Easter is one of the most popular holidays in the United States and other countries. It’s celebrated for religion, myths, tradition and more history than people know. Here are the Crimson Crier’s Top 10 Easter Facts.
Different Times
- According to factsite.com, Orthodox Christians use the Julian Calendar to determine the date of Easter, while the rest of Christianity uses the Gregorian Calendar. What’s the difference between these two calendars? They both calculate leap years differently, but the Gregorian is the most widely used calendar.
Easter Bunny
2. One of the most well-known mascots of Easter is the Easter Bunny. It was believed that its origin started around the 1700s in Pennsylvania by German immigrants bringing their tradition of the “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws”, which was a mythical bunny that could lay eggs. Though it’s not confirmed how it became a symbol for the holiday, we do know it made its way up in America during that time.
First Sunday Celebration
3. In 325 AD, the Council of Nicaea, which was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea by the Roman Emperor Constantine I, decided that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the annual spring equinox. Before this, the holiday didn’t have a fixed date, but it was said to be celebrated during the Passover or the Sunday following.
White House Easter Fun
4. In 1878, President Rutherford B. Hayes allowed children to have an eggroll contest at the White House. This was the first official date of the traditional Easter Eggroll. However, these festivities date back to Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, with his eggroll parties.
A Western Celebration
5. It’s historically known in Western Christianity (Roman Catholic Church and Protestant denominations) that the Easter season is called Eastertide. It starts on Easter Sunday, continues for 49 days and ends during Pentecost. This is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Pysanky
6. Egg painting is one of the most famous traditions of Easter, and we have Ukraine to thank for that. Pysanky is the art of decorated eggs, or the pysanka dates back to ancient times in Ukraine. This was brought over to the U.S. and, since then, it’s been a part of many Easter traditions.
Good Friday, a State Holiday?
7. In the U.S., only 12 states recognize Good Friday as a state holiday. These states are: Connecticut, Texas, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina and North Dakota. It isn’t a federal holiday, so these states could reduce work hours at their banks or close their offices and courts. Other states have other ways to consider this as a holiday, such as New York and Alabama. In NY, Good Friday is considered a Stock Market Holiday, and markets would be closed. In AL, schools in certain areas would make it an E-Learning day.
An Expensive Egg?
8. The Romanov family was the last imperial dynasty to rule Russia; this egg belonged to them. A rare pink enamel egg with a clock in the middle, made out of gold and covered with diamonds, was sold for 18.5 million dollars in 2007. This egg is now in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Pascha
9. In the Easter Orthodox Christianity, they call Easter Pascha. This is from the Hebrew word “Pesach,” which is the same word for Passover in the Jewish celebration.
The Largest Egg Hunt
10. Florida held the largest Easter egg hunt in the U.S. On April 1, 2007, 9,753 children hunted for 501,000 eggs at the Cypress Garden Adventure Park in Winter Haven, Florida.
Happy Belated Easter!
