BURNS NIGHT

Robert Burns was a famous poet who lived in the 18th century (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796). He wrote in English and in the Scots language, and is the author of the poem “Auld Lang Syne”, which means “days gone by”. The poem was turned into a song and in the English-speaking world is traditionally sung on New Year’s Eve or on various other occasions when people say farewell. Robert Burns also wrote many compositions dedicated to Scotland, for example “Scots Wha Hae”, which used to be Scotland’s national anthem.

On 25th January, the poet’s birthday, the Scottish people celebrate Burns Night. This is a celebration when the Scots share a traditional supper, recite Burns’ poetry and drink whisky. One of the most typical dishes served on this occasion is haggis, a kind of savoury pudding. Scottish music is often played, and for more formal parties, it is customary for a piper to play the bagpipe.
The first supper was held in memoriam at Burns Cottage by Burns's friends, on 21 July 1801, the fifth anniversary of his death; it has been a regular occurrence ever since.

- In 2009, 9 million people around the world attended a Burns Supper to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the poet’s birth.

- The first Burns Supper held outside of Scotland was thought to have taken place in Oxford in 1806.

Auld Lang Syne is recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as being one of the top three most popular songs in the English language. Click here to listen to the song

Did you know that the shortest commercial flight takes place in Scotland and it lasts around 47 seconds? You can find more unusual facts about Scotland on this video:

BLACK FRIDAY

Today, 25th November 2016, is Black Friday, but what's Black Friday?

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. On this day, most major retailers open extremely early, often at 4 a.m., or earlier, and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season, similar to Boxing Day sales in many British Commonwealth countries. Black Friday is not actually a holiday, but many non-retail employers give their employees the day off, increasing the number of potential shoppers. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005, although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate, have described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period of time.

The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black".

For many years, it was common for retailers to open at 6:00, but in the late 2000s, many had crept to 5:00 or even 4:00. This has been taken to a new extreme in 2011, when several retailers (including Target, Kohls, Macy's, Best Buy, and Bealls) opened at midnight for the first time.