Welcome to the Freelance Writer’s Almanac for February 2014!

The flowers of February are VIOLET and PRIMROSE.

The birthstone of people born in February is AMETHYST. It means SINCERITY.

1

• Canada’s RCMP came into existence on this day in 1920 (The Christian Almanac – TCA p. 77).

• George Bush & Boris Yeltsin officially declared the end of the Cold War in 1992 (TCA, p. 77).

2

• Candlemas Day – the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (TCA, p. 78)

• Groundhog Day.

• Today is the beginning of Children’s Authors & Illustrators Week (first full week in Feb. this year 2-8).

3

• The first paper money paid Massachusetts soldiers fighting against Quebec in 1690 (TCA p. 81).

• Canada’s original parliament buildings burned down in 1916 (TCA p. 81).

4

• Walt Disney released the first full-length animated film – Snow White – in 1938 (TCA p. 83).

• Facebook is 10 today! Mark Zuckerberg launched it on February 4, 2004 as thefacebook.com.

5

• Today the church celebrates the Martyrs of Japan, executed for their faith on February 5, 1597.

6

• King George VI died on this day in 1952. He would be succeeded by Elizabeth II who is still the reigning monarch of the British Commonwealth today.

• 2014 Winter Olympics begin in Sochi, Russia.

7

• Laura Ingalls Wilder (writer of the Little House on the Prairie series) was born on this day in 1867 (TCA P. 89).

• Today is Girl Scout Cookie Day / Weekend.

8

9

• 9-15  FREELANCE WRITERS APPRECIATION WEEK (2nd week in Feb.).

• 9-15 RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS WEEK.

• Today is the 50th anniversary of Beatles’ first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show (1964).

10

• 10-12 is SHROVETIDE.

• France ceded its Canadian provinces to England marking the end of the French Indian War in 1763 (TCA p. 95).

• Thomas Mclean published Edward Lear’s A Book of Nonsense on this day in 1846 (72 limericks in two volumes) (TCA p. 95).

• Today is Family Day in B.C., Canada.

11

• Thomas Alva Edison, one of the most prolific inventors who has ever lived, was born on this day in 1847 (TCA p. 97).

12

• Charles Darwin was born on this day in 1809 (TCA P. 99).

13

• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the Soviet Union on this day in 1974 (TCA p. 100).

14

• Today is Valentine’s Day.

• Full moon.

15

• The first teddy bear was introduced in America, named in honour of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 (TCA p. 105).

16

• 16-23  This is NATIONAL DATE WEEK (the fruit).

17

• Today is Family Day in Alberta, Saskatchewan & Ontario, Canada.

• President’s Day – USA.

18

• A ninth planet was discovered in the solar system and named Pluto. The discoverer was Clyde Tombaugh (1930).

19

• The first prize was inserted into Cracker Jack on this day in 1913 (TCA p. 113).

20

• Batman & Robin are 70! The comic Batman & Robin first appeared in newspapers around the country in this day in 1944 (TCA p. 115).

21

• The poet W. H. Auden was born in England on this day in 1905. His poems “For the Time Being,”  “The Sea and the Mirror,” and “The Age of Anxiety”  reflected his move toward Christianity (TCA p. 117).

22

• Billy Graham began a three-month-long evangelistic crusade in London 60 years ago today (1954) (TCA p. 119).

23

• The poet John Keats died at the age of 25 in Rome of tuberculosis on this day in 1821 (TCA p. 121).

• The first mass inoculation of children against polio with Jonas Salk’s vaccine began on this day 60 years ago (1954) (TCA p. 121).

• Winter Olympics end in Sochi, Russia

24

• Wilhelm Grimm (writer of fairy tales with his brother Jakob) was born on this day in 1786 (TCA p. 123).

25

• President Ferdinand Marco fled the Philippines after 20 years of dictatorial rule on this day in 1986  (TCA p. 125). What comes to my mind when I hear about this is his wife Imelda and her legendary collection of shoes! The 3000 pair are now housed in a couple of museums (according to this Wikipedia article).

26

• Today is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day.

• It is also anti-bullying Pink Shirt Day.

27

• National strawberry day.

• National polar bear day.

• Today the church honours poet and priest George Herbert.

28

• Corrie Ten Boom, her sister Betsy and their father were betrayed into the hands of the Nazis on this day in 1944 for sheltering Jews in their home (TCA p. 131).

• For kids everywhere, it’s National Tooth Fairy Day.