Happy Easter!
As you know, Easter is both a religious holiday and a chance to celebrate the spring season. But there’s actually a lot to Easter that many people don’t know about. To honor this most colorful of holidays, here are:
Five Things Most People Don’t Know About Easter
1. How the Date is Determined
The date for Easter on our calendar is based on a decision made a very long time ago in 325 A.D. at the First Council of Nicaea, a gathering of bishops. They stipulated that Easter should always be celebrated on the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, which is the first full moon of the spring equinox, when night and day are exactly the same length.
2. Easter is the Source of “Hot Cross Buns”
Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
one a penny, two a penny,
Hot cross buns!
This famous nursery rhyme, beloved of school children learning how to play the recorder — and not so beloved by their parents, who have to endure the sound — comes from a special type of biscuit baked in London on Good Friday. These hot-out-of-the-oven buns were often marked with a cross on top, and were sold by street vendors who would cry, “One a-penny, two a-penny, hot cross buns!” Many people believed that bread baked on Good Friday would never spoil and could even cure diseases. Sometimes, they were even hung in houses to protect the home from evil. Either way, they are a traditional Easter food, and certainly worth trying yourself!
3. Easter Eggs for Entertainment
In the 1700s, many people in England would roll hard-boiled eggs down hillsides on Easter. This pastime was suitable for children, and the tradition soon spread, which is why even the White House hosts a giant egg roll every Easter. It’s certainly a more agreeable activity than what adults from that time period would do: A massive, chaotic game of football called “Uppies and Downies,” which often resulted in serious injuries for the participants!
4. Decorating Easter Eggs Likely Started With King Edward I
Painting hard-boiled eggs is one of the most enjoyable Easter activities for young and old alike. The tradition possibly started in 1290, when the English king, Edward I, distributed 450 eggs to members of his court on Easter. The eggs were all either painted different colors or covered in gold leaf, inspiring others to decorate eggs and give them out as presents. Of course, this tradition probably wasn’t limited to England. For example, painting eggs is also an extremely old Ukrainian tradition going back centuries. More than likely, the activity arose independently across many countries.
5. Not All Countries Recognize the Rabbit as a Symbol of Easter
You’ve heard of the Easter Bunny. But have you ever heard of the Easter Bilby? While rabbits are common in Europe and North America, they are an invasive species in Australia. When Europeans first began colonizing Australia, they brought rabbits with them. Many of those rabbits quickly became feral, often out-competing native wildlife for precious food and water. One victim of their spread is the bilby, a small marsupial native to the Australian desert. (Think of a cross between a rabbit and a mouse and you have a pretty good idea of what bilby look like.) Once upon a time, there were two species of bilbies, the lesser and the greater. The lesser bilby went extinct in the 1950s, while the greater bilby is currently endangered. What does this have to do with Easter? Well, back in 1968, a 9-year-old girl named Rose-Marie Dusting wrote a story called “Billy the Aussie Easter Bilby.” This story got many Australians thinking: why promote a non-native species to be the unofficial symbol of Easter? Why not celebrate the image of a proper Australian animal, instead? Thus, the concept of the Easter Bilby was born.
So, there you have it! I hope you found these five facts interesting. To me, they show that Easter is a rich and fascinating holiday, and there are many different ways to celebrate! But however you observe the day, I wish you a very happy Easter!