In ancient China, moon worship was tied closely to fertility and the harvest. So the full moon that happened closest to the fall equinox became the holiday now called Mid-Autumn Festival, also called Moon Festival by some. Originally a celebration of the harvest and a plea to the gods for rains to ensure a good harvest next year, the festival has become a more secular bit of autumn fun, with children and adults alike eating sweet mooncakes, lighting lanterns, and giving thanks for all they have. Really, they had us at ‘mooncake.’
Mooncake time
Today in History
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A courtyard scene from Spain
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Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada
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Celebrating Charles Darwin
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Darwin s Arch
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May we have this dance?
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Its Halfway Day!
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Mont-Saint-Michel
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Birds of a feather
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A unique elephant encounter in Nantes
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Happy Diwali!
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Gray seal pup, Norfolk, England
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World Rivers Day
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Infrared Jupiter, erupting Io
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Christmas market at Belvedere Palace in Vienna
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Flock together for Cousins Day
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National Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington, DC
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Indigenous living
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Alaska moose
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Summer winds down in the Hamptons
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Thomsons gazelles, Maasai Mara, Kenya
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