After getting over 30 centimetres of snow yesterday, a lot of us are getting tired of shoveling or snow blowing. If you aren’t stuck going to work, or stuck in the snow, today is a good occasion to observe the topics of December 28th’s “National Days”. Today just so happens to be National Chocolate Candy Day AND National Card Playing Day.
So basically, you celebrate by eating chocolates and playing cards. Hopefully you have some chocolates left over from the holidays and somebody to play cards with. If not, maybe you can scrounge up some chocolate chips from the cupboard and play some solitaire.
Some fun facts for you, from the National Day Calendar:
The word “chocolate” comes from the word “xocoatl” or “chocolatl”. Mayan “school” means hot or bitter, and the Aztec “atl” means water. Chocolate is made from the cacao plant. Before it was ever made into a sweet candy, it was ground into a beverage. In ruling class society, the beverage was used for medical purposes.
In the 9th century, the Chinese began developing games using money and other paper objects. These early playing cards bear no resemblance to the sturdier European playing cards that developed a few centuries later. Card games spread around the world in a variety of shapes and styles. From the elaborate Mamluk designs of Egypt to the appearance of the first playing cards during the Early Renaissance in Europe, the decks were divided into four suits of coins, cups, swords and sticks or batons. It is from these four suits that today’s modern decks of playing cards developed. Theories range how the suits converted to hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs. One theory suggests the suits represent the different classes of the era – clergy, aristocracy, military and peasantry.
Find out more about National Chocolate Candy Day AND National Card Playing Day straight from the source, the National Day Calendar, right here.
