List of secular holidays

The following is a list of secular holidays, some of which support the advances of science and human rights.

January 1: New Year's Day
The beginning of the year. Celebrated around the world. Called Dia da Fraternidade Universal ("Universal Brotherhood Day") in Portugal and Brazil. Although now it is mostly a secular holiday, it was both a Roman (celebrating the god Janus) and Christian holiday (Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus).

January 16: National Religious Freedom Day
One's beliefs or nonbeliefs "shall in no [ways] diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities. Date of adoption of Thomas Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom in Virginia, which protected atheists, Muslims, and Christians alike.

January 29: Thomas Paine Day
T Pain helped found the modern secularist movement.

February 12: Darwin Day
Charles Darwin's birthday (in 1809). Has memes.

February 15: Galileo Day (or Galileo Gala)
Galileo Galilei's birthday. Has memes.

February 19: Copernicus Day (or Copernicus Celebration)
Nicolaus Copernicus' birthday.

March 6: The Day of the Dude
Release date of  and therefore Dudeist holiday.

March 8: International Women's Day
Women matter.

March 14: Pi Day
Celebrating the fact that mathematicians will never get π exactly right.

March 16: Freedom of Information Day (followed by Sunshine Week)
Day celebrating the ability to peer into government records — what is more democratic than knowing what your government is doing?

March 20-23: Spring Equinox (or Vernal Equinox), in Northern Hemisphere
The day varies between March 20 and March 23 in the Northern Hemisphere. The day represents the "rebirth" of good crop weather. Has shitty memes.

1st Sunday after 1st full moon after March 20: Eastre (or Eostre)
Alternative to Easter. Celebrates the Anglo-Saxon goddess of sex, love, fertility (hence rabbits and eggs). Has been appropriated by those nasty Christians. Has memes.

April 1: Atheist's Day/Saint Stupid's Day
Because April Fool's needed an owner. April 1 is also the only holiday of the The First Church of the Last Laugh, known as Saint Stupid's Day.

April 12: Cosmonaut's Day (or Yuri's Night)
Celebrates space and technology and the principles of freethinking.

April 22: International Earth Day
The Earth is pretty nice, maybe we should try and keep it that way.

April 25: Freedom Day
Strictly a Portuguese holiday (celebrating the of 1974, which brought down the regime founded by António de Oliveira Salazar), but can also be seen as the definitive beginning of the end of colonialism (the, the last of its kind, started colapsing at this point).

Also, in 1945, the Soviets and the Americans ended World War II in Europe by Germany, while Italians celebrate  which celebrates the end of the so-called  (aka Benito Mussolini's German-controlled puppet state after he was deposed by the king and freed from his imprisonment by the Germans). Total anti-fascist day!

April 30: Honesty Day
Honesty, especially of intellectual inquiry, is surely a humanist value.

May 1: International Workers' Day
The version of Labor Day that is celebrated by most countries in the world and recognised by the United Nations. Commemmorates the (which actually happened on May 4, 1886), an early notable workers' rights violation.

Also overlaps with May Day, a holiday of religious (Pagan) origin celebrating Spring, but nowadays is a secular celebration.

1st Thursday of May: National Day of Reason (and National Day of Prayer)
The NDR was created by the American Humanist Association and Washington Area Secular Humanists in 2003. NDR celebrates constitutionalism and rationality. The day is a contrast to the NDP.

May 25: International Jedi Day
A date "to honour Jediism and the path".

June 19: Juneteenth
First reading of the Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in Texas. Recognized by 43 states.

June 21: World Humanist Day
A day to show that humanism exists and is a positive force.

June 20-23: Summer Solstice
Longest day of the year (northern hemisphere).

July 1: Barre Day
Date of execution of the Chevalier de la Barre for impiety in 1766.

July 4: American Independence Day
American Independence Day: The origins of a country with strong constitutional backings for irreligion, especially at the time.

July 5: X-Day
Church of the SubGenius holyday. Was supposed to be the apocalypse in 1998.

July 14: Bastille Day
AKA French National Day. The (1789), a turning point of the French Revolution, which represented the beginning of the end of feudalism as well as the power of Enlightenment ideas.

August 1: Emancipation Day
Date of end of (literal) slavery in almost all of the British Empire.

September 8: International Literacy Day
Reading matters. UNESCO holiday.

September 14: Google Appreciation Day
Hail Google! Church of Google holiday.

September 19: International Talk Like A Pirate Day
Pastafarian holiday. Y'arrr!

September 21: International Day of Peace
UN Holiday.

September 20-23: Fall Equinox
Equal length days and nights.

Last week of September: Banned Books Week
Freedom of knowledge is a key tenet of humanism.

September 30: International Blasphemy Day
Center For Inquiry holiday. A day for exploring blasphemy laws in the world currently and historically; examining current de facto religious bans on free speech; reframing the "religious freedom" debate

October: Freethought Month
A month inspired by a community of German freethinkers in Texas.

October 5: Atheist Appreciation Day
A fine international annual tradition of showing appreciation for atheists everywhere.

October 11: National Coming Out Day
Pro-LGBTQ and pro-openness-about-LGBTQ-status holiday.

October 12: National Freethought Day
Another "coming out" day — this time, for atheists, agnostics, and other freethinkers.

October 20–26: United Nations Week
Includes United Nations Day (see below).

October 24: United Nations Day
Day (of 1945) on which the (the document which founded the United Nations) entered into force.

October 31: Halloween


Day of candy and/or Satanist trickery.

Week of Thanksgiving Holiday: Church/State Separation Week
To celebrate not living in a theocracy.

Fourth Thursday in November: Thanksgiving
Day of thanks and/or gluttony.

December 10: International Human Rights Day
Day of not living in an autocracy.

December 20-23: Winter Solstice
Shortest day of the year (northern hemisphere).

December 23: Festivus ("For the rest of us")
Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way. Anti-consumerist and secular Christmas variant. Has memes.

December 25: Holiday (as in, "Happy Holiday", also "FSMas")
Pastafarian holiday. Happy Holiday! [sic] Has artwork.

December 25: Newtonmas
Isaac Newton's birthday, a secular, scientific Christmas variant.

December 31: Hogswatch
Discworld/Pratchett holiday. Pun on "hogwash" and "Hogmanay", the Scottish New Year celebration. In the Discworld universe, it is celebrated much like Christmas, but the pseudo-Christian "Omnians" call it "Fast of St Ossory". Has memes.