Every year on May 1st, people all around the Northern Hemisphere celebrate the arrival of spring, a day we call May Day.

But it's also the day that communist countries held military parades,

and the Soviets would show off all their military strength in public.

And Mayday is also the international distress signal for radio.

So how are all these very different things related?

Learn more about May Day on this episode of

Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by the Travel Photography Academy. In 2007 I sold my home to travel around the world.

I bought an expensive camera that I didn't know how to use and took a bunch of terrible photos.

Several years, a hundred countries, and tens of thousands of photos later, I'd improved my photography to the point

where I was winning national awards, being named Travel Photographer the Year three times in

North America.

I created the Travel Photography Academy so you don't have to spend the many years that I did to improve your photography.

Even though we can't easily travel right now, you can still work on improving your photography at home and in your own community.

Just go to travel photography academy.com or click on the link in the show notes to

start improving your photography today. I've done several episodes now on the origins of holidays and the calendar

and there seems to be something that every single one of them has in common.

Everything seems to have its origin in ancient Rome.

And May Day is no exception. The traditional celebration of May 1st

dates back to the Roman festival of Floralia, which honored the goddess flora, who was the goddess of flowers, vegetation, and fertility.

The celebration was much more light-hearted than many other Roman holidays, which were often more serious affairs.

It was a six-day festival which was

held from April 27th to May 3rd every year. There was another Roman festival that

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