It was 98 years in the making, but the Buddhist country of Bhutan became an democracy on December 17, 2005 when King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, announced that he would abdicate, clearing the way for the country’s first general elections in 2008.
Bhutan was first formed on December 17 1907 by the Wangchuk Dynasty, a kingdom that was formally recognized by the British government who signed a treaty with Bhutan in 1910. The reigning monarchs seemed to have a bent for democracy, especially King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck who during his term set up a a 130-member National Assembly to promote a more democratic form of governance.

This tiny land-locked country in Asia is a mystery to many. They were one of the last countries to allow television and Internet (in 1999) and they measure their country’s quality of life with the Gross National Happiness, a play on the more commonly used Gross National Product, which measures the goods a country produces in terms of dollars.

When the Founding Fathers came up with the Constitution of the United States, they knew better than to think that it was a perfect document. They left room for improvement and those came in 1791 when the first ten amendments, or the Bill of Rights, was enacted. President Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized the importance of these rights on Dec. 15, 1941 when he declared the 150th anniversary of the ratification “Bill of Rights Day”.

The Bill of Rights are a guarantee of the “rights of free men against tyrants.” The first ten amendments to our Constitution are concerned with the following topics:

Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition.
Right to keep and bear arms
Rights regarding the quartering of soldiers
Regulation of search and seizure
Protection of persons and their property
Rights of persons accused of crime
Right of trial by jury
Protection against excessive fines, bail, punishment
Guarantee of unspecified rights
Powers reserved to states and the people

Originals of the Bill of Rights and other documents pertaining to the founding of the United States are kept in the National Archives in Washington DC. They have a great website were you can view the images of the papers and their transcripts.

Celebrating the day in 1859 when Charles Darwin first published “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”, Evolution Day is a good time to look at the idea of “where did we come from”. Whatever your religious beliefs, looking at the theory of evolution is a good exercise in scientific exploration.
Charles Darwin was an 19th Century English naturalist who developed his ideas about natural selection from his five-year stint on the Beagle, an English Navy ship that was refitted as a as a survey barque in the mid-1800s. He was there to studied geology, and become confused as he studied where different fossils where discovered. He put his research together and developed the theory that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. The Darwin’s theories and writing brought him much controversy and much pain. He suffered though out his life from stomach problems and stress related illnesses. Debate about his ideas have dwindled, but are still examined, a testament to the thoughtful scientist who would become known as the father of modern biology.

Caricature from 1871 Vanity Fair

Though in existence since the Stone Age, the The Republic of Slovenia did not become fully independent until 1991, making it a baby among its neighboring European countries. On Nov. 22 the former Yugoslavian territory celebrates Rudolf Maister Day, a holiday marking the day in 1918 when General Rudolf Maister took control of Maribor, Slovenia’s northern border. Maister is considered to be a great military hero as well as a poet and painter. On this day the Slovenian government gives a nod to its rich history and honors those who helped keep the country together in the face of other countries who wanted to control it.
Putting the military aspect aside, the great thing about looking at international holidays is learning about countries that are unfamiliar. Slovenia is a small country located on the southern side of the Alps and because of this is becoming increasingly more popular with skiing tourists. Other than mountains, the country is full of lush green forests and beautiful lakes. Slovenian food is strongly influenced by its neighbors, Austria (strudel), Italy (ravioli) and Hungary (goulash).

The potica is a special Slovenian cake that is also a holiday speciality in the Iron Range area of Minnesota, which has a large Slavic and Scandinavian heritage. Potica is made from a thinly rolled yeast dough that is layered with walnuts, butter, cream and vanilla, rolled into a spiral and baked to a crisp amber brown. If you are willing to do the work and roll out until you get very thin dough, give this recipe a try. Otherwise, there are several bakeries online that sell and ship it.
Potica
Ingredients
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup milk, lukewarm
1 teaspoon white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup butter4 tablespoons white sugar
6 egg yolks
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups milk
1 cup butter, melted
12 ounces honey
1 1/2 pounds chopped walnuts
1 pinch ground cinnamon
Directions
Dissolve yeast in 4 tablespoons lukewarm milk. Add 1 teaspoon sugar and 3 tablespoons flour. Stir well and set aside.  Cream 1 cup butter with 4 tablespoons sugar. Add egg yolks, one at a time. Add yeast mixture and mix well.
Add 5 cups sifted flour, salt and 1 1/3 cup milk and beat well. Beat dough for 10 minutes or until bubbles form. Cover with flour and let rise 2 hours. Cut dough in half and roll out each half as thin as possible on floured board. Spread each half with melted butter, honey, walnuts and douse with cinnamon.  Roll up like jelly roll, place on baking sheet, allow to rise and bake for one hour at 350 degrees.

Children are important to the United Nations, and rightfully so. This world organization deals with issues and rights of all kinds of people, and gives a voice to issues that concern everyone. Universal Children’s Day, Nov. 20, marks the day on which the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989. The day is to highlight the welfare of children, with an emphasis on concerns such as health and education for the poorer parts of the world. But its also a good time to show the younger ones in your life that they are loved and important. To show it with food, try this quick and kid-friendly fruit pizza. 
Fruit Pizza
Ingredients
prepared, uncooked sugar cookie dough
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup cool whip
2 tsp. vanilla
various fruit, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, kiwi, etc.
Directions
Press uncooked cookie dough into an ungreased pizza pan, or into the bottom of a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned. Let cool. Mix cream cheese, cool whip and vanilla. Spread onto cookie. Cut cookie into serving sizes, then garnish with fruit. Make sure fruit is completely dry or the crust will get soggy.

It’s not a very well-celebrated holiday, even though its been around for more than 50 years. On November 18, 1957, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed November 19 as Equal Opportunity Day, by saying, “Let every citizen of the United States, whether an employer or employee, farmer or businessman, join in the effort to abolish all artificial discrimination which hinders the right of each American to advance in accordance with his merits as a human being and his capacity for productive work.” The holiday came on the heels of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which Eisenhower and his fellow Democrats established to give all African Americans the right to vote. With Equal Opportunity Day, the President wanted to establish a day to highlight the rights of everyone to have meaningful work.

International Students Day celebrates student activism, though sometimes the holiday is used as a celebration of multicultural students. The date was chosen to commemorate the Nov. 17, 1939 storming of Prague University by Nazi soldiers where nine students were killed over 1200 students sent to concentration camps, and the closing of all Czech universities and colleges. There has been a movement to try and get the United Nations to adopt this holiday, but for now it is celebrated independently by individual colleges and universities. Amnesty International has held events in the past.

Set to mark the birthday of Frederick Banting who, along with Charles Best, first conceived the idea which led to the discovery of insulin in 1922, Nov. 14 has been deemed World Diabetes Day. The purpose of the holiday is to educate people, especially young people, on the signs of diabetes, one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood. Highlighted in posters and handouts, the warning signs include frequent urination, weight loss, excessive thirst and lack of energy. The posters are available on the World Diabetes Website.

World Diabetes Day was started by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1991. It has grown to a world-wide event, using a circle as a symbol for the world united for diabetes education. Learn more about how to manage this condition from the American Diabetes Association.

In what will go down as one of the greatest marketing tricks ever, the South Korean makers of a cookie stick have successfully integrated their product into their local culture by inventing a holiday named after itself. Touted as a day for love, like Valentine’s Day, Pepero Day is for exchanging and eating of Pepero sticks with as many family, boyfriends, girlfriends, and acquaintances as you can. Pepero is a cookie stick, dipped in chocolate syrup, manufactured by Lotte in South Korea since 1983. It comes in ten flavors, including strawberry, almond and …..cheese? The date of November 11 was chosen because when written as 11/11, it resembles four, long Pepero sticks.

To share with your family, try this homemade version of sugar cookies dipped in chocolate.
Ingredients
1 cup butter (2 sticks
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the chocolate dip
1 package (8 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup butter
1 cup finely ground walnuts or pecans

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray cookie sheets with no-stick cooking spray or grease lightly.

In large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar; beat well. Add egg and egg yolk, beating after each addition. Add vanilla; beat well. Gradually add combined flour, baking powder and salt; beat until well blended.

Scrape dough into heavy-duty plastic food storage bag; seal tightly. Snip off one corner of bag to make a 1/2 inch diameter opening. Squeeze dough onto prepared cookie sheets using kitchen scissors to cut dough into 2-inch long strips and spacing strips 3 inches apart.

Bake 11 to 13 minutes until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; transfer to wire rack. Cool completely.

While cookies cool, prepare chocolate dip.
Place chocolate and butter in medium microwave-safe bowl. Cover loosely with waxed paper and microwave on high, stirring every 20 seconds, until chocolate is smooth and fully melted.

Place nuts in shallow dish.

Dip one end of cookie (about 1/2 the cookie) into chocolate and then immediately into the nuts to coat. Repeat with remaining cookies. Let cookies stand at room temperature until chocolate is set.

National Unity Day in Russia is a relatively new holiday that celebrates an old event. Unity Day was first marked in 2005 to commemorate a November 1612 uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian occupation force in Moscow. There has been much controversy surrounding the holiday. Some say that President Putin instituted it as a way to deflect from his abolishment of a Nov. 7 holiday celebrating the October 1917 revolution. For years this holiday had been in flux, and was was renamed the Day of Reconciliation and Accord during the Yeltsin era. Putin finally deleted it altogether and instituted Unity Day as a way to celebrate all things Russian. The controversy continued with the way Unity Day has been celebrated, with criticism focusing on the neo-Nazi groups using it as a way to spread their message.

November 4 is also the feast day for Our Lady of Kazan, the holy icon most associated with the Russian Orthodox Church. Though the day’s celebrations do not center on the religious figure, it is the hope of some that Russians will eventually see Nov. 4 as a way to celebrate their heritage and strength.