Event Calendar

On December 7, 1941, our Nation was viciously attacked at Pearl Harbor. America's Pacific Fleet was battered and broken and more than 2,400 American lives were lost. On National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, America honors those brave individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our homeland and we recognize those veterans who with strength and resolve defended our Nation and advanced the cause of freedom during World War II.

In Native American cultures which tracked the calendar by the Moons, December’s Full Moon was known as the Full Cold Moon. It is fittingly associated with the month when winter cold fastens its grip and the nights become long and dark. This Full Moon is also called the Long Nights Moon by some Native American tribes because it occurs near the winter solstice—the night with the least amount of daylight. A full moon is a lunar phase that occurs when the geocentric apparent longitudes of the sun and moon differ by 180 degrees; the moon is then in opposition with the sun. At this time, as seen by viewers on earth, the hemisphere of the moon that is facing the earth (the near side) is fully illuminated by the sun and appears round. Only during a full moon is the opposite hemisphere of the moon, which is not visible from earth (the far side), completely unilluminated. As a lunar month is about 29.531, the period between full moons can be either 29 or 30 days.

The first day of Winter or winter solstice occurs at the instant when the Sun's position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance on the other side of the equatorial plane from the observer's hemisphere. The seasonal significance of the winter solstice is in the reversal of the gradually lengthening nights and shortening days. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the winter solstice occurs sometime between December 20 and December 23 each year in the northern hemisphere, and between June 20 and June 23 in the southern hemisphere, during either the shortest day or longest night of the year. Though the winter solstice lasts an instant, the term is also colloquially used to refer to the full 24-hour period of the day on which it occurs.

The first day of Winter or winter solstice occurs at the instant when the Sun's position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance on the other side of the equatorial plane from the observer's hemisphere. The seasonal significance of the winter solstice is in the reversal of the gradually lengthening nights and shortening days. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the winter solstice occurs sometime between December 20 and December 23 each year in the northern hemisphere, and between June 20 and June 23 in the southern hemisphere, during either the shortest day or longest night of the year. Though the winter solstice lasts an instant, the term is also colloquially used to refer to the full 24-hour period of the day on which it occurs.