Saturday – weekend at last

Saturday is the most awaited day in a week by everyone as we all temporarily disembark from our five day long official journey, only to continue after a couple of days on Monday, which could be possibly the most dreaded day of the week, for similar reasons.

Saturday becomes the day for fun and recreation where most of the people indulge themselvesin happy activities especially during the night, popularly called across various cultures as ‘Saturday Night’.

There are some interesting facts about Saturdays worth knowing.

Birthday of Vampire Hunters

Traditionally, in older days it was believed that Saturdays are the appropriate days to hunt down Vampires as they are restricted to their coffins and are not allowed to get out on that day. In the Balkans tradition, those who are born on Saturdays are entitled to become vampire hunters as they can see vampires.

Swedish Saturday Candy

Children are allowed to have candies only on Saturdays, every week in Sweden. This is termed as Saturday Candy. The reason behind this practice of allowing children to have candies only on Saturdays is to prevent tooth decays, and it has a historical reason that was considered controversial in medical ethics.

Known as the Vipeholm experiments, during 1945-55, mentally challenged people at the Vipeholm mental hospital in Lund, Sweden, were fed too much sweets to study dental health. This was an experiment sponsored by both the sugar industry and doctors to get to know if carbohydrates have a direct impact in the formation of dental cavities.

The only weekly off in Nepal

Saturdays are the only official weekly holidays in Nepal and not Sundays. It is the last day of the week in Nepal.

Election Day

In many countries Saturday is the preferred day for election of public representatives. In Australia, elections are held usually on Saturdays and in New Zealand, Saturdays are the only days in which elections can be conducted. It is also preferred by the State of Louisiana, in the United States.

Why the name Saturday?

The seven day week came into the Roman Culture in 321 AD, after being originated in Mesopotamia. These seven days are based on the seven planets that were then believed torevolve around the Earth and thus control the events happening. Saturday is named after the planet Saturn, which is the god of agriculture in Roman mythology. The astronomical symbol of the planet resembles the sickle carried by the god of agriculture.

Saturday as the seventh day

The calendar that we follow considers Saturday as the sixth day of the week But the Abrahamic religions including Christianity, Islam and Judaism consider Saturday as the seventh day of the week.

The day of rest

As Genesis sums up the creation of the world in seven days and relates that God took rest after creating the whole universe during the previous six days. Thus the seventh day is considered to be a Sabbath or day of rest.

As religions consider Saturday as the seventh day, they also make it a day of rest or worship, calling it Sabbath.

Saturday words

The amount of criminal activities that take place on Saturday nights has led to the expression, “Saturday night special” a pejorative slang term used in the United States and Canada for any inexpensive handgun.

Holy Saturday is the day before Easter.

Black Saturday is a day named after the beginning of a tragic bushfire in Victoria, Australia which killed 173 people,injured 414 people, destroyed 2,100 homes and displaced 7,562 people.

It is common for clubs, bars and restaurants to be open later on Saturday night than on other nights. Thus “Saturday Night” has come to imply the party scene, and has lent its name to the film Saturday Night Fever.