Freelance Writer’s Almanac – January 2014

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the first post in the Freelance Writer’s Almanac series.

Today we start a new year. It’s interesting to look back and see what happened 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago with a view to remembering, reflecting on, and perhaps writing about these things.

Of course if you choose to write about any of these subjects, you’ll need to give it your own angle.  I have linked a few resources, but to do a proper job, you’ll need to sleuth out more info. Also double-check all dates, because even as I put this together, I found date discrepancies in my sources.

2014 is the anniversary of the following big events:

100-year anniversary (1914)

• The beginning of World War I

• Woodrow Wilson signed a Mother’s Day proclamation.

• The Panama Canal was opened.

• Other events that happened in 1914…

75-year anniversary (1939)

• The beginning of World War II

• John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath was published.

• Other events that happened in 1939…

50-year anniversary (1964)

• This was the year of Beatlemania. The Beatles began their U.S. tour by appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show in February.

• A powerful 9.2 earthquake hit Anchorage Alaska.

• Other events that happened in 1964…

25-year anniversary (1989)

• The Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling millions of gallons of crude oil.

• Chinese students protested and were massacred in Tianamen Square.

• The Berlin Wall was opened to the West after 28 years.

• Other events that happened in 1989…

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The flowers of January are the Carnation and the Snowdrop

The birthstone of  January is Garnet. It means Constancy.

Here are some things that happened in January throughout history. I chose events  and facts that interest me in the areas of history, the arts, faith, science, food, Canadiana and other cool things. But of course these just skim the surface. There are more links to check out at the bottom of the post.

January

1

• New Moon

• Feast of the Holy Name (Protestant Liturgy)

• New Years Day

2

• On this day in 1839 French photographer Louis Daguerre (sometimes referred to as the father of photography) took the first photo of the moon – The Christian Almanac (TCA) p. 15.

3

• On this day in 1745 at the age of 27, David Brainerd committed himself to reach the Indian tribes of Colonial America with the gospel of Christ. He died two years later but lives on in The Diary of David Brainerd pdf file (published by Jonathan Edwards) TCA p. 17.

• J.R.R. Tolkien Day. Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892.

4

• World Braille Day – 205 years ago today Louis Braille was born in Coupvray France (1809). He himself was blind from age three.

6

• Epiphany or Twelfth Night (Protestant Liturgy)

• National Weigh-In Day (always the first Monday after New Years)

7

• Orthodox Christmas Day.

8

• Earth’s Rotation Day. “On 8 January 1851, using a device known as Foucault’s pendulum, Frenchman Léon Foucault demonstrated that the Earth rotates on its axis.”  Read entire article…

11

• On this day in 1922, 14-year-old Leonard Thompson received the first insulin injection to help regulate his diabetes. Canadian scientists Banting and Best had isolated the hormone the year before – TCA, p. 33.

• National Human Trafficking Awareness Day – first declared by U.S. President Obama in January 2011: 1/11/11

12

• Today is the birthday of Jack London (born John Griffith Chaney in 1876). He wrote books about adventure and courage like White Fang and Call of the Wild (two books I loved as a kid). He said: “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”

13

• Stephen Foster Day. Stephen Foster, musician and song-writer (“O Susanna,” “Beautiful Dreamer,” “Old Folks at Home” and many others) is sometimes called the Father of American Music.  This year is the 150-year anniversary of his death (January 13, 1864).

14

• National Poetry-At-Work Day (second Tues. of January) Check out this cool infographic from Tweetspeak Poetry.

• How cold is it? On this day in 1733 Yeneseisk, Siberia recorded a temperature of −120 F. The air was so frigid that birds dropped frozen to the ground and smoke couldn’t rise – TCA, p. 39.

15

• The first Super Bowl game was played on this day in 1967.

16

• Full Moon

• Religious Freedom Day. The Ordinance of Religious Freedom passed the Virginia Legislature on this day in 1786 (TCA p. 42).

17

• U.S., British, and Saudi air raids on Iraq started the Gulf War in 1991.

18

• The Feast of the Confession of St. Peter Apostle (Protestant Liturgy)

• Winnie the Pooh Day – A. A. Milne, author of Winnie the Pooh and other children’s books was born on this day in 1882. He said: “Almost anyone can be an author; the difficult business is to actually collect money from this state of being” – TCA p. 47.

• Thesaurus Day – Peter Mark Roget was born on this day in 1779. His claim to fame was the 1852  publication of the Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (Roget’s Thesaurus).

19

• French painter Paul Cezanne was born on this day (in Aix-en-Provence, 175 years ago, in 1839).

• National Popcorn Day

20

• 81-year-old Myles Coverdale died on this day in 1569. In 1535 he printed the first complete  English Bible, called the Coverdale Bible.

• Robert Frost recited “The Gift Outright” at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 1961. This was after he faltered in reading “Dedication” a poem he had composed for the event.

21

• The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) broadcast its first programming from London to the world on this day in 1929 – TCA p. 53.

22

• The U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe vs. Wade, legalizing abortion from the moment of conception until just before the moment of birth, was rendered on this day in 1973 – TCA, p. 54.

23

• National Handwriting Day

• National Pie Day

24

• The Russian city St. Petersburg was renamed Leningrad on this day in 1924. After the fall of communism, it was renamed St. Petersburg.

• Sir Winston Churchill died on this day in 1965 at the age of 90.

25

• The Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (Protestant liturgy).

• Robbie Burns Day – Robert Burns, the Scottish National Poet, was born on this day in 1759.

• On this day in 1915 Alexander Graham Bell inaugurated transcontinental telephone service.

• This day is the 90th Anniversary of the beginning of the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, 1924.

26

• The National Day of Australia.

27

• The Soviet Red Army liberated the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz on this day in 1945.

28

• I make a birthday cake for someone special at my house on this day!

• On this day in 1986 the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral killing all seven crew members aboard.

29

• Robert Frost died on this day in 1963.

30

• New Moon

• On this day in 1939 Adolf Hitler called for the extermination of European Jews.

31

• Chinese New Year – Year of the Horse

• National Backward Day

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Sources and links to check out for more days:

• Brownilocks – January 2014

• Famous January Birthdays

• National Day Calendar

• The Christian Almanac by George Grant & Gregory Wilbur (a book, not a website).

• This month in history