Secular Holidays

Not all holidays are rooted in religion, some are just for fun or to commemorate a special person, thing, or event for secular purposes. But the word "holiday", ironically enough, does have religious ties. Holiday is a contraction of the words "holy" and "day". Originally, "holiday" was used to refer to a special religious day but today it is used in the United States to refer to most any day of observance, especially those for which businesses or schools are closed during the normal work week. The same applies for most English speaking countries, although the word often takes on an additional meaning in England and Australia. While Americans typically refer to a recreational trip away from home as a vacation, other countries refer to this as "taking holiday" or "going on holiday". Aside from the "vacation" vs "taking holiday" word usage discrepancy, referring to days of observance set side by nations or cultures as holidays (either religious or secular) is fairly universal among the English speaking world.

Secular holidays are those which do not have direct ties to any particular religion, religious event, or religious figure. Many countries recognize events, persons, or things that are of cultural or national importance, such as the Fourth of July (American Independence Day), Martin Luther King Day, or Arbor Day.