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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Independence Day of the Argentine Republic
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Whooper swans in Lake Kussharo, Japan
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Relationship status: It s complicated
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Ruins of a royal temple
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Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, New York
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Why’s it called a spelling ‘bee,’ anyhow?
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Happy anniversary to the National Park Service!
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Poppies in bloom
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Mid-Autumn Festival
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The Monastery of Roussanou, Greece
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White Sands National Park turns 90
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Merry Christmas!
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Gone ‘lightseeing’ in Berlin
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I am the walrus
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Welcome to Scotland s garden
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Glacial spires in the fog
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Mexican giant cardon cactus
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Celebrating National Dentist Day
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Mona Vale Rockpool, Sydney, Australia
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
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Pretty, pretty…butterfly?
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Total solar eclipse
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Diamond Beach, Iceland
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Let’s go foraging
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Fibonacci Day
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Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico
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Time to count some birds
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Crescent Lake near Dunhuang, China
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Saint Nicholas Day in Verbier, Switzerland
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This reef is nowhere near the sea…
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