Saturday is the first day of a regular two-day weekend. It is often associated with staying up late, being lazy, or going out to paint the town. These facts are fascinating about weekends.
There are many more weekend facts that will amaze you. Saturday is the most popular day for sports, ensuring maximum attendance from fans who otherwise would be working during the week.
There are many exciting facts about weekends and a tapestry with exciting names for Saturdays around the globe. Let’s get started.
Interesting Facts About Weekends!!!
- Saturday’s name derives from Saturn, the Roman God Saturn of dissolution, generation, abundance, wealth, agriculture, and periodic renewal.
- In general, most weekdays were changed from the Roman calendar to Germanic calendars after the Germanic deities. The Germanic calendar kept Saturday’s name after Saturn, as none of the Germanic gods could be considered equivalent to Saturn.
- Different cultures, such as Scandinavian, call Saturday lordag or laurdag. The name derives from the old word laugr/laug, which means bath. Therefore, ‘lordag” translates to “bath-day” because of the Viking practice that Saturdays were used for bathing.
- This naming of Saturday, lor, and lauger are based on the English word “lye,” which can describe detergent.
- Saturday is the official name of German-speaking countries. It is derived from Ancient Greek. Sonnabend is the alternative name for Saturday. It is derived from Old High German Sunnunaband and is closely related to Old English sunnanaefen, which means “Sun Eve,” so ‘The Day Before Sunday.
- Rahoroi is the Maori name of Saturday. It means Washing Day. This name comes from the early colonial period when Maori Christian converts set aside Saturdays to wash their clothes in preparation for Sunday church.
- The Japanese word for Saturday is doybi. It means “soil day.” It is also associated with Saturn, which is not God. Dosei is Japanese and means “soil star.”
- Similar to this, the Korean day for Saturday is also called “earth day.”
- Purple is associated with Saturday in the Thai solar calendar.
- Astrology aligns Saturday with Saturn and the astrological signs Aquarius and Capricorn.
- Saturday in Nepal is the last day of the week. It is also the only official holiday for the week.
- Saturday is Israel’s official day of rest. All government offices and businesses, as well as public transport, are closed on Saturday.
- In Australia, elections are held on Saturdays.
- Elections are held in New Zealand only on Saturdays.
- Swedish children often have Saturday as the only day they can eat candy.
- The song Monday’s Child rhymes about Saturday’s child who ‘works hard to make a living.
- Folklore says that Saturday is the best day to hunt for vampires because they cannot leave their coffins. Balkans believed that anyone born on Saturday could see a vamp that was invisible to other people. These people were also the best recruits for becoming vampire hunters.
- The Western world is orientated toward children on Saturday mornings, while the evening is geared towards families.
- Saturday night is when most bars, pubs, and clubs stay open late, indicating that Saturday is the party night of the week.
- Saturday is the most popular day for domestic football matches in the U.K.
- Since 1956, the final of the Eurovision Song Contest has been aired on Saturdays.
- Black Saturday refers to the start of the devastating and deadly bushfires that erupted in Victoria, Australia, on Saturday, February 7, 2009. These bushfires were Australia’s worst ever.
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Fun Facts About Saturdays
- The name English of the weekday days was first coined during the Roman period and was written in Greek and Latin.
- It is believed that the Romans designated Saturday as Saturni’s Day – which means “Saturn’s Day” – no later than the 2nd century. The planet Saturn ruled the early hours of the day by Vettius Valens.
- Saturn was one of the gods in the early Roman religion and a figure within Roman mythology. He was described as the god of dissolution, generation abundance, wealth, agricultural renewal, and release. Saturn’s mythological reign was described as the Golden Age of plenty and peace. Following the Roman invasion of Greece, the Greek god was conjured by his fellow Greek Titan Cronus. Saturn’s lover is his sister Ops, the father of Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Juno, Ceres, and Vesta.
- The Saturday holiday is the only day of the week that has preserved its Roman roots as a part of English.
- The day’s name was first introduced to West Germanic languages and is found in Low German languages such as Middle Low German sater(s)dach, Middle Dutch saterdag (Modern Dutch Zaterdag), along with Old English Saetern(es) daeg, and Saeterdaeg.
- In Scandinavian countries, Saturdays are known as Lord, lordag, or laurdag. The name is derived from the ancient world, laugr/laug (hence Icelandic name Laugardagur), meaning bath. Hence Lord refers to bath day. This is because of the Viking habit that is bathing Saturdays. The root words for laugar and others are related to the English word lye, which is its sense as detergent. Also, the Finnish as well as Estonian names for the days, lauantai as well as laupaev, respectively, are in turn derived from this word.
- In many languages of India, the word Saturday refers to Shanivara vara, which means day, which is derived from Shani, The Vedic god who was manifested on the solar system Saturn.
- It is the present Maori term for the Saturday holiday, “rahoroi” literally means ” washing-day” A relic of the earlier colonial days in the past when Maori converts would make the time on a Saturday to wash their whites before going to church on Sundays.
- In Japanese, the word Saturday means Tu Yao Ri , doyobi which means soil day’. It’s also closely associated with Tu Xing dosei Saturn (the planet), which literally means “soil star”. Similar to this Korean”Sunday,” the term is called to oil the word thoyoil also which means earth day. This element Earth was believed to be related to The planet Saturn in Chinese theology of astrology and philosophy.
- In the Thai lunar calendar in Thailand, the name of the day comes from the Pali word which means Saturn and the color that is associated with Saturday day color is the color purple.
- The Eastern Orthodox Church Saturdays are days in where The Theotokos (Mother of God) and All Saints are honored and also the day when funeral prayers are particularly made, in memory of the fact that on a weekend Jesus died in the morgue. The Octoechos include hymns that focus on these themes and are arranged into an eight-week cycle which is sung on Saturdays all through the year.
- Holy Saturday is the last day of Holy Week, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, which is when Christians prepare for Easter Sunday. This day is a celebration of Easter Sunday, the Harrowing of Hell when Jesus’s body was laid in the morgue. Christians who belong to their respective Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican, and Reformed denominations start the celebration of Holy Saturday with the Easter Vigil celebration during Holy Saturday, which provides an introduction to the festival of Eastertide In traditional Moravian Christian tradition, graves are decorated with flowers on Holy Saturday. Holy Saturday and the celebration of the sunrise service commences early on Easter Sunday.
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Fun Facts About Sundays
1. Nearly all banks worldwide are closed Sundays
2. Sunday is dedicated to and named after the Sun. Sunday was the day dedicated to the Sun God in Roman culture. Paganism believed that the sun was the light source and the giver of warmth and illumination. Romans even had a cult that stood at dawn on Sundays to catch the sun’s first rays as they prayed.
3. The word Sunday in some Slavic languages, such as Polish, Ukrainian and Croatian, means “no work”.
4. Red is associated with Sunday in the Thai Solar Calendar.
5. Many European countries, including France, Sweden and Germany, choose to hold their local and national elections on Sundays, whether it is by tradition or law.
6. Sunday is the first day in most Middle Eastern countries.
7. Months that start on a Sunday have a Friday the thirteenth.
8. For whistling on Sundays in Salt Lake City, Utah, you could be subject to a fine of up to $1,000.
9. Many professional golf tournaments end on Sunday.
10. Many languages in Nigeria refer to Sunday as “rebirth”, ‘immortality’, and ‘eternity”.
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Wrapping Up:
Saturday is, for many, the first day of two days off work. It is a very popular day with interesting facts and historical events that make it unique.
Take advantage of the day. It’s a day for happiness. We hope you enjoyed these incredible facts about weekends!!
