Robert Burns Fraser University's Centre for Scottish Studies organized a marathon reading of Burns's poetry. Senator Heath Macquarrie quipped of Canada's first Prime Minister that "While the lovable [Robbie] Burns went in for wine, women and song, his fellow Scot, John A. did not chase women and was not musical!" 'Gung Haggis Fat Choy' is a hybrid of Chinese New Year and Robbie Burns Day, celebrated in Vancouver since the late 1990s. In January 1864, President Abraham Lincoln was invited to attend a Robert Burns celebration by Robert Crawford; and if unable to attend, send a toast. Lincoln composed a toast. An
Yaldā Night Yaldā Night Shab-e Yalda ("Yalda night" ) or Shab-e Chelleh ("night of forty", ) is an Iranian festival celebrated on the "longest and darkest night of the year," Yalda is a winter solstice celebration, that is, in the night of the Northern Hemisphere's winter solstice. Calendrically, this corresponds to the night of December 20/21 (±1) in the Gregorian calendar, and to the night between the last day of the ninth month ("Azar") and the first day of the tenth month ("D"ey) of the Iranian civil calendar. The longest and darkest night of the year is a time when friends and