In ancient China, moon worship was tied closely to fertility and the harvest. So the full moon that happened closest to the fall equinox became the holiday now called Mid-Autumn Festival, also called Moon Festival by some. Originally a celebration of the harvest and a plea to the gods for rains to ensure a good harvest next year, the festival has become a more secular bit of autumn fun, with children and adults alike eating sweet mooncakes, lighting lanterns, and giving thanks for all they have. Really, they had us at ‘mooncake.’
Mooncake time
Today in History
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Earth Science Week
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Maldives
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Sonoma Coast State Park, California
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Just a couple of yellow-billed hornbills
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International Day of Light
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Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
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Chapel on the rock
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A bridge that rocks
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Happy trees = Clean air
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Celebrating World Art Day
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A wassailing we go
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Storks ready for takeoff
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Celebrating 200 years of statehood
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New Year s Eve
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There’s treasure in them thar hills
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Sutherland Falls in Fiordland National Park
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Gifford Pinchot National Forest
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Languid life on the Lakes
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Tracking ships on the Day of the Seafarer
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A march toward a dream
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Visiting a Maratha fortress
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International Day of the Tropics
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Summer winds down in the Southern Hemisphere
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Memorial Day
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World Water Day
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Here there be dragons
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Let s crack the code
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Coral Reef Awareness Week
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River Quoich in Aberdeenshire, Scotland
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Prasat Phanom Rung temple ruins, Thailand