National Merry-Go-Round Day Jul 25, 2022

National Merry-Go-Round Day

Today we"re celebrating a necessary staple of fairs, carnivals, and boardwalks: the merry-go-round. You may know it as a carousel, like the Golden Gallopers Carousel at the seaside in Brighton, England, seen in today"s photo. The word "carousel" is possibly derived from the Spanish "carosella," meaning "little war." Carousels have a history that goes back centuries, with roots in medieval jousting competitions. As the war game grew in popularity, commoners without horses wanted to participate, and carousels with wooden horses soon appeared at fairgrounds. The popularity of carousels led to many advancements over the years, including the up and down galloping menagerie of animals real and imagined, and the instantly recognizable music that became widespread after 1803.

© Graham Prentice/Alamy

palette

Today in History

Jul 25, 2018Splashes of color for Watercolor Month
Jul 25, 2019Jane’s Carousel delights
Jul 25, 2020Going with the floe
Jul 25, 2021Illuminated Uluru
Jul 25, 2023Laguna de Torrevieja, Spain
Jul 25, 2024Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Jul 25, 2025Colorful houses of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Dec 6, 2018The owl that loved football
Nov 1, 2021Native American Heritage Month
Jan 27, 2025Zoroaster Temple, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Dec 9, 2024Llama Day
Aug 16, 2019Shining like Klondike gold
Nov 28, 2018Christmas comes to New York City
Aug 28, 2020A prison fit for a count
Nov 9, 2019We heart Berlin
Jan 10, 2019‘You should see the one that got away!’
Jul 9, 2023Moselle River loop near Kröv, Germany
May 8, 2020Victory in Europe, 75 years ago
Jun 11, 2023Goliath heron in Kruger National Park, South Africa
Aug 15, 2020Celebrating the Acadians
Mar 4, 2025Happy Fat Tuesday!
Sep 24, 2020Till the cows come home
Jan 6, 2019A winter wonderland in Northeast China
Mar 29, 2024South Stack Lighthouse, Holy Island, Wales
Apr 8, 2019Ready, set, read
Aug 31, 2022Blue linckia sea stars in Papua New Guinea
Jul 11, 2023World Population Day
May 22, 2023International Day for Biodiversity
Mar 31, 2022Happy Birthday, Eiffel Tower
Jan 15, 2022To Sua Ocean Trench
Dec 20, 2020Dressed for winter fun
Jun 25, 2018Tracking ships on the Day of the Seafarer
Dec 26, 2019It s Slovenia s Independence and Unity Day
Aug 23, 2021A little blue
Jan 31, 2020Dance of the egret
Aug 17, 2019The buzz about bees
Jul 5, 2021How green is my valley