Llanfair PG or Llanfairpwll is the short form and commonly used name of a village located on the island of Anglesey in Wales. The long form of the village’s name is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which is Welsh for ‘St Mary’s church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red …

Lent is the period of 40 days before Easter. It starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Eve (sometimes called Easter Saturday). But if you look in a calendar or diary and count the days they come to more than 40! This is because you don’t count the Sundays in Lent! For Christians, Lent is a time to prepare …

London’s Fleet Street, named after the river Fleet which flows at one end of the street, had many legal offices and courts surrounding it in the late 15th century. From 1500s onwards, several publishing and printing shops began locating themselves on Fleet Street to serve the legal offices in its neighbourhood. From 1702, when London’s first daily newspaper The Daily …

Dies Irae literally means day of wrath. The mediaeval Christians were preoccupied with the end of the world; they anticipated the Last Judgement, followed by the millennium. After the fall of the Roman Empire there was a revival of the belief. The year 1000 excited mythological speculation, as did famines, plagues and earthquakes. The visionary Joachim of Fiore divided history …

Assumption Day is, according to the Roman Catholic church, the day on which the Blessed Virgin Mary was, along with her body and soul, accepted (or ‘assumed’) in heaven. It is usually celebrated on August 15 by Roman Catholics. In some parts of the world, it is a public holiday; in some parts it is a day of solemnity and …

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. The name comes from the tradition of putting a small cross of ash on peoples forehead at Ash Wednesday church services. This is a sign of confession and helps people to remember that they rely on God for forgiveness from their sins. It is still done in some churches on today. The …

The Spanish fiesta of San Joan dates back to the 14th century and has religious significance. The riders participating in it or caixers as they are called represent the social strata of the church, nobility, craftsmen and country people (mostly farmers).

Celebrating New Year’s Day is one of the oldest and most-exciting customs around the world. Ringing church bells, tooting horns and ear-piercing shrieks echo throughout the world on this festive day. Whether visiting relatives or watching New Year’s Day parades at home on the TV, welcoming the New Year is always a time of entertainment, celebration and resolution. Since this …

Wynton Marsalis — Wynton Learson Marsalis on born October 18, 1961 to Dolores and Ellis Marsalis, Jr., a New Orleans-based music teacher and pianist. He is the second of six sons. He is an American jazz and Western classical virtuoso trumpeter and composer. He is Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted the appreciation of Classical and …

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Perhaps the greatest musical genius who ever lived, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, Jan. 27, 1756, the son of Leopold Mozart, concertmaster at the archiepiscopal court, and his wife, Anna Maria Pertl. Leopold Mozart was a successful composer and violinist, whose famous treatise on violin playing (Versuch einer grundlichen Violinschule) was first printed …