Victoria Day

While we are back to lessons after a long weekend, Canadians celebrate Victoria Day today. 

Why do they celebrate it? Well, they do it to mark the birth of Queen Victoria.

Victoria, who was queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and empress of India, was born in 1819. She was only 18 when she took over the throne in 1837 after her uncle George IV died. A few years later, she married her cousin, Prince Albert. They had nine children together. When Prince Albert died, Queen Victoria became very sad and she wore black for the rest of her life. She ruled until her death in 1901, when her son Edward the VII became the King of England.

But, what is Victoria Day?

Canadians celebrate Victoria Day on the Monday before May 24. This year Victoria Day is May 18th.  Victoria Day became a popular holiday in Ontario in 1845 and a national holiday in 1901. During the 1900s, it used to be called Empire Day and then it changed to Commonwealth Day. Now Canadians call it Victoria Day. Victoria Day, or May Long Weekend as it's often called, marks the unofficial start of summer. 

To find out more about this celebration, you can listen to the podcast below recorded by Raquel and Noelia (1ºBac). You will need to know what a Penny Black is. The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was issued in Britain on 1 May 1840, for official use from 6 May of that year and features a profile of Queen Victoria.