![\"c32b7776-e90a-4615-bf3f-087f7a242918-mardi-gras1\"](\"http:\/\/momfactually.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/c32b7776-e90a-4615-bf3f-087f7a242918-mardi-gras11.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n* International names for Mardi Gras include: Martes de Carnaval in Mexico, Fastan in Sweden, Martedi Grasso in Italy, J’Ouvert in Trinidad, and Karneval in Germany.<\/p>\n
* Mardi Gras may be the day before Lent, but it also marks the end of Carnival season, which begins on Jan. 6, the Epiphany.<\/p>\n
* Pope Gregory XIII added Mardi Gras to his calendar (yup, the Gregorian calendar was named for him) in 1582 on the day before Ash Wednesday, which Lent, the 40 days of fasting and prayer leading up to Easter Sunday.<\/p>\n
* It has been celebrated in the United States for centuries. New Orleans was established in 1718 by French-Canadian explorer Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville and it didn’t take long for the celebration to catch on. New Orelans celebrated Mardi Gras by the 1730s, according to MardiGrasNewOrleans.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n * New Orleans held its first Mardi Gras parade in 1837. Floats appeared 20 years later.<\/p>\n * New Orleans wasn’t the first place in the United States to celebrate Mardi Gras, however. That was Mobile, Alabama.<\/p>\n * Like many holidays we celebrate today, the festivities include evidence of pagan tradition. Feasting and masquerades, which are important parts of today’s Mardi Gras celebration may have sprung from the ancient Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Lupercalia, but that matter is up for debate, according to History.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n * It wouldn’t be Fat Tuesday without purple, gold and green beads, but why? The International Business Times<\/a> syass that the King of the first daytime carnival in 1872 selected those colors based on their meaning and he would toss them to people he thought fit that meaning. * Mardi Gras colors can also be seen in the school colors of nearby universities. LSU opted for purple and gold, seeing a lot of those colors in the shops in New Orleans for Mardi Gras season. Tulane opted to go with green, the remaining color.<\/p>\n * Lawmakers in Louisiana made Mardi Gras a legal state holiday<\/a> in 1875. It is also a state holiday<\/a> in Alabama and Florida.<\/p>\n * Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans have only been cancelled<\/a> a dozen times, most times due to war, including the Civil War, World War I and World War II. Many also stayed home in the 1870’s due to an outbreak of yellow fever.<\/p>\n * Mardi Gras is also known as Pancake Day in Ireland, England, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It’s known as Paczki Day to many people of Polish descent (and paczkis are especially popular in Chicago this time of year).<\/p>\n * King Cake (or three kings cake), is eaten throughout the world during carnival season. In the US, it is traditionally decorated with icing and purple, green, and gold sprinkles, with a small plastic baby Jesus inside. Whoever gets the baby Jesus is said to have good luck all year, and may also be deemed responsible for bringing the King Cake the following year. Make your own King Cake using this recipe from AllRecipes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n In some parts of the U.S., especially in the Midwest, Fat Tuesday is known as Paczki Day. You can learn what paczki are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:<\/strong> 7 Mickey Mouse trivia tidbits in honor of his birthday<\/a><\/p>\n PRIOR POST: <\/strong>How Q-tips got their name<\/a><\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss a post! Subscribe to my completely safe, spam-free email list in the box in the top right corner of the page!<\/p>\n Please like this page on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/strong> You can also find me on Pinterest<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Laissez les bons temps rouler”, or in English, “Let the good times roll” because Mardi Gras is upon us! Mardi Gras translates to “Fat Tuesday” and marks the last day before Catholics begin Lent on Ash Wednesday, but it is celebrated around the world and often by people of various beliefs. It is a holiday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9782,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318\/revisions\/9782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>* Masks are a fun part of Mardi Gras, but if you’re riding on a float, don’t leave home without one. It is illegal<\/a> to ride on a Mardi Gras parade float in New Orleans without wearing a mask.<\/p>\n
\nPurple = justice
\nGold = power
\nGreen = faith<\/p>\n<\/a>