VINTAGE EASTER BASKET Hartin googly eyes chick blue cute Spring 1980s 80s RARE

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Seller: sidewaysstairsco ✉️ (1,180) 100%, Location: Santa Ana, California, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 195691986313 VINTAGE EASTER BASKET Hartin googly eyes chick blue cute Spring 1980s 80s RARE. Check out our other new and used items>>>>>HERE! (click me) FOR SALE: A vintage, springtime collectible featuring adorable chicks HARTIN INTERNATIONAL "GOOGLY EYES ANIMAL EASTER BASKET" DETAILS: An egg-cellent choice for your eggs! A blast from the 1980s past - it's a Hartin International googly-eyed chick Easter basket for kids. Two sides of the small size plastic basket feature the most adorable figure accent piece of a chick hatching from an Easter egg. Both chicks have the silliest, cutest, and smallest googly eyes we've ever seen - have you seen googly eyes this adorably tiny? The beautiful bright blue color of the basket is not pastel at all, it's a very saturated cyan. Some will say it's just blue  but we say it's like a deep saturated cyan or electric blue mixed with robin's egg blue (how fitting!). The color is vivid and captivating and is the rarest color of Hartin International's "Googly Eyes Animal Easter Basket". Use as the main part of a centerpiece in your springtime decorated home, hunt for eggs and keep them safe, carry collected flowers or harvested goodies (berries, herbs, etc.), or fill with Easter grass and gifts and give to someone special. Includes vintage Easter grass! Included with the basket is a small bundle of vintage transparent green Easter "grass". Discard or use - it's up to you. Dimensions: Length: approx. 6" Height: approx. 3.25" Width: approx 5.25" Height with handle: approx 5" A rare Easter find! Between 1980 and 2003 Hartin International designed, manufactured, and sold wonderful seasonal, kitchen, and home products . Hartin created lovely tin containers, shaped candles, gift bags, and a wide variety of plastic products ranging from mugs, cups, bowls and plates to salt & pepper shakers, decorative baskets, and treat bags - some having holiday-themed artwork. Because of its adorable yet simple design (and choice of animal) Hartin International's "Googly Eyes Animal Easter Basket" became an instant Easter staple after its initial release - evoking nostalgia for many for years to come. After Hartin Int. made the "Googly Eyes Animal Easter Basket" popular others tried to copy or imitate but the Hartin quality was/is just not there. This cyan-colored basket is either the original or a very early design and it that happens to be in the hardest-to-find color - making it more collectible and sought after. These were meant for children so as children do they use, manhandle, and break their favorite toys and belongings which leaves a small collection of vintage, usable Hartin Easter baskets today. If you do the searching yourself you'll find very little in regards to the history and manufacture dates of Hartin International as operation was closed many years ago and current documentation is insufficient. That said, its obvious Hartin Int. designed, manufactured, and sold great-looking products for many through the '80s and '90s . CONDITION: In very good, pre-owned condition. The basket has acquired some visible wear but for being about 40 years old it looks great. No cracks or damage, just some light wear. Please see photos. To ensure safe delivery all items are carefully packaged before shipping out. THANK YOU FOR LOOKING. QUESTIONS? JUST ASK. *ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF SIDEWAYS STAIRS CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.* "Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of the term varies according to local climate, cultures and customs. When it is spring in the Northern Hemisphere, it is autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. At the spring (or vernal) equinox, days and nights are approximately twelve hours long, with daytime length increasing and nighttime length decreasing as the season progresses until the Summer Solstice in June (Northern Hemisphere) and December (Southern Hemisphere). Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and also to ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth. Subtropical and tropical areas have climates better described in terms of other seasons, e.g. dry or wet, monsoonal or cyclonic. Cultures may have local names for seasons which have little equivalence to the terms originating in Europe. Meteorological reckoning Further information: Meteorological seasons Meteorologists generally define four seasons in many climatic areas: spring, summer, autumn (fall), and winter. These are determined by the values of their average temperatures on a monthly basis, with each season lasting three months. The three warmest months are by definition summer, the three coldest months are winter, and the intervening gaps are spring and autumn. Meteorological spring can therefore, start on different dates in different regions. In the US and UK, spring months are March, April, and May.[1][2] In Ireland, following the Irish calendar, spring is often defined as February, March, and April.[3][4] In Sweden, meteorologists define the beginning of spring as the first occasion on which the average 24 hours temperature exceeds zero degrees Celsius for seven consecutive days, thus the date varies with latitude and elevation (but no earlier than 15th Feb, and no later than 31st July).[5] In Australia, the spring months are September, October, and November.[6] In New Zealand, spring begins on 22nd or 23rd of September and ends on 21 December.[7][8] In Brazil, spring months are September, October, November. Astronomical and solar reckoning In the Northern Hemisphere (e.g. Germany, the United States, Canada, and the UK),[9] the astronomical vernal equinox (varying between 19 and 21 March) can be taken to mark the first day of spring with the summer solstice (around 21 June) marked as first day of summer. By solar reckoning[citation needed], Spring is held to begin 1 February until the first day of Summer on May Day, with the summer solstice being marked as Midsummer instead of the beginning of Summer as with astronomical reckoning. In Persian culture the first day of spring is the first day of the first month (called Farvardin) which begins on 20 or 21 March. In the traditional Chinese calendar, the "spring" season (春) consists of the days between Lichun (3–5 February), taking Chunfen (20–22 March) as its midpoint, then ending at Lixia (5–7 May). Similarly, according to the Celtic tradition, which is based solely on daylight and the strength of the noon sun, spring begins in early February (near Imbolc or Candlemas) and continues until early May (Beltane). The spring season in India is culturally in the months of March and April, with an average temperature of approx 32 °C.[10] Some people in India especially from Karnataka state celebrate their new year in spring, Ugadi. Ecological reckoning The beginning of spring is not always determined by fixed calendar dates. The phenological or ecological definition of spring relates to biological indicators, such as the blossoming of a range of plant species, the activities of animals, and the special smell of soil that has reached the temperature for micro flora to flourish. These indicators, along with the beginning of spring, vary according to the local climate and according to the specific weather of a particular year.[citation needed] In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the National Trust runs the #BlossomWatch campaign, which encourages people to share images of blossom with one another, as an early indicator of the arrival of the season.[11] Some ecologists divide the year into six seasons. In addition to spring, ecological reckoning identifies an earlier separate prevernal (early or pre-spring) season between the hibernal (winter) and vernal (spring) seasons. This is a time when only the hardiest flowers like the crocus are in bloom, sometimes while there is still some snowcover on the ground.[12] Natural events Hundreds of sour cherry blooming in Extremadura, Spain, during spring Late April in the Alps. At high elevations[13] (or latitudes),[14] spring is often the snowiest period of the year. A willow in Stockholm in April 2016 Sowing at spring in Estonia During early spring, the axis of the Earth is increasing its tilt relative to the Sun, and the length of daylight rapidly increases for the relevant hemisphere. The hemisphere begins to warm significantly, causing new plant growth to "spring forth," giving the season its name.[15] Any snow begins to melt, swelling streams with runoff and any frosts become less severe. In climates that have no snow, and rare frosts, air and ground temperatures increase more rapidly. Many flowering plants bloom at this time of year, in a long succession, sometimes beginning when snow is still on the ground and continuing into early summer.[16] In normally snowless areas, "spring" may begin as early as February (Northern Hemisphere) or August (Southern Hemisphere), heralded by the blooming of deciduous magnolias, cherries, and quince.[17] Many temperate areas have a dry spring, and wet autumn (fall), which brings about flowering in this season, more consistent with the need for water, as well as warmth. Subarctic areas may not experience "spring" at all until May. While spring is a result of the warmth caused by the changing orientation of the Earth's axis relative to the Sun, the weather in many parts of the world is affected by other, less predictable events. The rainfall in spring (or any season) follows trends more related to longer cycles—such as the solar cycle—or events created by ocean currents and ocean temperatures—for example, the El Niño effect and the Southern Oscillation Index. Unstable spring weather may occur more often when warm air begins to invade from lower latitudes, while cold air is still pushing from the Polar regions. Flooding is also most common in and near mountainous areas during this time of year, because of snow-melt which is accelerated by warm rains. In North America, Tornado Alley is most active at this time of year, especially since the Rocky Mountains prevent the surging hot and cold air masses from spreading eastward, and instead force them into direct conflict. Besides tornadoes, supercell thunderstorms can also produce dangerously large hail and very high winds, for which a severe thunderstorm warning or tornado warning is usually issued. Even more so than in winter, the jet streams play an important role in unstable and severe Northern Hemisphere weather in springtime.[18] In recent decades, season creep has been observed, which means that many phenological signs of spring are occurring earlier in many regions by around two days per decade.[citation needed] Spring in the Southern Hemisphere is different in several significant ways to that of the Northern Hemisphere for several reasons, including:     There is no land bridge between Southern Hemisphere countries and the Antarctic zone capable of bringing in cold air without the temperature-mitigating effects of extensive tracts of water;     The vastly greater amount of ocean in the Southern Hemisphere at most latitudes;     There is a circumpolar flow of air (the roaring 40s and 50s) uninterrupted by large land masses;     No equivalent jet streams; and     The peculiarities of the reversing ocean currents in the Pacific.[19] Cultural associations Holi in Nepal Carnival Main article: Carnival Further information: Mardi Gras Carnival is practiced by many Christians around the world in the days before Lent (40 days, without Sundays, before Easter). It is the first spring festival of the new year for many.[20] Easter Main article: Easter Easter procession, commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus Easter is the most important religious feast in the Christian liturgical year.[21] Christians believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the "third day"[note 1] (two days after his crucifixion), and celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day, two days after Good Friday. Since the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, the date of Easter can be calculated as the first Sunday after the start of Passover. This is usually (see Passover below) the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. The date of Easter varies between 22 March and 25 April (which corresponds to between 4 April and 8 May in the Gregorian Calendar for the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches using the Julian Calendar). In this celebration, the children do an easter egg hunt. May Day Main article: May Day Further information: Beltane The First of May is the date of many public holidays.[22] In many countries, May Day is synonymous with International Workers' Day, or Labour Day, which celebrates the social and economic achievements of the labour movement. As a day of celebration, the holiday has ancient origins, and it can relate to many customs that have survived into modern times. Many of these customs are due to May Day being a cross-quarter day, meaning that (in the Northern Hemisphere where it is almost exclusively celebrated) it falls approximately halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. In the Celtic tradition, this date marked the end of spring and the beginning of summer. Passover Main article: Passover The Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of Nisan, which typically falls in March or April of the Gregorian calendar on the night of a full moon after the northern spring equinox.[23] However, due to leap months falling after the vernal equinox, Passover sometimes starts on the second full moon after vernal equinox, as in 2016. Jews celebrate this holiday to commemorate their escape from slavery in Egypt as described in the book of Exodus in the Torah. Foods consumed during Passover seders, such as lamb and barley, are tied to springtime seasonal availability. In this celebration, children recite the Four Questions during the seder and hunt for the afikoman afterwards. Allhallowtide The Western Christian season encompassing the triduum of All Saints' Eve (Halloween), All Saints' Day (All Hallows') and All Souls' Day are observed in the spring in the Southern hemisphere." (wikipedia.org) "The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behavior at the start of the season of Eastertide,[1] similar to the "naughty or nice" list made by Santa Claus. As part of the legend, the creature carries colored eggs in its basket, as well as candy, and sometimes toys, to the homes of children. As such, the Easter Bunny again shows similarities to Santa (or the Christkind) and Christmas by bringing gifts to children on the night before a holiday. The custom was first[2][unreliable source?] mentioned in Georg Franck von Franckenau's De ovis paschalibus[3] ('About Easter eggs') in 1682, referring to a German tradition of an Easter Hare bringing eggs for the children. Symbols Rabbits and hares Inflatable Easter Bunny in front of San Francisco City Hall The hare was a popular motif in medieval church art. In ancient times, it was widely believed (as by Pliny, Plutarch, Philostratus, and Aelian) that the hare was a hermaphrodite.[4][5][6] The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary, with hares sometimes occurring in illuminated manuscripts and Northern European paintings of the Virgin and Christ Child. It may also have been associated with the Holy Trinity, as in the three hares motif.[4][7][unreliable source?][8] Eggs Main articles: Easter egg and Egg decorating Eggs have been used as fertility symbols since antiquity.[9] Eggs became a symbol in Christianity associated with rebirth as early as the 1st century AD, via the iconography of the Phoenix egg, and they became associated with Easter specifically in medieval Europe, when eating them was prohibited during the fast of Lent. A common practice in England at that time was for children to go door-to-door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children prior to their fast.[10] As a special dish, eggs would probably have been decorated as part of the Easter celebrations. Later, German Protestants retained the custom of eating colored eggs for Easter, though they did not continue the tradition of fasting.[11] Eggs boiled with some flowers change their color, bringing the spring into the homes, and some over time added the custom of decorating the eggs.[12] Many Christians of the Eastern Orthodox Church to this day typically dye their Easter eggs red,[13] the color of blood, in recognition of the blood of the sacrificed Christ (and, of the renewal of life in springtime). Some also use the color green, in honor of the new foliage emerging after the long-dead time of winter. The Ukrainian art of decorating eggs for Easter, known as pysanky, dates to ancient, pre-Christian times. Similar variants of this form of artwork are seen amongst other eastern and central European cultures.[14] The idea of an egg-giving hare went to the U.S. in the 18th century. Protestant German immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area told their children about the "Osterhase" (sometimes spelled "Oschter Haws"[15]). Hase means "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is a hare. According to the legend, only good children received gifts of colored eggs in the nests that they made in their caps and bonnets before Easter.[16] Gallery     Dreihasenfenster ('Window of Three Hares') in Paderborn Cathedral in Paderborn, Germany     Dreihasenfenster ('Window of Three Hares') in Paderborn Cathedral in Paderborn, Germany     Easter bunnies and Easter eggs as Easter biscuits     Easter bunnies and Easter eggs as Easter biscuits     Marshmallow bunnies and candy eggs in an Easter basket     Marshmallow bunnies and candy eggs in an Easter basket     A real live bunny with decorated Easter eggs     A real live bunny with decorated Easter eggs     Chocolate Easter bunnies     Chocolate Easter bunnies     Chocolate Easter Bunny molds from Alsace Musée du pain d'épices     Chocolate Easter Bunny molds from Alsace Musée du pain d'épices Alleged association with Ēostre In a publication from 1874 German philologist Adolf Holtzmann stated "The Easter Hare is unintelligible to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara".[17] The connection between Easter and that goddess had been made by Jacob Grimm in his 1835 Deutsche Mythologie.[18] This proposed association was repeated by other authors including Charles Isaac Elton[19] and Charles J. Billson.[20] In 1961 Christina Hole wrote, "The hare was the sacred beast of Eastre (or Ēostre), a Saxon goddess of Spring and of the dawn."[21][page needed] The belief that Ēostre had a hare companion who became the Easter Bunny was popularized when it was presented as fact in the BBC documentary Shadow of the Hare (1993).[22] The Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore however states "... there is no shred of evidence" that hares were sacred to Ēostre, noting that Bede does not associate her with any animal." (wikipedia.org) "In art, literature, and culture Main article: Rabbits and hares in art     This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Rabbits are often used as a symbol of fertility or rebirth, and have long been associated with spring and Easter as the Easter Bunny. The species' role as a prey animal with few defenses evokes vulnerability and innocence, and in folklore and modern children's stories, rabbits often appear as sympathetic characters, able to connect easily with youth of all kinds (for example, the Velveteen Rabbit, or Thumper in Bambi). With its reputation as a prolific breeder, the rabbit juxtaposes sexuality with innocence, as in the Playboy Bunny. The rabbit (as a swift prey animal) is also known for its speed, agility, and endurance, symbolized (for example) by the marketing icons the Energizer Bunny and the Duracell Bunny. Folklore Main article: List of fictional hares and rabbits The rabbit often appears in folklore as the trickster archetype, as he uses his cunning to outwit his enemies.     In Aztec mythology, a pantheon of four hundred rabbit gods known as Centzon Totochtin, led by Ometochtli or Two Rabbit, represented fertility, parties, and drunkenness.     In Central Africa, the common hare (Kalulu), is "inevitably described" as a trickster figure.[78]     In Chinese folklore, rabbits accompany Chang'e on the Moon. In the Chinese New Year, the zodiacal rabbit is one of the twelve celestial animals in the Chinese zodiac. Note that the Vietnamese zodiac includes a zodiacal cat in place of the rabbit, possibly because rabbits did not inhabit Vietnam.[citation needed] The most common explanation is that the ancient Vietnamese word for "rabbit" (mao) sounds like the Chinese word for "cat" (卯, mao).[79]     In Japanese tradition, rabbits live on the Moon where they make mochi, the popular snack of mashed sticky rice. This comes from interpreting the pattern of dark patches on the moon as a rabbit standing on tiptoes on the left pounding on an usu, a Japanese mortar.     In Jewish folklore, rabbits (shfanim שפנים) are associated with cowardice, a usage still current in contemporary Israeli spoken Hebrew (similar to the English colloquial use of "chicken" to denote cowardice).     In Korean mythology, as in Japanese, rabbits live on the moon making rice cakes ("Tteok" in Korean).     In Anishinaabe traditional beliefs, held by the Ojibwe and some other Native American peoples, Nanabozho, or Great Rabbit, is an important deity related to the creation of the world.     A Vietnamese mythological story portrays the rabbit of innocence and youthfulness. The gods of the myth are shown to be hunting and killing rabbits to show off their power.     Buddhism, Christianity, and Judaism have associations with an ancient circular motif called the three rabbits (or "three hares"). Its meaning ranges from "peace and tranquility", to purity or the Holy Trinity, to Kabbalistic levels of the soul or to the Jewish diaspora. The tripartite symbol also appears in heraldry and even tattoos. The rabbit as trickster is a part of American popular culture, as Br'er Rabbit (from African-American folktales and, later, Disney animation) and Bugs Bunny (the cartoon character from Warner Bros.), for example. Anthropomorphized rabbits have appeared in film and literature, in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (the White Rabbit and the March Hare characters), in Watership Down (including the film and television adaptations), in Rabbit Hill (by Robert Lawson), and in the Peter Rabbit stories (by Beatrix Potter). In the 1920s Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was a popular cartoon character. A rabbit's foot may be carried as an amulet, believed to bring protection and good luck. This belief is found in many parts of the world, with the earliest use being recorded in Europe c. 600 BC.[80] On the Isle of Portland in Dorset, UK, the rabbit is said to be unlucky and even speaking the creature's name can cause upset among older island residents. This is thought to date back to early times in the local quarrying industry where (to save space) extracted stones that were not fit for sale were set aside in what became tall, unstable walls. The local rabbits' tendency to burrow there would weaken the walls and their collapse resulted in injuries or even death. Thus, invoking the name of the culprit became an unlucky act to be avoided. In the local culture to this day, the rabbit (when he has to be referred to) may instead be called a “long ears” or “underground mutton”, so as not to risk bringing a downfall upon oneself.[81] While it was true 50 years ago[when?] that a pub on the island could be emptied by calling out the word "rabbit", this has become more fable than fact in modern times.[citation needed] In other parts of Britain and in North America, invoking the rabbit's name may instead bring good luck. "Rabbit rabbit rabbit" is one variant of an apotropaic or talismanic superstition that involves saying or repeating the word "rabbit" (or "rabbits" or "white rabbits" or some combination thereof) out loud upon waking on the first day of each month, because doing so will ensure good fortune for the duration of that month." (wikipedia.org) "Rabbits and hares (Leporidae) are common motifs in the visual arts, with variable mythological and artistic meanings in different cultures. The rabbit as well as the hare have been associated with moon deities and may signify rebirth or resurrection.[1] They may also be symbols of fertility or sensuality, and they appear in depictions of hunting and spring scenes in the Labours of the Months. Judaism The rabbit as a gift in courtship, exterior detail of a red-figure kylix, (Athens c. 480 BC) In Judaism, the rabbit is considered an unclean animal, because "though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof."[2][note 1] This led to derogatory statements in the Christian art of the Middle Ages, and to an ambiguous interpretation of the rabbit's symbolism. The "shafan" in Hebrew has symbolic meaning. Although rabbits were a non-kosher animal in the Bible, positive symbolic connotations were sometimes noted, as for lions and eagles. 16th century German scholar Rabbi Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, saw the rabbits as a symbol of the Diaspora. In any case, a three hares motif was a prominent part of many Synagogues.[1][3] Classical Antiquity In Classical Antiquity, the hare, because it was prized as a hunting quarry, was seen as the epitome of the hunted creature that could survive only by prolific breeding. Herodotus,[4] Aristotle, Pliny and Claudius Aelianus all described the rabbit as one of the most fertile of animals. It thus became a symbol of vitality, sexual desire and fertility. The hare served as an attribute of Aphrodite and as a gift between lovers. In late antiquity it was used as a symbol of good luck and in connection with ancient burial traditions. Christian art Venus, Mars and Cupid by Piero di Cosimo, a Cupid lying on Venus clings to a white rabbit. In Early Christian art, hares appeared on reliefs, epitaphs, icons and oil lamps although their significance is not always clear. The Physiologus, a resource for medieval artists, states that when in danger the rabbit seeks safety by climbing high up rocky cliffs, but when running back down, because of its short front legs, it is quickly caught by its predators.[5] Likewise, according to the teaching of St. Basil, men should seek his salvation in the rock of Christ, rather than descending to seek worldly things and falling into the hands of the devil. The negative view of the rabbit as an unclean animal, which derived from the Old Testament, always remained present for medieval artists and their patrons. Thus the rabbit can have a negative connotation of unbridled sexuality and lust or a positive meaning as a symbol of the steep path to salvation. Whether a representation of a hare in Medieval art represents man falling to his doom or striving for his eternal salvation is therefore open to interpretation, depending on context. The three hares at Paderborn Cathedral The Hasenfenster (hare windows) in Paderborn Cathedral and in the Muotathal Monastery in Switzerland, in which three hares are depicted with only three ears between them, forming a triangle, can be seen as a symbol of the Trinity, and probably go back to an old symbol for the passage of time. Though they have six ears, the three hares shown in Albrecht Dürer's woodcut, The Holy Family with Three Hares (1497), can also be seen as a symbol of the Trinity.[citation needed] The idea of rabbits as a symbol of vitality, rebirth and resurrection derives from antiquity. This explains their role in connection with Easter, the resurrection of Christ. The unusual presentation in Christian iconography of a Madonna with the Christ Child playing with a white rabbit in Titian's Madonna of the Rabbit can thus be interpreted Christologically. Together with the basket of bread and wine, a symbol of the sacrificial death of Christ, the picture may be interpreted as the resurrection of Christ after death. The phenomenon of superfetation, where embryos from different menstrual cycles are present in the uterus, results in hares and rabbits being able to give birth seemingly without having been impregnated, which caused them to be seen as symbols of virginity.[6] Rabbits also live underground, an echo of the tomb of Christ. Titian, Madonna of the Rabbit, Paris, Louvre, c. 1530 As a symbol of fertility, white rabbits appear on a wing of the high altar in Freiburg Minster. They are playing at the feet of two pregnant women, Mary and Elizabeth. Martin Schongauer's engraving Jesus after the Temptation (1470) shows nine (three times three) rabbits at the feet of Jesus Christ, which can be seen as a sign of extreme vitality. In contrast, the tiny squashed rabbits at the base of the columns in Jan van Eyck's Rolin Madonna symbolize "Lust", as part of a set of references in the painting to all the Seven Deadly Sins.[7] St. Jerome Reading in the Countryside, by Giovanni Bellini, with a white hare, 1505 Hunting scenes in the sacred context can be understood as the pursuit of good through evil. In the Romanesque sculpture (c. 1135) in the Königslutter imperial Cathedral, a hare pursued by a hunter symbolises the human soul seeking to escape persecution by the devil. Another painting, Hares Catch the Hunters, shows the triumph of good over evil. Alternatively, when an eagle pursues the hare, the eagle can be seen as symbolizing Christ and the hare, uncleanliness and the evil's terror in the face of the light. In Christian iconography, the hare is an attribute of Saint Martin of Tours and Saint Alberto di Siena, because legend has it that both protected hares from persecution by dogs and hunters. They are also an attribute of the patron saint of Spanish hunters, Olegarius of Barcelona. White hares and rabbits were sometimes the symbols of chastity and purity.[8] In secular art Hunting still life with lap dog and monkey by Jan Weenix, 1714 Hare flask by German glassworks, 18th century, National Museum in Warsaw In non-religious art of the modern era, the rabbit appears in the same context as in antiquity: as prey for the hunter, or representing spring or autumn, as well as an attribute of Venus and a symbol of physical love. In cycles of the Labours of the Months, rabbits frequently appear in the spring months. In Francesco del Cossa's painting of April in the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara, Italy, Venus' children, surrounded by a flock of white rabbits, symbolize love and fertility. In Italian Renaissance and Baroque art, rabbits are depicted more often than hares. In an allegory on lust by Pisanello, a naked woman lies on a couch with a rabbit at her feet. Pinturicchio's scene of Susanna in the Bath is displayed in the Vatican's Borgia Apartment. Here, each of the two old men are accompanied by a pair of hares or rabbits, clearly indicating wanton lust. In Piero di Cosimo's painting of Venus and Mars, a cupid resting on Venus clings to a white rabbit for similar reasons. Still lifes in Dutch Golden Age painting and their Flemish equivalents often included a moralizing element which was understood by their original viewers without assistance: fish and meat can allude to religious dietary precepts, fish indicating fasting while great piles of meat indicate voluptas carnis (lusts of the flesh), especially if lovers are also depicted. Rabbits and birds, perhaps in the company of carrots and other phallic symbols, were easily understood by contemporary viewers in the same sense. As small animals with fur, hares and rabbits allowed the artist to showcase his ability in painting this difficult material. Dead hares appear in the works of the earliest painter of still life collections of foodstuffs in a kitchen setting, Frans Snyders, and remain a common feature, very often sprawling hung up by a rear leg, in the works of Jan Fyt, Adriaen van Utrecht and many other specialists in the genre. By the end of the 17th century, the grander subgenre of the hunting trophy still life appeared, now set outdoors, as though at the back door of a palace or hunting lodge. Hares (but rarely rabbits) continued to feature in the works of the Dutch and Flemish originators of the genre, and later French painters like Jean-Baptiste Oudry.[9] From the Middle Ages until modern times, the right to hunt was a vigorously defended privilege of the ruling classes. Hunting Still lifes, often in combination with hunting equipment, adorn the rooms of baroque palaces, indicating the rank and prestige of their owners. Jan Weenix' painting shows a still life reminiscent of a trophy case with birds and small game, fine fruits, a pet dog and a pet monkey, arranged in front of a classicising garden sculpture with the figure of Hercules and an opulent palace in the background. The wealth and luxurious lifestyle of the patron or owner is clearly shown. The children's tales of the English author Beatrix Potter, illustrated by herself, include several titles featuring the badly behaved Peter Rabbit and other rabbit characters, including her first and most successful book The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902), followed by The Tale of Benjamin Bunny (1904), and The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies (1909). Potter's anthropomorphic clothed rabbits are probably the most familiar artistic rabbits in the English-speaking world, no doubt influenced by illustrations by John Tenniel of the White Rabbit in Lewis Carroll's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Joseph Beuys, who always finds a place for a rabbit in his works, sees it as symbolizing resurrection. In the context of his action "How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare", he stated that the rabbit "...has a direct relationship to birth... For me, the rabbit is the symbol of incarnation. Because the rabbit shows in reality what man can only show in his thoughts. He buries himself, he buries himself in a depression. He incarnates himself in the earth, and that alone is important." Masquerade (book) (1979), written and illustrated by the artist Kit Williams, is ostensibly a children's book, but contains elaborate clues to the location of a jewelled golden hare, also made by Williams, which he had buried at the location in England to which the clues in the book led. The hare was not found until 1982, in what later emerged as dubious circumstances. The Welsh sculptor Barry Flanagan (1944-2009) was best known for his energetic bronzes of hares, which he produced throughout his career. Many have a comic element, and the length and thinness of the hare's body is often exaggerated. Dürer's Young Hare Young Hare, by Albrecht Dürer (1502) Wolpertinger (2005), in the style of Albrecht Dürer Probably one of the most famous depictions of an animal in the history of European art is the painting Young Hare by Albrecht Dürer, completed in 1502 and now preserved in the Albertina in Vienna. Dürer's watercolor is seen in the context of his other nature studies, such as his almost equally famous Meadow or his Bird Wings. He chose to paint these in watercolor or gouache, striving for the highest possible precision and "realistic" representation. The hare pictured by Dürer probably does not have a symbolic meaning, but it does have an exceptional reception history. Reproductions of Dürer's Hare have often been a permanent component of bourgeois living rooms in Germany. The image has been printed in textbooks; published in countless reproductions; embossed in copper, wood or stone; represented three-dimensionally in plastic or plaster; encased in plexiglas; painted on ostrich eggs; printed on plastic bags; surreally distorted in Hasengiraffe ("Haregiraffe") by Martin Missfeldt;[10] reproduced as a joke by Fluxus artists;[11] and cast in gold; or sold cheaply in galleries and at art fairs Since early 2000, Ottmar Hörl has created several works based on Dürer's Hare, including a giant pink version.[12] Sigmar Polke has also engaged with the hare on paper or textiles, or as part of his installations,[13] and even in rubber band form.[14] Dieter Roth's Köttelkarnikel ("Turd Bunny") is a copy of Dürer's Hare made from rabbit droppings,[15] and Klaus Staeck enclosed one in a little wooden box, with a cutout hole, so that it could look out and breathe. Dürer's Hare has even inspired a depiction of the mythological Wolpertinger." (wikipedia.org) "Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). Oryctolagus cuniculus includes the European rabbit species and its descendants, the world's 305 breeds[1] of domestic rabbit. Sylvilagus includes 13 wild rabbit species, among them the seven types of cottontail. The European rabbit, which has been introduced on every continent except Antarctica, is familiar throughout the world as a wild prey animal and as a domesticated form of livestock and pet. With its widespread effect on ecologies and cultures, the rabbit is, in many areas of the world, a part of daily life—as food, clothing, a companion, and a source of artistic inspiration. Although once considered rodents, lagomorphs like rabbits have been discovered to have diverged separately and earlier than their rodent cousins and have a number of traits rodents lack, like two extra incisors. Terminology and etymology A male rabbit is called a buck; a female is called a doe. An older term for an adult rabbit used until the 18th century is coney (derived ultimately from the Latin cuniculus), while rabbit once referred only to the young animals.[2] Another term for a young rabbit is bunny, though this term is often applied informally (particularly by children) to rabbits generally, especially domestic ones. More recently, the term kit or kitten has been used to refer to a young rabbit. A group of rabbits is known as a colony or nest (or, occasionally, a warren, though this more commonly refers to where the rabbits live).[3] A group of baby rabbits produced from a single mating is referred to as a litter[4] and a group of domestic rabbits living together is sometimes called a herd.[5] The word rabbit itself derives from the Middle English rabet, a borrowing from the Walloon robète, which was a diminutive of the French or Middle Dutch robbe.[6] Taxonomy See also: List of leporids Rabbits and hares were formerly classified in the order Rodentia (rodent) until 1912, when they were moved into a new order, Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas).... Differences from hares Main article: Hare Hare Johann Daniel Meyer (1748) Rabbit Johann Daniel Meyer (1748) The term rabbit is typically used for all Leporidae species excluding the genus Lepus. Members of that genus are instead known as hares or jackrabbits. Lepus species are typically precocial, born relatively mature and mobile with hair and good vision, while rabbit species are altricial, born hairless and blind, and requiring closer care. Hares live a relatively solitary life in a simple nest above the ground, while most rabbits live in social groups in burrows or warrens. Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with ears that are more elongated, and with hind legs that are larger and longer. Descendants of the European rabbit are commonly bred as livestock and kept as pets, whereas no hares have been domesticated – the breed called the Belgian hare is actually a domestic rabbit which has been selectively bred to resemble a hare." (wikipedia.org) "A bucket is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone or square, with an open top and a flat bottom, attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the bail.[1][2] A bucket is usually an open-top container. In contrast, a pail can have a top or lid and is a shipping container. In common usage, the two terms are often used interchangeably. Types and uses A number of bucket types exist, used for a variety of purposes. Though most of these are functional purposes, a number, including those constructed from precious metals, are used for ceremonial purposes.... nglish language phrases and idioms The bucket has been used in many phrases and idioms in the English language,[5] some of which are regional or specific to the use of English in different English-speaking countries.     Kick the bucket: an informal term referring to someone's death     Drop the bucket on: to implicate a person in something (from Australian slang)     A drop in the bucket: a small, inadequate amount in relation to how much is requested or asked, taken from the biblical Book of Isaiah, chapter 40, verse 15[citation needed]     Bucket list: a list of activities an individual wishes to undertake before death." (wikipedia.org) "Cottontail rabbits are the leporid species in the genus Sylvilagus, found in the Americas.[1] Most Sylvilagus species have stub tails with white undersides that show when they retreat, giving them their characteristic name. However, this feature is not present in all cottontails nor is it unique to the genus. The genus is widely distributed across North America, Central America and northern and central South America, though most species are confined to some particular regions. Most species live in nests called forms, and all have altricial young. An adult female averages three litters per year, which can occur in any season; occurrence, and litter size depend on several factors including time of the year, weather, and location. The average litter size is four but can range from as few as two to as many as eight, most of whom do not go on to survive to adulthood. Cottontail rabbits show a greater resistance to myxomatosis than European rabbits.[2] Evolution Cottontails are one of several species of Sylvilagus; their closest relative is Brachylagus, the pygmy rabbit. They are more distantly related to the European and other rabbits, and more distantly still to the hares." (wikipedia.org) "Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals who are raised for consumption, and sometimes used to refer solely to farmed ruminants, such as cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs.[1] Horses are considered livestock in the United States.[2] The USDA classifies pork, veal, beef, and lamb (mutton) as livestock, and all livestock as red meat. Poultry and fish are not included in the category.[3] The latter is likely due to the fact that fish products are not governed by the USDA, but by the FDA. The breeding, maintenance, slaughter and general subjugation of livestock, called animal husbandry, is a part of modern agriculture and has been practiced in many cultures since humanity's transition to farming from hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animal husbandry practices have varied widely across cultures and time periods. It continues to play a major economic and cultural role in numerous communities. Livestock farming practices have largely shifted to intensive animal farming.[4] Intensive animal farming increases the yield of the various commercial outputs, but also negatively impacts animal welfare, the environment, and public health.[5] In particular, beef, dairy and sheep are an outsized source of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Etymology This Australian road sign uses the less common term "stock" for livestock. The word livestock was first used between 1650 and 1660, as a compound word combining the words "live" and "stock".[6] In some periods, "cattle" and "livestock" have been used interchangeably. Today,[specify] the modern meaning of cattle is domesticated bovines, while livestock has a wider sense.[7] United States federal legislation defines the term to make specified agricultural commodities eligible or ineligible for a program or activity. For example, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 (P.L. 106–78, Title IX) defines livestock only as cattle, swine, and sheep, while the 1988 disaster assistance legislation defined the term as "cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry (including egg-producing poultry), equine animals used for food or in the production of food, fish used for food, and other animals designated by the Secretary".[8] Deadstock is defined in contradistinction to livestock as "animals that have died before slaughter, sometimes from illness or disease". It is illegal in many countries, such as Canada, to sell or process meat from dead animals for human consumption.[9] History Further information: History of agriculture Animal-rearing originated during the cultural transition to settled farming communities from hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animals are domesticated when their breeding and living conditions are controlled by humans. Over time, the collective behaviour, lifecycle and physiology of livestock have changed radically. Many modern farmed animals are unsuited to life in the natural world. Dogs were domesticated early; dogs appear in Europe and the Far East from about 15,000 years ago.[10] Goats and sheep were domesticated in multiple events sometime between 11,000 and 5,000 years ago in Southwest Asia.[11] Pigs were domesticated by 8,500 BC in the Near East[12] and 6,000 BC in China.[13] Domestication of horses dates to around 4,000 BC.[14] Cattle have been domesticated since approximately 10,500 years ago.[15][specify] Chickens and other poultry may have been domesticated around 7,000 BC.... Farming practices Goat family with one-week-old kid Farrowing site in a natural cave in northern Spain Main article: Animal husbandry Traditionally, animal husbandry was part of the subsistence farmer's way of life, producing not only the food needed by the family but also the fuel, fertiliser, clothing, transport and draught power. Killing the animal for food was a secondary consideration, and wherever possible their products, such as wool, eggs, milk and blood (by the Maasai) were harvested while the animal was still alive.[17] In the traditional system of transhumance, humans and livestock moved seasonally between fixed summer and winter pastures; in montane regions the summer pasture was up in the mountains, the winter pasture in the valleys.[18] Animals can be kept extensively or intensively. Extensive systems involve animals roaming at will, or under the supervision of a herdsman, often for their protection from predators. Ranching in the Western United States involves large herds of cattle grazing widely over public and private lands.[19] Similar cattle stations are found in South America, Australia and other places with large areas of land and low rainfall. Ranching systems have been used for sheep, deer, ostrich, emu, llama and alpaca.[20] In the uplands of the United Kingdom, sheep are turned out on the fells in spring and graze the abundant mountain grasses untended, being brought to lower altitudes late in the year, with supplementary feeding being provided in winter.[21] In rural locations, pigs and poultry can obtain much of their nutrition from scavenging, and in African communities, hens may live for months without being fed, and still produce one or two eggs a week.[17] At the other extreme, in the more Western parts of the world, animals are often intensively managed; dairy cows may be kept in zero-grazing conditions with all their forage brought to them; beef cattle may be kept in high density feedlots;[22] pigs may be housed in climate-controlled buildings and never go outdoors;[23] poultry may be reared in barns and kept in cages as laying birds under lighting-controlled conditions. In between these two extremes are semi-intensive, often family-run farms where livestock graze outside for much of the year, silage or hay is made to cover the times of year when the grass stops growing, and fertiliser, feed and other inputs are bought onto the farm from outside." (wikipedia.org) "Butterflies (Rhopalocera) are insects that have large, often brightly coloured wings, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises the superfamilies Hedyloidea (moth-butterflies in the Americas) and Papilionoidea. Butterfly fossils date to the Paleocene, about 56 million years ago. Butterflies have a four-stage life cycle, as like most insects they undergo complete metamorphosis. Winged adults lay eggs on the food plant on which their larvae, known as caterpillars, will feed. The caterpillars grow, sometimes very rapidly, and when fully developed, pupate in a chrysalis. When metamorphosis is complete, the pupal skin splits, the adult insect climbs out, and after its wings have expanded and dried, it flies off. Some butterflies, especially in the tropics, have several generations in a year, while others have a single generation, and a few in cold locations may take several years to pass through their entire life cycle. Butterflies are often polymorphic, and many species make use of camouflage, mimicry, and aposematism to evade their predators.[1] Some, like the monarch and the painted lady, migrate over long distances. Many butterflies are attacked by parasites or parasitoids, including wasps, protozoans, flies, and other invertebrates, or are preyed upon by other organisms. Some species are pests because in their larval stages they can damage domestic crops or trees; other species are agents of pollination of some plants. Larvae of a few butterflies (e.g., harvesters) eat harmful insects, and a few are predators of ants, while others live as mutualists in association with ants. Culturally, butterflies are a popular motif in the visual and literary arts. The Smithsonian Institution says "butterflies are certainly one of the most appealing creatures in nature".[2] Etymology Possibly the original butter-fly.[3] A male brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) in flight The Oxford English Dictionary derives the word straightforwardly from Old English butorflēoge, butter-fly; similar names in Old Dutch and Old High German show that the name is ancient, but modern Dutch and German use different words (vlinder and Schmetterling) and the common name often varies substantially between otherwise closely-related languages. A possible source of the name is the bright yellow male of the brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni); another is that butterflies were on the wing in meadows during the spring and summer butter season while the grass was growing.[3][4] Paleontology Further information: Prehistoric Lepidoptera The earliest Lepidoptera fossils date to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, around 200 million years ago.[5] Butterflies evolved from moths, so while the butterflies are monophyletic (forming a single clade), the moths are not. The oldest known butterfly is Protocoeliades kristenseni from the Palaeocene aged Fur Formation of Denmark, approximately 55 million years old, which belongs to the family Hesperiidae (skippers).[6] Molecular clock estimates suggest that butterflies originated sometime in the mid-Cretaceous, but only significantly diversified during the Cenozoic.[7] The oldest American butterfly is the Late Eocene Prodryas persephone from the Florissant Fossil Beds,[8][9] approximately 34 million years old.[... In culture Ancient Egyptian relief sculpture, 26th dynasty, Thebes. c. 664–525 BC In art and literature Butterfly and Chinese wisteria, by Xü Xi. Early Song Dynasty, c. 970 A butterfly in the coat of arms of Perho Butterflies have appeared in art from 3500 years ago in ancient Egypt.[100] In the ancient Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan, the brilliantly coloured image of the butterfly was carved into many temples, buildings, jewellery, and emblazoned on incense burners. The butterfly was sometimes depicted with the maw of a jaguar, and some species were considered to be the reincarnations of the souls of dead warriors. The close association of butterflies with fire and warfare persisted into the Aztec civilisation; evidence of similar jaguar-butterfly images has been found among the Zapotec and Maya civilisations.[101] Butterflies are widely used in objects of art and jewellery: mounted in frames, embedded in resin, displayed in bottles, laminated in paper, and used in some mixed media artworks and furnishings.[102] The Norwegian naturalist Kjell Sandved compiled a photographic Butterfly Alphabet containing all 26 letters and the numerals 0 to 9 from the wings of butterflies.[103] Alice meets the caterpillar. Illustration by Sir John Tenniel in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, c. 1865 Sir John Tenniel drew a famous illustration of Alice meeting a caterpillar for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, c. 1865. The caterpillar is seated on a toadstool and is smoking a hookah; the image can be read as showing either the forelegs of the larva, or as suggesting a face with protruding nose and chin.[3] Eric Carle's children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar portrays the larva as an extraordinarily hungry animal, while also teaching children how to count (to five) and the days of the week.[3] A butterfly appeared in one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, "The Butterfly that Stamped".[104] One of the most popular, and most often recorded, songs by Sweden's eighteenth-century bard, Carl Michael Bellman, is "Fjäriln vingad syns på Haga" (The butterfly wingèd is seen in Haga), one of his Fredman's Songs.[105] Madam Butterfly is a 1904 opera by Giacomo Puccini about a romantic young Japanese bride who is deserted by her American officer husband soon after they are married. It was based on John Luther Long's short story written in 1898.[106] In mythology and folklore Der Schmetterlingsjäger (The butterfly hunter) painting by Carl Spitzweg, 1840 According to Lafcadio Hearn, a butterfly was seen in Japan as the personification of a person's soul; whether they be living, dying, or already dead. One Japanese superstition says that if a butterfly enters your guest room and perches behind the bamboo screen, the person whom you most love is coming to see you. Large numbers of butterflies are viewed as bad omens. When Taira no Masakado was secretly preparing his famous revolt, a vast a swarm of butterflies appeared in Kyoto. The people were frightened, thinking the apparition to be a portent of coming evil.[107] A serving tray decorated with butterfly wings Diderot's Encyclopédie cites butterflies as a symbol for the soul. A Roman sculpture depicts a butterfly exiting the mouth of a dead man, representing the Roman belief that the soul leaves through the mouth.[108] In line with this, the ancient Greek word for "butterfly" is ψυχή (psȳchē), which primarily means "soul" or "mind".[109] According to Mircea Eliade, some of the Nagas of Manipur claim ancestry from a butterfly.[110] In some cultures, butterflies symbolise rebirth.[111] The butterfly is a symbol of being transgender, because of the transformation from caterpillar to winged adult.[112] In the English county of Devon, people once hurried to kill the first butterfly of the year, to avoid a year of bad luck.[113] In the Philippines, a lingering black or dark butterfly or moth in the house is taken to mean an impending or recent death in the family.[114] Several American states have chosen an official state butterfly.[115] Collecting, recording, and rearing Nō robe Japan 1700s. Silk embroidered with silk thread and stenciled with gold foil "Collecting" means preserving dead specimens, not keeping butterflies as pets.[116][117] Collecting butterflies was once a popular hobby; it has now largely been replaced by photography, recording, and rearing butterflies for release into the wild.[3][dubious – discuss][full citation needed] The zoological illustrator Frederick William Frohawk succeeded in rearing all the butterfly species found in Britain, at a rate of four per year, to enable him to draw every stage of each species. He published the results in the folio sized handbook The Natural History of British Butterflies in 1924.[3] Butterflies and moths can be reared for recreation or for release.[118] In technology Further information: Biomimetics Study of the structural coloration of the wing scales of swallowtail butterflies has led to the development of more efficient light-emitting diodes,[119] and is inspiring nanotechnology research to produce paints that do not use toxic pigments and the development of new display technologies." (wikipedia.org) "Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (/ˈeɪviːz/), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) common ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute the only known living dinosaurs. Likewise, birds are considered reptiles in the modern cladistic sense of the term, and their closest living relatives are the crocodilians. Birds are descendants of the primitive avialans (whose members include Archaeopteryx) which first appeared during the Late Jurassic. According to DNA evidence, modern birds (Neornithes) evolved in the Middle to Late Cretaceous, and diversified dramatically around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 mya, which killed off the pterosaurs and all non-avian dinosaurs.[5] Many social species pass on knowledge across generations, which is considered a form of culture. Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and songs, and participating in such behaviours as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are socially (but not necessarily sexually) monogamous, usually for one breeding season at a time, sometimes for years, and rarely for life. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous (one male with many females) or, rarely, polyandrous (one female with many males). Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction. They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers. Songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano (bird excrement) is harvested for use as a fertiliser. Birds figure throughout human culture. About 120 to 130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then. Human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry. Evolution and classification Main article: Evolution of birds Slab of stone with fossil bones and feather impressions Archaeopteryx lithographica is often considered the oldest known true bird. The first classification of birds was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae.[7] Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use.[8] Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy. Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the clade Theropoda.[9] Definition Aves and a sister group, the order Crocodilia, contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria. During the late 1990s, Aves was most commonly defined phylogenetically as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of modern birds and Archaeopteryx lithographica.[10] However, an earlier definition proposed by Jacques Gauthier gained wide currency in the 21st century, and is used by many scientists including adherents to the PhyloCode. Gauthier defined Aves to include only the crown group of the set of modern birds. This was done by excluding most groups known only from fossils, and assigning them, instead, to the broader group Avialae,[11] in part to avoid the uncertainties about the placement of Archaeopteryx in relation to animals traditionally thought of as theropod dinosaurs.... At the time of their hatching, chicks range in development from helpless to independent, depending on their species. Helpless chicks are termed altricial, and tend to be born small, blind, immobile and naked; chicks that are mobile and feathered upon hatching are termed precocial. Altricial chicks need help thermoregulating and must be brooded for longer than precocial chicks. The young of many bird species do not precisely fit into either the precocial or altricial category, having some aspects of each and thus fall somewhere on an "altricial-precocial spectrum".[230] Chicks at neither extreme but favouring one or the other may be termed semi-precocial[231] or semi-altricial.[232] Looking down on three helpless blind chicks in a nest within the hollow of a dead tree trunk Altricial chicks of a white-breasted woodswallow The length and nature of parental care varies widely amongst different orders and species. At one extreme, parental care in megapodes ends at hatching; the newly hatched chick digs itself out of the nest mound without parental assistance and can fend for itself immediately.[233] At the other extreme, many seabirds have extended periods of parental care, the longest being that of the great frigatebird, whose chicks take up to six months to fledge and are fed by the parents for up to an additional 14 months.[234] The chick guard stage describes the period of breeding during which one of the adult birds is permanently present at the nest after chicks have hatched. The main purpose of the guard stage is to aid offspring to thermoregulate and protect them from predation.[235]" (wikipedia.org) "The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl[1] that are originally from Southeast Asia. Rooster and cock are terms for adult male birds, and a younger male may be called a cockerel. A male that has been castrated is a capon. An adult female bird is called a hen, and a sexually immature female is called a pullet. Humans keep chickens primarily as a source of food (consuming both their meat and eggs) or as pets. Traditionally they were also bred for cockfighting, which is still practiced in some places. Chickens domesticated for meat are broilers and for eggs are layers. Chickens are one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, with a total population of 23.7 billion as of 2018,[2] up from more than 19 billion in 2011. There are more chickens in the world than any other bird. There are numerous cultural references to chickens—in myth, folklore and religion, and in language and literature. Genetic studies have pointed to multiple maternal origin theories of within South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia,[3] but the clade found in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa originated from the Indian subcontinent. From ancient India, the chicken spread to the Eastern Mediterranean. They appear in ancient Egypt in the mid-15th century BC, with the "bird that gives birth every day" having come from the land between Syria and Shinar, Babylonia, according to the annals of Thutmose III.[4][5][6] They are known in ancient Greece from the 5th century BC.[7][8] Terminology An adult male is a called a cock or (in the United States) a rooster and an adult female is called a hen.[9][10] Other terms are:     Biddy: a newly hatched chicken[11][12]     Capon: a castrated or neutered male chicken[a]     Chick: a young chicken[13]     Chook /tʃʊk/: a chicken (Australia/New Zealand, informal)[14]     Cockerel: a young male chicken less than a year old[15]     Dunghill fowl: a chicken with mixed parentage from different domestic varieties.[16]     Pullet: a young female chicken less than a year old.[17] In the poultry industry, a pullet is a sexually immature chicken less than 22 weeks of age.[18]     Yardbird: a chicken (southern United States, dialectal)[19] Chicken may also mean a chick (see for example Hen and Chicken Islands).[20] In fact, chicken was originally a term only for an immature, or at least young, bird.[when?] In older sources, chicken as a species were typically referred to as common fowl or domestic fowl.[21][page needed][failed verification] In Australian vernacular English the word chook provides the generic term for the species (e.g. "a cooked chook" or "she keeps chooks"); which enables chicken to commonly retain its original sense of a young or recently hatched bird. Chick is then rarely used to mean chicken, but is mainly used in Merriam-Webster's "Sense 1b" viz. the young of any bird. Etymology According to Merriam-Webster, the term rooster (i.e. a roosting bird) originated in the mid- or late 18th century as a euphemism to avoid the sexual connotation of the original English cock,[22][23][24] and is widely used throughout North America. Roosting is the action of perching aloft to sleep at night.[25] History Two red junglefowl, a cock and a hen An early domestication of chickens in Southeast Asia is probable, since the word for domestic chicken (*manuk) is part of the reconstructed Proto-Austronesian language (see Austronesian languages). Chickens, together with dogs and pigs, were the domestic animals of the Lapita culture,[26] the first Neolithic culture of Oceania.[27] The first pictures of chickens in Europe are found on Corinthian pottery of the 7th century BC.[28][29] Chickens were spread by Polynesian seafarers and reached Easter Island in the 12th century AD, where they were the only domestic animal, with the possible exception of the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans). They were housed in chicken coops built from stone, which was first reported as such to Linton Palmer in 1868, who also "expressed his doubts about this".... Use by humans Farming Main articles: Poultry farming and Chicken as food A former battery hen, five days after release. Note the pale comb – the comb may be an indicator of health or vigor.[79] More than 50 billion chickens are reared annually as a source of meat and eggs.[80] In the United States alone, more than 8 billion chickens are slaughtered each year for meat,[81] and more than 300 million chickens are reared for egg production.[82] The vast majority of poultry is raised in factory farms. According to the Worldwatch Institute, 74% of the world's poultry meat and 68% of eggs are produced this way.[83] An alternative to intensive poultry farming is free-range farming. Friction between these two main methods has led to long-term issues of ethical consumerism. Opponents of intensive farming argue that it harms the environment, creates human health risks and is inhumane.[84] Advocates of intensive farming say that their highly efficient systems save land and food resources owing to increased productivity, and that the animals are looked after in state-of-the-art environmentally controlled facilities.[85]" (wikipedia.org) "Cyan (/ˈsaɪ.ən, -æn/)[1][2][3] is the color between green and blue on the visible spectrum of light.[4][5] It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength between 490 and 520 nm, between the wavelengths of green and blue.[6] In the subtractive color system, or CMYK color model, which can be overlaid to produce all colors in paint and color printing, cyan is one of the primary colors, along with magenta and yellow. In the additive color system, or RGB color model, used to create all the colors on a computer or television display, cyan is made by mixing equal amounts of green and blue light. Cyan is the complement of red; it can be made by the removal of red from white. Mixing red light and cyan light at the right intensity will make white light. Colors in the cyan color range are teal, turquoise, electric blue, aquamarine, and others described as blue-green. Etymology and terminology Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek word kyanos (κύανος), meaning "dark blue enamel, Lapis lazuli".[7][8] It was formerly known as "cyan blue"[9] or cyan-blue,[10] and its first recorded use as a color name in English was in 1879.[11] Further origins[clarification needed] of the color name can be traced back to a dye produced from the cornflower (Centaurea cyanus).[12][13] In most languages, 'cyan' is not a basic color term and it phenomenologically appears as a greenish vibrant hue of blue to most English speakers. Other English terms for this "borderline" hue region include blue green, aqua, turquoise,[14] teal, and grue.[15] Cyan on the web and in printing The web colors cyan and aqua Cyan (additive secondary)   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #00FFFF sRGBB (r, g, b)    (0, 255, 255) HSV (h, s, v)    (180°, 100%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (91, 72, 192°) Source    X11 ISCC–NBS descriptor    Brilliant bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) The web color cyan shown at right is a secondary color in the RGB color model, which uses combinations of red, green and blue light to create all the colors on computer and television displays. In X11 colors, this color is called both cyan and aqua. In the HTML color list, this same color is called aqua. The web colors are more vivid than the cyan used in the CMYK color system, and the web colors cannot be accurately reproduced on a printed page. To reproduce the web color cyan in inks, it is necessary to add some white ink to the printer's cyan below, so when it is reproduced in printing, it is not a primary subtractive color. It is called aqua (a name in use since 1598) because it is a color commonly associated with water, such as the appearance of the water at a tropical beach.[16] Process cyan Cyan (subtractive primary)   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #00B7EB sRGBB (r, g, b)    (0, 183, 235) HSV (h, s, v)    (193°, 100%, 92%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (69, 74, 229°) Source    CMYK[17][unreliable source?] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Brilliant greenish blue B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Cyan is also one of the common inks used in four-color printing, along with magenta, yellow, and black; this set of colors is referred to as CMYK. In printing, the cyan ink is sometimes known as printer's cyan, process cyan, or process blue. While both the additive secondary and the subtractive primary are called cyan, they can be substantially different from one another. Cyan printing ink is typically more saturated than the RGB secondary cyan, depending on what RGB color space and ink are considered. That is, process cyan is usually outside the RGB gamut,[18] and there is no fixed conversion from CMYK primaries to RGB. Different formulations are used for printer's ink, so there can be variations in the printed color that is pure cyan ink. This is because real-world subtractive (unlike additive) color mixing does not consistently produce the same result when mixing apparently identical colors, since the specific frequencies filtered out to produce that color affect how it interacts with other colors. Phthalocyanine blue is one such commonly used pigment. A typical formulation of process cyan is shown in the color box at right. In science and nature Color of water     Pure water is nearly colorless. However, it does absorb slightly more red light than blue, giving significant volumes of water a bluish tint; increased scattering of blue light due to fine particles in the water shifts the blue color toward green, for a typically cyan net color.[19] Cyan and cyanide     Cyanide derives its name from Prussian blue, a blue pigment containing the cyanide ion.[20] Bacteria     Cyanobacteria (sometimes called blue-green algae) are an important link in the food chain.[21] Astronomy     The planet Uranus is colored cyan because of the abundance of methane in its atmosphere. Methane absorbs red light and reflects the blue-green light which allows observers to see it as cyan.[22] Energy     Natural gas (methane), used by many for home cooking on gas stoves, has a cyan colored flame when burned with a mixture of air.[23] Photography and film     Cyanotype, or blueprint, a monochrome photographic printing process that predates the use of the word cyan as a color, yields a deep cyan-blue colored print based on the Prussian blue pigment.[24]     Cinecolor, a bi-pack color process, the photographer would load a standard camera with two films, one orthochromatic, dyed red, and a panchromatic strip behind it. Color light would expose the cyan record on the ortho stock, which also acted as a filter, exposing only red light to the panchromatic film stock.[25][26]... Gallery     In the RGB color model, used to make colors on computer and TV displays, cyan is created by the combination of green and blue light.     In the RGB color model, used to make colors on computer and TV displays, cyan is created by the combination of green and blue light.     In the RGB color wheel of subtractive colors, cyan is midway between blue and green.     In the RGB color wheel of subtractive colors, cyan is midway between blue and green.     In the CMYK color model, used in color printing, cyan, magenta and yellow combined make grey. In practice, since the inks are not perfect, some black ink is added.     In the CMYK color model, used in color printing, cyan, magenta and yellow combined make grey. In practice, since the inks are not perfect, some black ink is added.     Color printers today use, magenta, cyan and yellow ink to produce a wide range of colors.     Color printers today use, magenta, cyan and yellow ink to produce a wide range of colors.     Cyan and red are contrasting colors. They have strong contrast and harmony, and if combined, they make grey.     Cyan and red are contrasting colors. They have strong contrast and harmony, and if combined, they make grey.     Cyan is the color of shallow water over a sandy beach. The water absorbs the color red from the sunlight, leaving a greenish-blue color.     Cyan is the color of shallow water over a sandy beach. The water absorbs the color red from the sunlight, leaving a greenish-blue color.     The dome of the Tilla Kari Mosque in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (1660) is cyan. The color is widely used in architecture in Turkey and Central Asia.     The dome of the Tilla Kari Mosque in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (1660) is cyan. The color is widely used in architecture in Turkey and Central Asia.     The planet Uranus, seen from the Voyager 2 spacecraft. The cyan color comes from clouds of methane gas in the planet's atmosphere.     The planet Uranus, seen from the Voyager 2 spacecraft. The cyan color comes from clouds of methane gas in the planet's atmosphere.     A surgical team in Germany. It has been suggested that surgeons and nurses adopted a cyan-colored gown and operating rooms because it is complementary to the color of red blood and thus reduced glare, though the evidence for this claim is limited.     A surgical team in Germany. It has been suggested that surgeons and nurses adopted a cyan-colored gown and operating rooms because it contrasts the color of red blood, thus reducing glare,[28] though the evidence for this claim is limited.     The pigments in color photographs may degrade at different rates, potentially resulting in a cyan tint.     The pigments in color photographs may degrade at different rates, potentially resulting in a cyan tint." (wikipedia.org) "Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model.[2] It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when observing light with a dominant wavelength between approximately 450 and 495 nanometres. Most blues contain a slight mixture of other colours; azure contains some green, while ultramarine contains some violet. The clear daytime sky and the deep sea appear blue because of an optical effect known as Rayleigh scattering. An optical effect called Tyndall effect explains blue eyes. Distant objects appear more blue because of another optical effect called aerial perspective. Blue has been an important colour in art and decoration since ancient times. The semi-precious stone lapis lazuli was used in ancient Egypt for jewellery and ornament and later, in the Renaissance, to make the pigment ultramarine, the most expensive of all pigments. In the eighth century Chinese artists used cobalt blue to colour fine blue and white porcelain. In the Middle Ages, European artists used it in the windows of cathedrals. Europeans wore clothing coloured with the vegetable dye woad until it was replaced by the finer indigo from America. In the 19th century, synthetic blue dyes and pigments gradually replaced organic dyes and mineral pigments. Dark blue became a common colour for military uniforms and later, in the late 20th century, for business suits. Because blue has commonly been associated with harmony, it was chosen as the colour of the flags of the United Nations and the European Union.[3] Surveys in the US and Europe show that blue is the colour most commonly associated with harmony, faithfulness, confidence, distance, infinity, the imagination, cold, and occasionally with sadness.[4] In US and European public opinion polls it is the most popular colour, chosen by almost half of both men and women as their favourite colour.[5] The same surveys also showed that blue was the colour most associated with the masculine, just ahead of black, and was also the colour most associated with intelligence, knowledge, calm, and concentration.[4] Etymology and linguistics The modern English word blue comes from Middle English bleu or blewe, from the Old French bleu, a word of Germanic origin, related to the Old High German word blao (meaning 'shimmering, lustrous').[6] In heraldry, the word azure is used for blue.[7] In Russian, Spanish[8] and some other languages, there is no single word for blue, but rather different words for light blue (голубой, goluboj; Celeste) and dark blue (синий, sinij; Azul). See Colour term. Several languages, including Japanese and Lakota Sioux, use the same word to describe blue and green. For example, in Vietnamese, the colour of both tree leaves and the sky is xanh. In Japanese, the word for blue (青, ao) is often used for colours that English speakers would refer to as green, such as the colour of a traffic signal meaning "go". In Lakota, the word tȟó is used for both blue and green, the two colours not being distinguished in older Lakota. (For more on this subject, see Distinguishing blue from green in language.) Linguistic research indicates that languages do not begin by having a word for the colour blue.[9] Colour names often developed individually in natural languages, typically beginning with black and white (or dark and light), and then adding red, and only much later – usually as the last main category of colour accepted in a language – adding the colour blue, probably when blue pigments could be manufactured reliably in the culture using that language.[9] Optics and colour theory Human eyes perceive blue when observing light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 450–495 nanometres.[10] Blues with a higher frequency and thus a shorter wavelength gradually look more violet, while those with a lower frequency and a longer wavelength gradually appear more green. Pure blue, in the middle, has a wavelength of 470 nanometres. Isaac Newton included blue as one of the seven colours in his first description the visible spectrum.[11] He chose seven colours because that was the number of notes in the musical scale, which he believed was related to the optical spectrum. He included indigo, the hue between blue and violet, as one of the separate colours, though today it is usually considered a hue of blue.[12] In painting and traditional colour theory, blue is one of the three primary colours of pigments (red, yellow, blue), which can be mixed to form a wide gamut of colours. Red and blue mixed together form violet, blue and yellow together form green. Mixing all three primary colours together produces a dark brown. From the Renaissance onward, painters used this system to create their colours. (See RYB colour model.) The RYB model was used for colour printing by Jacob Christoph Le Blon as early as 1725. Later, printers discovered that more accurate colours could be created by using combinations of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink, put onto separate inked plates and then overlaid one at a time onto paper. This method could produce almost all the colours in the spectrum with reasonable accuracy.     Additive colour mixing. The combination of primary colours produces secondary colours where two overlap; the combination red, green, and blue each in full intensity makes white.     Additive colour mixing. The combination of primary colours produces secondary colours where two overlap; the combination red, green, and blue each in full intensity makes white.     Red, green, and blue subpixels on an LCD display.     Red, green, and blue subpixels on an LCD display. On the HSV colour wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal mixture of red and green light. On a colour wheel based on traditional colour theory (RYB) where blue was considered a primary colour, its complementary colour is considered to be orange (based on the Munsell colour wheel).[13] Lasers emitting in the blue region of the spectrum became widely available to the public in 2010 with the release of inexpensive high-powered 445–447 nm laser diode technology.[14] Previously the blue wavelengths were accessible only through DPSS which are comparatively expensive and inefficient, but still widely used by scientists for applications including optogenetics, Raman spectroscopy, and particle image velocimetry, due to their superior beam quality.[15] Blue gas lasers are also still commonly used for holography, DNA sequencing, optical pumping, among other scientific and medical applications. Shades and variations Main article: Shades of blue Various shades of blue Blue is the colour of light between violet and cyan on the visible spectrum. Hues of blue include indigo and ultramarine, closer to violet; pure blue, without any mixture of other colours; Azure, which is a lighter shade of blue, similar to the colour of the sky; Cyan, which is midway in the spectrum between blue and green, and the other blue-greens such as turquoise, teal, and aquamarine. Blue also varies in shade or tint; darker shades of blue contain black or grey, while lighter tints contain white. Darker shades of blue include ultramarine, cobalt blue, navy blue, and Prussian blue; while lighter tints include sky blue, azure, and Egyptian blue. (For a more complete list see the List of colours). As a structural colour Further information: Structural colouration In nature, many blue phenomena arise from structural colouration, the result of interference between reflections from two or more surfaces of thin films, combined with refraction as light enters and exits such films. The geometry then determines that at certain angles, the light reflected from both surfaces interferes constructively, while at other angles, the light interferes destructively. Diverse colours therefore appear despite the absence of colourants.[16] Colourants Main article: Colourants     Egyptian blue     Egyptian blue     Cobalt blue     Cobalt blue     Copper phthalocyanine     Copper phthalocyanine     YInMn blue     YInMn blue     Prussian blue, FeIII 4[FeII (CN) 6] 3, is the blue of blueprints.     Prussian blue, FeIII     4[FeII     (CN)     6]     3, is the blue of blueprints. Artificial blues Egyptian blue, the first artificial pigment, was produced in the third millennium BC in Ancient Egypt. It is produced by heating pulverized sand, copper, and natron. It was used in tomb paintings and funereal objects to protect the dead in their afterlife. Prior to the 1700s, blue colourants for artwork were mainly based on lapis lazuli and the related mineral ultramarine. A breakthrough occurred in 1709 when German druggist and pigment maker Johann Jacob Diesbach discovered Prussian blue. The new blue arose from experiments involving heating dried blood with iron sulphides and was initially called Berliner Blau. By 1710 it was being used by the French painter Antoine Watteau, and later his successor Nicolas Lancret. It became immensely popular for the manufacture of wallpaper, and in the 19th century was widely used by French impressionist painters.[17] Beginning in the 1820s, Prussian blue was imported into Japan through the port of Nagasaki. It was called bero-ai, or Berlin blue, and it became popular because it did not fade like traditional Japanese blue pigment, ai-gami, made from the dayflower. Prussian blue was used by both Hokusai, in his wave paintings, and Hiroshige.[18] In 1799 a French chemist, Louis Jacques Thénard, made a synthetic cobalt blue pigment which became immensely popular with painters. In 1824 the Societé pour l'Encouragement d'Industrie in France offered a prize for the invention of an artificial ultramarine which could rival the natural colour made from lapis lazuli. The prize was won in 1826 by a chemist named Jean Baptiste Guimet, but he refused to reveal the formula of his colour. In 1828, another scientist, Christian Gmelin then a professor of chemistry in Tübingen, found the process and published his formula. This was the beginning of new industry to manufacture artificial ultramarine, which eventually almost completely replaced the natural product.[19] In 1878 German chemists synthesized indigo. This product rapidly replaced natural indigo, wiping out vast farms growing indigo. It is now the blue of blue jeans. As the pace of organic chemistry accelerated, a succession of synthetic blue dyes were discovered including Indanthrone blue, which had even greater resistance to fading during washing or in the sun, and copper phthalocyanine.     The Blue Boy (1770), featuring lapis lazuli, indigo, and cobalt colourants,[20]     The Blue Boy (1770), featuring lapis lazuli, indigo, and cobalt colourants,[20]     The Great Wave off Kanagawa illustrates the use of Prussian blue     The Great Wave off Kanagawa illustrates the use of Prussian blue     A synthetic indigo dye factory in Germany in 1890.     A synthetic indigo dye factory in Germany in 1890. Dyes for textiles and food Chemical structure of indigo dye, a widely produced blue dye. Blue jeans consist of 1–3% by weight of this organic compound. Chemical structure of C.I. Acid Blue 9, a dye commonly used in candies. Blue dyes are organic compounds, both synthetic and natural.[21] Woad and true indigo were once used but since the early 1900s, all indigo is synthetic. Produced on an industrial scale, indigo is the blue of blue jeans. For food, the triarylmethane dye Brilliant blue FCF is used for candies. The search continues for stable, natural blue dyes suitable for the food industry.[21] Pigments for painting and glass See also: Blue pigments Blue pigments were once produced from minerals, especially lapis lazuli and its close relative ultramarine. These minerals were crushed, ground into powder, and then mixed with a quick-drying binding agent, such as egg yolk (tempera painting); or with a slow-drying oil, such as linseed oil, for oil painting. Two inorganic but synthetic blue pigments are cerulean blue (primarily cobalt(II) stanate: Co2SnO4) and Prussian blue (milori blue: primarily Fe7(CN)18). The chromophore in blue glass and glazes is cobalt(II). Diverse cobalt(II) salts such as cobalt carbonate or cobalt(II) aluminate are mixed with the silica prior to firing. The cobalt occupies sites otherwise filled with silicon. Inks Methyl blue is the dominant blue pigment in inks used in pens.[22] Blueprinting involves the production of Prussian blue in situ. Inorganic compounds CuSO4.5H2O Anhydrous cobalt(II) chloride Vanadyl sulfate Certain metal ions characteristically form blue solutions or blue salts. Of some practical importance, cobalt is used to make the deep blue glazes and glasses. It substitutes for silicon or aluminum ions in these materials. Cobalt is the blue chromophore in stained glass windows, such as those in Gothic cathedrals and in Chinese porcelain beginning in the T'ang Dynasty. Copper(II) (Cu2+) also produces many blue compounds, including the commercial algicide copper(II) sulfate (CuSO4.5H2O). Similarly, vanadyl salts and solutions are often blue, e.g. vanadyl sulfate. In nature Sky and sea Further information: Rayleigh scattering and Why is the sky blue? When sunlight passes through the atmosphere, the blue wavelengths are scattered more widely by the oxygen and nitrogen molecules, and more blue comes to our eyes. This effect is called Rayleigh scattering, after Lord Rayleigh and confirmed by Albert Einstein in 1911.[23][24] The sea is seen as blue for largely the same reason: the water absorbs the longer wavelengths of red and reflects and scatters the blue, which comes to the eye of the viewer. The deeper the observer goes, the darker the blue becomes. In the open sea, only about one per cent of light penetrates to a depth of 200 metres. (See underwater and euphotic depth) The colour of the sea is also affected by the colour of the sky, reflected by particles in the water; and by algae and plant life in the water, which can make it look green; or by sediment, which can make it look brown.[25] The farther away an object is, the more blue it often appears to the eye. For example, mountains in the distance often appear blue. This is the effect of atmospheric perspective; the farther an object is away from the viewer, the less contrast there is between the object and its background colour, which is usually blue. In a painting where different parts of the composition are blue, green and red, the blue will appear to be more distant, and the red closer to the viewer. The cooler a colour is, the more distant it seems.[26] Blue light is scattered more than other wavelengths by the gases in the atmosphere, hence our "blue planet".     Earth's blue halo when seen from space.     Earth's blue halo when seen from space.     Another example of Rayleigh scattering.     Another example of Rayleigh scattering.     The sea.     The sea. Minerals     Lapis-lazuli     Lapis-lazuli     Azurite     Azurite     Natural ultramarine pigment     Natural ultramarine pigment     Logan sapphire     Logan sapphire Some of the most desirable gems are blue, including sapphire and tanzanite. Compounds of copper(II) are characteristically blue and so are many copper-containing minerals. Azurite (Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2), with a deep blue colour, was once employed in medieval years, but it is unstable pigment, losing its colour especially under dry conditions. Lapis lazuli, mined in Afghanistan for more than three thousand years, was used for jewelry and ornaments, and later was crushed and powdered and used as a pigment. The more it was ground, the lighter the blue colour became. Natural ultramarine, made by grinding lapis lazuli into a fine powder, was the finest available blue pigment in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It was extremely expensive, and in Italian Renaissance art, it was often reserved for the robes of the Virgin Mary. Plants and fungi     Primula acaulis     Primula acaulis     Morning glory (Ipomoea acuminata)     Morning glory (Ipomoea acuminata)     Vaccinium corymbosum     Vaccinium corymbosum     Blue Delphinium flower     Blue Delphinium flower     Lactarius indigo[27]     Lactarius indigo[27] Intense efforts have focused on blue flowers and the possibility that natural blue colourants could be used as food dyes.[21] Commonly, blue colours in plants are anthocyanins: "the largest group of water-soluble pigments found widespread in the plant kingdom."[28] In the few plants that exploit structural colouration, brilliant colours are produced by structures within cells. The most brilliant blue colouration known in any living tissue is found in the marble berries of Pollia condensata, where a spiral structure of cellulose fibrils scattering blue light. The fruit of quandong (Santalum acuminatum) can appear blue owing to the same effect.[21] Animals     Morpho butterfly     Morpho butterfly     Indigo buntings have iridescent feathers.     Indigo buntings have iridescent feathers.     Blue facial ridges of mandrill     Blue facial ridges of mandrill     Blue poison dart frog     Blue poison dart frog     The mandarin fish is one of few animal species with blue pigment     The mandarin fish is one of few animal species with blue pigment Blue-pigmented animals are relatively rare.[29] Examples of which include butterflies of the genus Nessaea, where blue is created by pterobilin.[30] Other blue pigments of animal origin include phorcabilin, used by other butterflies in Graphium and Papilio (specifically P. phorcas and P. weiskei), and sarpedobilin, which is used by Graphium sarpedon.[31] Blue-pigmented organelles, known as "cyanosomes", exist in the chromatophores of at least two fish species, the mandarin fish and the picturesque dragonet.[32] More commonly, blueness in animals is a structural colouration; an optical interference effect induced by organized nanometer-sized scales or fibres. Examples include the plumage of several birds like the blue jay and indigo bunting,[33] the scales of butterflies like the morpho butterfly,[34] collagen fibres in the skin of some species of monkey and opossum,[35] and the iridophore cells in some fish and frogs.[36][37] Eyes Main article: Eye color § Blue Blue eyes actually contain no blue pigment. The colour is caused by an effect called Tyndall scattering. Blue eyes do not actually contain any blue pigment. Eye colour is determined by two factors: the pigmentation of the eye's iris[38][39] and the scattering of light by the turbid medium in the stroma of the iris.[40] In humans, the pigmentation of the iris varies from light brown to black. The appearance of blue, green, and hazel eyes results from the Tyndall scattering of light in the stroma, an optical effect similar to what accounts for the blueness of the sky.[40][41] The irises of the eyes of people with blue eyes contain less dark melanin than those of people with brown eyes, which means that they absorb less short-wavelength blue light, which is instead reflected out to the viewer. Eye colour also varies depending on the lighting conditions, especially for lighter-coloured eyes. Blue eyes are most common in Ireland, the Baltic Sea area and Northern Europe,[42] and are also found in Eastern, Central, and Southern Europe. Blue eyes are also found in parts of Western Asia, most notably in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and Iran.[43] In Estonia, 99% of people have blue eyes.[44][45] In Denmark in 1978, only 8% of the population had brown eyes, though through immigration, today that number is about 11%.[45] In Germany, about 75% have blue eyes.[45] In the United States, as of 2006, one out of every six people, or 16.6% of the total population, and 22.3% of the white population, have blue eyes, compared with about half of Americans born in 1900, and a third of Americans born in 1950. Blue eyes are becoming less common among American children[citation needed]. In the US, boys are 3–5 per cent more likely to have blue eyes than girls.[42] History See also: Blue in culture In the ancient world     Lapis lazuli bowl from Iran, end of 3rd – beginning of 2nd millennium BC (Louvre Museum)     Lapis lazuli bowl from Iran, end of 3rd – beginning of 2nd millennium BC (Louvre Museum)     Egyptian blue tripodic beaker imitating lapis lazuli. South Mesopotamia. (1399-1200 BC)     Egyptian blue tripodic beaker imitating lapis lazuli. South Mesopotamia. (1399-1200 BC)     Fresco of Polyphemus and Galatea, Pompei, using Egyptian blue (1st c. BC) (Metropolitan Museum)     Fresco of Polyphemus and Galatea, Pompei, using Egyptian blue (1st c. BC) (Metropolitan Museum) As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines,[46] in Shortugai, and in other mines in Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan.[47] Lapis lazuli artifacts, dated to 7570 BC, have been found at Bhirrana, which is the oldest site of Indus Valley civilisation.[48] Lapis was highly valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation (7570–1900 BC).[48][49][50] Lapis beads have been found at Neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and as far away as Mauritania.[51] It was used in the funeral mask of Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BC).[52] A term for Blue was relatively rare in many forms of ancient art and decoration, and even in ancient literature. The Ancient Greek poets described the sea as green, brown or "the colour of wine". The colour is mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible as 'tekhelet'. Reds, blacks, browns, and ochres are found in cave paintings from the Upper Paleolithic period, but not blue. Blue was also not used for dyeing fabric until long after red, ochre, pink, and purple. This is probably due to the perennial difficulty of making blue dyes and pigments. On the other hand, the rarity of blue pigment made it even more valuable.[53] The earliest known blue dyes were made from plants – woad in Europe, indigo in Asia and Africa, while blue pigments were made from minerals, usually either lapis lazuli or azurite, and required more.[54] Blue glazes posed still another challenge since the early blue dyes and pigments were not thermally robust. In ca. 2500 BC, the blue glaze Egyptian blue was introduced for ceramics, as well as many other objects.[55][56] The Greeks imported indigo dye from India, calling it indikon, and they painted with Egyptian blue. Blue was not one of the four primary colours for Greek painting described by Pliny the Elder (red, yellow, black, and white). For the Romans, blue was the colour of mourning, as well as the colour of barbarians. The Celts and Germans reportedly dyed their faces blue to frighten their enemies, and tinted their hair blue when they grew old.[57] The Romans made extensive use of indigo and Egyptian blue pigment, as evidenced, in part, by frescos in Pompeii. The Romans had many words for varieties of blue, including caeruleus, caesius, glaucus, cyaneus, lividus, venetus, aerius, and ferreus, but two words, both of foreign origin, became the most enduring; blavus, from the Germanic word blau, which eventually became bleu or blue; and azureus, from the Arabic word lazaward, which became azure.[58] Blue was widely used in the decoration of churches in the Byzantine Empire.[59] By contrast, in the Islamic world, blue was of secondary to green, believed to be the favourite colour of the Prophet Mohammed. At certain times in Moorish Spain and other parts of the Islamic world, blue was the colour worn by Christians and Jews, because only Muslims were allowed to wear white and green.[60] In the Middle Ages     Stained glass window at Saint Denis Basilica (1130-1140), coloured with cobalt blue     Stained glass window at Saint Denis Basilica (1130-1140), coloured with cobalt blue     Detail of the Blue Virgin Window, Chartres Cathedral (12th c.)     Detail of the Blue Virgin Window, Chartres Cathedral (12th c.)     The Wilton Diptych (1395–1399). The Virgin Mary was traditionally shown in blue(14th c.)     The Wilton Diptych (1395–1399). The Virgin Mary was traditionally shown in blue(14th c.) In the art and life of Europe during the early Middle Ages, blue played a minor role. This changed dramatically between 1130 and 1140 in Paris, when the Abbe Suger rebuilt the Saint Denis Basilica. Suger considered that light was the visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit.[61] He installed stained glass windows coloured with cobalt, which, combined with the light from the red glass, filled the church with a bluish violet light. The church became the marvel of the Christian world, and the colour became known as the "bleu de Saint-Denis". In the years that followed even more elegant blue stained glass windows were installed in other churches, including at Chartres Cathedral and Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.[62] In the 12th century the Roman Catholic Church dictated that painters in Italy (and the rest of Europe consequently) to paint the Virgin Mary with blue, which became associated with holiness, humility and virtue. In medieval paintings, blue was used to attract the attention of the viewer to the Virgin Mary. Paintings of the mythical King Arthur began to show him dressed in blue. The coat of arms of the kings of France became an azure or light blue shield, sprinkled with golden fleur-de-lis or lilies. Blue had come from obscurity to become the royal colour.[63] Renaissance through 18th century Blue came into wider use beginning in the Renaissance, when artists began to paint the world with perspective, depth, shadows, and light from a single source. In Renaissance paintings, artists tried to create harmonies between blue and red, lightening the blue with lead white paint and adding shadows and highlights. Raphael was a master of this technique, carefully balancing the reds and the blues so no one colour dominated the picture.[64] Ultramarine was the most prestigious blue of the Renaissance, being more expensive than gold. Wealthy art patrons commissioned works with the most expensive blues possible. In 1616 Richard Sackville commissioned a portrait of himself by Isaac Oliver with three different blues, including ultramarine pigment for his stockings.[65]     Portrait of Richard Sackville (1616), using three expensive blues, including ultramarine for his stockings     Portrait of Richard Sackville (1616), using three expensive blues, including ultramarine for his stockings     Ming Dynasty, Porcelain vase painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze. (15th c.) (Metropolitan Museum)     Ming Dynasty, Porcelain vase painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze. (15th c.) (Metropolitan Museum)     Delftware plaque with cobalt blue painting (1683) (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)     Delftware plaque with cobalt blue painting (1683) (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)     Portrait of King Louis XIV of France in coronation robes, by Hyacinthe Rigaud (c. 1700) (Louvre Museum)     Portrait of King Louis XIV of France in coronation robes, by Hyacinthe Rigaud (c. 1700) (Louvre Museum)     Urn by Josiah Wedgewood (1780s) (Metropolitan Museum)     Urn by Josiah Wedgewood (1780s) (Metropolitan Museum)     Queen Maria I of Portugal (late 1700s)     Queen Maria I of Portugal (late 1700s)     "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Johannes Vermeer features ultramarine pigment     "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Johannes Vermeer features ultramarine pigment An industry for the manufacture of fine blue and white pottery began in the 14th century in Jingdezhen, China, using white Chinese porcelain decorated with patterns of cobalt blue, imported from Persia. It was first made for the family of the Emperor of China, then was exported around the world, with designs for export adapted to European subjects and tastes. The Chinese blue style was also adapted by Dutch craftsmen in Delft and English craftsmen in Staffordshire in the 17th-18th centuries. in the 18th century, blue and white porcelains were produced by Josiah Wedgwood and other British craftsmen.[66] 19th-20th century     Beau Brummel (1776-1840) introduced the ancestor of the modern blue suit     Beau Brummel (1776-1840) introduced the ancestor of the modern blue suit     Queen Maria II of Portugal in a blue and gold embroidered gown (1835)     Queen Maria II of Portugal in a blue and gold embroidered gown (1835)     A California gold miner in blue jeans (1853)     A California gold miner in blue jeans (1853)     Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil in light blue gown (1853)     Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil in light blue gown (1853)     New York City police in 1871     New York City police in 1871 The early 19th century saw the ancestor of the modern blue business suit, created by Beau Brummel (1776-1840), who set fashion at the London Court. It also saw the invention of blue jeans, a highly popular form of workers's costume, invented in 1853 by Jacob W. Davis who used metal rivets to strengthen blue denim work clothing in the California gold fields. The invention was funded by San Francisco entrepreneur Levi Strauss, and spread around the world.[67]     Van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhône (1888). Blue used to create a mood or atmosphere. A cobalt blue sky, and cobalt or ultramarine water.     Van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhône (1888). Blue used to create a mood or atmosphere. A cobalt blue sky, and cobalt or ultramarine water.     Blue conveys melancholy in Picasso's The Old Guitarist (1903-1904).     Blue conveys melancholy in Picasso's The Old Guitarist (1903-1904).     "The Conversation" by Henri Matisse (1908-1912)     "The Conversation" by Henri Matisse (1908-1912) Recognizing the emotional power of blue, many artists made it the central element of paintings in the 19th and 20th centuries. They included Pablo Picasso, Pavel Kuznetsov and the Blue Rose art group, and Kandinsky and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) school.[68] Henri Matisse expressed deep emotions with blue:, "A certain blue penetrates your soul."[69] In the second half of the 20th century, painters of the abstract expressionist movement use blues to inspire ideas and emotions. Painter Mark Rothko observed that colour was "only an instrument;" his interest was "in expressing human emotions tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on."[70] In society and culture See also: Blue in culture Uniforms     Officers of the London Metropolitan Police     Officers of the London Metropolitan Police     Sailors of the Royal Navy     Sailors of the Royal Navy     Ukrainian police officer in Donetsk     Ukrainian police officer in Donetsk     Officers of the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil     Officers of the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil In the 17th century. The Prince-Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick William I of Prussia, chose Prussian blue as the new colour of Prussian military uniforms, because it was made with Woad, a local crop, rather than Indigo, which was produced by the colonies of Brandenburg's rival, England. It was worn by the German army until World War I, with the exception of the soldiers of Bavaria, who wore sky-blue.[71] In 1748, the Royal Navy adopted a dark shade of blue for the uniform of officers.[67] It was first known as marine blue, now known as navy blue.[72] The militia organized by George Washington selected blue and buff, the colours of the British Whig Party. Blue continued to be the colour of the field uniform of the US Army until 1902, and is still the colour of the dress uniform.[73] In the 19th century, police in the United Kingdom, including the Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police also adopted a navy blue uniform. Similar traditions were embraced in France and Austria.[74] It was also adopted at about the same time for the uniforms of the officers of the New York City Police Department.[67] Religion     In Hinduism, Krishna is depicted with blue skin     In Hinduism, Krishna is depicted with blue skin     Blue domes of the Church dedicated to St. Spirou in Firostefani, Santorini island (Thira), Greece.     Blue domes of the Church dedicated to St. Spirou in Firostefani, Santorini island (Thira), Greece.     Persian blue in Shah mosque (16th c.) in Isfahan, Iran     Persian blue in Shah mosque (16th c.) in Isfahan, Iran     The flag of Israel uses a special variety of blue, called tekhelet     The flag of Israel uses a special variety of blue, called tekhelet     Blue in Judaism: In the Torah,[75] the Israelites were commanded to put fringes, tzitzit, on the corners of their garments, and to weave within these fringes a "twisted thread of blue (tekhelet)".[76] In ancient days, this blue thread was made from a dye extracted from a Mediterranean snail called the hilazon. Maimonides claimed that this blue was the colour of "the clear noonday sky"; Rashi, the colour of the evening sky.[77] According to several rabbinic sages, blue is the colour of God's Glory.[78] Staring at this colour aids in mediation, bringing us a glimpse of the "pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity", which is a likeness of the Throne of God.[79] (The Hebrew word for glory.) Many items in the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary in the wilderness, such as the menorah, many of the vessels, and the Ark of the Covenant, were covered with blue cloth when transported from place to place.[80]     Blue in Christianity: Blue is particularly associated with the Virgin Mary. This was the result of a decree of Pope Gregory I (540-601) who ordered that all religious paintings should tell a story which was clearly comprehensible to all viewers, and that figures should be easily recognizable, especially that of the figure of Mary. If she was alone in the image, her costume was usually painted with the finest blue, ultramarine. If she was with Christ, her costume was usually painted with a less expensive pigment, to avoid outshining him.[81][82][83][84]     Blue in Hinduism: Many of the gods are depicted as having blue-coloured skin, particularly those associated with Vishnu, who is said to be the preserver of the world, and thus intimately connected to water. Krishna and Rama, Vishnu's avatars, are usually depicted with blue skin. Shiva, the destroyer deity, is also depicted in a light-blue hue, and is called neela kantha, or blue-throated, for having swallowed poison to save the universe during the Samudra Manthana, the churning of the ocean of milk. Blue is used to symbolically represent the fifth, and the throat, chakra (Vishuddha).[85]     Blue in Sikhism: The Akali Nihangs warriors wear all-blue attire. Guru Gobind Singh also has a blue roan horse. The Sikh Rehat Maryada states that the Nishan Sahib hoisted outside every Gurudwara should be xanthic (Basanti in Punjabi) or greyish blue (modern day navy blue) (Surmaaee in Punjabi) colour.[86][87]     Blue in Paganism: Blue is associated with peace, truth, wisdom, protection, and patience. It helps with healing, psychic ability, harmony, and understanding.[88] Sports     The Italian national football team     The Italian national football team     Serbian national volleyball team, 2012 Olympics     Serbian national volleyball team, 2012 Olympics In sports, blue is widely represented in uniforms in part because the majority of national teams wear the colours of their national flag. For example, the national men's football team of France are known as Les Bleus (the Blues). Similarly, Argentina, Italy, and Uruguay wear blue shirts.[89] The Asian Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation use blue text on their logos. Blue is well represented in baseball (Blue Jays, basketball, and American football, and Ice hockey. The Indian national cricket team wears blue uniform during One day international matches, as such the team is also referred to as "Men in Blue"." (wikipedia.org) "The color cyan, a greenish-blue, has notable tints and shades. It is one of the subtractive primary colors along with magenta, and yellow. The first recorded use of cyan blue as a color name was in 1879 ("cyan blue" being the name used for "cyan" in the 19th century).[1] Cyan in printing and the web colors cyan and aqua Process cyan Cyan (subtractive primary)   SubtractiveColor.svg Cyan, magenta, and yellow are the three subtractive primary colors used in printing. About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #00B7EB sRGBB (r, g, b)    (0, 183, 235) HSV (h, s, v)    (193°, 100%, 92%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (69, 74, 229°) Source    CMYK[2] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Brilliant greenish blue B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) In color printing, the shade of cyan called process cyan or pigment cyan is one of the three primary pigment colors which, along with yellow and magenta, constitute the three subtractive primary colors of pigment. (The secondary colors of pigment are blue, green and red.) As such, the CMYK printing process was invented in the 1890s, when newspapers began to publish color comic strips. Process cyan is not an RGB color, and there is no fixed conversion from CMYK primaries to RGB. Different formulations are used for printer's ink, so there can be variations in the printed color that is pure cyan ink. A typical formulation of process cyan is shown in the color box at right. The source of the color shown at right is the color cyan that is shown in the diagram located at the bottom of the tintbooks for CMYK printing.[2] The web color cyan (aqua) Cyan (additive secondary)   RGB illumination.jpg Red, green and blue lights, representing the three basic additive primary colors of the RGB color system, red, green, and blue. Cyan light is composed of equal amounts of green and blue light. About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #00FFFF sRGBB (r, g, b)    (0, 255, 255) HSV (h, s, v)    (180°, 100%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (91, 72, 192°) Source    X11 ISCC–NBS descriptor    Brilliant bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) The web color cyan, shown at the right, is one of the three secondary colors in the RGB color model, used for creating all colors on a computer or television display by mixing various combinations of red, green and blue light. The X11 name for this color is cyan; the HTML name for the same color is aqua. They are both composed of the same mixture of blue and green light, and are exactly the same color. Additional variations of cyan Azure (web) Azure (web)   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #F0FFFF sRGBB (r, g, b)    (240, 255, 255) HSV (h, s, v)    (180°, 6%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (99, 8, 192°) Source    X11 ISCC–NBS descriptor    Very pale green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) In an artistic context, this color could also be called azure mist or cyan mist.[citation needed] Despite its name, this color is a lighter shade of cyan rather than a shade of azure. Blue-green Main article: Blue-green Blue-green   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #0D98BA sRGBB (r, g, b)    (13, 152, 186) HSV (h, s, v)    (192°, 93%, 73%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (58, 56, 224°) Source    Crayola ISCC–NBS descriptor    Strong greenish blue B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Blue-green has been a Crayola color since 1930. Caribbean Current Caribbean Current   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #006D6F sRGBB (r, g, b)    (0, 109, 111) HSV (h, s, v)    (181°, 100%, 44%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (41, 33, 195°) Source    Behr ISCC–NBS descriptor    Moderate bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Displayed at right is the color Caribbean Current. Celeste Main article: Sky blue § Celeste Celeste   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #B2FFFF sRGBB (r, g, b)    (178, 255, 255) HSV (h, s, v)    (180°, 30%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (95, 38, 192°) Source    Il dizionario dei colori[3] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Very light bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) At right is displayed the color celeste. Bleu celeste ("sky blue") is a rarely occurring tincture in heraldry (not being one of the seven main colors or metals or the three "staynard colors"). This tincture is sometimes also called ciel or simply celeste. It is depicted in a lighter shade than the range of shades of the more traditional tincture azure, which is the standard blue used in heraldry.[4] It has been used rarely since the 17th century,[5] gaining popularity after the First World War. Charleston green Main article: Shades of black (colors) § Charleston green Charleston green   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #232B2B sRGBB (r, g, b)    (35, 43, 43) HSV (h, s, v)    (180°, 19%, 17%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (17, 3, 192°) Source    Internet (Duron Paints) ISCC–NBS descriptor    Blackish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Charleston green is an extremely dark shade of cyan. The name Charleston green originated after the American Civil War, approximately 1865, when during Reconstruction, it was widely used to paint homes in Charleston, South Carolina. Dark cyan Dark cyan   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #008B8B sRGBB (r, g, b)    (0, 139, 139) HSV (h, s, v)    (180°, 100%, 55%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (52, 41, 192°) Source    X11 ISCC–NBS descriptor    Strong bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) At right is displayed the web color dark cyan. Electric blue Electric blue   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #7DF9FF sRGBB (r, g, b)    (125, 249, 255) HSV (h, s, v)    (183°, 51%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (91, 55, 197°) Source    [Unsourced] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Brilliant bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Main article: Electric blue (color) Electric blue is a color close to cyan that is a representation of the color of lightning, an electric spark, and argon signs; it is named after the ionized air glow produced during electrical discharges. The first recorded use of electric blue as a color name in English was in 1884.[6] Keppel Keppel   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #3AB09E sRGBB (r, g, b)    (58, 176, 158) HSV (h, s, v)    (171°, 67%, 69%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (65, 46, 174°) Source    Xona.com Color List ISCC–NBS descriptor    Brilliant bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) At right is displayed the color keppel. The color name keppel has been in use since 2001, when it was promulgated as one of the colors on the Xona.com Color List. Light cyan Light cyan   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #E0FFFF sRGBB (r, g, b)    (224, 255, 255) HSV (h, s, v)    (180°, 12%, 100%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (98, 17, 192°) Source    X11 ISCC–NBS descriptor    Very pale green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) At right is displayed the web color light cyan. Light sea green Light sea green   Gfp-florida-miami-blue-green-water.jpg About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #20B2AA sRGBB (r, g, b)    (32, 178, 170) HSV (h, s, v)    (177°, 82%, 70%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (66, 50, 184°) Source    X11 ISCC–NBS descriptor    Brilliant bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) At right is displayed the web color light sea green. Midnight green Midnight green   Javon Hargrave, 2020.jpg Philadelphia Eagles player wearing the midnight-green uniform About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #004953 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (0, 73, 83) HSV (h, s, v)    (187°, 100%, 33%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (28, 24, 211°) Source    Colorhexa,[7] the Philadelphia Eagles 2017 Media Guide[8] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Dark bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Midnight green (sometimes also called Eagle green) is a dark cyan.[9] It (or more specifically #004C54) has been the primary team color for the National Football League (NFL)'s Philadelphia Eagles since 1996.[10][11] Moonstone Moonstone   Moonstone B.jpg A moonstone About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #3AA8C1 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (58, 168, 193) HSV (h, s, v)    (191°, 70%, 76%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (64, 51, 217°) Source    Crayola B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Displayed at right is the color moonstone. It was formulated by Crayola in 1994 as part of their Gem Tones range of crayons. It is a slightly dark shade of cyan that is reminiscent of the bluish-green glow of some moonstones. Myrtle green Myrtle green   Myrtle wattle (7157893964).jpg Acacia myrtifolia About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #317873 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (49, 120, 115) HSV (h, s, v)    (176°, 59%, 47%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (46, 29, 184°) Source    ISCC-NBS[12] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Moderate bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Myrtle green, also called myrtle, is a color which is a representation of the color of the leaves of the myrtle plant. The first recorded use of myrtle green as a color name in English was in 1835.[13] Myrtle is the official designation of the green stripes on Waterloo rugby club's shirts, the green of Hunslet rugby league club, the green (along with the cardinal red) stripes of the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the green of the blazers, sports kit and scarf of St. Aloysius' College, Glasgow. It is also one of the school colors of Lane Technical College Prep High School in Chicago, the other being old gold. The baggy green, the cricket cap worn by Australian Test cricketers since around the turn of the twentieth century, is myrtle green in color. Peacock blue Peacock blue   Lightmatter peacock.jpg Peacock (Pavo cristatus) About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #004958 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (0, 73, 88) HSV (h, s, v)    (190°, 100%, 35%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (28, 26, 219°) Source    NBS/ISCC – Plochere Color System ISCC–NBS descriptor    Dark greenish blue B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) The color peacock blue is a deep greenish blue, from the iridescent color of a peacock. As a color between blue and cyan, peacock blue has been used as the process-blue ink in four-color printing.[14] Kelly Moore Paint's "color of the year" for 2019 was their peacock blue.[15] Robin egg blue Main article: Robin egg blue Robin egg blue   American Robin Eggs in Nest.jpg A set of three Robin eggs in a nest About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #00CCCC sRGBB (r, g, b)    (0, 204, 204) HSV (h, s, v)    (180°, 100%, 80%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (75, 59, 192°) Source    Crayola ISCC–NBS descriptor    Brilliant bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) The color robin egg blue is displayed at right. The first recorded use of robin's egg blue as a color name in English was in 1873.[16] Skobeloff Skobeloff   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #007474 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (0, 116, 116) HSV (h, s, v)    (180°, 100%, 45%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (44, 35, 192°) Source    ISCC-NBS ISCC–NBS descriptor    Moderate bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) At right is displayed the color Skobeloff green. The first recorded use of Skobeloff green as a color name in English was in 1912.[17] Sky blue (Crayola) Sky blue (Crayola)   Summer evening blue sky view.jpg About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #80DAEB sRGBB (r, g, b)    (128, 218, 235) HSV (h, s, v)    (190°, 46%, 92%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (82, 46, 210°) Source    Crayola ISCC–NBS descriptor    Very light greenish blue B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Displayed at right is the color medium sky blue.[citation needed] This is the color that is called sky blue in Crayola crayons. This color was formulated by Crayola in 1958. "Sky blue" appears in the 32, 48, 64, 96 and 120 packs of crayons. Teal Main article: Teal Teal   Eurasian Teal male RWD.jpg Eurasian teal About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #008080 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (0, 128, 128) HSV (h, s, v)    (180°, 100%, 50%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (48, 38, 192°) Source    HTML/CSS[18] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Moderate bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) At right is displayed the web color teal. The first recorded use of teal as a color name in English was in 1917.[19] Tiffany Blue Main article: Tiffany Blue Tiffany Blue   Tiffany & Co - Boxes (49790579546).jpg A pair of Tiffany & Co. boxes showing the distinct shade of cyan About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #81D8D0 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (129, 216, 208) HSV (h, s, v)    (174°, 40%, 85%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (81, 40, 183°) Source    [1]Tiffany.com[not specific enough to verify] ISCC–NBS descriptor    Very light bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Tiffany Blue is the colloquial name for the light medium robin egg blue color associated with Tiffany & Co., the New York City jewelry company. The color was used on the cover of Tiffany's Blue Book, first published in 1845.[20] Since then Tiffany & Co. has used the color extensively on promotional materials, including boxes and bags. The Tiffany Blue color is protected as a color trademark by Tiffany & Co. in some jurisdictions including the U.S.[21][22] Turquoise Main article: Turquoise (color) Turquoise   Turquoise (Blue Moon Mine, Candelaria Hills, west of Tonopah, Nevada, USA) 3.jpg Polished turquoise stone About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #40E0D0 sRGBB (r, g, b)    (64, 224, 208) HSV (h, s, v)    (174°, 71%, 88%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (81, 59, 179°) Source    X11 ISCC–NBS descriptor    Brilliant bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) At right is displayed the X11 color named turquoise. Turquoise is the name of a greenish blue color, based on the gem of the same name. The word turquoise comes from the French for Turkish, as the gem was originally imported from Turkey.[23][24] The first recorded use of turquoise as a color name in English was in 1573.[25] Perhaps owing to sharing its name with a mineral, turquoise is currently a more common term in English than other cyan-like colors.[26] Verdigris Main article: Verdigris Verdigris   Verdigris.JPG Verdigris About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #43B3AE sRGBB (r, g, b)    (67, 179, 174) HSV (h, s, v)    (177°, 63%, 70%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (67, 45, 187°) Source    https://encycolorpedia.com/43b3ae ISCC–NBS descriptor    Brilliant bluish green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Verdigris is the common name for a green pigment obtained through the application of acetic acid to copper plates[27] or the natural patina formed when copper, brass or bronze is weathered and exposed to air or seawater over a period of time. The name verdigris comes from the Middle English vertegrez, from the Old French verte grez, an alteration of vert-de-Grèce ("green of Greece"). Used as a pigment in paintings and other art objects (as green color) since ancient Greece, it was originally made by hanging copper plates over hot vinegar in a sealed pot until a green crust formed on the copper. The vivid green color of copper(II) acetate made this form of verdigris a much used pigment. Until the 19th century, verdigris was the most vibrant green pigment available and was frequently used in painting. Verdigris was sometimes used to illustrate cyan colors in early color wheels.[28] Zomp Zomp   About these coordinates     Color coordinates Hex triplet    #39A78D sRGBB (r, g, b)    (57, 167, 141) HSV (h, s, v)    (166°, 66%, 65%) CIELChuv (L, C, h)    (62, 46, 165°) Source    Resene ISCC–NBS descriptor    Brilliant green B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) Displayed at right is the color zomp. Zomp is one of the colors on the Resene Color List, a color list widely popular in Australia and New Zealand.[citation needed] The color was formulated in 2007." (wikipedia.org) "Googly eyes, or wiggle eyes, are small plastic crafting items used to imitate eyeballs. Googly eyes traditionally are composed of a white plastic or card backing covered by a clear, hard-plastic shell, encapsulating a black plastic disk. The combination of a black circle over a white disk mimics the appearance of the sclera and pupil of the eye to humorous effect. The inner black disk is allowed to move freely within the larger clear plastic shell, which makes the eyes appear to move when the googly eyes are tilted or shaken. One googly eye attached to the side of the metal piece of a hammer A googly eye attached to a hammer The plastic shells come in a variety of sizes ranging from diameters of 3⁄16 inch (4.8 mm) to over 24 inches (610 mm). The inner disks come in a variety of colors including pink, blue, yellow, red and green. Googly eyes are used for a variety of arts and crafts projects including pipe cleaner farm animals, silly sock puppets, mischievous pranks, and other creations. Googly eyes may also be attached to inanimate objects in order to give the objects a "silly" or "cute" appearance. This use often personifies the objects for a humorous effect, or to make an object less threatening and more appealing.[1][2][3] History The name "googly eyes" may refer back to the early 20th century comic strip Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, in which Barney Google had characteristically exaggerated eyes that inspired a hit 1923 song "Barney Google (with the Goo-Goo-Googly Eyes)".[1] Five fluffy Weepul toys with a pair of googly eyes each; orange, red, white, blue, and orange in order, all with white and black googly eyes Five Weepuls in various colors They were prominently used in the Weepul promotional toys, invented in the 1970s by Tom Blundell, an executive of the toy company BIPO, who stuck googly eyes to a small pom-pom out of boredom. The inventor claimed that 400 million were sold between 1971 and 2012. Similar toys have appeared since then, like the "Wuppies", a toy which was popular in the Netherlands in the 1980s, and the "Pirilampo Mágico" ("Magic Firefly"), a popular toy sold annually in Portugal since 1987 as a fundraising product for CERCI, a co-op specialized in helping the mentally disabled.[4][5] Recent iterations of this toy have replaced its googly eyes and pom-pom appearance for one made fully in plastic.[6] A pair of small googly eyes attached to a black drainpipe against the wall of a building Googly eyes glued to a drainpipe Medium-sized googly eyes attached to the upper half of a red circular sign with a thick white horizontal line signifying "no entry" in front of a row of buildings Googly eyes stuck to a no entry sign Beginning in the 2000s, a trend called "eyebombing" emerged of sticking googly eyes to objects in the urban environment.[7] The inspiration for the movement has been claimed by French artist Do Benracassa, in his 1980s project "Ça Vous Regarde".[8] It was then developed by two unnamed Danish artists, and a group called the Googly Eyes Foundation emerged to spread the phenomenon.[9][10] The Guinness World Records recognises a pair of googly eyes measuring 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter made in 2019 as the largest ever.[11] In popular culture In a 2008 Saturday Night Live sketch, host Christopher Walken portrays a gardener who is afraid of plants. He puts googly eyes on the plants to make them less intimidating.[12] Googly eyes are featured in the 2022 film Everything Everywhere All at Once[13] and its promotional materials." (wikipedia.org) " "Easter,[nb 1] also called Pascha[nb 2] (Aramaic, Greek, Latin) or Resurrection Sunday,[nb 3] is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD.[12][13] It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus Christ, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. Easter-observing Christians commonly refer to the week before Easter as Holy Week, which in Western Christianity begins on Palm Sunday (marking the entrance of Jesus in Jerusalem), includes Spy Wednesday (on which the betrayal of Jesus is mourned),[14] and contains the days of the Easter Triduum including Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Maundy and Last Supper,[15][16] as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus.[17] In Eastern Christianity, the same days and events are commemorated with the names of days all starting with "Holy" or "Holy and Great"; and Easter itself might be called "Great and Holy Pascha", "Easter Sunday", "Pascha" or "Sunday of Pascha". In Western Christianity, Eastertide, or the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the 50th day, Pentecost Sunday. In Eastern Christianity, the Paschal season ends with Pentecost as well, but the leave-taking of the Great Feast of Pascha is on the 39th day, the day before the Feast of the Ascension. Easter and its related holidays are moveable feasts, not falling on a fixed date; its date is computed based on a lunisolar calendar (solar year plus Moon phase) similar to the Hebrew calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established only two rules, namely independence from the Hebrew calendar and worldwide uniformity. No details for the computation were specified; these were worked out in practice, a process that took centuries and generated a number of controversies. It has come to be the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March.[18] Even if calculated on the basis of the more accurate Gregorian calendar, the date of that full moon sometimes differs from that of the astronomical first full moon after the March equinox.[19] The English term is derived from the Saxon spring festival Ēostre; Easter is also linked to the Jewish Passover by its name (Hebrew: פֶּסַח pesach, Aramaic: פָּסחָא pascha are the basis of the term Pascha), by its origin (according to the synoptic Gospels, both the crucifixion and the resurrection took place during the week of Passover)[20][21] and by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In most European languages, both the Christian Easter and the Jewish Passover are called by the same name; and in the older English versions of the Bible, as well, the term Easter was used to translate Passover.[22] Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include sunrise services, midnight vigils, exclamations and exchanges of Paschal greetings, clipping the church (England),[23] and decoration and the communal breaking of Easter eggs (a symbol of the empty tomb).[24][25][26] The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection in Western Christianity,[27][28] traditionally decorates the chancel area of churches on this day and for the rest of Eastertide.[29] Additional customs that have become associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include Easter parades, communal dancing (Eastern Europe), the Easter Bunny and egg hunting.[30][31][32][33][34] There are also traditional Easter foods that vary by region and culture. Etymology Main articles: Ēostre and Names of Easter The modern English term Easter, cognate with modern Dutch ooster and German Ostern, developed from an Old English word that usually appears in the form Ēastrun, -on, or -an; but also as Ēastru, -o; and Ēastre or Ēostre.[nb 4] Bede provides the only documentary source for the etymology of the word, in his eighth-century The Reckoning of Time. He wrote that Ēosturmōnaþ (Old English 'Month of Ēostre', translated in Bede's time as "Paschal month") was an English month, corresponding to April, which he says "was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month".[35] In Latin and Greek, the Christian celebration was, and still is, called Pascha (Greek: Πάσχα), a word derived from Aramaic פסחא (Paskha), cognate to Hebrew פֶּסַח (Pesach). The word originally denoted the Jewish festival known in English as Passover, commemorating the Jewish Exodus from slavery in Egypt.[36][37] As early as the 50s of the 1st century, Paul the Apostle, writing from Ephesus to the Christians in Corinth,[38] applied the term to Christ, and it is unlikely that the Ephesian and Corinthian Christians were the first to hear Exodus 12 interpreted as speaking about the death of Jesus, not just about the Jewish Passover ritual.[39] In most languages, Germanic languages such as English being exceptions, the feast is known by names derived from Greek and Latin Pascha.[9][40] Pascha is also a name by which Jesus himself is remembered in the Orthodox Church, especially in connection with his resurrection and with the season of its celebration.[41] Others call the holiday "Resurrection Sunday" or "Resurrection Day," after the Greek: Ἀνάστασις, romanized: Anastasis, lit. 'Resurrection' day.[10][11][42][43] Theological significance Easter celebrates Jesus' supernatural resurrection from the dead, which is one of the chief tenets of the Christian faith.[44] The resurrection established Jesus as the Son of God and is cited as proof that God will righteously judge the world.[45] Paul writes that, for those who trust in Jesus's death and resurrection, "death is swallowed up in victory." The First Epistle of Peter declares that God has given believers "a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead". Christian theology holds that, through faith in the working of God, those who follow Jesus are spiritually resurrected with him so that they may walk in a new way of life and receive eternal salvation, and can hope to be physically resurrected to dwell with him in the Kingdom of Heaven.[45] Easter is linked to Passover and the Exodus from Egypt recorded in the Old Testament through the Last Supper, sufferings, and crucifixion of Jesus that preceded the resurrection.[40] According to the three Synoptic Gospels, Jesus gave the Passover meal a new meaning, as in the upper room during the Last Supper he prepared himself and his disciples for his death.[40] He identified the bread and cup of wine as his body, soon to be sacrificed, and his blood, soon to be shed. The Apostle Paul states, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, "Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. This refers to the requirement in Jewish law that Jews eliminate all chametz, or leavening, from their homes in advance of Passover, and to the allegory of Jesus as the Paschal lamb.[46][47] Early Christianity The Last Supper celebrated by Jesus and his disciples. The early Christians, too, would have celebrated this meal to commemorate Jesus's death and subsequent resurrection. As the Gospels affirm that both the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus during the week of Passover, the first Christians timed the observance of the annual celebration of the resurrections in relation to Passover.[48] Direct evidence for a more fully formed Christian festival of Pascha (Easter) begins to appear in the mid-2nd century. Perhaps the earliest extant primary source referring to Easter is a mid-2nd-century Paschal homily attributed to Melito of Sardis, which characterizes the celebration as a well-established one.[49] Evidence for another kind of annually recurring Christian festival, those commemorating the martyrs, began to appear at about the same time as the above homily.[50] While martyrs' days (usually the individual dates of martyrdom) were celebrated on fixed dates in the local solar calendar, the date of Easter was fixed by means of the local Jewish[51] lunisolar calendar. This is consistent with the celebration of Easter having entered Christianity during its earliest, Jewish, period, but does not leave the question free of doubt.[52] The ecclesiastical historian Socrates Scholasticus attributes the observance of Easter by the church to the perpetuation of pre-Christian custom, "just as many other customs have been established", stating that neither Jesus nor his Apostles enjoined the keeping of this or any other festival. Although he describes the details of the Easter celebration as deriving from local custom, he insists the feast itself is universally observed.[53] Date A stained-glass window depicting the Passover Lamb, a concept integral to the foundation of Easter[40][54] Easter and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts, in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars (both of which follow the cycle of the sun and the seasons). Instead, the date for Easter is determined on a lunisolar calendar similar to the Hebrew calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established two rules, independence of the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity, which were the only rules for Easter explicitly laid down by the Council. No details for the computation were specified; these were worked out in practice, a process that took centuries and generated a number of controversies. (See also Computus and Reform of the date of Easter.) In particular, the Council did not decree that Easter must fall on Sunday, but this was already the practice almost everywhere.[55] In Western Christianity, using the Gregorian calendar, Easter always falls on a Sunday between 22 March and 25 April,[56] within about seven days after the astronomical full moon.[57] The following day, Easter Monday, is a legal holiday in many countries with predominantly Christian traditions.[58] Eastern Orthodox Christians base Paschal date calculations on the Julian calendar. Because of the thirteen-day difference between the calendars between 1900 and 2099, 21 March corresponds, during the 21st century, to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar. Since the Julian calendar is no longer used as the civil calendar of the countries where Eastern Christian traditions predominate, Easter varies between 4 April and 8 May in the Gregorian calendar. Also, because the Julian "full moon" is always several days after the astronomical full moon, the eastern Easter is often later, relative to the visible lunar phases, than western Easter.[59] Among the Oriental Orthodox, some churches have changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar and the date for Easter, as for other fixed and moveable feasts, is the same as in the Western church.[60] Computations Main article: Date of Easter In 725, Bede succinctly wrote, "The Sunday following the full Moon which falls on or after the equinox will give the lawful Easter."[61] However, this does not precisely reflect the ecclesiastical rules. The full moon referred to (called the Paschal full moon) is not an astronomical full moon, but the 14th day of a lunar month. Another difference is that the astronomical equinox is a natural astronomical phenomenon, which can fall on 19, 20 or 21 March,[62] while the ecclesiastical date is fixed by convention on 21 March.[63] In applying the ecclesiastical rules, Christian churches use 21 March as the starting point in determining the date of Easter, from which they find the next full moon, etc. The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches continue to use the Julian calendar. Their starting point in determining the date of Orthodox Easter is also 21 March but according to the Julian reckoning, which in the current century corresponds to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar.[citation needed] In addition, the lunar tables of the Julian calendar are currently five days behind those of the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, the Julian computation of the Paschal full moon is a full five days later than the astronomical full moon. The result of this combination of solar and lunar discrepancies is divergence in the date of Easter in most years (see table).[64] Easter is determined on the basis of lunisolar cycles. The lunar year consists of 30-day and 29-day lunar months, generally alternating, with an embolismic month added periodically to bring the lunar cycle into line with the solar cycle. In each solar year (1 January to 31 December inclusive), the lunar month beginning with an ecclesiastical new moon falling in the 29-day period from 8 March to 5 April inclusive is designated as the paschal lunar month for that year.[65] Easter is the third Sunday in the paschal lunar month, or, in other words, the Sunday after the paschal lunar month's 14th day. The 14th of the paschal lunar month is designated by convention as the Paschal full moon, although the 14th of the lunar month may differ from the date of the astronomical full moon by up to two days.[65] Since the ecclesiastical new moon falls on a date from 8 March to 5 April inclusive, the paschal full moon (the 14th of that lunar month) must fall on a date from 22 March to 18 April inclusive.[64] The Gregorian calculation of Easter was based on a method devised by the Calabrian doctor Aloysius Lilius (or Lilio) for adjusting the epacts of the Moon,[66] and has been adopted by almost all Western Christians and by Western countries which celebrate national holidays at Easter. For the British Empire and colonies, a determination of the date of Easter Sunday using Golden Numbers and Sunday letters was defined by the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 with its Annexe. This was designed to match exactly the Gregorian calculation.[citation needed] Controversies over the date Main article: Easter controversy A five-part Russian Orthodox icon depicting the Easter story. Eastern Orthodox Christians use a different computation for the date of Easter than the Western churches. The precise date of Easter has at times been a matter of contention. By the later 2nd century, it was widely accepted that the celebration of the holiday was a practice of the disciples and an undisputed tradition. The Quartodeciman controversy, the first of several Easter controversies, arose concerning the date on which the holiday should be celebrated.[citation needed] The term "Quartodeciman" refers to the practice of ending the Lenten fast on Nisan 14 of the Hebrew calendar, "the LORD's passover".[67] According to the church historian Eusebius, the Quartodeciman Polycarp (bishop of Smyrna, by tradition a disciple of John the Apostle) debated the question with Anicetus (bishop of Rome). The Roman province of Asia was Quartodeciman, while the Roman and Alexandrian churches continued the fast until the Sunday following (the Sunday of Unleavened Bread), wishing to associate Easter with Sunday. Neither Polycarp nor Anicetus persuaded the other, but they did not consider the matter schismatic either, parting in peace and leaving the question unsettled.[citation needed] Controversy arose when Victor, bishop of Rome a generation after Anicetus, attempted to excommunicate Polycrates of Ephesus and all other bishops of Asia for their Quartodecimanism. According to Eusebius, a number of synods were convened to deal with the controversy, which he regarded as all ruling in support of Easter on Sunday.[68] Polycrates (circa 190), however, wrote to Victor defending the antiquity of Asian Quartodecimanism. Victor's attempted excommunication was apparently rescinded, and the two sides reconciled upon the intervention of bishop Irenaeus and others, who reminded Victor of the tolerant precedent of Anicetus.[citation needed] Quartodecimanism seems to have lingered into the 4th century, when Socrates of Constantinople recorded that some Quartodecimans were deprived of their churches by John Chrysostom[69] and that some were harassed by Nestorius.[70] It is not known how long the Nisan 14 practice continued. But both those who followed the Nisan 14 custom, and those who set Easter to the following Sunday, had in common the custom of consulting their Jewish neighbors to learn when the month of Nisan would fall, and setting their festival accordingly. By the later 3rd century, however, some Christians began to express dissatisfaction with the custom of relying on the Jewish community to determine the date of Easter. The chief complaint was that the Jewish communities sometimes erred in setting Passover to fall before the Northern Hemisphere spring equinox.[71][72] The Sardica paschal table[73] confirms these complaints, for it indicates that the Jews of some eastern Mediterranean city (possibly Antioch) fixed Nisan 14 on dates well before the spring equinox on multiple occasions.[74] Because of this dissatisfaction with reliance on the Jewish calendar, some Christians began to experiment with independent computations.[nb 5] Others, however, believed that the customary practice of consulting Jews should continue, even if the Jewish computations were in error.[citation needed] First Council of Nicaea (325 AD) Main article: First Council of Nicaea This controversy between those who advocated independent computations, and those who wished to continue the custom of relying on the Jewish calendar, was formally resolved by the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which endorsed changing to an independent computation by the Christian community in order to celebrate in common. This effectively required the abandonment of the old custom of consulting the Jewish community in those places where it was still used. Epiphanius of Salamis wrote in the mid-4th century:     the emperor ... convened a council of 318 bishops ... in the city of Nicaea ... They passed certain ecclesiastical canons at the council besides, and at the same time decreed in regard to the Passover [i.e., Easter] that there must be one unanimous concord on the celebration of God's holy and supremely excellent day. For it was variously observed by people; some kept it early, some between [the disputed dates], but others late. And in a word, there was a great deal of controversy at that time.[77] Canons[78] and sermons[79] condemning the custom of computing Easter's date based on the Jewish calendar indicate that this custom (called "protopaschite" by historians) did not die out at once, but persisted for a time after the Council of Nicaea. Dionysius Exiguus, and others following him, maintained that the 318 bishops assembled at Nicaea had specified a particular method of determining the date of Easter; subsequent scholarship has refuted this tradition.[80] In any case, in the years following the council, the computational system that was worked out by the church of Alexandria came to be normative. The Alexandrian system, however, was not immediately adopted throughout Christian Europe. Following Augustalis' treatise De ratione Paschae (On the Measurement of Easter), Rome retired the earlier 8-year cycle in favor of Augustalis' 84-year lunisolar calendar cycle, which it used until 457. It then switched to Victorius of Aquitaine's adaptation of the Alexandrian system.[81][82] Because this Victorian cycle differed from the unmodified Alexandrian cycle in the dates of some of the Paschal Full Moons, and because it tried to respect the Roman custom of fixing Easter to the Sunday in the week of the 16th to the 22nd of the lunar month (rather than the 15th to the 21st as at Alexandria), by providing alternative "Latin" and "Greek" dates in some years, occasional differences in the date of Easter as fixed by Alexandrian rules continued.[81][82] The Alexandrian rules were adopted in the West following the tables of Dionysius Exiguus in 525.[citation needed] Early Christians in Britain and Ireland also used an 84-year cycle. From the 5th century onward this cycle set its equinox to 25 March and fixed Easter to the Sunday falling in the 14th to the 20th of the lunar month inclusive.[83][84] This 84-year cycle was replaced by the Alexandrian method in the course of the 7th and 8th centuries. Churches in western continental Europe used a late Roman method until the late 8th century during the reign of Charlemagne, when they finally adopted the Alexandrian method. Since 1582, when the Roman Catholic Church adopted the Gregorian calendar while most of Europe used the Julian calendar, the date on which Easter is celebrated has again differed.[85] The Greek island of Syros, whose population is divided almost equally between Catholics and Orthodox, is one of the few places where the two Churches share a common date for Easter, with the Catholics accepting the Orthodox date—a practice helping considerably in maintaining good relations between the two communities.[86] Conversely, Orthodox Christians in Finland celebrate Easter according to the Western Christian date.[87] Proposed reforms of the date See also: Reform of the date of Easter The congregation lighting their candles from the new flame, just as the priest has retrieved it from the altar – note that the picture is flash-illuminated; all electric lighting is off, and only the oil lamps in front of the Iconostasis remain lit. (St. George Greek Orthodox Church, Adelaide). In the 20th and 21st centuries, some individuals and institutions have propounded changing the method of calculating the date for Easter, the most prominent proposal being the Sunday after the second Saturday in April. Despite having some support, proposals to reform the date have not been implemented.[88] An Orthodox congress of Eastern Orthodox bishops, which included representatives mostly from the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Serbian Patriarch, met in Constantinople in 1923, where the bishops agreed to the Revised Julian calendar.[89] The original form of this calendar would have determined Easter using precise astronomical calculations based on the meridian of Jerusalem.[90][91] However, all the Eastern Orthodox countries that subsequently adopted the Revised Julian calendar adopted only that part of the revised calendar that applied to festivals falling on fixed dates in the Julian calendar. The revised Easter computation that had been part of the original 1923 agreement was never permanently implemented in any Orthodox diocese.[89] In the United Kingdom, Parliament passed the Easter Act 1928 to change the date of Easter to be the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April (or, in other words, the Sunday in the period from 9 to 15 April). However, the legislation has not been implemented, although it remains on the Statute book and could be implemented, subject to approval by the various Christian churches.[92] At a summit in Aleppo, Syria, in 1997, the World Council of Churches (WCC) proposed a reform in the calculation of Easter which would have replaced the present divergent practices of calculating Easter with modern scientific knowledge taking into account actual astronomical instances of the spring equinox and full moon based on the meridian of Jerusalem, while also following the tradition of Easter being on the Sunday following the full moon.[93] The recommended World Council of Churches changes would have sidestepped the calendar issues and eliminated the difference in date between the Eastern and Western churches. The reform was proposed for implementation starting in 2001, and despite repeated calls for reform, it was not ultimately adopted by any member body.[94][95] In January 2016, the Anglican Communion, Coptic Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Church, and Roman Catholic Church again considered agreeing on a common, universal date for Easter, while also simplifying the calculation of that date, with either the second or third Sunday in April being popular choices.[96] In November 2022, the Patriarch of Constantinople said that conversations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches had begun to determine a common date for the celebration of Easter. The agreement is expected to be reached for the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in 2025.[97] Table of the dates of Easter by Gregorian and Julian calendars See also: List of dates for Easter The WCC presented comparative data of the relationships: Table of dates of Easter 2001–2025 (in Gregorian dates)[98] Year     Full Moon     Jewish Passover [note 1]     Astronomical Easter [note 2]     Gregorian Easter     Julian Easter 2001     8 April     15 April 2002     28 March     31 March     5 May 2003     16 April     17 April     20 April     27 April 2004     5 April     6 April     11 April 2005     25 March     24 April     27 March     1 May 2006     13 April     16 April     23 April 2007     2 April     3 April     8 April 2008     21 March     20 April     23 March     27 April 2009     9 April     12 April     19 April 2010     30 March     4 April 2011     18 April     19 April     24 April 2012     6 April     7 April     8 April     15 April 2013     27 March     26 March     31 March     5 May 2014     15 April     20 April 2015     4 April     5 April     12 April 2016     23 March     23 April     27 March     1 May 2017     11 April     16 April 2018     31 March     1 April     8 April 2019     21 March     20 April     24 March     21 April     28 April 2020     8 April     9 April     12 April     19 April 2021     28 March     4 April     2 May 2022     16 April     17 April     24 April 2023     6 April     9 April     16 April 2024     25 March     23 April     31 March     5 May 2025     13 April     20 April Jewish Passover is on Nisan 15 of its calendar. It commences at sunset preceding the date indicated (as does Easter in many traditions).     Astronomical Easter is the first Sunday after the astronomical full moon after the astronomical March equinox as measured at the meridian of Jerusalem according to this WCC proposal. Position in the church year Further information: Liturgical year Western Christianity Easter and other named days and day ranges around Lent and Easter in Western Christianity, with the fasting days of Lent numbered In most branches of Western Christianity, Easter is preceded by Lent, a period of penitence that begins on Ash Wednesday, lasts 40 days (not counting Sundays), and is often marked with fasting. The week before Easter, known as Holy Week, is an important time for observers to commemorate the final week of Jesus' life on earth.[99] The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday, with the Wednesday before Easter being known as Spy Wednesday (or Holy Wednesday). The last three days before Easter are Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday (sometimes referred to as Silent Saturday).[100] Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday respectively commemorate Jesus's entry in Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the crucifixion. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are sometimes referred to as the Easter Triduum (Latin for "Three Days"). Many churches begin celebrating Easter late in the evening of Holy Saturday at a service called the Easter Vigil. The week beginning with Easter Sunday is called Easter Week or the Octave of Easter, and each day is prefaced with "Easter", e.g. Easter Monday (a public holiday in many countries), Easter Tuesday (a much less widespread public holiday), etc. Easter Saturday is therefore the Saturday after Easter Sunday. The day before Easter is properly called Holy Saturday. Eastertide, or Paschaltide, the season of Easter, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts until the day of Pentecost, seven weeks later. Eastern Christianity In Eastern Christianity, the spiritual preparation for Easter/Pascha begins with Great Lent, which starts on Clean Monday and lasts for 40 continuous days (including Sundays). Great Lent ends on a Friday, and the next day is Lazarus Saturday. The Vespers which begins Lazarus Saturday officially brings Great Lent to a close, although the fast continues through the following week, i.e. Holy Week. After Lazarus Saturday comes Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and finally Easter/Pascha itself, and the fast is broken immediately after the Paschal Divine Liturgy.[citation needed] The Paschal Vigil begins with the Midnight Office, which is the last service of the Lenten Triodion and is timed so that it ends a little before midnight on Holy Saturday night. At the stroke of midnight the Paschal celebration itself begins, consisting of Paschal Matins, Paschal Hours, and Paschal Divine Liturgy.[101] The liturgical season from Easter to the Sunday of All Saints (the Sunday after Pentecost) is known as the Pentecostarion (the "50 days"). The week which begins on Easter Sunday is called Bright Week, during which there is no fasting, even on Wednesday and Friday. The Afterfeast of Easter lasts 39 days, with its Apodosis (leave-taking) on the day before the Feast of the Ascension. Pentecost Sunday is the 50th day from Easter (counted inclusively).[102] In the Pentecostarion published by Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece, the Great Feast Pentecost is noted in the synaxarion portion of Matins to be the 8th Sunday of Pascha. However, the Paschal greeting of "Christ is risen!" is no longer exchanged among the faithful after the Apodosis of Pascha. Liturgical observance The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, fresco by Piero della Francesca, 1463 Western Christianity The Easter festival is kept in many different ways among Western Christians. The traditional, liturgical observation of Easter, as practised among Roman Catholics, Lutherans,[103] and some Anglicans begins on the night of Holy Saturday with the Easter Vigil which follows an ancient liturgy involving symbols of light, candles and water and numerous readings form the Old and New Testament.[104] Services continue on Easter Sunday and in a number of countries on Easter Monday. In parishes of the Moravian Church, as well as some other denominations such as the Methodist Churches, there is a tradition of Easter Sunrise Services[105] often starting in cemeteries[106] in remembrance of the biblical narrative in the Gospels, or other places in the open where the sunrise is visible.[107] In some traditions, Easter services typically begin with the Paschal greeting: "Christ is risen!" The response is: "He is risen indeed. Alleluia!"[108] Eastern Christianity Icon of the Resurrection by an unknown 17th-century Bulgarian artist Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholics and Byzantine Rite Lutherans have a similar emphasis on Easter in their calendars, and many of their liturgical customs are very similar.[109] Preparation for Easter begins with the season of Great Lent, which begins on Clean Monday.[110] While the end of Lent is Lazarus Saturday, fasting does not end until Easter Sunday.[111] The Orthodox service begins late Saturday evening, observing the Jewish tradition that evening is the start of liturgical holy days.[111] The church is darkened, then the priest lights a candle at midnight, representing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Altar servers light additional candles, with a procession which moves three times around the church to represent the three days in the tomb.[111] The service continues early into Sunday morning, with a feast to end the fasting. An additional service is held later that day on Easter Sunday.[111] Non-observing Christian groups Many Puritans saw traditional feasts of the established Anglican Church, such as All Saints' Day and Easter, as abominations because the Bible does not mention them.[112][113] Conservative Reformed denominations such as the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America likewise reject the celebration of Easter as a violation of the regulative principle of worship and what they see as its non-Scriptural origin.[114][115] Members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), as part of their historic testimony against times and seasons, do not celebrate or observe Easter or any traditional feast days of the established Church, believing instead that "every day is the Lord's Day," and that elevation of one day above others suggests that it is acceptable to do un-Christian acts on other days.[116][117] During the 17th and 18th centuries, Quakers were persecuted for this non-observance of Holy Days.[118] Groups such as the Restored Church of God reject the celebration of Easter, seeing it as originating in a pagan spring festival adopted by the Roman Catholic Church.[119][non-primary source needed] Jehovah's Witnesses maintain a similar view, observing a yearly commemorative service of the Last Supper and the subsequent execution of Christ on the evening of Nisan 14 (as they calculate the dates derived from the lunar Hebrew calendar). It is commonly referred to by many Witnesses as simply "The Memorial". Jehovah's Witnesses believe that such verses as Luke 22:19–20 and 1 Corinthians 11:26 constitute a commandment to remember the death of Christ though not the resurrection.[120][non-primary source needed] Easter celebrations around the world Main article: Easter customs In countries where Christianity is a state religion, or those with large Christian populations, Easter is often a public holiday. As Easter always falls on a Sunday, many countries in the world also recognize Easter Monday as a public holiday. Some retail stores, shopping malls, and restaurants are closed on Easter Sunday. Good Friday, which occurs two days before Easter Sunday, is also a public holiday in many countries, as well as in 12 U.S. states. Even in states where Good Friday is not a holiday, many financial institutions, stock markets, and public schools are closed - the few banks that are normally open on regular Sundays are closed on Easter.[citation needed] Boris Kustodiev's Pascha Greetings (1912) shows traditional Russian khristosovanie (exchanging a triple kiss), with such foods as red eggs, kulich and paskha in the background. In the Nordic countries Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday are public holidays,[121] and Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays.[122] In Denmark, Iceland and Norway Maundy Thursday is also a public holiday. It is a holiday for most workers, except those operating some shopping malls which keep open for a half-day. Many businesses give their employees almost a week off, called Easter break.[123] Schools are closed between Palm Sunday and Easter Monday. According to a 2014 poll, 6 of 10 Norwegians travel during Easter, often to a countryside cottage; 3 of 10 said their typical Easter included skiing.[124] In the Netherlands both Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are national holidays. Like first and second Christmas Day, they are both considered Sundays, which results in a first and a second Easter Sunday, after which the week continues to a Tuesday.[125] In Greece Good Friday and Saturday as well as Easter Sunday and Monday are traditionally observed public holidays. It is custom for employees of the public sector to receive Easter bonuses as a gift from the state.[126] In Commonwealth nations Easter Day is rarely a public holiday, as is the case for celebrations which fall on a Sunday. In the United Kingdom both Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays, except for Scotland, where only Good Friday is a bank holiday.[127] In Canada, Easter Monday is a statutory holiday for federal employees. In the Canadian province of Quebec, either Good Friday or Easter Monday are statutory holidays (although most companies give both).[128] In Australia, Easter is associated with harvest time.[129] Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays across all states and territories. "Easter Saturday" (the Saturday before Easter Sunday) is a public holiday in every state except Tasmania and Western Australia, while Easter Sunday itself is a public holiday only in New South Wales. Easter Tuesday is additionally a conditional public holiday in Tasmania, varying between award, and was also a public holiday in Victoria until 1994.[130] In the United States, because Easter falls on a Sunday, which is already a non-working day for federal and state employees, it has not been designated as a federal or state holiday.[131] Easter parades are held in many American cities, involving festive strolling processions.[30] Easter eggs Main article: Easter egg Traditional customs The egg is an ancient symbol of new life and rebirth.[132] In Christianity it became associated with Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection.[133] The custom of the Easter egg originated in the early Christian community of Mesopotamia, who stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at his crucifixion.[134][135] As such, for Christians, the Easter egg is a symbol of the empty tomb.[25][26] The oldest tradition is to use dyed chicken eggs. In the Eastern Orthodox Church Easter eggs are blessed by a priest[136] both in families' baskets together with other foods forbidden during Great Lent and alone for distribution or in church or elsewhere.     Traditional red Easter eggs for blessing by a priest     Traditional red Easter eggs for blessing by a priest     A priest blessing baskets with Easter eggs and other foods forbidden during Great Lent     A priest blessing baskets with Easter eggs and other foods forbidden during Great Lent     A priest distributing blessed Easter eggs after blessing the Soyuz rocket     A priest distributing blessed Easter eggs after blessing the Soyuz rocket Easter eggs are a widely popular symbol of new life among the Eastern Orthodox but also in folk traditions in Slavic countries and elsewhere. A batik-like decorating process known as pisanka produces intricate, brilliantly colored eggs. The celebrated House of workshops created exquisite jewelled Easter eggs for the Russian Imperial family from 1885 to 1916.[137] Modern customs A modern custom in the Western world is to substitute decorated chocolate, or plastic eggs filled with candy such as jellybeans; as many people give up sweets as their Lenten sacrifice, individuals enjoy them at Easter after having abstained from them during the preceding forty days of Lent.[138]     Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb, are a popular cultural symbol of Easter.[24]     Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb, are a popular cultural symbol of Easter.[24]     Marshmallow rabbits, candy eggs and other treats in an Easter basket     Marshmallow rabbits, candy eggs and other treats in an Easter basket     An Easter egg decorated with the Easter Bunny     An Easter egg decorated with the Easter Bunny Manufacturing their first Easter egg in 1875, British chocolate company Cadbury sponsors the annual Easter egg hunt which takes place in over 250 National Trust locations in the United Kingdom.[139][140] On Easter Monday, the President of the United States holds an annual Easter egg roll on the White House lawn for young children.[141] Easter Bunny In some traditions, the children put out their empty baskets for the Easter bunny to fill while they sleep. They wake to find their baskets filled with candy eggs and other treats.[142][31] A custom originating in Germany,[142] the Easter Bunny is a popular legendary anthropomorphic Easter gift-giving character analogous to Santa Claus in American culture. Many children around the world follow the tradition of coloring hard-boiled eggs and giving baskets of candy.[31] Historically, foxes, cranes and storks were also sometimes named as the mystical creatures.[142] Since the rabbit is a pest in Australia, the Easter Bilby is available as an alternative.[143] Music [icon]    This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2021)     Marc-Antoine Charpentier:         Messe pour le samedi de Pâques, for soloists, chorus and continuo, H.8 (1690).         Prose pour le jour de Pâques, for 3 voices and continuo, H.13 (1670)         Chant joyeux du temps de Pâques, for soloists, chorus, 2 treble viols, and continuo, H.339 (1685).         O filii à 3 voix pareilles, for 3 voices, 2 flutes, and continuo, H.312 (1670).         Pour Pâques, for 2 voices, 2 flutes, and continuo, H.308 (1670).         O filii pour les voix, violons, flûtes et orgue, for soloists, chorus, flutes, strings, and continuo, H.356 (1685?).     Louis-Nicolas Clérambault: Motet pour le Saint jour de Pâques, in F major, opus 73     André Campra: Au Christ triomphant, cantata for Easter     Dieterich Buxtehude: Cantatas BuxWV 15 and BuxWV 62     Carl Heinrich Graun: Easter Oratorio     Henrich Biber: Missa Christi resurgentis C.3 (1674)     Michael Praetorius: Easter Mass     Johann Sebastian Bach: Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 4; Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret, BWV 31; Oster-Oratorium, BWV 249.     Georg Philipp Telemann, more than 100 cantatas for Eastertide.     Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens: Sonata n° 2 "O Filii", Sonata n° 3 "Pascale", for organ.     Charles Gounod: Messe solennelle de Pâques (1883).     Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: La Grande Pâque russe, symphonic overture (1888).     Sergueï Vassilievitch Rachmaninov: Suite pour deux pianos n°1 – Pâques, op. 5, n° 4 (1893)." (wikipedia.org) "Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs,[1] are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tradition, which continues to be used in Central and Eastern Europe, is to use dyed and painted chicken eggs. Although eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility and rebirth,[2] in Christianity, for the celebration of Eastertide, Easter eggs symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus, from which Jesus was resurrected.[3][4][5] In addition, one ancient tradition was the staining of Easter eggs with the colour red "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed as at that time of his crucifixion."[3][6] This custom of the Easter egg, according to many sources, can be traced to early Christians of Mesopotamia, and from there it spread into Eastern Europe and Siberia through the Orthodox Churches, and later into Europe through the Catholic and Protestant Churches.[6][7][8][9] Mediaevalist scholars normally conclude that the custom of Easter eggs has its roots in the prohibition of eggs during Lent after which, on Easter, they have been blessed for the occasion.[10][11] A modern custom in some places is to substitute chocolate eggs wrapped in coloured foil, hand-carved wooden eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as chocolate. History The practice of decorating eggshells is quite ancient,[12] with decorated, engraved ostrich eggs found in Africa which are 60,000 years old.[13] In the pre-dynastic period of Egypt and the early cultures of Mesopotamia and Crete, eggs were associated with death and rebirth, as well as with kingship, with decorated ostrich eggs, and representations of ostrich eggs in gold and silver, were commonly placed in graves of the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians as early as 5,000 years ago.[14] These cultural relationships may have influenced early Christian and Islamic cultures in those areas, as well as through mercantile, religious, and political links from those areas around the Mediterranean.[15] Red-coloured Easter egg with Christian cross, from the Saint Kosmas Aitolos Greek Orthodox Monastery Eggs in Christianity carry a Trinitarian symbolism as shell, yolk, and albumen are three parts of one egg.[16] According to many sources, the Christian custom of Easter eggs was adopted from Persian Nowruz tradition into the early Christians of Mesopotamia, who stained them with red colouring "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at His crucifixion".[7][17][6][8][9] The Christian Church officially adopted the custom, regarding the eggs as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus, with the Roman Ritual, the first edition of which was published in 1610 but which has texts of much older date, containing among the Easter Blessings of Food, one for eggs, along with those for lamb, bread, and new produce.[8][9]     Lord, let the grace of your blessing + come upon these eggs, that they be healthful food for your faithful who eat them in thanksgiving for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever. Sociology professor Kenneth Thompson discusses the spread of the Easter egg throughout Christendom, writing that "use of eggs at Easter seems to have come from Persia into the Greek Christian Churches of Mesopotamia, thence to Russia and Siberia through the medium of Orthodox Christianity. From the Greek Church the custom was adopted by either the Roman Catholics or the Protestants and then spread through Europe."[7] Both Thompson, as well as British orientalist Thomas Hyde state that in addition to dyeing the eggs red, the early Christians of Mesopotamia also stained Easter eggs green and yellow.[6][7] Peter Gainsford maintains that the association between eggs and Easter most likely arose in western Europe during the Middle Ages as a result of the fact that Catholic Christians were prohibited from eating eggs during Lent, but were allowed to eat them when Easter arrived.[10][11] Influential 19th century folklorist and philologist Jacob Grimm speculates, in the second volume of his Deutsche Mythologie, that the folk custom of Easter eggs among the continental Germanic peoples may have stemmed from springtime festivities of a Germanic goddess known in Old English as Ēostre (namesake of modern English Easter) and possibly known in Old High German as *Ostara (and thus namesake of Modern German Ostern 'Easter'). However, despite Grimm's speculation, there is no evidence to connect eggs with Ostara.[11] The use of eggs as favors or treats at Easter originated when they were prohibited during Lent.[10][11] A common practice in England in the medieval period was for children to go door-to-door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children prior to their fast.[11] Although one of the Christian traditions are to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with candy such as jelly beans; as many people give up sweets as their Lenten sacrifice, individuals enjoy them at Easter after having abstained from them during the preceding forty days of Lent.[18] These eggs can be hidden for children to find on Easter morning, which may be left by the Easter Bunny. They may also be put in a basket filled with real or artificial straw to resemble a bird's nest. Traditions and customs Main articles: Egg decorating, Pisanica (Croatian), Pysanka, and Święconka Croatian Easter basket Blessing of Easter foods in Poland Red coloured Easter eggs Lenten tradition The Easter egg tradition may also have merged into the celebration of the end of the privations of Lent. Traditionally, eggs are among the foods forbidden fast days, including all of Lent, an observance which continues among the Eastern Christian Churches but has fallen into disuse in Western Christianity (although something similar has recently been instituted by a few as the “Daniel Fast"). Historically, it has been traditional to use up all of the household's eggs before Lent began. This established the tradition of Pancake Day being celebrated on Shrove Tuesday. This day, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday when Lent begins, is also known as Mardi Gras, a French phrase which translates as "Fat Tuesday" to mark the last consumption of eggs and dairy before Lent begins. In the Orthodox Church, Great Lent begins on Clean Monday, rather than Wednesday, so the household's dairy products would be used up in the preceding week, called Cheesefare Week. During Lent, since chickens would not stop producing eggs during this time, a larger than usual store might be available at the end of the fast. This surplus, if any, had to be eaten quickly to prevent spoiling. Then, with the coming of Easter, the eating of eggs resumes. Some families cook a special meatloaf with eggs in it to be eaten with the Easter dinner. One would have been forced to hard boil the eggs that the chickens produced so as not to waste food, and for this reason the Spanish dish hornazo (traditionally eaten on and around Easter) contains hard-boiled eggs as a primary ingredient. In Hungary, eggs are used sliced in potato casseroles around the Easter period. Symbolism and related customs Some Christians symbolically link the cracking open of Easter eggs with the empty tomb of Jesus.[19] In the Orthodox churches, Easter eggs are blessed by the priest at the end of the Paschal Vigil (which is equivalent to Holy Saturday), and distributed to the faithful. The egg is seen by followers of Christianity as a symbol of resurrection: while being dormant it contains a new life sealed within it.[3][4] Similarly, in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, the so-called święconka, i.e. blessing of decorative baskets with a sampling of Easter eggs and other symbolic foods, is one of the most enduring and beloved Polish traditions on Holy Saturday. During Paschaltide, in some traditions the Pascal greeting with the Easter egg is even extended to the deceased. On either the second Monday or Tuesday of Pascha, after a memorial service people bring blessed eggs to the cemetery and bring the joyous paschal greeting, "Christ has risen", to their beloved departed (see Radonitza). In Greece, women traditionally dye the eggs with onion skins and vinegar on Thursday (also the day of Communion). These ceremonial eggs are known as kokkina avga. They also bake tsoureki for the Easter Sunday feast.[20] Red Easter eggs are sometimes served along the centerline of tsoureki (braided loaf of bread).[21][22] In Egypt, it is a tradition to decorate boiled eggs during Sham el-Nessim holiday, which falls every year after the Eastern Christian Easter. Coincidentally, every Passover, Jews place a hard-boiled egg on the Passover ceremonial plate, and the celebrants also eat hard-boiled eggs dipped in salt water as part of the ceremony. Colouring Easter eggs before and after colouring Heated wax paint used to decorate traditional Easter Eggs in the Czech Republic The dyeing of Easter eggs in different colours is commonplace, with colour being achieved through boiling the egg in natural substances (such as, onion peel (brown colour), oak or alder bark or walnut nutshell (black), beet juice (pink) etc.), or using artificial colourings. A greater variety of colour was often provided by tying on the onion skin with different coloured woollen yarn. In the North of England these are called pace-eggs or paste-eggs, from a dialectal form of Middle English pasche. King Edward I's household accounts in 1290 list an item of ‘one shilling and sixpence for the decoration and distribution of 450 Pace-eggs!’,[23] which were to be coloured or gilded and given to members of the royal household.[24] Traditionally in England, eggs were wrapped in onion skins and boiled to make their shells look like mottled gold, or wrapped in flowers and leaves first in order to leave a pattern, which parallels a custom practised in traditional Scandinavian culture.[25] Eggs could also be drawn on with a wax candle before staining, often with a person's name and date on the egg.[24] Pace Eggs were generally eaten for breakfast on Easter Sunday breakfast. Alternatively, they could be kept as decorations, used in egg-jarping (egg tapping) games, or given to Pace Eggers. In more recent centuries in England, eggs have been stained with coffee grains[24] or simply boiled and painted in their shells.[26] In the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, Easter eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Christ, with further symbolism being found in the hard shell of the egg symbolizing the sealed Tomb of Christ — the cracking of which symbolized his resurrection from the dead. The tradition of red easter eggs was used by the Russian Orthodox Church.[27] The tradition to dyeing the easter eggs in an Onion tone exists in the cultures of Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, Russia, Czechia, Romania, Slovenia, and Israel.[28] The colour is made by boiling onion peel in water.[29][30] Patterning When boiling them with onion skins, leaves can be attached prior to dyeing to create leaf patterns. The leaves are attached to the eggs before they are dyed with a transparent cloth to wrap the eggs with like inexpensive muslin or nylon stockings, leaving patterns once the leaves are removed after the dyeing process.[31][32] These eggs are part of Easter custom in many areas and often accompany other traditional Easter foods. Passover haminados are prepared with similar methods. Pysanky[33] are Ukrainian Easter eggs, decorated using a wax-resist (batik) method. The word comes from the verb pysaty, "to write", as the designs are not painted on, but written with beeswax. Decorating eggs for Easter using wax resistant batik is a popular method in some other eastern European countries. Use of Easter eggs in decorations In some Mediterranean countries, especially in Lebanon, chicken eggs are boiled and decorated by dye and/or painting and used as decoration[34] around the house. Then, on Easter Day, young kids would duel with them saying 'Christ is resurrected, Indeed, He is', breaking and eating them. This also happens in Georgia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. In Easter Sunday friends and family hit each other's egg with their own. The one whose egg does not break is believed to be in for good luck in the future. In Germany, eggs decorate trees and bushes as Easter egg trees, and in several areas public wells as Osterbrunnen. There used to be a custom in Ukraine, during Easter celebrations to have krashanky on a table in a bowl with wheatgrass. The number of the krashanky equalled the number of departed family members.[35]     Ukrainian Easter eggs     Ukrainian Easter eggs     Easter eggs from Sorbs     Easter eggs from Sorbs     Easter eggs from Lithuania     Easter eggs from Lithuania     Perforated egg from Germany, Sleeping Beauty     Perforated egg from Germany, Sleeping Beauty     Norwegian Easter eggs     Norwegian Easter eggs     Easter eggs from Greece     Easter eggs from Greece     Perforated eggs     Perforated eggs     Easter eggs from France     Easter eggs from France     American Easter egg from the White House Washington, D.C.     American Easter egg from the White House Washington, D.C.     Pace eggs boiled with onion skins and leaf patterns.     Pace eggs boiled with onion skins and leaf patterns.     Easter eggs decorated with straw     Easter eggs decorated with straw     Easter egg from Poland     Easter egg from Poland     Washi egg from Japan     Washi egg from Japan Easter egg games Eggs hidden for an Easter egg hunt Egg hunts An egg hunt is a game in which decorated eggs, which may be hard-boiled chicken eggs, chocolate eggs, or artificial eggs containing candies, are hidden for children to find. The eggs often vary in size, and may be hidden both indoors and outdoors.[36] When the hunt is over, prizes may be given for the largest number of eggs collected, or for the largest or the smallest egg.[36] Some central European nations (Czechs and Slovaks etc.) have a tradition of gathering eggs by gaining them from the females in return of whipping them with a pony-tail shaped whip made out of fresh willow branches and splashing them with water, by the Ruthenians called polivanja, which is supposed to give them health and beauty. Cascarones, a Latin American tradition now shared by many US States with high Hispanic demographics, are emptied and dried chicken eggs stuffed with confetti and sealed with a piece of tissue paper. The eggs are hidden in a similar tradition to the American Easter egg hunt and when found the children (and adults) break them over each other's heads. In order to enable children to take part in egg hunts despite visual impairment, eggs have been created that emit various clicks, beeps, noises, or music so that visually impaired children can easily hunt for Easter eggs.[37] Egg rolling Egg rolling is also a traditional Easter egg game played with eggs at Easter. In the United Kingdom, Germany, and other countries children traditionally rolled eggs down hillsides at Easter.[38] This tradition was taken to the New World by European settlers,[38][39] and continues to this day each Easter with an Easter egg roll on the White House lawn. Rutherford B. Hayes started the tradition of the Easter Egg Roll at the White House.[40] The Easter Monday Egg Roll was normally held at the United States Capitol, however, by the mid-1870s, Congress passed a law forbidding the Capitol’s grounds to be used for the activity due to the toll it was taking on the landscape.[40] The law was enforced in 1877, but the rain that year canceled all outdoor activities.[40] In 1878, Hayes was approached by many young easter egg rollers who asked for the event to be held at the White House.[40] He invited any children who wanted to roll eggs to come to the White House in order to do so. The tradition still occurs every year on the South Lawn of the White House. Now, there are many other games and activities that take place such as “Egg Picking” and “Egg Ball.”[40] Different nations have different versions of the Easter Egg roll game. Egg tapping Eggs after an egg tapping competition (red wins) In the North of England, during Eastertide, a traditional game is played where hard boiled pace eggs are distributed and each player hits the other player's egg with their own. This is known as "egg tapping", "egg dumping", or "egg jarping". The winner is the holder of the last intact egg. The annual egg jarping world championship is held every year over Easter in Peterlee, Durham.[41] It is also practiced in Italy (where it is called scuccetta), Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Lebanon, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia (where it is called turčanje or trkanje), Ukraine, Russia, and other countries. In parts of Austria, Bavaria and German-speaking Switzerland it is called Ostereiertitschen or Eierpecken. In parts of Europe it is also called epper, presumably from the German name Opfer, meaning "offering" and in Greece it is known as tsougrisma. In South Louisiana, this practice is called pocking eggs[42][43] and is slightly different. The Louisiana Creoles hold that the winner eats the eggs of the losers in each round. In the Greek Orthodox tradition, red eggs are also cracked together when people exchange Easter greetings. Egg dance Egg dance is a traditional Easter game in which eggs are laid on the ground or floor and the goal is to dance among them without damaging any eggs[44] which originated in Germany. Pace egg plays The Pace Egg plays are traditional village plays, with a rebirth theme. The drama takes the form of a combat between the hero and villain, in which the hero is killed and brought back to life. The plays take place in England during Easter. In some countries like Sweden, Norway, Poland and Germany eggs are used as a table decoration hanging on a tree-branch Variants Chocolate Chocolate eggs first appeared at the court of Louis XIV in Versailles and in 1725 the widow Giambone in Turin started producing chocolate eggs by filling empty chicken egg shells with molten chocolate.[45] In 1873 J.S. Fry & Sons of England introduced the first chocolate Easter egg in Britain. Manufacturing their first Easter egg in 1875, Cadbury created the modern chocolate Easter egg after developing a pure cocoa butter that could be moulded into smooth shapes.[46] In Western cultures, the giving of chocolate eggs is now commonplace, with 80 million Easter eggs sold in the UK alone. Formerly, the containers Easter eggs were sold in contained large amounts of plastic, although in the United Kingdom this has gradually been replaced with recyclable paper and cardboard.[47]     Chocolate Easter egg bunny     Chocolate Easter egg bunny     Easter egg with candy.     Easter egg with candy.     Gladys as a Chocolate Easter Bunny with Easter eggs     Gladys as a Chocolate Easter Bunny with Easter eggs Marzipan eggs In the Indian state of Goa, the Goan Catholic version of marzipan is used to make easter eggs. In the Philippines, mazapán de pili (Spanish for "pili marzipan") is made from pili nuts.     Marzipan easter eggs     Marzipan easter eggs Artificial eggs The jewelled Easter eggs made by the firm for the two last Russian Tsars are regarded as masterpieces of decorative arts. Most of these creations themselves contained hidden surprises such as clock-work birds, or miniature ships. In Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and other Central European countries' folk traditions, Easter eggs are carved from wood and hand-painted, and making artificial eggs out of porcelain for ladies is common.[48]: 45  Easter eggs are frequently depicted in sculpture, including a 8-metre (27 ft) sculpture of a pysanka standing in Vegreville, Alberta.     Giant easter egg, Bariloche, Argentina     Giant easter egg, Bariloche, Argentina     Giant pysanka from Vegreville, Alberta, Canada     Giant pysanka from Vegreville, Alberta, Canada     Giant easter egg or pisanica in Zagreb, Croatia     Giant easter egg or pisanica in Zagreb, Croatia     Easter egg sculpture in Gogolin, Poland     Easter egg sculpture in Gogolin, Poland     Giant easter egg in Suceava, Romania     Giant easter egg in Suceava, Romania Legends Maria Magdalene, 1899 by Viktor M. Vasnetsov, depicted as one of the Myrrhbearers. Christian traditions While the origin of Easter eggs can be explained in the symbolic terms described above, among followers of Eastern Christianity the legend says that Mary Magdalene was bringing cooked eggs to share with the other women at the tomb of Jesus, and the eggs in her basket miraculously turned bright red when she saw the risen Christ.[49] A different, but not necessarily conflicting legend concerns Mary Magdalene's efforts to spread the Gospel. According to this tradition, after the Ascension of Jesus, Mary went to the Emperor of Rome and greeted him with "Christ has risen," whereupon he pointed to an egg on his table and stated, "Christ has no more risen than that egg is red." After making this statement it is said the egg immediately turned blood red.[50][51] Red Easter eggs, known as kokkina avga (κόκκινα αυγά) in Greece and krashanki in Ukraine, are an Easter tradition and a distinct type of Easter egg prepared by various Orthodox Christian peoples.[52][53][54][55][56] The red eggs are part of Easter custom in many areas and often accompany other traditional Easter foods. Passover haminados are prepared with similar methods. Dark red eggs are a tradition in Greece and represent the blood of Christ shed on the cross.[57] The practice dates to the early Christian church in Mesopotamia.[8][9] In Greece, superstitions of the past included the custom of placing the first-dyed red egg at the home's iconostasis (place where icons are displayed) to ward off evil. The heads and backs of small lambs were also marked with the red dye to protect them. Parallels in other faiths Eggs at the Iranian Nowruz The egg is widely used as a symbol of the start of new life, just as new life emerges from an egg when the chick hatches out.[2] Painted eggs are used at the Iranian spring holidays, the Nowruz that marks the first day of spring or Equinox, and the beginning of the year in the Persian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical Northward equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. The painted eggs symbolize fertility and are displayed on the Nowruz table, called Haft-Seen together with various other symbolic objects. There are sometimes one egg for each member of the family. The ancient Zoroastrians painted eggs for Nowruz, their New Year celebration, which falls on the Spring equinox. The tradition continues among Persians of Islamic, Zoroastrian, and other faiths today.[58] The Nowruz tradition has existed for at least 2,500 years. The sculptures on the walls of Persepolis show people carrying eggs for Nowruz to the king.[citation needed] The Neopagan holiday of Ostara occurs at roughly the same time as Easter. While it is often claimed that the use of painted eggs is an ancient, pre-Christian component of the celebration of Ostara, there are no historical accounts that ancient celebrations included this practice, apart from the Old High German lullaby which is believed by most to be a modern fabrication. Rather, the use of painted eggs has been adopted under the assumption that it might be a pre-Christian survival. In fact, modern scholarship has been unable to trace any association between eggs and a supposed goddess named Ostara before the 19th century, when early folklorists began to speculate about the possibility.[59] There are good grounds for the association between hares (later termed Easter bunnies) and bird eggs, through folklore confusion between hares' forms (where they raise their young) and plovers' nests.[60] In Judaism, a hard-boiled egg is an element of the Passover Seder, representing festival sacrifice. The children's game of hunting for the afikomen (a half-piece of matzo) has similarities to the Easter egg hunt tradition, by which the child who finds the hidden matzah will be awarded a prize. In other homes, the children hide the afikoman and a parent must look for it; when the parents give up, the children demand a prize for revealing its location." (wikipedia.org) "A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehair, baleen, or metal wire can be used. Baskets are generally woven by hand. Some baskets are fitted with a lid, while others are left open on top. Uses On the left side are live fowl baskets. Directly to the right are flat baskets used for selling shrimp and small fish in Haikou City, Hainan Province, People's Republic of China Baskets serve utilitarian as well as aesthetic purposes. Some baskets are ceremonial, that is religious, in nature.[1] While baskets are usually used for harvesting, storage and transport,[2] specialized baskets are used as sieves for a variety of purposes, including cooking, processing seeds or grains, tossing gambling pieces, rattles, fans, fish traps, and laundry. History Prior to the invention of woven baskets, people used tree bark to make simple containers. These containers could be used to transport gathered food and other items, but crumbled after only a few uses. Weaving strips of bark or other plant material to support the bark containers would be the next step, followed by entirely woven baskets. The last innovation appears to be baskets so tightly woven that they could hold water.[citation needed] Depending on soil conditions, baskets may or may not be preserved in the archaeological record. Sites in the Middle East show that weaving techniques were used to make mats and possibly also baskets, circa 8000 BCE.[citation needed] Twined baskets date back to 7000 [1] in Oasisamerica. Baskets made with interwoven techniques were common at 3000 BCE. Baskets were originally designed as multi-purpose vessels to carry and store materials and to keep stray items about the home. The plant life available in a region affects the choice of material, which in turn influences the weaving technique. Rattan and other members of the Arecaceae or palm tree family, the thin grasses of temperate regions, and broad-leaved tropical bromeliads each require a different method of twisting and braiding to be made into a basket. The practice of basket making has evolved into an art. Artistic freedom allows basket makers a wide choice of colors, materials, sizes, patterns, and details. The carrying of a basket on the head, particularly by rural women, has long been practiced. Representations of this in Ancient Greek art are called Canephorae. Figurative and literary usage The phrase "to hell in a handbasket" means to deteriorate rapidly. The origin of this use is unclear. "Basket" is sometimes used as an adjective for a person who is born out of wedlock.[3] This occurs more commonly in British English. "Basket" also refers to a bulge in a man's crotch.[3] The word “basket” is frequently used in the colloquial “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” In this sense, the basket is a metaphor for a chance at success. Materials [icon]    This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2018) Palm baskets (front) and wicker baskets (back) Basket makers use a wide range of materials:     Wicker     Straw     Plastic     Metal     Bamboo     Palm     Carbon fiber" (wikipedia.org) "Egg decorating is the art or craft of decorating eggs. It has been a popular art form throughout history because of the attractive, smooth, oval shape of the egg, and the ancient associations with eggs as a religious and cultural symbol. Egg decorating has been associated with Easter in recent times, but was practiced independently by many ancient cultures. History Eggs are an important symbol in folklore and mythology, often representing life and rebirth, healing and protection, and sometimes featuring in creation myths.[1] This means that traditional egg decorating existed throughout the world. Africa The oldest eggshells, decorated with engraved hatched patterns, are dated for 60,000 years ago and were found at Diepkloof Rock Shelter in South Africa.[2] In Egypt, it is a tradition to decorate boiled eggs during Sham el-Nessim, a spring-ushering national holiday celebrated by Egyptians regardless of religion, which falls every year on the Monday following the Eastern Christian Easter. Australia In Australia, emu eggs are carved and the art created by them is known as kalti paarti carving.[3] The art (which dates to the nineteenth century) is practised by people of different cultures, but it is associated most strongly with Aboriginal art. Eurasia A Carthaginian decorated egg from the Iron Age A Punic ostrich egg was found in Villaricos, Spain. Orthodox Christians in Mesopotamia used red dyed eggs to symbolise the blood of Christ, which is a possible origin of the Easter egg. Red eggs feature in Greek Easter celebrations, where people play games which involve tapping the red eggs against each other.[1] Persian culture has a tradition of egg decorating, which takes place during the spring equinox. This time marks Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Family members decorate eggs together and place them in a bowl. It is said that it is from this cultural tradition that the Christian practice on Easter ultimately originates, having been transmitted via the Slavs. Long ago Slavic and Iranic peoples formed a close continuum sharing many traditions and innovations in religion and language and in the first millennium many formerly Iranic peoples would eventually become Turkic or Slavic in identity. The tradition of Nowruz, which has its roots in at least ancient Zoroastrian tradition, is practised by Persian and Turkic peoples of various faiths, albeit the tradition of egg decorating may be even older than the holiday as known modernly. Eastern European and North Asian cultures, particularly Slavic ones, have a strong tradition of decorating eggs which date back at least to times when Slavic paganism was the predominant religion. Chicken, duck and goose eggs are decorated variously with batik dyeing, applique, scratch-work, wax encaustic and carving. Egg decorating is particularly popular in Ukraine, where as in many Slavic countries, the eggs are called Pysanky. The renowned Russian court artist and jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé made exquisitely decorated precious metal and gemstone eggs for the Romanovs. These Fabergé eggs resembled standard decorated eggs, but they were made from gold and precious stones. In addition to the Slavs, many Turkic peoples also maintain closely-related traditions of egg dying, associated with the coming of Spring and the Persian New Year Nowruz. In many parts of Europe, egg decorating took place before the widespread adoption of Christianity. It is unclear to what extent paganism and Christianity influenced the practice. The earliest example of egg decoration in Europe was a decorated egg found buried with a Slavic girl in modern-day Worms, Germany, dating to the 5th century, when eggs were not yet associated with Easter. This was near the beginning of the Slavic migrations into Europe. Slavic paganism had ties to other early Eastern Indo-European religions such as old Persian religions, albeit often with peculiar influence from neighbouring Finnic peoples as well.[1] In Northern England, the tradition of Pace Egging (derived from Latin pascha meaning 'Easter') involved boiling eggs in onion skins to dye their shells a golden colour,[4] or alternatively covered in leaves or flowers inside an onion skin to leave a patterned imprint.[1] The tradition is practiced on Easter but is thought to be pre-Christian in origin.[5] Scandinavian traditions also involved boiling eggs with flowers inside onion skins to colour them.[1] Another type of egg decoration is the Hungarian practice of egg shoeing, which requires goose eggs and miniature horse-shoes, made of iron or lead. The current world record of egg shoeing is 1119 shoes on a single ostrich egg.[6] Techniques and modern practices     This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Any bird egg can be facilitated in this process, but most often the larger and stronger the eggshell is, the more favoured it will be by decorators. Goose, duck and hens' eggs are usually "blown" – a hole is made in each end and the contents are blown out. The egg is then either carved, dyed, painted, appliqued or otherwise decorated (using a number of different techniques). Egg decoration is particularly popular in Eastern European countries. Some eggs, like emu or ostrich eggs, are so large and strong that the shells may be carved without breaking. Decorations on emu eggs take advantage of the contrast in colours between the dark green mottled outside of the shell and the shell-underlay. Many modern egg artists decorate their "art eggs" by etching or carving, while others paint or cover their eggs with different materials, from paper and fabric to polymer clay and are often painted in bright, spring colours. Using eggs as a canvas has become so popular that special terms have developed with the art form.[7] Egg artists also have their own guild, the International Egg Art Guild, which promotes the craft of egg artistry. In the United States there are shows in many states where artists show their eggs and vendors of "egging" supplies can be found. Each year, the White House chooses a decorated egg from each state to display at easter. " (wikipedia.org) "Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs,[1] are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tradition, which continues to be used in Central and Eastern Europe, is to use dyed and painted chicken eggs. Although eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility and rebirth,[2] in Christianity, for the celebration of Eastertide, Easter eggs symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus, from which Jesus was resurrected.[3][4][5] In addition, one ancient tradition was the staining of Easter eggs with the colour red "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed as at that time of his crucifixion."[3][6] This custom of the Easter egg, according to many sources, can be traced to early Christians of Mesopotamia, and from there it spread into Eastern Europe and Siberia through the Orthodox Churches, and later into Europe through the Catholic and Protestant Churches.[6][7][8][9] Mediaevalist scholars normally conclude that the custom of Easter eggs has its roots in the prohibition of eggs during Lent after which, on Easter, they have been blessed for the occasion.[10][11] A modern custom in some places is to substitute chocolate eggs wrapped in coloured foil, hand-carved wooden eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as chocolate. History The practice of decorating eggshells is quite ancient,[12] with decorated, engraved ostrich eggs found in Africa which are 60,000 years old.[13] In the pre-dynastic period of Egypt and the early cultures of Mesopotamia and Crete, eggs were associated with death and rebirth, as well as with kingship, with decorated ostrich eggs, and representations of ostrich eggs in gold and silver, were commonly placed in graves of the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians as early as 5,000 years ago.[14] These cultural relationships may have influenced early Christian and Islamic cultures in those areas, as well as through mercantile, religious, and political links from those areas around the Mediterranean.[15] Red-coloured Easter egg with Christian cross, from the Saint Kosmas Aitolos Greek Orthodox Monastery Eggs in Christianity carry a Trinitarian symbolism as shell, yolk, and albumen are three parts of one egg.[16] According to many sources, the Christian custom of Easter eggs was adopted from Persian Nowruz tradition into the early Christians of Mesopotamia, who stained them with red colouring "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at His crucifixion".[7][17][6][8][9] The Christian Church officially adopted the custom, regarding the eggs as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus, with the Roman Ritual, the first edition of which was published in 1610 but which has texts of much older date, containing among the Easter Blessings of Food, one for eggs, along with those for lamb, bread, and new produce.[8][9]     Lord, let the grace of your blessing + come upon these eggs, that they be healthful food for your faithful who eat them in thanksgiving for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever. Sociology professor Kenneth Thompson discusses the spread of the Easter egg throughout Christendom, writing that "use of eggs at Easter seems to have come from Persia into the Greek Christian Churches of Mesopotamia, thence to Russia and Siberia through the medium of Orthodox Christianity. From the Greek Church the custom was adopted by either the Roman Catholics or the Protestants and then spread through Europe."[7] Both Thompson, as well as British orientalist Thomas Hyde state that in addition to dyeing the eggs red, the early Christians of Mesopotamia also stained Easter eggs green and yellow.[6][7] Peter Gainsford maintains that the association between eggs and Easter most likely arose in western Europe during the Middle Ages as a result of the fact that Catholic Christians were prohibited from eating eggs during Lent, but were allowed to eat them when Easter arrived.[10][11] Influential 19th century folklorist and philologist Jacob Grimm speculates, in the second volume of his Deutsche Mythologie, that the folk custom of Easter eggs among the continental Germanic peoples may have stemmed from springtime festivities of a Germanic goddess known in Old English as Ēostre (namesake of modern English Easter) and possibly known in Old High German as *Ostara (and thus namesake of Modern German Ostern 'Easter'). However, despite Grimm's speculation, there is no evidence to connect eggs with Ostara.[11] The use of eggs as favors or treats at Easter originated when they were prohibited during Lent.[10][11] A common practice in England in the medieval period was for children to go door-to-door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children prior to their fast.[11] Although one of the Christian traditions are to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with candy such as jelly beans; as many people give up sweets as their Lenten sacrifice, individuals enjoy them at Easter after having abstained from them during the preceding forty days of Lent.[18] These eggs can be hidden for children to find on Easter morning, which may be left by the Easter Bunny. They may also be put in a basket filled with real or artificial straw to resemble a bird's nest. Traditions and customs Main articles: Egg decorating, Pisanica (Croatian), Pysanka, and Święconka Croatian Easter basket Blessing of Easter foods in Poland Red coloured Easter eggs Lenten tradition The Easter egg tradition may also have merged into the celebration of the end of the privations of Lent. Traditionally, eggs are among the foods forbidden fast days, including all of Lent, an observance which continues among the Eastern Christian Churches but has fallen into disuse in Western Christianity (although something similar has recently been instituted by a few as the “Daniel Fast"). Historically, it has been traditional to use up all of the household's eggs before Lent began. This established the tradition of Pancake Day being celebrated on Shrove Tuesday. This day, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday when Lent begins, is also known as Mardi Gras, a French phrase which translates as "Fat Tuesday" to mark the last consumption of eggs and dairy before Lent begins. In the Orthodox Church, Great Lent begins on Clean Monday, rather than Wednesday, so the household's dairy products would be used up in the preceding week, called Cheesefare Week. During Lent, since chickens would not stop producing eggs during this time, a larger than usual store might be available at the end of the fast. This surplus, if any, had to be eaten quickly to prevent spoiling. Then, with the coming of Easter, the eating of eggs resumes. Some families cook a special meatloaf with eggs in it to be eaten with the Easter dinner. One would have been forced to hard boil the eggs that the chickens produced so as not to waste food, and for this reason the Spanish dish hornazo (traditionally eaten on and around Easter) contains hard-boiled eggs as a primary ingredient. In Hungary, eggs are used sliced in potato casseroles around the Easter period. Symbolism and related customs Some Christians symbolically link the cracking open of Easter eggs with the empty tomb of Jesus.[19] In the Orthodox churches, Easter eggs are blessed by the priest at the end of the Paschal Vigil (which is equivalent to Holy Saturday), and distributed to the faithful. The egg is seen by followers of Christianity as a symbol of resurrection: while being dormant it contains a new life sealed within it.[3][4] Similarly, in the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, the so-called święconka, i.e. blessing of decorative baskets with a sampling of Easter eggs and other symbolic foods, is one of the most enduring and beloved Polish traditions on Holy Saturday. During Paschaltide, in some traditions the Pascal greeting with the Easter egg is even extended to the deceased. On either the second Monday or Tuesday of Pascha, after a memorial service people bring blessed eggs to the cemetery and bring the joyous paschal greeting, "Christ has risen", to their beloved departed (see Radonitza). In Greece, women traditionally dye the eggs with onion skins and vinegar on Thursday (also the day of Communion). These ceremonial eggs are known as kokkina avga. They also bake tsoureki for the Easter Sunday feast.[20] Red Easter eggs are sometimes served along the centerline of tsoureki (braided loaf of bread).[21][22] In Egypt, it is a tradition to decorate boiled eggs during Sham el-Nessim holiday, which falls every year after the Eastern Christian Easter. Coincidentally, every Passover, Jews place a hard-boiled egg on the Passover ceremonial plate, and the celebrants also eat hard-boiled eggs dipped in salt water as part of the ceremony. Colouring Easter eggs before and after colouring Heated wax paint used to decorate traditional Easter Eggs in the Czech Republic The dyeing of Easter eggs in different colours is commonplace, with colour being achieved through boiling the egg in natural substances (such as, onion peel (brown colour), oak or alder bark or walnut nutshell (black), beet juice (pink) etc.), or using artificial colourings. A greater variety of colour was often provided by tying on the onion skin with different coloured woollen yarn. In the North of England these are called pace-eggs or paste-eggs, from a dialectal form of Middle English pasche. King Edward I's household accounts in 1290 list an item of ‘one shilling and sixpence for the decoration and distribution of 450 Pace-eggs!’,[23] which were to be coloured or gilded and given to members of the royal household.[24] Traditionally in England, eggs were wrapped in onion skins and boiled to make their shells look like mottled gold, or wrapped in flowers and leaves first in order to leave a pattern, which parallels a custom practised in traditional Scandinavian culture.[25] Eggs could also be drawn on with a wax candle before staining, often with a person's name and date on the egg.[24] Pace Eggs were generally eaten for breakfast on Easter Sunday breakfast. Alternatively, they could be kept as decorations, used in egg-jarping (egg tapping) games, or given to Pace Eggers. In more recent centuries in England, eggs have been stained with coffee grains[24] or simply boiled and painted in their shells.[26] In the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, Easter eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Christ, with further symbolism being found in the hard shell of the egg symbolizing the sealed Tomb of Christ — the cracking of which symbolized his resurrection from the dead. The tradition of red easter eggs was used by the Russian Orthodox Church.[27] The tradition to dyeing the easter eggs in an Onion tone exists in the cultures of Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, Russia, Czechia, Romania, Slovenia, and Israel.[28] The colour is made by boiling onion peel in water.[29][30] Patterning When boiling them with onion skins, leaves can be attached prior to dyeing to create leaf patterns. The leaves are attached to the eggs before they are dyed with a transparent cloth to wrap the eggs with like inexpensive muslin or nylon stockings, leaving patterns once the leaves are removed after the dyeing process.[31][32] These eggs are part of Easter custom in many areas and often accompany other traditional Easter foods. Passover haminados are prepared with similar methods. Pysanky[33] are Ukrainian Easter eggs, decorated using a wax-resist (batik) method. The word comes from the verb pysaty, "to write", as the designs are not painted on, but written with beeswax. Decorating eggs for Easter using wax resistant batik is a popular method in some other eastern European countries. Use of Easter eggs in decorations In some Mediterranean countries, especially in Lebanon, chicken eggs are boiled and decorated by dye and/or painting and used as decoration[34] around the house. Then, on Easter Day, young kids would duel with them saying 'Christ is resurrected, Indeed, He is', breaking and eating them. This also happens in Georgia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. In Easter Sunday friends and family hit each other's egg with their own. The one whose egg does not break is believed to be in for good luck in the future. In Germany, eggs decorate trees and bushes as Easter egg trees, and in several areas public wells as Osterbrunnen. There used to be a custom in Ukraine, during Easter celebrations to have krashanky on a table in a bowl with wheatgrass. The number of the krashanky equalled the number of departed family members.[35]     Ukrainian Easter eggs     Ukrainian Easter eggs     Easter eggs from Sorbs     Easter eggs from Sorbs     Easter eggs from Lithuania     Easter eggs from Lithuania     Perforated egg from Germany, Sleeping Beauty     Perforated egg from Germany, Sleeping Beauty     Norwegian Easter eggs     Norwegian Easter eggs     Easter eggs from Greece     Easter eggs from Greece     Perforated eggs     Perforated eggs     Easter eggs from France     Easter eggs from France     American Easter egg from the White House Washington, D.C.     American Easter egg from the White House Washington, D.C.     Pace eggs boiled with onion skins and leaf patterns.     Pace eggs boiled with onion skins and leaf patterns.     Easter eggs decorated with straw     Easter eggs decorated with straw     Easter egg from Poland     Easter egg from Poland     Washi egg from Japan     Washi egg from Japan Easter egg games Eggs hidden for an Easter egg hunt Egg hunts An egg hunt is a game in which decorated eggs, which may be hard-boiled chicken eggs, chocolate eggs, or artificial eggs containing candies, are hidden for children to find. The eggs often vary in size, and may be hidden both indoors and outdoors.[36] When the hunt is over, prizes may be given for the largest number of eggs collected, or for the largest or the smallest egg.[36] Some central European nations (Czechs and Slovaks etc.) have a tradition of gathering eggs by gaining them from the females in return of whipping them with a pony-tail shaped whip made out of fresh willow branches and splashing them with water, by the Ruthenians called polivanja, which is supposed to give them health and beauty. Cascarones, a Latin American tradition now shared by many US States with high Hispanic demographics, are emptied and dried chicken eggs stuffed with confetti and sealed with a piece of tissue paper. The eggs are hidden in a similar tradition to the American Easter egg hunt and when found the children (and adults) break them over each other's heads. In order to enable children to take part in egg hunts despite visual impairment, eggs have been created that emit various clicks, beeps, noises, or music so that visually impaired children can easily hunt for Easter eggs.[37] Egg rolling Egg rolling is also a traditional Easter egg game played with eggs at Easter. In the United Kingdom, Germany, and other countries children traditionally rolled eggs down hillsides at Easter.[38] This tradition was taken to the New World by European settlers,[38][39] and continues to this day each Easter with an Easter egg roll on the White House lawn. Rutherford B. Hayes started the tradition of the Easter Egg Roll at the White House.[40] The Easter Monday Egg Roll was normally held at the United States Capitol, however, by the mid-1870s, Congress passed a law forbidding the Capitol’s grounds to be used for the activity due to the toll it was taking on the landscape.[40] The law was enforced in 1877, but the rain that year canceled all outdoor activities.[40] In 1878, Hayes was approached by many young easter egg rollers who asked for the event to be held at the White House.[40] He invited any children who wanted to roll eggs to come to the White House in order to do so. The tradition still occurs every year on the South Lawn of the White House. Now, there are many other games and activities that take place such as “Egg Picking” and “Egg Ball.”[40] Different nations have different versions of the Easter Egg roll game. Egg tapping Eggs after an egg tapping competition (red wins) In the North of England, during Eastertide, a traditional game is played where hard boiled pace eggs are distributed and each player hits the other player's egg with their own. This is known as "egg tapping", "egg dumping", or "egg jarping". The winner is the holder of the last intact egg. The annual egg jarping world championship is held every year over Easter in Peterlee, Durham.[41] It is also practiced in Italy (where it is called scuccetta), Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Lebanon, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia (where it is called turčanje or trkanje), Ukraine, Russia, and other countries. In parts of Austria, Bavaria and German-speaking Switzerland it is called Ostereiertitschen or Eierpecken. In parts of Europe it is also called epper, presumably from the German name Opfer, meaning "offering" and in Greece it is known as tsougrisma. In South Louisiana, this practice is called pocking eggs[42][43] and is slightly different. The Louisiana Creoles hold that the winner eats the eggs of the losers in each round. In the Greek Orthodox tradition, red eggs are also cracked together when people exchange Easter greetings. Egg dance Egg dance is a traditional Easter game in which eggs are laid on the ground or floor and the goal is to dance among them without damaging any eggs[44] which originated in Germany. Pace egg plays The Pace Egg plays are traditional village plays, with a rebirth theme. The drama takes the form of a combat between the hero and villain, in which the hero is killed and brought back to life. The plays take place in England during Easter. In some countries like Sweden, Norway, Poland and Germany eggs are used as a table decoration hanging on a tree-branch Variants Chocolate Chocolate eggs first appeared at the court of Louis XIV in Versailles and in 1725 the widow Giambone in Turin started producing chocolate eggs by filling empty chicken egg shells with molten chocolate.[45] In 1873 J.S. Fry & Sons of England introduced the first chocolate Easter egg in Britain. Manufacturing their first Easter egg in 1875, Cadbury created the modern chocolate Easter egg after developing a pure cocoa butter that could be moulded into smooth shapes.[46] In Western cultures, the giving of chocolate eggs is now commonplace, with 80 million Easter eggs sold in the UK alone. Formerly, the containers Easter eggs were sold in contained large amounts of plastic, although in the United Kingdom this has gradually been replaced with recyclable paper and cardboard.[47]     Chocolate Easter egg bunny     Chocolate Easter egg bunny     Easter egg with candy.     Easter egg with candy.     Gladys as a Chocolate Easter Bunny with Easter eggs     Gladys as a Chocolate Easter Bunny with Easter eggs Marzipan eggs In the Indian state of Goa, the Goan Catholic version of marzipan is used to make easter eggs. In the Philippines, mazapán de pili (Spanish for "pili marzipan") is made from pili nuts.     Marzipan easter eggs     Marzipan easter eggs Artificial eggs The jewelled Easter eggs made by the Fabergé firm for the two last Russian Tsars are regarded as masterpieces of decorative arts. Most of these creations themselves contained hidden surprises such as clock-work birds, or miniature ships. In Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and other Central European countries' folk traditions, Easter eggs are carved from wood and hand-painted, and making artificial eggs out of porcelain for ladies is common.[48]: 45  Easter eggs are frequently depicted in sculpture, including a 8-metre (27 ft) sculpture of a pysanka standing in Vegreville, Alberta.     Fabergé egg     Fabergé egg     Giant easter egg, Bariloche, Argentina     Giant easter egg, Bariloche, Argentina     Giant pysanka from Vegreville, Alberta, Canada     Giant pysanka from Vegreville, Alberta, Canada     Giant easter egg or pisanica in Zagreb, Croatia     Giant easter egg or pisanica in Zagreb, Croatia     Easter egg sculpture in Gogolin, Poland     Easter egg sculpture in Gogolin, Poland     Giant easter egg in Suceava, Romania     Giant easter egg in Suceava, Romania Legends Maria Magdalene, 1899 by Viktor M. Vasnetsov, depicted as one of the Myrrhbearers. Christian traditions While the origin of Easter eggs can be explained in the symbolic terms described above, among followers of Eastern Christianity the legend says that Mary Magdalene was bringing cooked eggs to share with the other women at the tomb of Jesus, and the eggs in her basket miraculously turned bright red when she saw the risen Christ.[49] A different, but not necessarily conflicting legend concerns Mary Magdalene's efforts to spread the Gospel. According to this tradition, after the Ascension of Jesus, Mary went to the Emperor of Rome and greeted him with "Christ has risen," whereupon he pointed to an egg on his table and stated, "Christ has no more risen than that egg is red." After making this statement it is said the egg immediately turned blood red.[50][51] Red Easter eggs, known as kokkina avga (κόκκινα αυγά) in Greece and krashanki in Ukraine, are an Easter tradition and a distinct type of Easter egg prepared by various Orthodox Christian peoples.[52][53][54][55][56] The red eggs are part of Easter custom in many areas and often accompany other traditional Easter foods. Passover haminados are prepared with similar methods. Dark red eggs are a tradition in Greece and represent the blood of Christ shed on the cross.[57] The practice dates to the early Christian church in Mesopotamia.[8][9] In Greece, superstitions of the past included the custom of placing the first-dyed red egg at the home's iconostasis (place where icons are displayed) to ward off evil. The heads and backs of small lambs were also marked with the red dye to protect them. Parallels in other faiths Eggs at the Iranian Nowruz The egg is widely used as a symbol of the start of new life, just as new life emerges from an egg when the chick hatches out.[2] Painted eggs are used at the Iranian spring holidays, the Nowruz that marks the first day of spring or Equinox, and the beginning of the year in the Persian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical Northward equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. The painted eggs symbolize fertility and are displayed on the Nowruz table, called Haft-Seen together with various other symbolic objects. There are sometimes one egg for each member of the family. The ancient Zoroastrians painted eggs for Nowruz, their New Year celebration, which falls on the Spring equinox. The tradition continues among Persians of Islamic, Zoroastrian, and other faiths today.[58] The Nowruz tradition has existed for at least 2,500 years. The sculptures on the walls of Persepolis show people carrying eggs for Nowruz to the king.[citation needed] The Neopagan holiday of Ostara occurs at roughly the same time as Easter. While it is often claimed that the use of painted eggs is an ancient, pre-Christian component of the celebration of Ostara, there are no historical accounts that ancient celebrations included this practice, apart from the Old High German lullaby which is believed by most to be a modern fabrication. Rather, the use of painted eggs has been adopted under the assumption that it might be a pre-Christian survival. In fact, modern scholarship has been unable to trace any association between eggs and a supposed goddess named Ostara before the 19th century, when early folklorists began to speculate about the possibility.[59] There are good grounds for the association between hares (later termed Easter bunnies) and bird eggs, through folklore confusion between hares' forms (where they raise their young) and plovers' nests.[60] In Judaism, a hard-boiled egg is an element of the Passover Seder, representing festival sacrifice. The children's game of hunting for the afikomen (a half-piece of matzo) has similarities to the Easter egg hunt tradition, by which the child who finds the hidden matzah will be awarded a prize. In other homes, the children hide the afikoman and a parent must look for it; when the parents give up, the children demand a prize for revealing its location. " (wikipedia.org) "The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl[1] that are originally from Southeast Asia. Rooster and cock are terms for adult male birds, and a younger male may be called a cockerel. A male that has been castrated is a capon. An adult female bird is called a hen, and a sexually immature female is called a pullet. Humans keep chickens primarily as a source of food (consuming both their meat and eggs) or as pets. Traditionally they were also bred for cockfighting, which is still practiced in some places. Chickens domesticated for meat are broilers and for eggs are layers. Chickens are one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, with a total population of 23.7 billion as of 2018,[2] up from more than 19 billion in 2011. There are more chickens in the world than any other bird. There are numerous cultural references to chickens—in myth, folklore and religion, and in language and literature. Genetic studies have pointed to multiple maternal origin theories of within South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia,[3] but the clade found in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa originated from the Indian subcontinent. From ancient India, the chicken spread to the Eastern Mediterranean. They appear in ancient Egypt in the mid-15th century BC, with the "bird that gives birth every day" having come from the land between Syria and Shinar, Babylonia, according to the annals of Thutmose III.[4][5][6] They are known in ancient Greece from the 5th century BC.[7][8] Terminology An adult male is a called a cock or (in the United States) a rooster and an adult female is called a hen.[9][10] Other terms are:     Biddy: a newly hatched chicken[11][12]     Capon: a castrated or neutered male chicken[a]     Chick: a young chicken[13]     Chook /tʃʊk/: a chicken (Australia/New Zealand, informal)[14]     Cockerel: a young male chicken less than a year old[15]     Dunghill fowl: a chicken with mixed parentage from different domestic varieties.[16]     Pullet: a young female chicken less than a year old.[17] In the poultry industry, a pullet is a sexually immature chicken less than 22 weeks of age.[18]     Yardbird: a chicken (southern United States, dialectal)[19] Chicken may also mean a chick (see for example Hen and Chicken Islands).[20] In fact, chicken was originally a term only for an immature, or at least young, bird.[when?] In older sources, chicken as a species were typically referred to as common fowl or domestic fowl.[21][page needed][failed verification] In Australian vernacular English the word chook provides the generic term for the species (e.g. "a cooked chook" or "she keeps chooks"); which enables chicken to commonly retain its original sense of a young or recently hatched bird. Chick is then rarely used to mean chicken, but is mainly used in Merriam-Webster's "Sense 1b" viz. the young of any bird. Etymology According to Merriam-Webster, the term rooster (i.e. a roosting bird) originated in the mid- or late 18th century as a euphemism to avoid the sexual connotation of the original English cock,[22][23][24] and is widely used throughout North America. Roosting is the action of perching aloft to sleep at night.[25] History Two red junglefowl, a cock and a hen An early domestication of chickens in Southeast Asia is probable, since the word for domestic chicken (*manuk) is part of the reconstructed Proto-Austronesian language (see Austronesian languages). Chickens, together with dogs and pigs, were the domestic animals of the Lapita culture,[26] the first Neolithic culture of Oceania.[27] The first pictures of chickens in Europe are found on Corinthian pottery of the 7th century BC.[28][29] Chickens were spread by Polynesian seafarers and reached Easter Island in the 12th century AD, where they were the only domestic animal, with the possible exception of the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans). They were housed in chicken coops built from stone, which was first reported as such to Linton Palmer in 1868, who also "expressed his doubts about this".... "An egg hunt is an Eastertide game during which decorated eggs or Easter eggs are hidden for children to find. Real hard-boiled eggs, which are typically dyed or painted, artificial eggs made of plastic filled with chocolate or candies, or foil-wrapped egg-shaped chocolates of various sizes are hidden in various places; as many people give up sweets as their Lenten sacrifice, individuals consume them after having abstained from them during the preceding forty days of Lent.[1] The game is often played outdoors, but can also be played indoors. The children typically collect the eggs in a basket. When the hunt is over, prizes may be given out for various achievements, such as the largest number of eggs collected, for the largest or smallest egg, for the most eggs of a specific color, consolation prizes or booby prizes.[2] Real eggs may further be used in egg tapping contests. If eggs filled with confetti left from Mardi Gras (cascarones) are used, then an egg fight may follow.[2] Eggs are placed with varying degree of concealment, to accommodate children of varying ages and development levels. In South German folk traditions it was customary to add extra obstacles to the game by placing them into hard-to reach places among nettles or thorns.[3] History A woman hides Easter eggs for preschool-aged children to find. She is careful not to make their location and retrieval too difficult. The egg was a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in pre-Christian celebrations of spring. However, the Easter egg itself was defined by early Christians as an Easter symbol of the resurrection of Jesus: the egg symbol was likened to the tomb from which Christ arose.[4] Lizette Larson-Miller, a professor with the Graduate Theological Union of Berkeley, traces the specific custom of the Easter egg hunt to the Protestant Christian Reformer Martin Luther, stating "We know that Martin Luther had Easter egg hunts where the men hid the eggs for the women and children, and it probably has this connection back to this idea of eggs being the tomb."[5] At least since the 17th century the idea of the Easter Bunny to bring the Easter eggs has been known. The novelty of the introduction of Easter egg hunts into England is evidenced by A. E. Housman's inaugural lecture as Professor of Latin at University College, London in 1892, in which he said, "In Germany at Easter time they hide coloured eggs about the house and garden that the children may amuse themselves in discovering them."[6] Easter egg hunt in Wuxi, Jiangsu (1934) Reverend MaryJane Pierce Norton, Associate General Secretary of Leadership Ministries at the General Board of Discipleship, states that "there’s something about going to hunt the eggs just as we might go to hunt for Jesus in the tomb. And when we find them it’s that joy that the women had when they reached the tomb first and found that Jesus was no longer there."[7] Traditionally the game is associated with Easter and Easter eggs, but it has also been popular with spring time birthday parties.[2] Egg hunts are a subject of the Guinness Book of World Records; Homer, Georgia, United States was listed in 1985 with 80,000 eggs to hunt in a town of 950 people. To enable children to take part in egg hunts despite visual impairment, eggs have been created that emit various clicks, beeps, noises, or music.[8] Commercial use Cadbury Easter egg hunt in 2016 A number of companies have made use of the popularity of Easter and more specifically Easter egg hunts to promote the sales of their candy products. Most notable have been chocolatiers including Cadbury with their annual Easter Egg Trail which takes place in over 250 National Trust locations in the UK.[9] In 2015, the British chocolate company Thorntons worked with the geocaching community to hide chocolate eggs across the United Kingdom." (wikipedia.org) "The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behavior at the start of the season of Eastertide,[1] similar to the "naughty or nice" list made by Santa Claus. As part of the legend, the creature carries colored eggs in its basket, as well as candy, and sometimes toys, to the homes of children. As such, the Easter Bunny again shows similarities to Santa (or the Christkind) and Christmas by bringing gifts to children on the night before a holiday. The custom was first[2][unreliable source?] mentioned in Georg Franck von Franckenau's De ovis paschalibus[3] ('About Easter eggs') in 1682, referring to a German tradition of an Easter Hare bringing eggs for the children. Symbols Rabbits and hares Inflatable Easter Bunny in front of San Francisco City Hall The hare was a popular motif in medieval church art. In ancient times, it was widely believed (as by Pliny, Plutarch, Philostratus, and Aelian) that the hare was a hermaphrodite.[4][5][6] The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary, with hares sometimes occurring in illuminated manuscripts and Northern European paintings of the Virgin and Christ Child. It may also have been associated with the Holy Trinity, as in the three hares motif.[4][7][unreliable source?][8] Eggs Main articles: Easter egg and Egg decorating Eggs have been used as fertility symbols since antiquity.[9] Eggs became a symbol in Christianity associated with rebirth as early as the 1st century AD, via the iconography of the Phoenix egg, and they became associated with Easter specifically in medieval Europe, when eating them was prohibited during the fast of Lent. A common practice in England at that time was for children to go door-to-door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children prior to their fast.[10] As a special dish, eggs would probably have been decorated as part of the Easter celebrations. Later, German Protestants retained the custom of eating colored eggs for Easter, though they did not continue the tradition of fasting.[11] Eggs boiled with some flowers change their color, bringing the spring into the homes, and some over time added the custom of decorating the eggs.[12] Many Christians of the Eastern Orthodox Church to this day typically dye their Easter eggs red,[13] the color of blood, in recognition of the blood of the sacrificed Christ (and, of the renewal of life in springtime). Some also use the color green, in honor of the new foliage emerging after the long-dead time of winter. The Ukrainian art of decorating eggs for Easter, known as pysanky, dates to ancient, pre-Christian times. Similar variants of this form of artwork are seen amongst other eastern and central European cultures.[14] The idea of an egg-giving hare went to the U.S. in the 18th century. Protestant German immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area told their children about the "Osterhase" (sometimes spelled "Oschter Haws"[15]). Hase means "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is a hare. According to the legend, only good children received gifts of colored eggs in the nests that they made in their caps and bonnets before Easter.[16] Gallery     Dreihasenfenster ('Window of Three Hares') in Paderborn Cathedral in Paderborn, Germany     Dreihasenfenster ('Window of Three Hares') in Paderborn Cathedral in Paderborn, Germany     Easter bunnies and Easter eggs as Easter biscuits     Easter bunnies and Easter eggs as Easter biscuits     Marshmallow bunnies and candy eggs in an Easter basket     Marshmallow bunnies and candy eggs in an Easter basket     A real live bunny with decorated Easter eggs     A real live bunny with decorated Easter eggs     Chocolate Easter bunnies     Chocolate Easter bunnies     Chocolate Easter Bunny molds from Alsace Musée du pain d'épices     Chocolate Easter Bunny molds from Alsace Musée du pain d'épices Alleged association with Ēostre In a publication from 1874 German philologist Adolf Holtzmann stated "The Easter Hare is unintelligible to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara".[17] The connection between Easter and that goddess had been made by Jacob Grimm in his 1835 Deutsche Mythologie.[18] This proposed association was repeated by other authors including Charles Isaac Elton[19] and Charles J. Billson.[20] In 1961 Christina Hole wrote, "The hare was the sacred beast of Eastre (or Ēostre), a Saxon goddess of Spring and of the dawn."[21][page needed] The belief that Ēostre had a hare companion who became the Easter Bunny was popularized when it was presented as fact in the BBC documentary Shadow of the Hare (1993).[22] The Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore however states "... there is no shred of evidence" that hares were sacred to Ēostre, noting that Bede does not associate her with any animal." (wikipedia.org) " "An Easter basket, also known as a Paschal basket,[1] is traditionally, a basket containing the foods traditionally forbidden to consume during Lent (meat, eggs, and dairy products), that is blessed by a priest for breaking the Lenten fast. This continues to be normative in Eastern Christianity and Easter baskets are typically blessed before the midnight service on Holy Saturday, with their contents being consumed at the feast after the service.[2] In parts Western Christianity, emphasis is placed on making a Lenten sacrifice (giving up pleasures such as chocolate and cookies) rather than the traditional abstinence from meat, dairy products, and wine (though a few congregations have revived this practice);[A][5] as such, in countries of the Western world such as the United States, Easter baskets are filled with Easter eggs and sweets after having abstained from them during Lent.[6][7] Traditional Croatian Easter basket Traditions for Easter in Eastern European countries often includes blessing of baskets.[8][9][10][11][12][13] Western Christianity Poland In Poland, Święconka or "the blessing of the Easter baskets" is a central tradition on Holy Saturday. [14] The tradition dates back to the 13-14th century in its earliest form.[15] The basket is traditionally lined with a white linen or lace napkin and decorated with sprigs of boxwood (bukszpan), the typical Easter evergreen. Baskets containing a sampling of Easter foods are brought to church to be blessed on Holy Saturday. After the blessing, the baskets of food are then set aside until Easter morning.[14] Modern innovations United States Marshmallow rabbits, candy eggs and other treats in an Easter basket Congregations and synods belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, have made Easter baskets to be given to needy children or elderly persons.[16][17] These have been filled with Easter eggs, candy, and toys.[16] An Easter tradition involves the Easter Bunny dropping off a gift basket of candy for good children overnight. Children leave a basket out overnight which the Easter bunny fills with candy, toys, and gifts on the night before Easter, and children wake up to find their Easter basket. Easter baskets are also used in Easter egg hunts, in which children try filling their basket with Easter eggs." (wikipedia.org) "An egg hunt is an Eastertide game during which decorated eggs or Easter eggs are hidden for children to find. Real hard-boiled eggs, which are typically dyed or painted, artificial eggs made of plastic filled with chocolate or candies, or foil-wrapped egg-shaped chocolates of various sizes are hidden in various places; as many people give up sweets as their Lenten sacrifice, individuals consume them after having abstained from them during the preceding forty days of Lent.[1] The game is often played outdoors, but can also be played indoors. The children typically collect the eggs in a basket. When the hunt is over, prizes may be given out for various achievements, such as the largest number of eggs collected, for the largest or smallest egg, for the most eggs of a specific color, consolation prizes or booby prizes.[2] Real eggs may further be used in egg tapping contests. If eggs filled with confetti left from Mardi Gras (cascarones) are used, then an egg fight may follow.[2] Eggs are placed with varying degree of concealment, to accommodate children of varying ages and development levels. In South German folk traditions it was customary to add extra obstacles to the game by placing them into hard-to reach places among nettles or thorns.[3] History A woman hides Easter eggs for preschool-aged children to find. She is careful not to make their location and retrieval too difficult. The egg was a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in pre-Christian celebrations of spring. However, the Easter egg itself was defined by early Christians as an Easter symbol of the resurrection of Jesus: the egg symbol was likened to the tomb from which Christ arose.[4] Lizette Larson-Miller, a professor with the Graduate Theological Union of Berkeley, traces the specific custom of the Easter egg hunt to the Protestant Christian Reformer Martin Luther, stating "We know that Martin Luther had Easter egg hunts where the men hid the eggs for the women and children, and it probably has this connection back to this idea of eggs being the tomb."[5] At least since the 17th century the idea of the Easter Bunny to bring the Easter eggs has been known. The novelty of the introduction of Easter egg hunts into England is evidenced by A. E. Housman's inaugural lecture as Professor of Latin at University College, London in 1892, in which he said, "In Germany at Easter time they hide coloured eggs about the house and garden that the children may amuse themselves in discovering them."[6] Easter egg hunt in Wuxi, Jiangsu (1934) Reverend MaryJane Pierce Norton, Associate General Secretary of Leadership Ministries at the General Board of Discipleship, states that "there’s something about going to hunt the eggs just as we might go to hunt for Jesus in the tomb. And when we find them it’s that joy that the women had when they reached the tomb first and found that Jesus was no longer there."[7] Traditionally the game is associated with Easter and Easter eggs, but it has also been popular with spring time birthday parties.[2] Egg hunts are a subject of the Guinness Book of World Records; Homer, Georgia, United States was listed in 1985 with 80,000 eggs to hunt in a town of 950 people. To enable children to take part in egg hunts despite visual impairment, eggs have been created that emit various clicks, beeps, noises, or music.[8] Commercial use Cadbury Easter egg hunt in 2016 A number of companies have made use of the popularity of Easter and more specifically Easter egg hunts to promote the sales of their candy products. Most notable have been chocolatiers including Cadbury with their annual Easter Egg Trail which takes place in over 250 National Trust locations in the UK.[9] In 2015, the British chocolate company Thorntons worked with the geocaching community to hide chocolate eggs across the United Kingdom." (wikipedia.org)
  • Condition: Used
  • Condition: In very good, pre-owned condition. Please see photos and description.
  • Pattern: No Pattern
  • Shape: Rectangle
  • Occasion: Easter
  • Size: Small
  • Color: Blue
  • Material: Plastic
  • Item Length: 6 in
  • Brand: Hartin International
  • Type: Toy
  • Department: Girls, Boys, Kids
  • Era: Late 20th Century (1970-1999)
  • Item Height: 3.25 in
  • Style: 1980s
  • Original/Reproduction: Original
  • Theme: Animals & Dinosaurs, Cartoon & TV Characters, Farm Animals, Food & Drink, Novelty, Seasonal, Unisex Kids
  • Features: Googly Eyes
  • Time Period Manufactured: 1980-1989
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: China
  • Room: Any Room, Basement, Bathroom, Bedroom, Den, Dining Room, Entryway, Foyer, Greenhouse, Indoor/Outdoor, Kitchen, Living Room, Lounge, Mudroom, Nursery, Office, Patio, Playroom, Porch, Study, Sunroom, Terrace, Utility/Laundry Room
  • Finish: Semi-Gloss
  • Item Width: 5.25 in

PicClick Insights - VINTAGE EASTER BASKET Hartin googly eyes chick blue cute Spring 1980s 80s RARE PicClick Exclusive

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