Earth Hour is a yearly event which asks people to turn off all lights and use no electricity (电) for an hour. The aim is to get people to think about the planet they live on and the energy they use.

What is Earth Hour?

Earth Hour is a yearly activity that encourages people and businesses around the world to turn off electricity at the same time for one hour. Earth Hour started in Australia in 2007 when 2.2 million people in the city of Sydney turned off all unnecessary lights for an hour. Since then it has grown to a large worldwide event. In2013, millions of people in 7,000 cities and towns around the world turned off their lights for 60 minutes at the end of March. Everyyear landmarks and well-known buildings around the world take part and “go dark”for Earth Hour.

Who organises Earth Hour?

Earth Hour is organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It was started by Andy Ridley, who is in charge of this activity in WWF. He came up with the idea of Earth Hour because he wanted to raise awareness of environmental problems by asking people to do something good to help the planet. Turning off the lights for an hour can make a small difference to the amount of energy we use, but Earth Hour is also a representative event to make people think about the problems of climate change.

Why March?

The end of March is around the time when day and night are of equal length in the northern and southern hemispheres (半球), so sunset times in both hemispheres are at similar times. This means that a worldwide “lights out” event has most visual impact at this time of year.

The day following Thanksgiving — commonly referred to as Black Friday — has become one of the busiest shopping days of the year in the United States.

It is believed by many that the term Black Friday comes from the concept that businesses operate at a financial loss, or are “in the red,” until the day after Thanksgiving, when massive sales finally allow them to turn a profit, or put them “in the black.” However, this is untrue.

A more accurate explanation of the term dates back to the early 1960s, when police officers in Philadelphia began using the phrase “Black Friday” to describe the mess that resulted when large numbers of suburban tourists came into the city to begin their holiday shopping and, in some years, attend Saturday’s annual Army-Navy football game. The huge crowds created a headache for the police, who worked longer than usual as they dealt with traffic jams, accidents, shoplifting, and other issues.

Within a few years, the term Black Friday had taken root in Philadelphia. City businessmen attempted to put a prettier face on the day by calling it “Big Friday.”

In more recent years, Black Friday has been followed by other shopping holidays, including Small Business Saturday, which encourages shoppers to visit local retailers, and Cyber Monday, which promotes shopping online. Giving Tuesday has also appeared to encourage charitable donations.

Historically, Black Friday has yet another meaning, one unrelated to shopping. In 1869 Wall Street financiers Jay Gould and Jim Fisk attempted to corner (垄断) the nation’s gold market at the New York Gold Exchange. On Friday, September 24, the government’s control caused their plan to fall apart, making thousands of Americans lose all their money.

Many cultures also do special things to get rid of bad luck at the beginning of a new year. For example, in Ecuador, families make a big doll from old clothes. The doll is filled with old newspapers and firecrackers. At midnight, these dolls are burned to show the bad things from the past year are gone and the new year can start afresh (again). Other common traditions to keep away bad luck in a new year include throwing things into rivers or the ocean, or saying special things on the first day of the new year.