24th of May - Empire Day
24th of May is the 145th day of the year
Empire Day:
There are few people today who still celebrate Empire Day, given that our views (or those of many of us) on that institution have changed over the last few decades and that officially it was replaced as far back as 1958 by Commonwealth Day on June 12th. Empire Day as a celebration originated in Canada at the very end of the 19th century, and was first taken up here in 1903. The choice of May 24th was because that was Queen Victoria’s birthday, the British Empire reaching its peak during her reign of course. Until WWII it was a major event here, with schools and churches marking it with particular vigour: schools would plan and practice well in advance, putting on plays, singing patriotic songs, and mounting tableaux.
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