Portugal day! And another thing...

[fpessanha]

Gentlemen:

Today is a national holiday in Portugal. It is one of the important holidays in my country. We celebrate Portugal, the language, Luis de Camões - our most treasured poet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu%C3%ADs_de_Camões) - and the Portuguese communities spreaded around the globe.
We celebrate our (somewhat) glorious past, honour the personalities that have honoured the country in a cerimony in which the President of the Republic awards some medals and other honours and, most important of all - for me - the war veterans gather to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers in the wars Portugal has been involved in.

So, it's a bit of 4th of July, Veteran's Day and the 18th of November.

But that is not the most important thing because... one year ago today I decided to quit smoking cigarettes and became a dedicated pipe smoker. Next year it will be 10 years since I started pipe smoking. I was 16 then...

[Birnando]

Congrats to you and all Portuguese members
And also, congrats on quitting the cigarettes.
Did the same thing 9 years ago, and I am very happy about that decision!

[Sailor]

Hi,

Congrats for the national day of Portugal. Does this date come for some special event or does it have any other historical background?
Have fun and congrats for quitting cigarettes.

At least here our national day (independence day) is very important and ceremonial without being too serious. Even young people understand it is something special, not just for vets but to all people here. It is good to remember every now and then that independence is not free or self-evidence at least for the small countries. The price of independence has not been cheap.

[Leon]

Hi gents.

Today we celebrate the Portuguese pride.
This day June 10th marks the death of our historical poet - Luis de Camoes - in 1580, author of the epic poem "Os Lusiadas", our national epic which tells about the Portuguese voyages throughout the "seven seas" in the 15th and 16th century.

Congrats for the national day of Portugal. Does this date come for some special event or does it have any other historical background?

[fpessanha]

The 10th of June is considered to be the the most important holiday in Portugal. It is dedicated to our linguistic heritage through the celebtration of Luis de Camões, our most remarkable poet. The 10th of June is the day of his death.
However, this is not the Independence day. Our independence day is the 1st of December. On that day we celebrate the restoration of the Portuguese Monarchy and it's independence from Spanish rule from 1580 to 1640.
The celebration of the actual foundation of Portugal is not really celebrated because there are certain doubts about the actual date. Some say that the date is the 1st of November 1139 because that is the date when the first King of Portugal was crowned. (Portugal is one of the oldest existing countries in the world and it's present continental frontiers are certainly the oldest in Europe). However, others say that it was the 5th of October 1140... It was a long time ago and the information is not certain. This latter date is also the date of the creation of the Portuguese Republic: 5th of October 1910. We are celebrating 100 years of Republic this year.
There is also another important holiday on the 25th April. That is the date of the 1974 democratic revolution that brought down the (sort of) fascist dictatorship that was in power since the early 1930's.

But to conclude my point, the following are te important Portuguese holidays:
1st December (1640) - Independence Day
5th October (1910) - Republic Day
10th June (1580) - Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities' Day
25th April (1974) - Fredom Day