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Saturday Facts and Trivia
Published by J M Lennox in Trivia
September 10th, 2010
A collection of facts and trivia about Saturday, the sixth day of the common week; why it is named, why it was a good day to hunt for vampires according to folklore, who sings about fighting on this day, and the songs and books that are named after it.
The word ‘Saturday’ was derived from:
- Old English ‘saeter(nes)daeg’ – Saturn’s day
- Latin word ‘dies Saturni’ – day of Saturn
- Ancient Greek ‘hemera Khronu’ – day of Cronus
Saturn is the Roman and Italic god of agriculture, and is believed to have ruled the earth during an age of happiness and virtue. Cronus is the Greek god (Titan) who ruled the universe until he was dethroned by his son Zeus. In the Thai solar calendar of Thailand, Saturday is named from the Pali word for Saturn and the Celtic languages also name this day for Saturn.
Health and Colour
As Saturn is purple or black in colour the ancient system of health care called Ayurveda which centres on holistic health recommends wearing purple or black and being around purple flowers on this day of the week.
Songs
Songs named after this day include:
- Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night – Bon Jovi
- Saturday Night – Cold Chisel
- Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting – Elton John
- Saturday In The Park – Chicago
- Saturday Night – Bay City Rollers
Books
If you were born on a Saturday the nursery rhyme of Mother Goose states that you would ‘work hard for a living’, and fiction books with Saturday in the title include:
- Monday Begins on Saturday – Boris and Arkady Strugatsky
- Saturday – Ian McEwan
- The View From Saturday – E L Konigsburg
- The Saturday Wife – Naomi Ragen
- Superior Saturday – Garth Nix
Sport
The Australian Football League Grand Final is traditionally held on the last Saturday in September and a large majority of football league games are played in the UK on a Saturday.
One Day Weekend
Saturday is the first day of a two day weekend in most countries however in Nepal Saturday is the last day of the week and the only official weekly holiday. It is also the official day of rest in Israel on which all government offices and most businesses, including some public transportation, are closed.
Vampire Saturday
In folklore Saturday was the preferred day to hunt vampires. It was believed in the Balkans that anyone born on a Saturday could see a vampire when it was otherwise invisible and that such people were particularly apt to become vampire hunters.
Hand Gun
The amount of criminal activities that take place on Saturday nights has led to the expression ‘Saturday Night Special’, a slang term used in the United States and Canada for any inexpensive handgun.
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© Copyright J M Lennox. All Rights Reserved.
Liked it
Good Post
WELL WRITTEN
Another interesting one cheers
Nice Share.
I am learning such a lot from these posts. They are full of interesting facts. Well done.
Christine
Thanks for the share
Good Post
$- nice-$
Thank you for your comments friends.
A weekend information. THanks Lennox
At first I was confused when I saw your article. Then I thought you must live in a different time zone. Where I am it is now Friday morning.
Fantastic article. I learned a lot! Thanks for writing this.
Very interesting information about Saturday. I was especially intrigued by the wearing or purple and black and being around purple flowers on this day. Thank you for sharing.
Learned something new from your posts, friend.
excellent one. Learnt a lot about 6 days! One more to go! Looking forward to it
Pattiann I don’t blame you for being confused. I tried to submit them all so that they would be available on the day of that articles title. Apart from the beginning of the week where Triond had a lot on their plate & were a little behind, they came through in time for the weekend. I was really happy about that. Thank you Triond!
Interesting facts here. I love Saturdays and the movie Sat night fever too.
Very good facts you have for us here.
Saturday was the preferred day to hunt vampires? These are good facts. Liked it twice