April 24, 2011 - Easter

Easter Sunday comes really, really late this year! It's nearly May, and Easter is sometimes in March! What gives?

You probably know that Easter is a Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, who was a Jew who was said to have died during or just after the week-long celebration of Passover. So the date for Easter is “hooked to” the date for Passover, which depends on the Jewish lunar calendar.

To be exact, Easter falls on the first Sunday that occurs after or on the first full moon that occurs after the Spring (Vernal) Equinox in the Northern hemisphere.

Whoa—I guess that's pretty easy to figure out, but I think I'd rather just consult a calendar.

It turns out that the earliest Easter can be is March 22, and the latest it can be is April 25. So this year Easter is ALMOST as late as it can ever be.

See last year's post for more on Easter. (Scroll down for the Easter portion.)

Also on this day...

Opening of the Woolworth Building, 1913

A new world record! The Woolworth Building, at 792 feet tall, was the tallest building in the world when it was officially opened on this day in 1913. It is in New York City.

The thing about world records is that they are often broken. In 1930, 40 Wall Street (927 feet) became the tallest building in the world. Less than a month later, the Chrysler Building (1,046 feet) took the record, and in 1931, the Empire State Building (1,250 feet) became the tallest building in the world. Note that all of these buildings are ALSO in New York City, so the Woolworth Building didn't even get to keep the record of the tallest building in its country, state, or even city!

Nowadays, the Woolworth Building is WAY down the list of the world's tallest buildings. Since last year, the tallest building in the world has been Dubai Tower, which is 2,717 feet tall!

Did you know...?

The Woolworth Building has 58 stories—but the stories are so large (11 to 20 feet), they are equivalent to 79 or 80 normal stories.

Click to learn more...

Here is a great diagram of some of the world-record holders. 

Building Big has some info and activity ideas. 

There are lots of skyscrapers to click-and-view here.