What’s Happening Today?

Hari Kuyo (Kansai Region, Japan). It is the Japanese Buddhist and Shinto Festival of Broken Needles, celebrated on February 8 in the Kanto region, but on December 8 in the Kyoto and Kansai regions. It is celebrated by women in Japan as a memorial to all the sewing needles broken in their service during the past year, and as an opportunity to pray for improved skills. It is also called the Needle Mass and Pin Festival. "Hari" means "needle" and the suffix "-kuyo" means "memorial", derived from a Sanskrit word pūjā or pūjanā, meaning "to bring offerings".

Bodhi Day (Japan). Bodhi Day is the Buddhist holiday that commemorates the day that the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama (Shakyamuni), experienced enlightenment, also known as bodhi in Sanskrit and Pali. According to tradition, Siddhartha had recently forsaken years of extreme ascetic practices and resolved to sit under a peepal tree, also known as a Bodhi tree (Ficus religiosa), and simply meditate until he found the root of suffering, and how to liberate oneself from it.

What Happened Today?

1. In 1504,  Ahmad ibn Abi Jum'ah wrote his Oran fatwa, arguing for the relaxation of Islamic law requirements for the forcibly converted Muslims in Spain. Oran Fatwa is an Islamic legal opinion, issued in 1504 to address the crisis that occurred when Muslims in the Crown of Castile (in Spain) were forced to convert to Christianity in 1500–1502. The fatwa sets out detailed relaxations of the sharia (Islamic law) requirements, allowing the Muslims to conform outwardly to Christianity and perform acts that are ordinarily forbidden in Islamic law, when necessary to survive. 

2. In 1941, One day after the Japanese Imperial Navy launched an attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan and entered World War II.

3. In 1980, Former Beatle John Lennon is murdered in front of The Dakota in New York City. On the evening of December 8, 1980, English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot dead in the archway of the Dakota, his residence in New York City. He was 40 years old. He was killed by Mark David Chapman, an American Beatles fan who had travelled from Hawaii. 

Birthdays

1. 1963 – Kim Basinger, American actress, singer and former fashion model.

2. 1982 – Nicki Minaj, Trinidadian-American rapper, singer, songwriter, actress and model.

Sources: Wikipedia & checkiday.com

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