pinks by Raphael, c. 1506-07, the Christ Child gives a pink flower to the Virgin Mary, symbolizing the union between the mother and child.     In the painting Madonna of the Pinks by Raphael, c. 1506-07, the Christ Child gives a pink flower to the Virgin Mary, symbolizing the union between the mother and child. 18th century The zenith of the color pink was the 18th century, when pastel colors became very fashionable in all the courts of Europe. Pink was particularly championed by Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764), the mistress of King Louis XV of France, who wore combinations of pale blue and pink, and had a particular tint of pink made for her by the Sevres porcelain factory, created by adding nuances of blue, black and yellow.[13] While pink was quite evidently the color of seduction in the portraits made by George Romney of Emma, Lady Hamilton, the future mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson, in the late 18th century, it had the completely opposite meaning in the portrait of Sarah Barrett Moulton painted by Thomas Lawrence in 1794. In this painting, it symbolized childhood, innocence and tenderness. Sarah Moulton was just eleven years of age when the picture was painted, and died the following year.     Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV of France, made pink and blue the leading fashion colors in the Court of Versailles. She had a special pink tint created for her by the Sevres porcelain factory. This portrait by François Boucher was painted in 1758.     Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV of France, made pink and blue the leading fashion colors in the Court of Versailles. She had a special pink tint created for her by the Sevres porcelain factory. This portrait by François Boucher was painted in 1758.     Pink had become a popular color throughout Europe by the late 18th century. It was associated with both romanticism and seduction. This fashion plate is from 1778–1787.     Pink had become a popular color throughout Europe by the late 18th century. It was associated with both romanticism and seduction. This fashion plate is from 1778–1787.     Emma, Lady Hamilton, later the mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson, had herself painted by English painter George Romney posing as a Bacchante, dressed in pink. (1782–1784)     Emma, Lady Hamilton, later the mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson, had herself painted by English painter George Romney posing as a Bacchante, dressed in pink. (1782–1784)     The portrait of Sarah Moulton, popularly known as "Pinkie", by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1794). Here pink represented youth, innocence and tenderness.     The portrait of Sarah Moulton, popularly known as "Pinkie", by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1794). Here pink represented youth, innocence and tenderness.     Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach by Louis Carmontelle. Pink was worn regardless of gender.     Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach by Louis Carmontelle. Pink was worn regardless of gender. 19th century In 19th century England, pink ribbons or decorations were often worn by young boys; boys were simply considered small men, and while men in England wore red uniforms, boys wore pink. In fact the clothing for children in the 19th century was almost always white, since, before the invention of chemical dyes, clothing of any color would quickly fade when washed in boiling water.[14] Queen Victoria was painted in 1850 with her seventh child and third son, Prince Arthur, who wore white and pink. In late nineteenth-century France, Impressionist painters working in a pastel color palette sometimes depicted women wearing the color pink, such as Edgar Degas’ image of ballet dancers or Mary Cassatt’s images of women and children.     Queen Victoria in 1850 or 1851 with her third son and seventh child, Prince Arthur. In the 19th century, baby boys often wore white and pink. Pink was seen as a masculine color, while girls often wore white and blue.     Queen Victoria in 1850 or 1851 with her third son and seventh child, Prince Arthur. In the 19th century, baby boys often wore white and pink. Pink was seen as a masculine color, while girls often wore white and blue.     Young boy in pink, American school of painting (about 1840). Both girls and boys wore pink in the 19th century.     Young boy in pink, American school of painting (about 1840). Both girls and boys wore pink in the 19th century.     Princess Leopoldina of Brazil in pink gown (1853)     Princess Leopoldina of Brazil in pink gown (1853)     Dancers in pink, between scenes. Edgar Degas     Dancers in pink, between scenes. Edgar Degas     The Impressionist painter Claude Monet used pink, blue and green to capture the effects of light and shadows on a white dress in Springtime (1872).     The Impressionist painter Claude Monet used pink, blue and green to capture the effects of light and shadows on a white dress in Springtime (1872).     Mary Cassatt, Girl in a Bonnet Tied with a Large Pink Bow, 1909. Oil on canvas (68 x 57.2 cm). Private Collection.     Mary Cassatt, Girl in a Bonnet Tied with a Large Pink Bow, 1909. Oil on canvas (68 x 57.2 cm). Private Collection. 20th century - present Further information: Gendered associations of pink and blue A dress parade, held in 1949, at the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, caused a stir among attendees due to the vibrant pink tones in the dresses and garments. The journalists and critics of the time, seeking to know Mexican designer Ramón Valdiosera's inspiration, asked him about the origin of the color. The artist simply replied that that pink was already part of Mexican culture, which the New York fashion critic Perle Mesta then described as Mexican Pink.[15] The First inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953), when Eisenhower's wife Mamie Eisenhower wore a pink dress as her inaugural gown, is thought to have been a key turning point in the association of pink as a color associated with girls. Mamie's strong liking of pink led to the public association with pink being a color that "ladylike women wear." The 1957 American musical Funny Face also played a role in cementing the color's association with women.[16] In the 20th century, pinks became bolder, brighter, and more assertive, partly because of the invention of chemical dyes that did not fade. The pioneer in the creation of the new wave of pinks was the Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli, (1890-1973), who was aligned with the artists of the surrealist movement, including Jean Cocteau.[14] In 1931 she created a new variety of the color, called shocking pink, made by mixing magenta with a small amount of white. She launched a perfume called Shocking, sold in a bottle in the shape of a woman's torso, said to be modelled on that of Mae West. Her fashions, co-designed with artists like Cocteau, featured the new pinks.[17] In Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, inmates of Nazi concentration camps who were accused of homosexuality were forced to wear a pink triangle.[18] Because of this, the pink triangle has become a symbol of the modern gay rights movement.[19] The transition to pink as a sexually differentiating color for girls occurred gradually, through the selective process of the marketplace, in the 1930s and 40s. In the 1920s, some groups had described pink as a masculine color, an equivalent to red, which was considered for men but lighter for boys. But stores nonetheless found that people were increasingly choosing to buy pink for girls, and blue for boys, until this became an accepted norm in the 1940s.[20][21]     Mamie Eisenhower in her pink inaugural gown, painted in 1953 by Thomas Stevens     Mamie Eisenhower in her pink inaugural gown, painted in 1953 by Thomas Stevens     Shocking pink, a mix of magenta with a little white, was the signature color of Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli.     Shocking pink, a mix of magenta with a little white, was the signature color of Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli.     Jacqueline Kennedy, the wife of President John F. Kennedy, made pink a popular high-fashion color.     Jacqueline Kennedy, the wife of President John F. Kennedy, made pink a popular high-fashion color.     Pink combined with black or violet is associated with seduction. Marilyn Monroe in the trailer for the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953).     Pink combined with black or violet is associated with seduction. Marilyn Monroe in the trailer for the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953).     Pink lipstick is thought to attract attention and harmonize with flesh colors, clothes, and fashion accessories.     Pink lipstick is thought to attract attention and harmonize with flesh colors, clothes, and fashion accessories.     Detail of "Pink," a poster created by Sheila de Bretteville in 1973. It was meant to explore the notions of gender associated with the color pink for an American Institute of Graphic Arts exhibition about color.     Detail of "Pink," a poster created by Sheila de Bretteville in 1973. It was meant to explore the notions of gender associated with the color pink for an American Institute of Graphic Arts exhibition about color.     Queen Silvia of Sweden wearing a pink dress and the Pink Topaz Demi-Parure paired with a diamond tiara, 2010     Queen Silvia of Sweden wearing a pink dress and the Pink Topaz Demi-Parure paired with a diamond tiara, 2010 Science and nature Optics In optics, the word "pink" can refer to any of the pale shades of colors between bluish red to red in hue, of medium to high lightness, and of low to moderate saturation.[22] Although pink is generally considered a tint of red,[23][24] the colors of most tints of pink are slightly bluish, and lie between red and magenta. A few variations of pink, such as salmon color, lean toward orange.[25][26][27][28] Sunrises and sunsets As a ray of white sunlight travels through the atmosphere, some of the colors are scattered out of the beam by air molecules and airborne particles. This is called Rayleigh scattering. Colors with a shorter wavelength, such as blue and green, scatter more strongly, and are removed from the light that finally reaches the eye.[29] At sunrise and sunset, when the path of the sunlight through the atmosphere to the eye is longest, the blue and green components are removed almost completely, leaving the longer wavelength orange, red and pink light. The remaining pinkish sunlight can also be scattered by cloud droplets and other relatively large particles, which give the sky above the horizon a pink or reddish glow.[30]     Sunrise in southeast Alaska. Sunsets and sunrises are sometimes pink because of an optical effect called Rayleigh scattering.     Sunrise in southeast Alaska. Sunsets and sunrises are sometimes pink because of an optical effect called Rayleigh scattering.     Sunset in Santa Monica, California.     Sunset in Santa Monica, California. Geology     Pink topaz from Ouro Preto, Brazil.     Pink topaz from Ouro Preto, Brazil.     Corundum, or pink sapphire, from the Dodoma Region of Tanzania     Corundum, or pink sapphire, from the Dodoma Region of Tanzania     Calcite from Bou Azzer, Morocco     Calcite from Bou Azzer, Morocco     Barite-Rhodochrosite from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China.     Barite-Rhodochrosite from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China.     Clinochlore from Erzerum Province, Turkey     Clinochlore from Erzerum Province, Turkey     Rough rose quartz     Rough rose quartz     Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah. The colour is from Navajo Sandstone, reddish hematite mixed with white quartz grains     Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah. The colour is from Navajo Sandstone, reddish hematite mixed with white quartz grains     Angel's Landing in Zion National Park in Utah is made of pink sandstone.     Angel's Landing in Zion National Park in Utah is made of pink sandstone.     A pink sand beach on Tikehau in French Polynesia     A pink sand beach on Tikehau in French Polynesia Biology     A Strigilla carnaria shell from Dominica, in the West Indies.     A Strigilla carnaria shell from Dominica, in the West Indies.     An Ocelated frogfish (Antennarius ocellatus), from East Timor. The frogfish is camouflaged to look like a rock covered with algae or seaweed; it lies motionless and waits for its prey to come to it.     An Ocelated frogfish (Antennarius ocellatus), from East Timor. The frogfish is camouflaged to look like a rock covered with algae or seaweed; it lies motionless and waits for its prey to come to it.     The pink iguana of the Galapagos Islands was first identified in 1986 and first recognized as a distinct species in 2009.     The pink iguana of the Galapagos Islands was first identified in 1986 and first recognized as a distinct species in 2009.     The Pink Dolphin is a freshwater river dolphin which lives in the Orinoco, Amazon and Araguaia/Tocantins River systems of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. It is an endangered species and has a brain 40% larger than a human's.     The Pink Dolphin is a freshwater river dolphin which lives in the Orinoco, Amazon and Araguaia/Tocantins River systems of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. It is an endangered species and has a brain 40% larger than a human's.     The so-called "white elephant" is revered in several countries in Southeast Asia and is naturally pinkish gray. They are actually albino elephants.     The so-called "white elephant" is revered in several countries in Southeast Asia and is naturally pinkish gray. They are actually albino elephants.     The pig has been domesticated over ten thousand years and selectively bred to have a pink skin, without melanin, which farmers traditionally have preferred to a dark color.[31]     The pig has been domesticated over ten thousand years and selectively bred to have a pink skin, without melanin, which farmers traditionally have preferred to a dark color.[31]     Flamingoes in Laguna Colorada, Bolivia. The pink or reddish color of flamingos comes from carotenoid proteins in their diet of animal and plant plankton. An unhealthy or malnourished flamingo, or one kept in captivity and not fed sufficient carotene, is usually pale or white.     Flamingoes in Laguna Colorada, Bolivia. The pink or reddish color of flamingos comes from carotenoid proteins in their diet of animal and plant plankton. An unhealthy or malnourished flamingo, or one kept in captivity and not fed sufficient carotene, is usually pale or white.     A Roseate spoonbill in Myakka River State Park in Florida. Its pink color, like that of the flamingo, comes from the carotenoid pigments in its diet.     A Roseate spoonbill in Myakka River State Park in Florida. Its pink color, like that of the flamingo, comes from the carotenoid pigments in its diet.     The Lophochroa leadbeateri, commonly known as Major Mitchell's Cockatoo or the pink cockatoo, is a native of the arid interior regions of Australia.     The Lophochroa leadbeateri, commonly known as Major Mitchell's Cockatoo or the pink cockatoo, is a native of the arid interior regions of Australia.     Lake Hillier, Australia, the colour is caused by algae     Lake Hillier, Australia, the colour is caused by algae Pink coloration of meat and seafood Raw beef is red, because the muscles of vertebrate animals, such as cows and pigs, contain a protein called myoglobin, which binds oxygen and iron atoms. When beef is cooked, the myoglobin proteins undergo oxidation, and gradually turn from red to pink to brown; that is, from rare to medium to well-done. Pork contains less myoglobin than beef and therefore is less red; when heated, it changes from pinkish-red to less pink to tan or white. Ham, though it contains myoglobins like beef, undergoes a different transformation. Traditional hams, such as prosciutto, are made by taking the hind leg or thigh of a pig, covering it with sea salt, which removes the moisture content, and then letting it dry or cure for as long as two years. The salt (sodium nitrate) permits the ham to retain its original pink color, even when dried out. Supermarket hams are made by a different and faster process; they are brined, or infused with a salt-water solution, containing sodium nitrite, which transfers nitric oxide, which bonds with the myoglobin to form the traditional pink cured ham color. The shells and flesh of crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters and shrimp contain a pink carotenoid pigment called astaxanthin. Their shells, naturally blue-green, turn pink or red when cooked. The flesh of the salmon also contains astaxanthin, which makes it pink. Farm-bred salmon are sometimes fed these pigments to improve their pinkness, and it is sometimes also used to enhance the color of egg yolks.     Roast beef gets its distinctive pink color from myoglobin, which gradually turns from red to pink to brown (rare to medium to well-done) when heated.     Roast beef gets its distinctive pink color from myoglobin, which gradually turns from red to pink to brown (rare to medium to well-done) when heated.     Prosciutto hams also get their pink color from salt combined with the natural protein called myoglobin.     Prosciutto hams also get their pink color from salt combined with the natural protein called myoglobin.     The shells and flesh of steamed shrimp contain a natural carotenoid pigment called astaxanthin, which turns pink when heated. The same process turns cooked lobster and crab from blue-green to red when they are boiled.     The shells and flesh of steamed shrimp contain a natural carotenoid pigment called astaxanthin, which turns pink when heated. The same process turns cooked lobster and crab from blue-green to red when they are boiled.     The meat of the salmon is also colored pink by the natural carotenoid pigment called astaxanthin.     The meat of the salmon is also colored pink by the natural carotenoid pigment called astaxanthin. Plants and flowers Pink is one of the most common colors of flowers; it serves to attract the insects and birds necessary for pollination and perhaps also to deter predators. The color comes from natural pigments called anthocyanins, which also provide the pink in raspberries.     A pink rose in the rain.     A pink rose in the rain.     A clematis Chantilly.     A clematis Chantilly.     A pink hibiscus from Australia.     A pink hibiscus from Australia.     Pink tulips in the botanical gardens of Moscow State University.     Pink tulips in the botanical gardens of Moscow State University.     A pink dahlia     A pink dahlia     A pink peony.     A pink peony.     A flower of a magnolia tree     A flower of a magnolia tree     A pink rhododendron     A pink rhododendron     Spiraea japonica flowers.     Spiraea japonica flowers.     A Japanese cherry tree (Prunus serrulata) in bloom.     A Japanese cherry tree (Prunus serrulata) in bloom.     Pink hyacinth flowers     Pink hyacinth flowers     Phlox paniculata     Phlox paniculata Pigments - Pinke Main article: Pinke (color) In the 17th century, the word pink or pinke was also used to describe a yellowish pigment, which was mixed with blue colors to yield greenish colors. Thomas Jenner's A Book of Drawing, Limning, Washing (1652) categorises "Pink & blew bice" amongst the greens (p.  38),[32] and specifies several admixtures of greenish colors made with pink—e.g. "Grasse-green is made of Pink and Bice, it is shadowed with Indigo and Pink … French-green of Pink and Indico [shadowed with] Indico" (pp. 38–40). In William Salmon's Polygraphice (1673), "Pink yellow" is mentioned amongst the chief yellow pigments (p. 96), and the reader is instructed to mix it with either Saffron or Ceruse for "sad" or "light" shades thereof, respectively. Sonics     Pink noise (sample (help·info)), also known as 1/f noise, in audio engineering is a signal or process with a frequency spectrum such that the power spectral density is proportional to the reciprocal of the frequency. Lighting     Grow lights often use a combination of red and blue wavelengths, which generally appear pink to the human eye.[33]     Pink neon signs are generally produced using one of two different methods. One method is to use neon gas and a blue or purple phosphor, which generally produces a warmer (more reddish) or more intense shade of pink. Another method is to use an argon/mercury blend and a red phosphor, which generally produces a cooler (more purplish) or softer shade of pink.     Pink LEDs can be produced using two methods, either with a blue LED using two phosphors (yellow for the first phosphor, and red, orange, or pink for the second), or by placing a pink dye on top of a white LED. Color shifting was a common issue with early pink LEDs, where the red, orange, or pink phosphors or dyes faded over time, causing the pink color to eventually shift towards white or blue. These issues have been mitigated by the more recent introduction of more fade-resistant phosphors. Engineering     Insulation manufactured by Owens Corning is dyed pink, with the Pink Panther as its corporate mascot. The company holds a trademark on the color pink for insulation products in order to prevent competitors from using it, and is the first company in the United States to trademark a color.[34]     The United States Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices specifies fluorescent pink as an optional color for traffic signs used for incident management as an alternative to the traditional orange in order to distinguish them from construction zone signs.[35] In symbolism and culture Common associations and popularity According to public opinion surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most associated with charm, politeness, sensitivity, tenderness, sweetness, softness, childhood, the feminine, and the romantic.[36] Although it did not have any strong negative associations in these surveys, few respondents chose pink as their favorite color. Pink was the favorite color of only two percent of respondents.[37] There was a notable difference between men and women in regards to a preference for pink; three percent of women chose pink as their favorite color, compared with less than one percent of men. Many of the men surveyed were unable to even identify pink correctly, confusing it with mauve. Pink was also more popular with older people than younger.[38] In Japan, pink is the color most commonly associated with springtime due to the blooming cherry blossoms.[39][40] This is different from surveys in the United States and Europe where green is the color most associated with springtime. Pink in other languages In many languages, the word for the color pink is based on the name of the rose flower; like rose in French; roze in Dutch; rosa in German, Latin, Portuguese, Catalan, Spanish, Italian, Swedish and Norwegian (Nynorsk and Bokmål); rozovyy/розовый in Russian; różowy in Polish; ורוד (varód) in Hebrew; গোলাপি (golapi) in Bangla; and गुलाबी (gulābee) in Hindi. In English "rose", too, often refers to both the flower and the color. In Danish, Faroese and Finnish, the color pink is described as a lighter shade of red: lyserød in Danish, ljósareyður in Faroese and vaaleanpunainen in Finnish, all meaning "light red". Similarly, some Celtic languages use a term meaning "whitish red": gwynnrudh in Cornish, bándearg in Irish, bane-yiarg in Manx, bàn-dhearg in Scottish Gaelic (which also uses liath-dhearg "greyish/pale red" and pinc from English). In Icelandic, the color is called bleikur, originally meaning "pale". In the Japanese language, the traditional word for pink, momo-iro (ももいろ), takes its name from the peach blossom. There is a separate word for the color of the cherry blossom: sakura-iro. In recent times a word based on the English version, pinku (ピンク), has begun to be used. In Chinese, the color pink is named with a compound noun 粉紅色, meaning "powder red" where the powder refers to substances used for women's make-up. The Thai word for the color, ชมพู (chom-puu), derives ultimately from Sanskrit जम्बू (jambū) "rose apple". Idioms and expressions     In the pink. To be in top form, in good health, in good condition. In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio says; "I am the very pink of courtesy." Romeo: Pink for flower? Mercutio: Right. Romeo: Then my pump is well flowered."[41]     To see pink elephants means to hallucinate from alcoholism. The expression was used by American novelist Jack London in his book John Barleycorn in 1913.     Pink slip. To be given a pink slip means to be fired or dismissed from a job. It was first recorded in 1915 in the United States.     The phrase "pink-collar worker" refers to persons working in jobs conventionally regarded as "women's work".     Pink money, the pink pound or pink dollar is an economic term which refers to the spending power of the LGBT community.[42] Advertising agencies sometimes call the gay market the pink economy.     Tickled pink means extremely pleased.     The Pink Tax refers to the invisible price women must pay for goods that are created and advertised specifically for them. It is the tendency for products targeted specifically toward women to be more expensive than those targeted toward men.[43] Architecture Early pink buildings were usually built of brick or sandstone, which takes its pale red color from hematite, or iron ore. In the 18th century - the golden age of pink and other pastel colors - pink mansions and churches were built all across Europe. More modern pink buildings usually use the color pink to appear exotic or to attract attention.     Casa Rosada, or the "Pink House", in Buenos Aires, built between 1713 and 1855 as a fort and then customs house, is the official residence and office of the President of Argentina.     Casa Rosada, or the "Pink House", in Buenos Aires, built between 1713 and 1855 as a fort and then customs house, is the official residence and office of the President of Argentina.     A pink building in Vääksy, Asikkala, Finland.     A pink building in Vääksy, Asikkala, Finland.     The City Center in Kannur, India.     The City Center in Kannur, India.     Ostankino Palace, outside of Moscow, is an 18th-century country house built by Pyotr Sheremetev, then the richest man in Russia.     Ostankino Palace, outside of Moscow, is an 18th-century country house built by Pyotr Sheremetev, then the richest man in Russia.     Macau Government Headquarters (1849), an example of Portuguese colonial architecture and the Pombaline style in Macau.     Macau Government Headquarters (1849), an example of Portuguese colonial architecture and the Pombaline style in Macau.     The Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii, built in 1927, was the first hotel on Waikiki Beach. Its pink color was designed to match an exotic setting, and to contrast with the blue of the sea and green of the landscape.     The Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii, built in 1927, was the first hotel on Waikiki Beach. Its pink color was designed to match an exotic setting, and to contrast with the blue of the sea and green of the landscape.     The Georgia-Pacific Tower in Atlanta, Georgia (1981), a modernist pink skyscraper.     The Georgia-Pacific Tower in Atlanta, Georgia (1981), a modernist pink skyscraper.     Canada Place Building, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (1988) a post-modernist style government office building.     Canada Place Building, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (1988) a post-modernist style government office building.     "big Pink" The US Bancorp Tower in Portland, Oregon pink granite and windows(ground breaking 1981 dedicated 1983)     "big Pink" The US Bancorp Tower in Portland, Oregon pink granite and windows(ground breaking 1981 dedicated 1983)     The Norfolk Royale Hotel in Bournemouth, England was built between 1840 and 1850.     The Norfolk Royale Hotel in Bournemouth, England was built between 1840 and 1850.     The Bahamian Parliament Building was built in 1815.     The Bahamian Parliament Building was built in 1815.     The Sampoong Department Store collapse in Seoul, South Korea (1987 to 1995)     The Sampoong Department Store collapse in Seoul, South Korea (1987 to 1995)     Necessidades Palace, headquarters of the Portuguese Foreign Ministry. It served previously as a royal residence.     Necessidades Palace, headquarters of the Portuguese Foreign Ministry. It served previously as a royal residence.     The Imperial Museum of Brazil. Formerly used as the summer residence by the Brazilian imperial family.     The Imperial Museum of Brazil. Formerly used as the summer residence by the Brazilian imperial family. Food and beverages According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most associated with sweet foods and beverages. Pink is also one of the few colors to be strongly associated with a particular aroma, that of roses.[44] Many strawberry and raspberry-flavored foods are colored pink and light red as well, sometimes to distinguish them from cherry-flavored foods that are more commonly colored dark red (although raspberry-flavored foods, particularly in the United States, are often colored blue as well). The drink Tab was packaged in pink cans, presumably to subconsciously convey a sweet taste. The pink color in most packaged and processed foods, ice creams, candies and pastries is made with artificial food coloring. The most common pink food coloring is erythrosine, also known as Red No. 3, an organoiodine compound, a derivative of fluorone, which is a cherry-pink synthetic.[45] It is usually listed on package labels as E-127. Another common red or pink (particularly in the United States where erythrosine is less frequently used) is Allura Red AC (E-129), also known as Red No. 40. Some products use a natural red or pink food coloring, Cochineal, also called carmine, made with crushed insects of the family Dactylopius coccus.     Pink is the color most commonly associated with sweet tastes     Pink is the color most commonly associated with sweet tastes     A strawberry ice cream cone     A strawberry ice cream cone     Cotton candy     Cotton candy     A macaron with raspberries     A macaron with raspberries     Bunga kuda (also known as bunga pundak) is a traditional dessert in Malaysia, containing a coconut filling     Bunga kuda (also known as bunga pundak) is a traditional dessert in Malaysia, containing a coconut filling     Chi chi dango is a sweet dessert made of rice flour. It is of Japanese origin, and very popular in Hawaii     Chi chi dango is a sweet dessert made of rice flour. It is of Japanese origin, and very popular in Hawaii     Traditional rosé wines get their color when temporarily fermented with dark purple grapeskins     Traditional rosé wines get their color when temporarily fermented with dark purple grapeskins     Pink champagne takes its color either when temporarily fermented with the skins of dark purple grapes, or by adding a small amount of red wine     Pink champagne takes its color either when temporarily fermented with the skins of dark purple grapes, or by adding a small amount of red wine" (wikipedia.org) "Pink colors are usually light or desaturated shades of reds, roses, and magentas which are created on computer and television screens using the RGB color model and in printing with the CMYK color model. As such, it is an arbitrary classification of color. Below is a list of some of the common pink colors. Computer web color pinks Pink Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FFC0CB sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 192, 203) HSV (h, s, v)    (350°, 25%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (84, 39, 1°) Source    X11 color names[2] HTML/CSS[1] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Light pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Pink (#ffc0cb) #ffc0cb At right is displayed the web color pink. Light pink "Light pink" redirects here. For the RAL color, see RAL 3015 Light pink. Light Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FFB6C1 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 182, 193) HSV (h, s, v)    (351°, 29%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (81, 46, 3°) Source    X11 color names[2] HTML/CSS[1] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Moderate pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Light pink (#ffb6c1) #ffb6c1 At right is displayed the web color light pink. The name of the web color is written as "lightpink" (no space) in HTML for computer display. Although this color is called "light pink", as can be ascertained by inspecting its hex code, it is actually a slightly deeper, not a lighter, tint of pink than the color pink itself. A more accurate name for it in terms of traditional color nomenclature would therefore be medium light pink. Hot pink For other uses, see Hot Pink (disambiguation). The pink triangle, always rendered in a tone of hot pink, has been used as an LGBT pride and LGBT rights symbol since the early 1970s Hot Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FF69B4 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 105, 180) HSV (h, s, v)    (330°, 59%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (65, 95, 343°) Source    X11 color names[2] HTML/CSS[1] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Vivid purplish red B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Hot pink (#ff69b4) #ff69b4 At right is displayed the web color hot pink. The name of the web color is written as "hotpink" (no space) in HTML for computer display. This shade of pink, along with bubblegum pink, was a very popular aesthetic during the 2000s.[3][4][5][6] Deep pink Deep Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FF1493 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 20, 147) HSV (h, s, v)    (328°, 92%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (56, 134, 350°) Source    X11 color names[2] HTML/CSS[1] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Vivid purplish red B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Deep pink (#ff1493) #ff1493 At right is displayed the web color deep pink.[7] The name of the web color is written as "deeppink" (no space) in HTML for computer display. Pastel pink Pastel pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FFD1DC sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 209, 220) HSV (h, s, v)    (346°, 18%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (88, 27, 355°) Source    ColorHexa.com B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) In Western culture, pastel pink is used to symbolize baby girls just as baby blue is often used to symbolize baby boys. Other notable pink colors Champagne pink Champagne Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #F1DDCF sRGBB (r, g, b)    (241, 221, 207) HSV (h, s, v)    (25°, 14%, 95%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (89, 18, 46°) Source    Pantone TPX[8] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Yellowish white B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Champagne pink (#f1ddcf) #f1ddcf Displayed at right is the color champagne pink, a strongly yellow-hued shade of pink. The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #12-1107 TPX—Champagne Pink. Pink lace Pink Lace   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FFDDF4 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 221, 244) HSV (h, s, v)    (319°, 13%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (91, 23, 324°) Source    Xona.com Color List ISCC–NBS descriptor    Pale purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Pink lace (#ffddf4) #ffddf4 At right is displayed the color pink lace, a very pale purplish pink. The color name pink lace for this pale tone of rose pink has been in use since 2001, when it was promulgated as one of the colors on the Xona.com Color List. This color is suggestive of the color of some women's lingerie. Piggy pink Many pigs are colored pink Piggy Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FDDDE6 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (253, 221, 230) HSV (h, s, v)    (343°, 13%, 99%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (91, 18, 351°) Source    Crayola ISCC–NBS descriptor    Pale pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Piggy pink (#fddde6) #fddde6 The color piggy pink is displayed at right. The color piggy pink is a representation of the color of a pink pig. The color piggy pink was formulated by Crayola in 1998. The color was originally called pig pink, but later the name was changed to "piggy pink". Pale pink Pale Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #F9CCCA sRGBB (r, g, b)    (249, 204, 202) HSV (h, s, v)    (3°, 19%, 98%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (86, 29, 15°) Source    ISCC-NBS ISCC–NBS descriptor    Light yellowish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Pale pink (#f9ccca) #f9ccca At right is displayed the color pale pink, a light, desaturated shade of pink. Baby pink Baby Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #F4C2C2 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (244, 194, 194) HSV (h, s, v)    (0°, 20%, 96%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (83, 32, 12°) Source    ISCC-NBS ISCC–NBS descriptor    Moderate yellowish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) See also: Gendered associations of pink and blue Baby pink (#f4c2c2) #f4c2c2 At right is displayed the color baby pink, a light shade of pink. The first recorded use of baby pink as a color name in English was in 1928.[9] In Western culture, baby pink is used to symbolize baby girls just as baby blue is often used to symbolize baby boys (but see also the section Pink in gender in the main article on pink.) Spanish pink Pink (G&S)   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #F7BFBE sRGBB (r, g, b)    (247, 191, 190) HSV (h, s, v)    (1°, 23%, 97%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (82, 36, 13°) Source    Gallego and Sanz[10] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Moderate yellowish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Spanish pink (#f7bfbe) #f7bfbe Spanish pink is the color that is called Rosa (the Spanish word for "pink") in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm. Cameo pink Cameo Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #EFBBCC sRGBB (r, g, b)    (239, 187, 204) HSV (h, s, v)    (340°, 22%, 94%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (81, 31, 349°) Source    ISCC-NBS ISCC–NBS descriptor    Pale purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Cameo pink #efbbcc At right is displayed the color cameo pink, a medium light tone of rose pink. The first recorded use of cameo pink as a color name in English was in 1912.[11] Orchid pink Main article: Orchid (color) Orchid Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #F2BDCD sRGBB (r, g, b)    (242, 189, 205) HSV (h, s, v)    (342°, 22%, 95%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (82, 32, 351°) Source    Pantone TPX[12] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Pale purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Orchid pink #f2bdcd Displayed at right is the color orchid pink, a pale and soft purplish pink color. The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #13-2010 TPX—Orchid Pink.[13] Wild pink orchid Wild pink orchid Fairy Tale Fairy Tale   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #F2C1D1 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (242, 193, 209) HSV (h, s, v)    (340°, 20%, 95%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (83, 29, 349°) Source    Pantone TCX[14] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Pale purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Fairy tale #f2c1d1 Displayed at the right is the color Fairy Tale, a pale and soft purplish pink color resembling typical fairy outfits in fiction. It is similar to orchid pink but slightly paler and more purple-toned. The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Cotton eXtended (TCX)" color list, color #13-2802 TCX—Fairy Tale.[13] Cherry blossom pink Cherry blossoms blooming in the spring in Japan Cherry Blossom Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FFB7C5 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 183, 197) HSV (h, s, v)    (348°, 28%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (81, 45, 0°) Source    Maerz and Paul[15] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Moderate pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Cherry blossom pink #ffb7c5 At right is displayed the color cherry blossom pink, a moderately light pink. The first recorded use of cherry blossom pink as a color name in English was in 1867.[16] Cherry blossom pink is an important color in Japanese culture. In the spring, the Japanese people gather to watch the cherry blossoms bloom during the Hanami festival. This custom has spread to the United States with the institution of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. Cherry blossoms Cherry blossoms Cherry blossom pink colored shirts are often worn to work on 15 September (a day a few days before the beginning of spring in the Southern Hemisphere) to celebrate "Cherry Blossom Day" in Brisbane, Australia.[17] Light hot pink Light Hot Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FFB3DE sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 179, 222) HSV (h, s, v)    (326°, 30%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (81, 48, 333°) Source    Xona.com Color List ISCC–NBS descriptor    Light purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Light hot pink #ffb3de At right is displayed the color light hot pink. This is the color hot pink light on the Xona.com Color List. Lavender pink Main article: Lavender (color) Lavender Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FBAED2 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (251, 174, 210) HSV (h, s, v)    (332°, 31%, 98%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (79, 48, 340°) Source    Crayola ISCC–NBS descriptor    Light purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Lavender pink #fbaed2 At right is displayed the color Lavender pink, a moderately light purplish pink. This pinkish tone of lavender, displayed at right, is the color designated as lavender in the list of Crayola crayon colors. Cotton candy Cotton Candy   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FFBCD9 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 188, 217) HSV (h, s, v)    (334°, 26%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (83, 41, 342°) Source    Crayola ISCC–NBS descriptor    Light purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Cotton candy #ffbcd9 The color cotton candy is displayed at right, a light purplish pink. The color cotton candy was formulated by Crayola in 1998.[18] A tuft of cotton candy. A tuft of cotton candy Carnation pink Carnation Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FFA6C9 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 166, 201) HSV (h, s, v)    (336°, 35%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (78, 55, 346°) Source    List of Crayola crayon colors ISCC–NBS descriptor    Moderate purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Carnation pink #ffa6c9 Displayed at right is the color carnation pink. Carnation pink is a color that resembles the flower color of a carnation plant. The color as displayed here was formulated by Crayola in 1903, and appears in Crayola's boxes of 16, 24, 32, 48, 64 and 96 colors. The first recorded use of carnation as a color name in English was in 1535.[19] A pink carnation flower A pink carnation flower Baker-Miller pink Main article: Baker-Miller Pink Baker-Miller Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FF91AF sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 145, 175) HSV (h, s, v)    (344°, 43%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (73, 71, 356°) Source    Internet ISCC–NBS descriptor    Strong purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Baker-Miller pink #ff91af Baker-Miller Pink is a tone of pink that was originally created by mixing one gallon of pure white indoor latex paint with one pint of red trim semi-gloss outdoor paint.[20] It is named for the two U.S. Navy officers who first experimented with its use in 1979 at the Naval Correctional Facility in Seattle, Washington at the behest of researcher Alexander Schauss. The color is also known as Schauss pink, after Alexander Schauss' extensive research into the effects of the color on emotions and hormones, as well as P-618 and Drunk-Tank Pink.[21] Results of the use of this color to paint the interiors of correctional institutions has been mixed. Some prisoners have been calmed by the color, but others have been agitated and disturbed by it. Tickle me pink Tickle Me Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FC89AC sRGBB (r, g, b)    (252, 137, 172) HSV (h, s, v)    (342°, 46%, 99%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (71, 74, 355°) Source    Crayola ISCC–NBS descriptor    Strong purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Tickle Me Pink #fc89ac The color tickle me pink is displayed at right, a bright shade of pink. The color tickle me pink was formulated by Crayola in 1993. The name was created by Joslyn Davis when she won a Crayola competition. Amaranth pink Main article: Amaranth (color) Amaranth Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #F19CBB sRGBB (r, g, b)    (241, 156, 187) HSV (h, s, v)    (338°, 35%, 95%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (74, 53, 348°) Source    Maerz and Paul[22] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Moderate purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Amaranth pink #f19cbb The color amaranth pink is displayed at right. This color is a representation of the color of pink amaranth flowers.[23] Pink globe amaranth Pink globe amaranth The first recorded use of amaranth pink as a color name in English was in 1905.[24] American pink American Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FF9899 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 152, 153) HSV (h, s, v)    (359°, 40%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (74, 72, 12°) Source    [Unsourced] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Deep yellowish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) At right is displayed the color American pink. Charm pink Charm Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #E68FAC sRGBB (r, g, b)    (230, 143, 172) HSV (h, s, v)    (340°, 38%, 90%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (69, 55, 351°) Source    Plochere ISCC–NBS descriptor    Dark purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Charm pink #e68fac The color charm pink is displayed at right, a medium shade of purplish pink. The color name charm pink first came into use in 1948. The source of this color is the Plochere Color System, a color system formulated in 1948 that is widely used by interior designers.[25] "Charm pink" is a medium roseish tone of pink that is used in interior design. China pink China Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #DE6FA1 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (222, 111, 161) HSV (h, s, v)    (333°, 50%, 87%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (61, 71, 345°) Source    Plochere ISCC–NBS descriptor    Deep purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) China pink #de6fa1 The color China pink is displayed at right, a dark purplish pink. The color name China pink first came into use in 1948. The source of this color is the Plochere Color System, a color system formulated in 1948 that is widely used by interior designers.[25] Mimi Pink Mimi Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FFDAE9 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 218, 233) HSV (h, s, v)    (336°, 15%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (90, 22, 342°) Source    [1] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Pale purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Mimi Pink (#ffdae9) #ffdae9 The Color Mimi Pink is displayed at right, a very pale shade of purplish pink. Misty rose Main article: Shades of rose Misty Rose   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FFE4E1 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 228, 225) HSV (h, s, v)    (6°, 12%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (93, 17, 19°) Source    X11 ISCC–NBS descriptor    Pinkish white B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Misty rose #ffe4e1 Misty rose is a pale shade of pink. It is also a web color. Tango pink Tango Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #E4717A sRGBB (r, g, b)    (228, 113, 122) HSV (h, s, v)    (355°, 50%, 89%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (61, 82, 9°) Source    Plochere ISCC–NBS descriptor    Deep pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Tango pink #e4717a The color tango pink is displayed at right, a moderate reddish pink. Another name for this color is tango. The first recorded use of tango pink as a color name in English was in 1925.[26] The source of this color is the Plochere Color System, a color system formulated in 1948 that is widely used by interior designers.[25] Congo pink Congo Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #F88379 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (248, 131, 121) HSV (h, s, v)    (5°, 51%, 97%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (68, 89, 16°) Source    ISCC-NBS ISCC–NBS descriptor    Deep yellowish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Congo pink #f88379 The color Congo pink is displayed at right, a moderate yellow-toned shade of pink. The first recorded use of Congo pink as a color name in English was in 1912.[27] "Congo pink" is an orangeish tone of pink. The normalized color coordinates for Congo pink are identical to Coral pink, which was first recorded as a color name in English in 1892.[28] Coral pink Main article: Coral (color) Coral Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #F88379 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (248, 131, 121) HSV (h, s, v)    (5°, 51%, 97%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (68, 89, 16°) Source    ISCC-NBS[29] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Deep yellowish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Coral pink #F88379 The color coral pink is displayed at right, a pinkish color.[29] The first recorded use of coral pink as a color name in English was in 1892.[28] The complementary color of coral pink is teal. The normalized color coordinates for coral pink are identical to Congo pink, which was first recorded as a color name in English in 1912.[27] New York pink New York Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #D7837F sRGBB (r, g, b)    (215, 131, 127) HSV (h, s, v)    (3°, 41%, 84%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (64, 60, 15°) Source    Xona.com Color List ISCC–NBS descriptor    Deep yellowish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) New York pink #d7837f At right is displayed the color New York pink, a dark, desaturated yellow-toned shade of pink. The color name New York pink for this dark tone of pink has been in use since 2001, when it was promulgated as one of the colors on the Xona.com Color List. Solid pink Solid Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #893843 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (137, 56, 67) HSV (h, s, v)    (352°, 59%, 54%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (35, 56, 6°) Source    Xona.com Color List ISCC–NBS descriptor    Dark red B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Solid pink #893843 Solid pink (2.5 Gamma Corrected) #c78b95 At right is displayed the color solid pink, a dark reddish pink. The color name solid pink for this extremely dark tone of pink has been in use since 2001, when it was promulgated as one of the colors on the Xona.com Color List. Silver pink Main article: Silver (color) Silver Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #C4AEAD sRGBB (r, g, b)    (196, 174, 173) HSV (h, s, v)    (3°, 12%, 77%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (73, 14, 15°) Source    Plochere ISCC–NBS descriptor    Grayish yellowish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Silver pink #c4aead The color silver pink is displayed at right, a grayish shade of pink. The color name silver pink first came into use in 1948. The source of this color is the Plochere Color System, a color system formulated in 1948 that is widely used by interior designers.[25] Queen pink Queen Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #E8CCD7 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (232, 204, 215) HSV (h, s, v)    (336°, 12%, 91%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (85, 16, 343°) Source    Plochere ISCC–NBS descriptor    Pale pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Queen pink #e8ccd7 The color queen pink is displayed at right, a pale shade of pink. The color name queen pink first came into use in 1948. The source of this color is the Plochere Color System, a color system formulated in 1948 that is widely used by interior designers.[25] Pink lavender Main article: Lavender (color) Pink Lavender   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #DBB2D1 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (219, 178, 209) HSV (h, s, v)    (315°, 19%, 86%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (77, 29, 319°) Source    Pantone TPX[30] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Grayish purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Pink Lavender #dbb2d1 The color pink lavender is displayed at right, a light, strongly purplish shade of pink. The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #14-3207 TPX—Pink Lavender.[13] Mountbatten pink Main article: Mountbatten pink Mountbatten Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #997A8D sRGBB (r, g, b)    (153, 122, 141) HSV (h, s, v)    (323°, 20%, 60%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (55, 20, 328°) Source    [Unsourced] B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Mountbatten pink (#997A8D) #997A8D Mountbatten pink, also called Plymouth pink,[31] is a naval camouflage color, a grayish tone of mauve, invented by Louis Mountbatten of the British Royal Navy in autumn 1940 during World War II. Chilean Pink Chilean Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #E8C3BA sRGBB (r, g, b)    (232, 195, 186) HSV (h, s, v)    (12°, 20%, 91%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (82, 26, 26°) Source    [Unsourced] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Moderate yellowish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Chilean Pink #e8c3ba Chilean pink color is a shade of Chilean pink flower (Lapageria r. specie), resembling light pale red-orange, pale vermilion nuance. Pale Dogwood Pale Dogwood   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #EDCDC2 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (237, 205, 194) HSV (h, s, v)    (15°, 18%, 93%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (85, 24, 31°) Source    Pantone TCX[32] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Pale yellowish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Pale Dogwood #EDCDC2 Pale Dogwood is a beige-tinted shade of pink. The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Cotton eXtended (TCX)" color list, color #13-1404 TCX—Pale Dogwood.[13] Pink (Pantone) Pink (Pantone)   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #D74894 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (215, 72, 148) HSV (h, s, v)    (328°, 67%, 84%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (53, 89, 342°) Source    Pantone TPX[33] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Vivid purplish red B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Pink (Pantone) #d74894 Displayed at right is the color called pink in Pantone. In Pantone, this color is designated as Pink U. The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #U—Pink.[13] Mexican pink Main article: Mexican pink Mexican Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #E4007C sRGBB (r, g, b)    (228, 0, 124) HSV (h, s, v)    (327°, 100%, 89%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (49, 124, 352°) Source    [34] B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Mexican pink (#e4007C) #e4007C Mexican pink is a color that is used in clothing such as serapes and in the craft and fine art of traditional Mexican culture. Mexican pink became known as such through the efforts of the journalist, painter, cartoonist and fashion designer Ramón Valdiosera in the mid-1940s.[34] Another name for this color is Mexican rose, a play on the Spanish name rosa mexicano.[citation needed] Barbie pink Barbie Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #DA1884 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (218, 24, 132) HSV (h, s, v)    (327°, 89%, 85%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (49, 111, 347°) Source    Pantone[35] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Vivid purplish red B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Barbie pink #da1884 The color Barbie pink is displayed at right, a deep shade of pink. Pantone 219C is the color used by Mattel's Barbie in logos, packaging, and promotional materials.[36][37] Fandango pink Fandango Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #DE5285 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (222, 82, 133) HSV (h, s, v)    (338°, 63%, 87%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (55, 92, 354°) Source    Pantone TPX[38] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Vivid purplish red B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Fandango pink #de5285 Displayed at right is the color fandango pink, a vivid pink. The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #17-2033 TPX—Fandango Pink.[13] Paradise pink Paradise Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #E63E62 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (230, 62, 98) HSV (h, s, v)    (347°, 73%, 90%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (53, 119, 5°) Source    Pantone TPX[39] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Vivid red B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Paradise pink #e63e62 Displayed at right is the color paradise pink, a bright, reddish pink. The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #17-1755 TPX—Paradise Pink.[13] Brink pink Brink Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FB607F sRGBB (r, g, b)    (251, 96, 127) HSV (h, s, v)    (348°, 62%, 98%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (62, 109, 4°) Source    Crayola ISCC–NBS descriptor    Vivid red B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Brink pink #fb607f The color brink pink was formulated by Crayola in 1998. Since 2005 it is called pink sherbert. French pink French Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FD6C9E sRGBB (r, g, b)    (253, 108, 158) HSV (h, s, v)    (339°, 57%, 99%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (65, 95, 354°) Source    Pourpre.com ISCC–NBS descriptor    Deep purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) French pink #fd6c9e At right is displayed the color French pink, which is the tone of pink that is called pink (French: rose) in the Pourpre.com color list, a color list widely popular in France. Bright pink Bright Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FF007F sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 0, 127) HSV (h, s, v)    (330°, 100%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (55, 143, 355°) Source    [Unsourced] B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Bright pink (#ff007f) #ff007f Bright pink is a maximally saturated tone of pink that is another name for the color rose. In most Indo-European languages, the color that in English is called pink is called rosa; therefore, the color that is called rose in English is called bright rosa in most European and Latin American countries (using whatever adjective in a particular language means bright in that language). Persian pink Main article: Rose (color) § Persian pink Persian Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #F77FBE sRGBB (r, g, b)    (247, 127, 190) HSV (h, s, v)    (328°, 49%, 97%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (69, 76, 339°) Source    Maerz and Paul[40] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Deep purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Persian pink #f77fbe The color Persian pink is displayed at right, a bright, purplish pink. The first recorded use of Persian pink as a color name in English was in 1923.[41] Rose pink Main article: Shades of rose Rose Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FF66CC sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 102, 204) HSV (h, s, v)    (320°, 60%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (66, 97, 331°) Source    WSC ISCC–NBS descriptor    Vivid reddish purple B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Rose pink #ff66cc The color Rose pink is displayed at right, a bright, purplish pink. The first recorded use of rose pink as a color name in English was in 1761.[42] Light deep pink Light Deep Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FF5CCD sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 92, 205) HSV (h, s, v)    (318°, 64%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (64, 103, 329°) Source    Xona.com Color List ISCC–NBS descriptor    Vivid reddish purple B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Light deep pink #ff5ccd At right is displayed the color light deep pink, a bright purplish pink. This is the color deep pink light on the Xona.com Color List. Ultra pink Ultra Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FF6FFF sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 111, 255) HSV (h, s, v)    (300°, 56%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (69, 108, 308°) Source    Crayola ISCC–NBS descriptor    Vivid purple B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Ultra pink #ff6fff Ultra pink is a Crayola crayon color formulated in 1972. In 1990, the name was changed in error to shocking pink; however, properly speaking, the name shocking pink should be reserved for only the original shocking pink formulated by Elsa Schiaparelli in 1937 (shown below). Shocking pink Shocking Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FC0FC0 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (252, 15, 192) HSV (h, s, v)    (315°, 94%, 99%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (57, 124, 331°) Source    Internet[not specific enough to verify] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Vivid reddish purple B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Shocking pink #fc0fc0 Shocking pink is bold and intense. It takes its name from the tone of pink used in the lettering on the box of the perfume called Shocking,[43] designed by Leonor Fini for the Surrealist fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli in 1937.[44] The color shown at right matches the color of the lettering on the original box.[45][46] This in turn was inspired by the Tête de Belier (Ram's Head), a 17.27 ct pink diamond from Cartier owned by heiress Daisy Fellowes,[47] who was one of Schiaparelli's best clients. Shocking pink kept its name in British English,[43] whereas in North America "This intense magenta was called shocking pink in the 1930s, hot pink in the 1950s, and kinky pink in the 1960s...[it] has appeared in the vanguard of more than one youth revolution...to some it sings, to others it screams".[48] This color is now again called "shocking pink" to distinguish it from the web color hot pink (shown above). NHRA drag racer Shirley Muldowney was famous for driving a shocking pink dragster.[citation needed] A bougainvillea with shocking pink flowers On its way into the German language, shocking pink lost the "shocking" and is called only "Pink"; the color that is called "pink" in English is called "rosa" in German as it is in most other Indo-European languages. A similar situation happens in Portuguese, but its nomenclature arrives intact, becoming "rosa-choque" ("shocking pink"). Brazilians also call all darker and hot tones of pink "rosa-pink". Super pink Super Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #CF6BA9 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (207, 107, 169) HSV (h, s, v)    (323°, 48%, 81%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (59, 65, 332°) Source    Pantone TPX[49] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Strong reddish purple B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Super pink #cf6ba9 Displayed at right is the color super pink, a very purple-toned shade of pink. The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #17-2625 TPX—Super Pink.[13] Rose Pompadour Rose Pompadour   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #ED7A9B sRGBB (r, g, b)    (237, 122, 155) HSV (h, s, v)    (343°, 49%, 93%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (65, 75, 356°) Source    Color-sample.com ISCC–NBS descriptor    Deep purplish pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Rose Pompadour #ed7a9b Displayed at right is the color Rose Pompadour [fr], a desaturated, purplish pink. This color was designed by Sèvres for Madame de Pompadour, in 18th century France.[50] Steel pink Steel Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #CC33CC sRGBB (r, g, b)    (204, 51, 204) HSV (h, s, v)    (300°, 75%, 80%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (51, 102, 308°) Source    Crayola ISCC–NBS descriptor    Vivid purple B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Steel pink #cc33cc The color steel pink is displayed at right, a strongly purple-toned shade of pink. The color steel pink was introduced by Crayola in January 2011, when the Ultra Hot and Super Cool set of Crayola colored pencils was fully introduced. "Steel pink" is a deep tone of magenta. Bubblegum pink Bubblegum Pink   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #F58092 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (245, 128, 146) HSV (h, s, v)    (351°, 48%, 96%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (67, 80, 4°) Source    Crayola ISCC–NBS descriptor    Vivid purple B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Bubblegum pink #F58092 The color Bubblegum pink is displayed at right. "Bubblegum pink" is a deep tone of magenta. This shade of pink, along with hot pink, were a very popular aesthetic during the 2000s.[51][52][53][54][55] Lusty gallant Lusty gallant   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #FFCCCC sRGBB (r, g, b)    (255, 204, 204) HSV (h, s, v)    (0°, 20%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (86, 32, 12°) Source    https://www.crispedge.com/color/ffcccc/ ISCC–NBS descriptor    Pale pink B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Lusty gallant #FFCCCC The color Lusty gallant is displayed at right. "Lusty gallant" is a light shade of pink that originated in Elizabethan England." (wikipedia.org) "Easter,[nb 1] also called Pascha[nb 2] (Aramaic, Greek, Latin) or Resurrection Sunday,[nb 3] is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD.[12][13] It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus Christ, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. Easter-observing Christians commonly refer to the week before Easter as Holy Week, which in Western Christianity begins on Palm Sunday (marking the entrance of Jesus in Jerusalem), includes Spy Wednesday (on which the betrayal of Jesus is mourned),[14] and contains the days of the Easter Triduum including Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Maundy and Last Supper,[15][16] as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus.[17] In Eastern Christianity, the same days and events are commemorated with the names of days all starting with "Holy" or "Holy and Great"; and Easter itself might be called "Great and Holy Pascha", "Easter Sunday", "Pascha" or "Sunday of Pascha". In Western Christianity, Eastertide, or the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the 50th day, Pentecost Sunday. In Eastern Christianity, the Paschal season ends with Pentecost as well, but the leave-taking of the Great Feast of Pascha is on the 39th day, the day before the Feast of the Ascension. Easter and its related holidays are moveable feasts, not falling on a fixed date; its date is computed based on a lunisolar calendar (solar year plus Moon phase) similar to the Hebrew calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established only two rules, namely independence from the Hebrew calendar and worldwide uniformity. No details for the computation were specified; these were worked out in practice, a process that took centuries and generated a number of controversies. It has come to be the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March.[18] Even if calculated on the basis of the more accurate Gregorian calendar, the date of that full moon sometimes differs from that of the astronomical first full moon after the March equinox.[19] The English term is derived from the Saxon spring festival Ēostre; Easter is also linked to the Jewish Passover by its name (Hebrew: פֶּסַח pesach, Aramaic: פָּסחָא pascha are the basis of the term Pascha), by its origin (according to the synoptic Gospels, both the crucifixion and the resurrection took place during the week of Passover)[20][21] and by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In most European languages, both the Christian Easter and the Jewish Passover are called by the same name; and in the older English versions of the Bible, as well, the term Easter was used to translate Passover.[22] Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include sunrise services, midnight vigils, exclamations and exchanges of Paschal greetings, clipping the church (England),[23] and decoration and the communal breaking of Easter eggs (a symbol of the empty tomb).[24][25][26] The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection in Western Christianity,[27][28] traditionally decorates the chancel area of churches on this day and for the rest of Eastertide.[29] Additional customs that have become associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include Easter parades, communal dancing (Eastern Europe), the Easter Bunny and egg hunting.[30][31][32][33][34] There are also traditional Easter foods that vary by region and culture. Etymology Main articles: Ēostre and Names of Easter The modern English term Easter, cognate with modern Dutch ooster and German Ostern, developed from an Old English word that usually appears in the form Ēastrun, -on, or -an; but also as Ēastru, -o; and Ēastre or Ēostre.[nb 4] Bede provides the only documentary source for the etymology of the word, in his eighth-century The Reckoning of Time. He wrote that Ēosturmōnaþ (Old English 'Month of Ēostre', translated in Bede's time as "Paschal month") was an English month, corresponding to April, which he says "was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month".[35] In Latin and Greek, the Christian celebration was, and still is, called Pascha (Greek: Πάσχα), a word derived from Aramaic פסחא (Paskha), cognate to Hebrew פֶּסַח (Pesach). The word originally denoted the Jewish festival known in English as Passover, commemorating the Jewish Exodus from slavery in Egypt.[36][37] As early as the 50s of the 1st century, Paul the Apostle, writing from Ephesus to the Christians in Corinth,[38] applied the term to Christ, and it is unlikely that the Ephesian and Corinthian Christians were the first to hear Exodus 12 interpreted as speaking about the death of Jesus, not just about the Jewish Passover ritual.[39] In most languages, Germanic languages such as English being exceptions, the feast is known by names derived from Greek and Latin Pascha.[9][40] Pascha is also a name by which Jesus himself is remembered in the Orthodox Church, especially in connection with his resurrection and with the season of its celebration.[41] Others call the holiday "Resurrection Sunday" or "Resurrection Day," after the Greek: Ἀνάστασις, romanized: Anastasis, lit. 'Resurrection' day.[10][11][42][43] Theological significance Easter celebrates Jesus' supernatural resurrection from the dead, which is one of the chief tenets of the Christian faith.[44] The resurrection established Jesus as the Son of God and is cited as proof that God will righteously judge the world.[45] Paul writes that, for those who trust in Jesus's death and resurrection, "death is swallowed up in victory." The First Epistle of Peter declares that God has given believers "a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead". Christian theology holds that, through faith in the working of God, those who follow Jesus are spiritually resurrected with him so that they may walk in a new way of life and receive eternal salvation, and can hope to be physically resurrected to dwell with him in the Kingdom of Heaven.[45] Easter is linked to Passover and the Exodus from Egypt recorded in the Old Testament through the Last Supper, sufferings, and crucifixion of Jesus that preceded the resurrection.[40] According to the three Synoptic Gospels, Jesus gave the Passover meal a new meaning, as in the upper room during the Last Supper he prepared himself and his disciples for his death.[40] He identified the bread and cup of wine as his body, soon to be sacrificed, and his blood, soon to be shed. The Apostle Paul states, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, "Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. This refers to the requirement in Jewish law that Jews eliminate all chametz, or leavening, from their homes in advance of Passover, and to the allegory of Jesus as the Paschal lamb.[46][47] Early Christianity The Last Supper celebrated by Jesus and his disciples. The early Christians, too, would have celebrated this meal to commemorate Jesus's death and subsequent resurrection. As the Gospels affirm that both the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus during the week of Passover, the first Christians timed the observance of the annual celebration of the resurrections in relation to Passover.[48] Direct evidence for a more fully formed Christian festival of Pascha (Easter) begins to appear in the mid-2nd century. Perhaps the earliest extant primary source referring to Easter is a mid-2nd-century Paschal homily attributed to Melito of Sardis, which characterizes the celebration as a well-established one.[49] Evidence for another kind of annually recurring Christian festival, those commemorating the martyrs, began to appear at about the same time as the above homily.[50] While martyrs' days (usually the individual dates of martyrdom) were celebrated on fixed dates in the local solar calendar, the date of Easter was fixed by means of the local Jewish[51] lunisolar calendar. This is consistent with the celebration of Easter having entered Christianity during its earliest, Jewish, period, but does not leave the question free of doubt.[52] The ecclesiastical historian Socrates Scholasticus attributes the observance of Easter by the church to the perpetuation of pre-Christian custom, "just as many other customs have been established", stating that neither Jesus nor his Apostles enjoined the keeping of this or any other festival. Although he describes the details of the Easter celebration as deriving from local custom, he insists the feast itself is universally observed.[53] Date A stained-glass window depicting the Passover Lamb, a concept integral to the foundation of Easter[40][54] Easter and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts, in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars (both of which follow the cycle of the sun and the seasons). Instead, the date for Easter is determined on a lunisolar calendar similar to the Hebrew calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established two rules, independence of the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity, which were the only rules for Easter explicitly laid down by the Council. No details for the computation were specified; these were worked out in practice, a process that took centuries and generated a number of controversies. (See also Computus and Reform of the date of Easter.) In particular, the Council did not decree that Easter must fall on Sunday, but this was already the practice almost everywhere.[55] In Western Christianity, using the Gregorian calendar, Easter always falls on a Sunday between 22 March and 25 April,[56] within about seven days after the astronomical full moon.[57] The following day, Easter Monday, is a legal holiday in many countries with predominantly Christian traditions.[58] Eastern Orthodox Christians base Paschal date calculations on the Julian calendar. Because of the thirteen-day difference between the calendars between 1900 and 2099, 21 March corresponds, during the 21st century, to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar. Since the Julian calendar is no longer used as the civil calendar of the countries where Eastern Christian traditions predominate, Easter varies between 4 April and 8 May in the Gregorian calendar. Also, because the Julian "full moon" is always several days after the astronomical full moon, the eastern Easter is often later, relative to the visible lunar phases, than western Easter.[59] Among the Oriental Orthodox, some churches have changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar and the date for Easter, as for other fixed and moveable feasts, is the same as in the Western church.[60] Computations Main article: Date of Easter In 725, Bede succinctly wrote, "The Sunday following the full Moon which falls on or after the equinox will give the lawful Easter."[61] However, this does not precisely reflect the ecclesiastical rules. The full moon referred to (called the Paschal full moon) is not an astronomical full moon, but the 14th day of a lunar month. Another difference is that the astronomical equinox is a natural astronomical phenomenon, which can fall on 19, 20 or 21 March,[62] while the ecclesiastical date is fixed by convention on 21 March.[63] In applying the ecclesiastical rules, Christian churches use 21 March as the starting point in determining the date of Easter, from which they find the next full moon, etc. The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches continue to use the Julian calendar. Their starting point in determining the date of Orthodox Easter is also 21 March but according to the Julian reckoning, which in the current century corresponds to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar.[citation needed] In addition, the lunar tables of the Julian calendar are currently five days behind those of the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, the Julian computation of the Paschal full moon is a full five days later than the astronomical full moon. The result of this combination of solar and lunar discrepancies is divergence in the date of Easter in most years (see table).[64] Easter is determined on the basis of lunisolar cycles. The lunar year consists of 30-day and 29-day lunar months, generally alternating, with an embolismic month added periodically to bring the lunar cycle into line with the solar cycle. In each solar year (1 January to 31 December inclusive), the lunar month beginning with an ecclesiastical new moon falling in the 29-day period from 8 March to 5 April inclusive is designated as the paschal lunar month for that year.[65] Easter is the third Sunday in the paschal lunar month, or, in other words, the Sunday after the paschal lunar month's 14th day. The 14th of the paschal lunar month is designated by convention as the Paschal full moon, although the 14th of the lunar month may differ from the date of the astronomical full moon by up to two days.[65] Since the ecclesiastical new moon falls on a date from 8 March to 5 April inclusive, the paschal full moon (the 14th of that lunar month) must fall on a date from 22 March to 18 April inclusive.[64] The Gregorian calculation of Easter was based on a method devised by the Calabrian doctor Aloysius Lilius (or Lilio) for adjusting the epacts of the Moon,[66] and has been adopted by almost all Western Christians and by Western countries which celebrate national holidays at Easter. For the British Empire and colonies, a determination of the date of Easter Sunday using Golden Numbers and Sunday letters was defined by the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 with its Annexe. This was designed to match exactly the Gregorian calculation.[citation needed] Controversies over the date Main article: Easter controversy A five-part Russian Orthodox icon depicting the Easter story. Eastern Orthodox Christians use a different computation for the date of Easter than the Western churches. The precise date of Easter has at times been a matter of contention. By the later 2nd century, it was widely accepted that the celebration of the holiday was a practice of the disciples and an undisputed tradition. The Quartodeciman controversy, the first of several Easter controversies, arose concerning the date on which the holiday should be celebrated.[citation needed] The term "Quartodeciman" refers to the practice of ending the Lenten fast on Nisan 14 of the Hebrew calendar, "the LORD's passover".[67] According to the church historian Eusebius, the Quartodeciman Polycarp (bishop of Smyrna, by tradition a disciple of John the Apostle) debated the question with Anicetus (bishop of Rome). The Roman province of Asia was Quartodeciman, while the Roman and Alexandrian churches continued the fast until the Sunday following (the Sunday of Unleavened Bread), wishing to associate Easter with Sunday. Neither Polycarp nor Anicetus persuaded the other, but they did not consider the matter schismatic either, parting in peace and leaving the question unsettled.[citation needed] Controversy arose when Victor, bishop of Rome a generation after Anicetus, attempted to excommunicate Polycrates of Ephesus and all other bishops of Asia for their Quartodecimanism. According to Eusebius, a number of synods were convened to deal with the controversy, which he regarded as all ruling in support of Easter on Sunday.[68] Polycrates (circa 190), however, wrote to Victor defending the antiquity of Asian Quartodecimanism. Victor's attempted excommunication was apparently rescinded, and the two sides reconciled upon the intervention of bishop Irenaeus and others, who reminded Victor of the tolerant precedent of Anicetus.[citation needed] Quartodecimanism seems to have lingered into the 4th century, when Socrates of Constantinople recorded that some Quartodecimans were deprived of their churches by John Chrysostom[69] and that some were harassed by Nestorius.[70] It is not known how long the Nisan 14 practice continued. But both those who followed the Nisan 14 custom, and those who set Easter to the following Sunday, had in common the custom of consulting their Jewish neighbors to learn when the month of Nisan would fall, and setting their festival accordingly. By the later 3rd century, however, some Christians began to express dissatisfaction with the custom of relying on the Jewish community to determine the date of Easter. The chief complaint was that the Jewish communities sometimes erred in setting Passover to fall before the Northern Hemisphere spring equinox.[71][72] The Sardica paschal table[73] confirms these complaints, for it indicates that the Jews of some eastern Mediterranean city (possibly Antioch) fixed Nisan 14 on dates well before the spring equinox on multiple occasions.[74] Because of this dissatisfaction with reliance on the Jewish calendar, some Christians began to experiment with independent computations.[nb 5] Others, however, believed that the customary practice of consulting Jews should continue, even if the Jewish computations were in error.[citation needed] First Council of Nicaea (325 AD) Main article: First Council of Nicaea This controversy between those who advocated independent computations, and those who wished to continue the custom of relying on the Jewish calendar, was formally resolved by the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which endorsed changing to an independent computation by the Christian community in order to celebrate in common. This effectively required the abandonment of the old custom of consulting the Jewish community in those places where it was still used. Epiphanius of Salamis wrote in the mid-4th century:     the emperor ... convened a council of 318 bishops ... in the city of Nicaea ... They passed certain ecclesiastical canons at the council besides, and at the same time decreed in regard to the Passover [i.e., Easter] that there must be one unanimous concord on the celebration of God's holy and supremely excellent day. For it was variously observed by people; some kept it early, some between [the disputed dates], but others late. And in a word, there was a great deal of controversy at that time.[77] Canons[78] and sermons[79] condemning the custom of computing Easter's date based on the Jewish calendar indicate that this custom (called "protopaschite" by historians) did not die out at once, but persisted for a time after the Council of Nicaea. Dionysius Exiguus, and others following him, maintained that the 318 bishops assembled at Nicaea had specified a particular method of determining the date of Easter; subsequent scholarship has refuted this tradition.[80] In any case, in the years following the council, the computational system that was worked out by the church of Alexandria came to be normative. The Alexandrian system, however, was not immediately adopted throughout Christian Europe. Following Augustalis' treatise De ratione Paschae (On the Measurement of Easter), Rome retired the earlier 8-year cycle in favor of Augustalis' 84-year lunisolar calendar cycle, which it used until 457. It then switched to Victorius of Aquitaine's adaptation of the Alexandrian system.[81][82] Because this Victorian cycle differed from the unmodified Alexandrian cycle in the dates of some of the Paschal Full Moons, and because it tried to respect the Roman custom of fixing Easter to the Sunday in the week of the 16th to the 22nd of the lunar month (rather than the 15th to the 21st as at Alexandria), by providing alternative "Latin" and "Greek" dates in some years, occasional differences in the date of Easter as fixed by Alexandrian rules continued.[81][82] The Alexandrian rules were adopted in the West following the tables of Dionysius Exiguus in 525.[citation needed] Early Christians in Britain and Ireland also used an 84-year cycle. From the 5th century onward this cycle set its equinox to 25 March and fixed Easter to the Sunday falling in the 14th to the 20th of the lunar month inclusive.[83][84] This 84-year cycle was replaced by the Alexandrian method in the course of the 7th and 8th centuries. Churches in western continental Europe used a late Roman method until the late 8th century during the reign of Charlemagne, when they finally adopted the Alexandrian method. Since 1582, when the Roman Catholic Church adopted the Gregorian calendar while most of Europe used the Julian calendar, the date on which Easter is celebrated has again differed.[85] The Greek island of Syros, whose population is divided almost equally between Catholics and Orthodox, is one of the few places where the two Churches share a common date for Easter, with the Catholics accepting the Orthodox date—a practice helping considerably in maintaining good relations between the two communities.[86] Conversely, Orthodox Christians in Finland celebrate Easter according to the Western Christian date.[87] Proposed reforms of the date See also: Reform of the date of Easter The congregation lighting their candles from the new flame, just as the priest has retrieved it from the altar – note that the picture is flash-illuminated; all electric lighting is off, and only the oil lamps in front of the Iconostasis remain lit. (St. George Greek Orthodox Church, Adelaide). In the 20th and 21st centuries, some individuals and institutions have propounded changing the method of calculating the date for Easter, the most prominent proposal being the Sunday after the second Saturday in April. Despite having some support, proposals to reform the date have not been implemented.[88] An Orthodox congress of Eastern Orthodox bishops, which included representatives mostly from the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Serbian Patriarch, met in Constantinople in 1923, where the bishops agreed to the Revised Julian calendar.[89] The original form of this calendar would have determined Easter using precise astronomical calculations based on the meridian of Jerusalem.[90][91] However, all the Eastern Orthodox countries that subsequently adopted the Revised Julian calendar adopted only that part of the revised calendar that applied to festivals falling on fixed dates in the Julian calendar. The revised Easter computation that had been part of the original 1923 agreement was never permanently implemented in any Orthodox diocese.[89] In the United Kingdom, Parliament passed the Easter Act 1928 to change the date of Easter to be the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April (or, in other words, the Sunday in the period from 9 to 15 April). However, the legislation has not been implemented, although it remains on the Statute book and could be implemented, subject to approval by the various Christian churches.[92] At a summit in Aleppo, Syria, in 1997, the World Council of Churches (WCC) proposed a reform in the calculation of Easter which would have replaced the present divergent practices of calculating Easter with modern scientific knowledge taking into account actual astronomical instances of the spring equinox and full moon based on the meridian of Jerusalem, while also following the tradition of Easter being on the Sunday following the full moon.[93] The recommended World Council of Churches changes would have sidestepped the calendar issues and eliminated the difference in date between the Eastern and Western churches. The reform was proposed for implementation starting in 2001, and despite repeated calls for reform, it was not ultimately adopted by any member body.[94][95] In January 2016, the Anglican Communion, Coptic Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Church, and Roman Catholic Church again considered agreeing on a common, universal date for Easter, while also simplifying the calculation of that date, with either the second or third Sunday in April being popular choices.[96] In November 2022, the Patriarch of Constantinople said that conversations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches had begun to determine a common date for the celebration of Easter. The agreement is expected to be reached for the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in 2025.[97] Table of the dates of Easter by Gregorian and Julian calendars See also: List of dates for Easter The WCC presented comparative data of the relationships: Table of dates of Easter 2001–2025 (in Gregorian dates)[98] Year     Full Moon     Jewish Passover [note 1]     Astronomical Easter [note 2]     Gregorian Easter     Julian Easter 2001     8 April     15 April 2002     28 March     31 March     5 May 2003     16 April     17 April     20 April     27 April 2004     5 April     6 April     11 April 2005     25 March     24 April     27 March     1 May 2006     13 April     16 April     23 April 2007     2 April     3 April     8 April 2008     21 March     20 April     23 March     27 April 2009     9 April     12 April     19 April 2010     30 March     4 April 2011     18 April     19 April     24 April 2012     6 April     7 April     8 April     15 April 2013     27 March     26 March     31 March     5 May 2014     15 April     20 April 2015     4 April     5 April     12 April 2016     23 March     23 April     27 March     1 May 2017     11 April     16 April 2018     31 March     1 April     8 April 2019     21 March     20 April     24 March     21 April     28 April 2020     8 April     9 April     12 April     19 April 2021     28 March     4 April     2 May 2022     16 April     17 April     24 April 2023     6 April     9 April     16 April 2024     25 March     23 April     31 March     5 May 2025     13 April     20 April Jewish Passover is on Nisan 15 of its calendar. It commences at sunset preceding the date indicated (as does Easter in many traditions).     Astronomical Easter is the first Sunday after the astronomical full moon after the astronomical March equinox as measured at the meridian of Jerusalem according to this WCC proposal. Position in the church year Further information: Liturgical year Western Christianity Easter and other named days and day ranges around Lent and Easter in Western Christianity, with the fasting days of Lent numbered In most branches of Western Christianity, Easter is preceded by Lent, a period of penitence that begins on Ash Wednesday, lasts 40 days (not counting Sundays), and is often marked with fasting. The week before Easter, known as Holy Week, is an important time for observers to commemorate the final week of Jesus' life on earth.[99] The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday, with the Wednesday before Easter being known as Spy Wednesday (or Holy Wednesday). The last three days before Easter are Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday (sometimes referred to as Silent Saturday).[100] Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday respectively commemorate Jesus's entry in Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the crucifixion. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are sometimes referred to as the Easter Triduum (Latin for "Three Days"). Many churches begin celebrating Easter late in the evening of Holy Saturday at a service called the Easter Vigil. The week beginning with Easter Sunday is called Easter Week or the Octave of Easter, and each day is prefaced with "Easter", e.g. Easter Monday (a public holiday in many countries), Easter Tuesday (a much less widespread public holiday), etc. Easter Saturday is therefore the Saturday after Easter Sunday. The day before Easter is properly called Holy Saturday. Eastertide, or Paschaltide, the season of Easter, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts until the day of Pentecost, seven weeks later. Eastern Christianity In Eastern Christianity, the spiritual preparation for Easter/Pascha begins with Great Lent, which starts on Clean Monday and lasts for 40 continuous days (including Sundays). Great Lent ends on a Friday, and the next day is Lazarus Saturday. The Vespers which begins Lazarus Saturday officially brings Great Lent to a close, although the fast continues through the following week, i.e. Holy Week. After Lazarus Saturday comes Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and finally Easter/Pascha itself, and the fast is broken immediately after the Paschal Divine Liturgy.[citation needed] The Paschal Vigil begins with the Midnight Office, which is the last service of the Lenten Triodion and is timed so that it ends a little before midnight on Holy Saturday night. At the stroke of midnight the Paschal celebration itself begins, consisting of Paschal Matins, Paschal Hours, and Paschal Divine Liturgy.[101] The liturgical season from Easter to the Sunday of All Saints (the Sunday after Pentecost) is known as the Pentecostarion (the "50 days"). The week which begins on Easter Sunday is called Bright Week, during which there is no fasting, even on Wednesday and Friday. The Afterfeast of Easter lasts 39 days, with its Apodosis (leave-taking) on the day before the Feast of the Ascension. Pentecost Sunday is the 50th day from Easter (counted inclusively).[102] In the Pentecostarion published by Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece, the Great Feast Pentecost is noted in the synaxarion portion of Matins to be the 8th Sunday of Pascha. However, the Paschal greeting of "Christ is risen!" is no longer exchanged among the faithful after the Apodosis of Pascha. Liturgical observance The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, fresco by Piero della Francesca, 1463 Western Christianity The Easter festival is kept in many different ways among Western Christians. The traditional, liturgical observation of Easter, as practised among Roman Catholics, Lutherans,[103] and some Anglicans begins on the night of Holy Saturday with the Easter Vigil which follows an ancient liturgy involving symbols of light, candles and water and numerous readings form the Old and New Testament.[104] Services continue on Easter Sunday and in a number of countries on Easter Monday. In parishes of the Moravian Church, as well as some other denominations such as the Methodist Churches, there is a tradition of Easter Sunrise Services[105] often starting in cemeteries[106] in remembrance of the biblical narrative in the Gospels, or other places in the open where the sunrise is visible.[107] In some traditions, Easter services typically begin with the Paschal greeting: "Christ is risen!" The response is: "He is risen indeed. Alleluia!"[108] Eastern Christianity Icon of the Resurrection by an unknown 17th-century Bulgarian artist Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholics and Byzantine Rite Lutherans have a similar emphasis on Easter in their calendars, and many of their liturgical customs are very similar.[109] Preparation for Easter begins with the season of Great Lent, which begins on Clean Monday.[110] While the end of Lent is Lazarus Saturday, fasting does not end until Easter Sunday.[111] The Orthodox service begins late Saturday evening, observing the Jewish tradition that evening is the start of liturgical holy days.[111] The church is darkened, then the priest lights a candle at midnight, representing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Altar servers light additional candles, with a procession which moves three times around the church to represent the three days in the tomb.[111] The service continues early into Sunday morning, with a feast to end the fasting. An additional service is held later that day on Easter Sunday.[111] Non-observing Christian groups Many Puritans saw traditional feasts of the established Anglican Church, such as All Saints' Day and Easter, as abominations because the Bible does not mention them.[112][113] Conservative Reformed denominations such as the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America likewise reject the celebration of Easter as a violation of the regulative principle of worship and what they see as its non-Scriptural origin.[114][115] Members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), as part of their historic testimony against times and seasons, do not celebrate or observe Easter or any traditional feast days of the established Church, believing instead that "every day is the Lord's Day," and that elevation of one day above others suggests that it is acceptable to do un-Christian acts on other days.[116][117] During the 17th and 18th centuries, Quakers were persecuted for this non-observance of Holy Days.[118] Groups such as the Restored Church of God reject the celebration of Easter, seeing it as originating in a pagan spring festival adopted by the Roman Catholic Church.[119][non-primary source needed] Jehovah's Witnesses maintain a similar view, observing a yearly commemorative service of the Last Supper and the subsequent execution of Christ on the evening of Nisan 14 (as they calculate the dates derived from the lunar Hebrew calendar). It is commonly referred to by many Witnesses as simply "The Memorial". Jehovah's Witnesses believe that such verses as Luke 22:19–20 and 1 Corinthians 11:26 constitute a commandment to remember the death of Christ though not the resurrection.[120][non-primary source needed] Easter celebrations around the world Main article: Easter customs In countries where Christianity is a state religion, or those with large Christian populations, Easter is often a public holiday. As Easter always falls on a Sunday, many countries in the world also recognize Easter Monday as a public holiday. Some retail stores, shopping malls, and restaurants are closed on Easter Sunday. Good Friday, which occurs two days before Easter Sunday, is also a public holiday in many countries, as well as in 12 U.S. states. Even in states where Good Friday is not a holiday, many financial institutions, stock markets, and public schools are closed - the few banks that are normally open on regular Sundays are closed on Easter.[citation needed] Boris Kustodiev's Pascha Greetings (1912) shows traditional Russian khristosovanie (exchanging a triple kiss), with such foods as red eggs, kulich and paskha in the background. In the Nordic countries Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday are public holidays,[121] and Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays.[122] In Denmark, Iceland and Norway Maundy Thursday is also a public holiday. It is a holiday for most workers, except those operating some shopping malls which keep open for a half-day. Many businesses give their employees almost a week off, called Easter break.[123] Schools are closed between Palm Sunday and Easter Monday. According to a 2014 poll, 6 of 10 Norwegians travel during Easter, often to a countryside cottage; 3 of 10 said their typical Easter included skiing.[124] In the Netherlands both Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are national holidays. Like first and second Christmas Day, they are both considered Sundays, which results in a first and a second Easter Sunday, after which the week continues to a Tuesday.[125] In Greece Good Friday and Saturday as well as Easter Sunday and Monday are traditionally observed public holidays. It is custom for employees of the public sector to receive Easter bonuses as a gift from the state.[126] In Commonwealth nations Easter Day is rarely a public holiday, as is the case for celebrations which fall on a Sunday. In the United Kingdom both Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays, except for Scotland, where only Good Friday is a bank holiday.[127] In Canada, Easter Monday is a statutory holiday for federal employees. In the Canadian province of Quebec, either Good Friday or Easter Monday are statutory holidays (although most companies give both).[128] In Australia, Easter is associated with harvest time.[129] Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays across all states and territories. "Easter Saturday" (the Saturday before Easter Sunday) is a public holiday in every state except Tasmania and Western Australia, while Easter Sunday itself is a public holiday only in New South Wales. Easter Tuesday is additionally a conditional public holiday in Tasmania, varying between award, and was also a public holiday in Victoria until 1994.[130] In the United States, because Easter falls on a Sunday, which is already a non-working day for federal and state employees, it has not been designated as a federal or state holiday.[131] Easter parades are held in many American cities, involving festive strolling processions.[30] Easter eggs Main article: Easter egg Traditional customs The egg is an ancient symbol of new life and rebirth.[132] In Christianity it became associated with Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection.[133] The custom of the Easter egg originated in the early Christian community of Mesopotamia, who stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at his crucifixion.[134][135] As such, for Christians, the Easter egg is a symbol of the empty tomb.[25][26] The oldest tradition is to use dyed chicken eggs. In the Eastern Orthodox Church Easter eggs are blessed by a priest[136] both in families' baskets together with other foods forbidden during Great Lent and alone for distribution or in church or elsewhere.     Traditional red Easter eggs for blessing by a priest     Traditional red Easter eggs for blessing by a priest     A priest blessing baskets with Easter eggs and other foods forbidden during Great Lent     A priest blessing baskets with Easter eggs and other foods forbidden during Great Lent     A priest distributing blessed Easter eggs after blessing the Soyuz rocket     A priest distributing blessed Easter eggs after blessing the Soyuz rocket Easter eggs are a widely popular symbol of new life among the Eastern Orthodox but also in folk traditions in Slavic countries and elsewhere. A batik-like decorating process known as pisanka produces intricate, brilliantly colored eggs. The celebrated House of workshops created exquisite jewelled Easter eggs for the Russian Imperial family from 1885 to 1916.[137] Modern customs A modern custom in the Western world is to substitute decorated chocolate, or plastic eggs filled with candy such as jellybeans; as many people give up sweets as their Lenten sacrifice, individuals enjoy them at Easter after having abstained from them during the preceding forty days of Lent.[138]     Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb, are a popular cultural symbol of Easter.[24]     Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb, are a popular cultural symbol of Easter.[24]     Marshmallow rabbits, candy eggs and other treats in an Easter basket     Marshmallow rabbits, candy eggs and other treats in an Easter basket     An Easter egg decorated with the Easter Bunny     An Easter egg decorated with the Easter Bunny Manufacturing their first Easter egg in 1875, British chocolate company Cadbury sponsors the annual Easter egg hunt which takes place in over 250 National Trust locations in the United Kingdom.[139][140] On Easter Monday, the President of the United States holds an annual Easter egg roll on the White House lawn for young children.[141] Easter Bunny In some traditions, the children put out their empty baskets for the Easter bunny to fill while they sleep. They wake to find their baskets filled with candy eggs and other treats.[142][31] A custom originating in Germany,[142] the Easter Bunny is a popular legendary anthropomorphic Easter gift-giving character analogous to Santa Claus in American culture. Many children around the world follow the tradition of coloring hard-boiled eggs and giving baskets of candy.[31] Historically, foxes, cranes and storks were also sometimes named as the mystical creatures.[142] Since the rabbit is a pest in Australia, the Easter Bilby is available as an alternative.[143] Music [icon]    This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2021)     Marc-Antoine Charpentier:         Messe pour le samedi de Pâques, for soloists, chorus and continuo, H.8 (1690).         Prose pour le jour de Pâques, for 3 voices and continuo, H.13 (1670)         Chant joyeux du temps de Pâques, for soloists, chorus, 2 treble viols, and continuo, H.339 (1685).         O filii à 3 voix pareilles, for 3 voices, 2 flutes, and continuo, H.312 (1670).         Pour Pâques, for 2 voices, 2 flutes, and continuo, H.308 (1670).         O filii pour les voix, violons, flûtes et orgue, for soloists, chorus, flutes, strings, and continuo, H.356 (1685?).     Louis-Nicolas Clérambault: Motet pour le Saint jour de Pâques, in F major, opus 73     André Campra: Au Christ triomphant, cantata for Easter     Dieterich Buxtehude: Cantatas BuxWV 15 and BuxWV 62     Carl Heinrich Graun: Easter Oratorio     Henrich Biber: Missa Christi resurgentis C.3 (1674)     Michael Praetorius: Easter Mass     Johann Sebastian Bach: Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 4; Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret, BWV 31; Oster-Oratorium, BWV 249.     Georg Philipp Telemann, more than 100 cantatas for Eastertide.     Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens: Sonata n° 2 "O Filii", Sonata n° 3 "Pascale", for organ.     Charles Gounod: Messe solennelle de Pâques (1883).     Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: La Grande Pâque russe, symphonic overture (1888).     Sergueï Vassilievitch Rachmaninov: Suite pour deux pianos n°1 – Pâques, op. 5, n° 4 (1893)." (wikipedia.org) "Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs,[1] are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tradition, which continues to be used in Central and Eastern Europe, is to use dyed and painted chicken eggs. Although eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility and rebirth,[2] in Christianity, for the celebration of Eastertide, Easter eggs symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus, from which Jesus was resurrected.[3][4][5] In addition, one ancient tradition was the staining of Easter eggs with the colour red "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed as at that time of his crucifixion."[3][6] This custom of the Easter egg, according to many sources, can be traced to early Christians of Mesopotamia, and from there it spread into Eastern Europe and Siberia through the Orthodox Churches, and later into Europe through the Catholic and Protestant Churches.[6][7][8][9] Mediaevalist scholars normally conclude that the custom of Easter eggs has its roots in the prohibition of eggs during Lent after which, on Easter, they have been blessed for the occasion.[10][11] A modern custom in some places is to substitute chocolate eggs wrapped in coloured foil, hand-carved wooden eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as chocolate. History The practice of decorating eggshells is quite ancient,[12] with decorated, engraved ostrich eggs found in Africa which are 60,000 years old.[13] In the pre-dynastic period of Egypt and the early cultures of Mesopotamia and Crete, eggs were associated with death and rebirth, as well as with kingship, with decorated ostrich eggs, and representations of ostrich eggs in gold and silver, were commonly placed in graves of the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians as early as 5,000 years ago.[14] These cultural relationships may have influenced early Christian and Islamic cultures in those areas, as well as through mercantile, religious, and political links from those areas around the Mediterranean.[15] Red-coloured Easter egg with Christian cross, from the Saint Kosmas Aitolos Greek Orthodox Monastery Eggs in Christianity carry a Trinitarian symbolism as shell, yolk, and albumen are three parts of one egg.[16] According to many sources, the Christian custom of Easter eggs was adopted from Persian Nowruz tradition into the early Christians of Mesopotamia, who stained them with red colouring "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at His crucifixion".[7][17][6][8][9] The Christian Church officially adopted the custom, regarding the eggs as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus, with the Roman Ritual, the first edition of which was published in 1610 but which has texts of much older date, containing among the Easter Blessings of Food, one for eggs, along with those for lamb, bread, and new produce.[8][9]     Lord, let the grace of your blessing + come upon these eggs, that they be healthful food for your faithful who eat them in thanksgiving for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever. Sociology professor Kenneth Thompson discusses the spread of the Easter egg throughout Christendom, writing that "use of eggs at Easter seems to have come from Persia into the Greek Christian Churches of Mesopotamia, thence to Russia and Siberia through the medium of Orthodox Christianity. From the Greek Church the custom was adopted by either the Roman Catholics or the Protestants and then spread through Europe."[7] Both Thompson, as well as British orientalist Thomas Hyde state that in addition to dyeing the eggs red, the early Christians of Mesopotamia also stained Easter eggs green and yellow.[6][7] Peter Gainsford maintains that the association between eggs and Easter most likely arose in western Europe during the Middle Ages as a result of the fact that Catholic Christians were prohibited from eating eggs during Lent, but were allowed to eat them when Easter arrived.[10][11] Influential 19th century folklorist and philologist Jacob Grimm speculates, in the second volume of his Deutsche Mythologie, that the folk custom of Easter eggs among the continental Germanic peoples may have stemmed from springtime festivities of a Germanic goddess known in Old English as Ēostre (namesake of modern English Easter) and possibly known in Old High German as *Ostara (and thus namesake of Modern German Ostern 'Easter'). However, despite Grimm's speculation, there is no evidence to connect eggs with Ostara.[11] The use of eggs as favors or treats at Easter originated when they were prohibited during Lent.[10][11] A common practice in England in the medieval period was for children to go door-to-door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children prior to their fast.[11] Although one of the Christian traditions are to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with candy such as jelly beans; as many people give up sweets as their Lenten sacrifice, individuals enjoy them at Easter after having abstained from them during the preceding forty days of Lent.[18] These eggs can be hidden for children to find on Easter morning, which may be left by the Easter Bunny. They may also be put in a basket filled with real or artificial straw to resemble a bird's nest. Traditions and customs Main articles: Egg decorating, Pisanica (Croatian), Pysanka, and Święconka Croatian Easter basket Blessing of Easter foods in Poland Red coloured Easter eggs Lenten tradition The Easter egg tradition may also have merged into the celebration of the end of the privations of Lent. Traditionally, eggs are among the foods forbidden fast days, including all of Lent, an observance which continues among the Eastern Christian Churches but has fallen into disuse in Western Christianity (although something similar has recently been instituted by a few as the “Daniel Fast"). Historically, it has been traditional to use up all of the household's eggs before Lent began. This established the tradition of Pancake Day being celebrated on Shrove Tuesday. This day, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday when Lent begins, is also known as Mardi Gras, a French phrase which translates as "Fat Tuesday" to mark the last consumption of eggs and dairy before Lent begins. In the Orthodox Church, Great Lent begins on Clean Monday, rather than Wednesday, so the household's dairy products would be used up in the preceding week, called Cheesefare Week. During Lent, since chickens would not stop producing eggs during this time, a larger than usual store might be available at the end of the fast. This surplus, if any, had to be eaten quickly to prevent spoiling. Then, with the coming of Easter, the eating of eggs resumes. Some families cook a special meatloaf with eggs in it to be eaten with the Easter dinner. One would have been forced to hard boil the eggs that the chickens produced so as not to waste food, and for this reason the Spanish dish hornazo (traditionally eaten on and around Easter) contains hard-boiled eggs as a primary ingredient. In Hungary, eggs are used sliced in potato casseroles around the Easter period. Symbolism and related customs Some Christians symbolically link the cracking open of Easter eggs with the empty tomb of Jesus.[19] In the Orthodox churches, Easter eggs are blessed by the priest at the end of the Paschal Vigil (which is equivalent to Holy Saturday), and distributed to the faithful. The egg is seen by followers of Christianity as a symbol of resurrection: while being dormant it contains a new life sealed within it.[3][4] Similarly, in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, the so-called święconka, i.e. blessing of decorative baskets with a sampling of Easter eggs and other symbolic foods, is one of the most enduring and beloved Polish traditions on Holy Saturday. During Paschaltide, in some traditions the Pascal greeting with the Easter egg is even extended to the deceased. On either the second Monday or Tuesday of Pascha, after a memorial service people bring blessed eggs to the cemetery and bring the joyous paschal greeting, "Christ has risen", to their beloved departed (see Radonitza). In Greece, women traditionally dye the eggs with onion skins and vinegar on Thursday (also the day of Communion). These ceremonial eggs are known as kokkina avga. They also bake tsoureki for the Easter Sunday feast.[20] Red Easter eggs are sometimes served along the centerline of tsoureki (braided loaf of bread).[21][22] In Egypt, it is a tradition to decorate boiled eggs during Sham el-Nessim holiday, which falls every year after the Eastern Christian Easter. Coincidentally, every Passover, Jews place a hard-boiled egg on the Passover ceremonial plate, and the celebrants also eat hard-boiled eggs dipped in salt water as part of the ceremony. Colouring Easter eggs before and after colouring Heated wax paint used to decorate traditional Easter Eggs in the Czech Republic The dyeing of Easter eggs in different colours is commonplace, with colour being achieved through boiling the egg in natural substances (such as, onion peel (brown colour), oak or alder bark or walnut nutshell (black), beet juice (pink) etc.), or using artificial colourings. A greater variety of colour was often provided by tying on the onion skin with different coloured woollen yarn. In the North of England these are called pace-eggs or paste-eggs, from a dialectal form of Middle English pasche. King Edward I's household accounts in 1290 list an item of ‘one shilling and sixpence for the decoration and distribution of 450 Pace-eggs!’,[23] which were to be coloured or gilded and given to members of the royal household.[24] Traditionally in England, eggs were wrapped in onion skins and boiled to make their shells look like mottled gold, or wrapped in flowers and leaves first in order to leave a pattern, which parallels a custom practised in traditional Scandinavian culture.[25] Eggs could also be drawn on with a wax candle before staining, often with a person's name and date on the egg.[24] Pace Eggs were generally eaten for breakfast on Easter Sunday breakfast. Alternatively, they could be kept as decorations, used in egg-jarping (egg tapping) games, or given to Pace Eggers. In more recent centuries in England, eggs have been stained with coffee grains[24] or simply boiled and painted in their shells.[26] In the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, Easter eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Christ, with further symbolism being found in the hard shell of the egg symbolizing the sealed Tomb of Christ — the cracking of which symbolized his resurrection from the dead. The tradition of red easter eggs was used by the Russian Orthodox Church.[27] The tradition to dyeing the easter eggs in an Onion tone exists in the cultures of Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, Russia, Czechia, Romania, Slovenia, and Israel.[28] The colour is made by boiling onion peel in water.[29][30] Patterning When boiling them with onion skins, leaves can be attached prior to dyeing to create leaf patterns. The leaves are attached to the eggs before they are dyed with a transparent cloth to wrap the eggs with like inexpensive muslin or nylon stockings, leaving patterns once the leaves are removed after the dyeing process.[31][32] These eggs are part of Easter custom in many areas and often accompany other traditional Easter foods. Passover haminados are prepared with similar methods. Pysanky[33] are Ukrainian Easter eggs, decorated using a wax-resist (batik) method. The word comes from the verb pysaty, "to write", as the designs are not painted on, but written with beeswax. Decorating eggs for Easter using wax resistant batik is a popular method in some other eastern European countries. Use of Easter eggs in decorations In some Mediterranean countries, especially in Lebanon, chicken eggs are boiled and decorated by dye and/or painting and used as decoration[34] around the house. Then, on Easter Day, young kids would duel with them saying 'Christ is resurrected, Indeed, He is', breaking and eating them. This also happens in Georgia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. In Easter Sunday friends and family hit each other's egg with their own. The one whose egg does not break is believed to be in for good luck in the future. In Germany, eggs decorate trees and bushes as Easter egg trees, and in several areas public wells as Osterbrunnen. There used to be a custom in Ukraine, during Easter celebrations to have krashanky on a table in a bowl with wheatgrass. The number of the krashanky equalled the number of departed family members.[35]     Ukrainian Easter eggs     Ukrainian Easter eggs     Easter eggs from Sorbs     Easter eggs from Sorbs     Easter eggs from Lithuania     Easter eggs from Lithuania     Perforated egg from Germany, Sleeping Beauty     Perforated egg from Germany, Sleeping Beauty     Norwegian Easter eggs     Norwegian Easter eggs     Easter eggs from Greece     Easter eggs from Greece     Perforated eggs     Perforated eggs     Easter eggs from France     Easter eggs from France     American Easter egg from the White House Washington, D.C.     American Easter egg from the White House Washington, D.C.     Pace eggs boiled with onion skins and leaf patterns.     Pace eggs boiled with onion skins and leaf patterns.     Easter eggs decorated with straw     Easter eggs decorated with straw     Easter egg from Poland     Easter egg from Poland     Washi egg from Japan     Washi egg from Japan Easter egg games Eggs hidden for an Easter egg hunt Egg hunts An egg hunt is a game in which decorated eggs, which may be hard-boiled chicken eggs, chocolate eggs, or artificial eggs containing candies, are hidden for children to find. The eggs often vary in size, and may be hidden both indoors and outdoors.[36] When the hunt is over, prizes may be given for the largest number of eggs collected, or for the largest or the smallest egg.[36] Some central European nations (Czechs and Slovaks etc.) have a tradition of gathering eggs by gaining them from the females in return of whipping them with a pony-tail shaped whip made out of fresh willow branches and splashing them with water, by the Ruthenians called polivanja, which is supposed to give them health and beauty. Cascarones, a Latin American tradition now shared by many US States with high Hispanic demographics, are emptied and dried chicken eggs stuffed with confetti and sealed with a piece of tissue paper. The eggs are hidden in a similar tradition to the American Easter egg hunt and when found the children (and adults) break them over each other's heads. In order to enable children to take part in egg hunts despite visual impairment, eggs have been created that emit various clicks, beeps, noises, or music so that visually impaired children can easily hunt for Easter eggs.[37] Egg rolling Egg rolling is also a traditional Easter egg game played with eggs at Easter. In the United Kingdom, Germany, and other countries children traditionally rolled eggs down hillsides at Easter.[38] This tradition was taken to the New World by European settlers,[38][39] and continues to this day each Easter with an Easter egg roll on the White House lawn. Rutherford B. Hayes started the tradition of the Easter Egg Roll at the White House.[40] The Easter Monday Egg Roll was normally held at the United States Capitol, however, by the mid-1870s, Congress passed a law forbidding the Capitol’s grounds to be used for the activity due to the toll it was taking on the landscape.[40] The law was enforced in 1877, but the rain that year canceled all outdoor activities.[40] In 1878, Hayes was approached by many young easter egg rollers who asked for the event to be held at the White House.[40] He invited any children who wanted to roll eggs to come to the White House in order to do so. The tradition still occurs every year on the South Lawn of the White House. Now, there are many other games and activities that take place such as “Egg Picking” and “Egg Ball.”[40] Different nations have different versions of the Easter Egg roll game. Egg tapping Eggs after an egg tapping competition (red wins) In the North of England, during Eastertide, a traditional game is played where hard boiled pace eggs are distributed and each player hits the other player's egg with their own. This is known as "egg tapping", "egg dumping", or "egg jarping". The winner is the holder of the last intact egg. The annual egg jarping world championship is held every year over Easter in Peterlee, Durham.[41] It is also practiced in Italy (where it is called scuccetta), Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Lebanon, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia (where it is called turčanje or trkanje), Ukraine, Russia, and other countries. In parts of Austria, Bavaria and German-speaking Switzerland it is called Ostereiertitschen or Eierpecken. In parts of Europe it is also called epper, presumably from the German name Opfer, meaning "offering" and in Greece it is known as tsougrisma. In South Louisiana, this practice is called pocking eggs[42][43] and is slightly different. The Louisiana Creoles hold that the winner eats the eggs of the losers in each round. In the Greek Orthodox tradition, red eggs are also cracked together when people exchange Easter greetings. Egg dance Egg dance is a traditional Easter game in which eggs are laid on the ground or floor and the goal is to dance among them without damaging any eggs[44] which originated in Germany. Pace egg plays The Pace Egg plays are traditional village plays, with a rebirth theme. The drama takes the form of a combat between the hero and villain, in which the hero is killed and brought back to life. The plays take place in England during Easter. In some countries like Sweden, Norway, Poland and Germany eggs are used as a table decoration hanging on a tree-branch Variants Chocolate Chocolate eggs first appeared at the court of Louis XIV in Versailles and in 1725 the widow Giambone in Turin started producing chocolate eggs by filling empty chicken egg shells with molten chocolate.[45] In 1873 J.S. Fry & Sons of England introduced the first chocolate Easter egg in Britain. Manufacturing their first Easter egg in 1875, Cadbury created the modern chocolate Easter egg after developing a pure cocoa butter that could be moulded into smooth shapes.[46] In Western cultures, the giving of chocolate eggs is now commonplace, with 80 million Easter eggs sold in the UK alone. Formerly, the containers Easter eggs were sold in contained large amounts of plastic, although in the United Kingdom this has gradually been replaced with recyclable paper and cardboard.[47]     Chocolate Easter egg bunny     Chocolate Easter egg bunny     Easter egg with candy.     Easter egg with candy.     Gladys as a Chocolate Easter Bunny with Easter eggs     Gladys as a Chocolate Easter Bunny with Easter eggs Marzipan eggs In the Indian state of Goa, the Goan Catholic version of marzipan is used to make easter eggs. In the Philippines, mazapán de pili (Spanish for "pili marzipan") is made from pili nuts.     Marzipan easter eggs     Marzipan easter eggs Artificial eggs The jewelled Easter eggs made by the firm for the two last Russian Tsars are regarded as masterpieces of decorative arts. Most of these creations themselves contained hidden surprises such as clock-work birds, or miniature ships. In Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and other Central European countries' folk traditions, Easter eggs are carved from wood and hand-painted, and making artificial eggs out of porcelain for ladies is common.[48]: 45  Easter eggs are frequently depicted in sculpture, including a 8-metre (27 ft) sculpture of a pysanka standing in Vegreville, Alberta.     Giant easter egg, Bariloche, Argentina     Giant easter egg, Bariloche, Argentina     Giant pysanka from Vegreville, Alberta, Canada     Giant pysanka from Vegreville, Alberta, Canada     Giant easter egg or pisanica in Zagreb, Croatia     Giant easter egg or pisanica in Zagreb, Croatia     Easter egg sculpture in Gogolin, Poland     Easter egg sculpture in Gogolin, Poland     Giant easter egg in Suceava, Romania     Giant easter egg in Suceava, Romania Legends Maria Magdalene, 1899 by Viktor M. Vasnetsov, depicted as one of the Myrrhbearers. Christian traditions While the origin of Easter eggs can be explained in the symbolic terms described above, among followers of Eastern Christianity the legend says that Mary Magdalene was bringing cooked eggs to share with the other women at the tomb of Jesus, and the eggs in her basket miraculously turned bright red when she saw the risen Christ.[49] A different, but not necessarily conflicting legend concerns Mary Magdalene's efforts to spread the Gospel. According to this tradition, after the Ascension of Jesus, Mary went to the Emperor of Rome and greeted him with "Christ has risen," whereupon he pointed to an egg on his table and stated, "Christ has no more risen than that egg is red." After making this statement it is said the egg immediately turned blood red.[50][51] Red Easter eggs, known as kokkina avga (κόκκινα αυγά) in Greece and krashanki in Ukraine, are an Easter tradition and a distinct type of Easter egg prepared by various Orthodox Christian peoples.[52][53][54][55][56] The red eggs are part of Easter custom in many areas and often accompany other traditional Easter foods. Passover haminados are prepared with similar methods. Dark red eggs are a tradition in Greece and represent the blood of Christ shed on the cross.[57] The practice dates to the early Christian church in Mesopotamia.[8][9] In Greece, superstitions of the past included the custom of placing the first-dyed red egg at the home's iconostasis (place where icons are displayed) to ward off evil. The heads and backs of small lambs were also marked with the red dye to protect them. Parallels in other faiths Eggs at the Iranian Nowruz The egg is widely used as a symbol of the start of new life, just as new life emerges from an egg when the chick hatches out.[2] Painted eggs are used at the Iranian spring holidays, the Nowruz that marks the first day of spring or Equinox, and the beginning of the year in the Persian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical Northward equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. The painted eggs symbolize fertility and are displayed on the Nowruz table, called Haft-Seen together with various other symbolic objects. There are sometimes one egg for each member of the family. The ancient Zoroastrians painted eggs for Nowruz, their New Year celebration, which falls on the Spring equinox. The tradition continues among Persians of Islamic, Zoroastrian, and other faiths today.[58] The Nowruz tradition has existed for at least 2,500 years. The sculptures on the walls of Persepolis show people carrying eggs for Nowruz to the king.[citation needed] The Neopagan holiday of Ostara occurs at roughly the same time as Easter. While it is often claimed that the use of painted eggs is an ancient, pre-Christian component of the celebration of Ostara, there are no historical accounts that ancient celebrations included this practice, apart from the Old High German lullaby which is believed by most to be a modern fabrication. Rather, the use of painted eggs has been adopted under the assumption that it might be a pre-Christian survival. In fact, modern scholarship has been unable to trace any association between eggs and a supposed goddess named Ostara before the 19th century, when early folklorists began to speculate about the possibility.[59] There are good grounds for the association between hares (later termed Easter bunnies) and bird eggs, through folklore confusion between hares' forms (where they raise their young) and plovers' nests.[60] In Judaism, a hard-boiled egg is an element of the Passover Seder, representing festival sacrifice. The children's game of hunting for the afikomen (a half-piece of matzo) has similarities to the Easter egg hunt tradition, by which the child who finds the hidden matzah will be awarded a prize. In other homes, the children hide the afikoman and a parent must look for it; when the parents give up, the children demand a prize for revealing its location." (wikipedia.org) "An Easter basket, also known as a Paschal basket,[1] is traditionally, a basket containing the foods traditionally forbidden to consume during Lent (meat, eggs, and dairy products), that is blessed by a priest for breaking the Lenten fast. This continues to be normative in Eastern Christianity and Easter baskets are typically blessed before the midnight service on Holy Saturday, with their contents being consumed at the feast after the service.[2] In parts Western Christianity, emphasis is placed on making a Lenten sacrifice (giving up pleasures such as chocolate and cookies) rather than the traditional abstinence from meat, dairy products, and wine (though a few congregations have revived this practice);[A][5] as such, in countries of the Western world such as the United States, Easter baskets are filled with Easter eggs and sweets after having abstained from them during Lent.[6][7] Traditional Croatian Easter basket Traditions for Easter in Eastern European countries often includes blessing of baskets.[8][9][10][11][12][13] Western Christianity Poland In Poland, Święconka or "the blessing of the Easter baskets" is a central tradition on Holy Saturday. [14] The tradition dates back to the 13-14th century in its earliest form.[15] The basket is traditionally lined with a white linen or lace napkin and decorated with sprigs of boxwood (bukszpan), the typical Easter evergreen. Baskets containing a sampling of Easter foods are brought to church to be blessed on Holy Saturday. After the blessing, the baskets of food are then set aside until Easter morning.[14] Modern innovations United States Marshmallow rabbits, candy eggs and other treats in an Easter basket Congregations and synods belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, have made Easter baskets to be given to needy children or elderly persons.[16][17] These have been filled with Easter eggs, candy, and toys.[16] An Easter tradition involves the Easter Bunny dropping off a gift basket of candy for good children overnight. Children leave a basket out overnight which the Easter bunny fills with candy, toys, and gifts on the night before Easter, and children wake up to find their Easter basket. Easter baskets are also used in Easter egg hunts, in which children try filling their basket with Easter eggs." (wikipedia.org) "An egg hunt is an Eastertide game during which decorated eggs or Easter eggs are hidden for children to find. Real hard-boiled eggs, which are typically dyed or painted, artificial eggs made of plastic filled with chocolate or candies, or foil-wrapped egg-shaped chocolates of various sizes are hidden in various places; as many people give up sweets as their Lenten sacrifice, individuals consume them after having abstained from them during the preceding forty days of Lent.[1] The game is often played outdoors, but can also be played indoors. The children typically collect the eggs in a basket. When the hunt is over, prizes may be given out for various achievements, such as the largest number of eggs collected, for the largest or smallest egg, for the most eggs of a specific color, consolation prizes or booby prizes.[2] Real eggs may further be used in egg tapping contests. If eggs filled with confetti left from Mardi Gras (cascarones) are used, then an egg fight may follow.[2] Eggs are placed with varying degree of concealment, to accommodate children of varying ages and development levels. In South German folk traditions it was customary to add extra obstacles to the game by placing them into hard-to reach places among nettles or thorns.[3] History A woman hides Easter eggs for preschool-aged children to find. She is careful not to make their location and retrieval too difficult. The egg was a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in pre-Christian celebrations of spring. However, the Easter egg itself was defined by early Christians as an Easter symbol of the resurrection of Jesus: the egg symbol was likened to the tomb from which Christ arose.[4] Lizette Larson-Miller, a professor with the Graduate Theological Union of Berkeley, traces the specific custom of the Easter egg hunt to the Protestant Christian Reformer Martin Luther, stating "We know that Martin Luther had Easter egg hunts where the men hid the eggs for the women and children, and it probably has this connection back to this idea of eggs being the tomb."[5] At least since the 17th century the idea of the Easter Bunny to bring the Easter eggs has been known. The novelty of the introduction of Easter egg hunts into England is evidenced by A. E. Housman's inaugural lecture as Professor of Latin at University College, London in 1892, in which he said, "In Germany at Easter time they hide coloured eggs about the house and garden that the children may amuse themselves in discovering them."[6] Easter egg hunt in Wuxi, Jiangsu (1934) Reverend MaryJane Pierce Norton, Associate General Secretary of Leadership Ministries at the General Board of Discipleship, states that "there’s something about going to hunt the eggs just as we might go to hunt for Jesus in the tomb. And when we find them it’s that joy that the women had when they reached the tomb first and found that Jesus was no longer there."[7] Traditionally the game is associated with Easter and Easter eggs, but it has also been popular with spring time birthday parties.[2] Egg hunts are a subject of the Guinness Book of World Records; Homer, Georgia, United States was listed in 1985 with 80,000 eggs to hunt in a town of 950 people. To enable children to take part in egg hunts despite visual impairment, eggs have been created that emit various clicks, beeps, noises, or music.[8] Commercial use Cadbury Easter egg hunt in 2016 A number of companies have made use of the popularity of Easter and more specifically Easter egg hunts to promote the sales of their candy products. Most notable have been chocolatiers including Cadbury with their annual Easter Egg Trail which takes place in over 250 National Trust locations in the UK.[9] In 2015, the British chocolate company Thorntons worked with the geocaching community to hide chocolate eggs across the United Kingdom." (wikipedia.org)
  • Condition: Used
  • Condition: In very good, pre-owned condition. Please see photos and description.
  • Brand: Shamrock Neatway Co.
  • Type: Bucket
  • Occasion: Easter
  • Color: Pink
  • Material: Metal, Plastic
  • Time Period Manufactured: 1960-1969
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States

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