Humanist Holidays – Dec 23 is Human Light

Here is a short list of various days and events which have been developed by humanists around the world.  The IHEU endorses World Humanist Day (21 June), Darwin Day (12 February), Human Rights Day (10 December) and HumanLight (23 December) as official days of Humanist celebration, though none are yet a public holiday.
DARWIN DAY, Feb 12
WORLD HUMANIST DAY,  June 21
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY,  Dec 10
HUMANLIGHT,   Dec. 23

Humanists may also recognize other dates, such as
HYPATIA DAY, March 15 A pagan, and probably an atheist, Hypatia of Alexandria was a woman of remarkable intellect who advanced mathematics and the science of astronomy in her time. Her death at the hands of a christian mob in March 415ce has been described as marking the end of classical antiquity.
“All formal dogmatic religions are fallacious and must never be accepted by self-respecting persons as final.”  —attributed to Hypatia, unverified
EARTH DAY,  April 22
PI DAY, March 14
Pi Day is an annual celebration commemorating the mathematical constant π (pi). Pi Day is observed on March 14 (or 3/14 in the U.S. month/day date format), since 3, 1, and 4 are the three most significant digits of π in the decimal form. In 2009, the United States House of Representatives supported the designation of Pi Day.^[2]
Pi Approximation Day is observed on July 22 (or 22/7 in the day/month date format), since the fraction ²²⁄₇ is a common approximation of π.

But for something truly encompassing, see
CARL SAGAN’s COSMIC CALENDAR  (illustrations at this link)
Cosmic Calendar is a scale in which the 13.8 billion year lifetime of the universe is mapped onto a single year. At this scale the Big Bang took place on January 1 at midnight, and the current time is mapped to December 31 at midnight.  At this scale, there are 434 years per second, 1.57 million years per hour, and 37.7 million years per day. The concept was popularized by Carl Sagan in his book The Dragons of Eden and on his television series Cosmos as a way to conceptualize the vast amounts of time in the history of the universe.

Nelson Mandela Multifaith Tribute Dec 13

Nelson Mandela
Multi-Faith Community Tribute
With the Canadian Council of South Africans
11 am – 12 noon, Fri Dec 13
U of T Multi-Faith Centre, 569 Spadina Ave

A multi-faith service will be held by the Canadian Council of South Africans at 11 am on Fri day morning at the Multi-Faith Centre. Along with the Consul General of South Africa, Tselane Mokuena and local MP Oliva Chow the following faith leaders will be speaking:

- Dr. Budhendranauth Doobay, President of Vishnu Mandir
- Rabbi Avraham Plotkin, Chabad Lubavitch of Markham
- The Rev’d. Dr. Bhante Saranapala
- Imam Hamid Slimi, Canadian Council of Imams
- Most Rev’d. Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada

2. Following the Multi-Faith Tribute, a civil ceremony will be held with the Lt. Governor, David C. Onley the Priemer Kathleen Wynne and the President of the University, Prof. Meric Gertler in the afternoon. A limited number of tickets are available.

A Celebration of the Life of Nelson Mandela
Friday, December 13, 2013
2:15 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Convocation Hall
Doors open at 1:00 p.m.
Ticket holders must be seated by 2:00 p.m.

A limited number of tickets will be available at:
St. George Campus
The Nona Macdonald Visitors Centre
25 King’s College Circle
Wednesday – Thursday (9 a.m. – 5 p.m.)
Friday (9 a.m. – 1 p.m.)

Write for Rights 2013 | Amnesty International Canada

Write for Rights 2013 | Amnesty International Canada

Amnesty International invites you to join us on International Human Rights Day for the world’s largest letter-writing event

Every year on December 10th, activists in more than 80 countries gather on their own or in large and small events to press governments to respond to a human rights concern on selected high-priority cases. We also write letters of hope and solidarity directly to prisoners or people experiencing human rights violations.

(choose cases from link above)