This is what we're celebrating or observing This Week
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January 21, 2018
Frilled Shark (rare breed of shark believed to be extinct since pre-historic times) is found alive off the coast of Japan (2007) - Jan. 21
George Orwell (English author best known for his novels Animal Farm and 1984) dies in London at age 46 (1950) - Jan. 21
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Russian revolutionary and communist politician) dies, aged 53, at his estate in Gorki Leninskiye (1924) - Jan. 21
Louis XVI of France is guillotined (1793) - Jan. 21
Squirrel Appreciation Day - Jan. 21
Tehran frees US hostages after 444 days (1981) - 1/21
National Hugging Day - Jan. 21
Maori Wars (Tauranga Campaign during the New Zealand Land Wars) begins and lasts for six months (1864) - Jan. 21
Yang Xin (22-year-old Chinese graduate student) is decapitated by fellow student Zhu Haiyang (age 25) in a cafe at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (2009) - Jan. 21
Triodion (Orthodox liturgical book that begins on the fourth Sunday before the Great Lent) date varies (2018) - Jan. 21
SAG (Screen Actors' Guild) Awards (2018) - Jan. 21
World Religion Day - observed 3rd Sunday in January (2018) - 1/21
January 22, 2018
Answer Your Cat's Question Day - Jan. 22
Apple's 1984 TV Commerical airs during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII (1984) - Jan. 22
Budd Dwyer (US State Treasurer of Pennsylvania) commits suicide during a televised press conference (1987) - Jan. 22
Celebration of Life Day - Jan. 22
Heath Ledger (Australian film and and television actor) dies at age 28 from an accidental toxic combination of prescription drugs (2008) - Jan. 22
K-Mart files for Chapter 11 making it the largest retailer in US history to file for bankruptcy protection (2002) - 1/22
KTLA (Hollywood, CA) goes on air as the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi with Bob Hope serving as the emcee (1947) - Jan. 22
Lyndon Baines Johnson (36th President of the US) dies after suffering his third heart attack (1973) - Jan. 22
Roe vs Wade (landmark case) is decided with the Supreme Court legalizing abortion (1973) - Jan. 22
SS Valencia (coastal passenger liner en route from San Francisco to Seattle) runs aground. Only 37 of the 173 aboard survive the accident (1906) - 1/22
Victoria of the United Kingdom dies at age 81 from a cerebral hemmorhage and is succeeded by her son who rules as Edward VII (1901) - Jan. 22
Women's Healthy Weight Day - Jan. 22
Blonde Brownie Day - Jan. 22
Better Business Communications Day - Jan. 22
Come in from the Cold Day - Jan. 22
January 23, 2018
Caroline, Princess of Hanover, is born to Princess Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III of Monaco (1957) - Jan. 23
Eldfell (cinder cone volcano on the Icelandic island of Heimaey) suddenly erupts, causing the evacuation of 5,000 people with only 1 death (1973) - 1/23
Greenbrier Ghost is Zona Heaster Shue who was found dead and believed to have died from a faint until her ghost revealed otherwise (1897) - 1/23
HMS Bounty, anchored after the mutiny, is burned to prevent the ship's detection and anyone's possible escape off Pitcairn Island (1790) - Jan. 23
Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang) ascends to the throne in a coronation ceremony that initiates the 3 century long Ming Dynasty rule over China (1368) - 1/23
James Stewart (1st Earl of Moray, illegitimate son of James V of Scotland and half-brother to Mary Queen of Scots) is assassinated (1570) - Jan. 23
Shaanxi China earthquake kills 830,000 people in what is still considered to be the deadliest disaster on record (1556) - Jan. 23 (OS)
Trieste (Swiss bathyscaphe) descends to the ocean floor in the Challenger Deep (Mariana Trench) at a record depth of 35.8 thousand feet (1960) - Jan. 23
USS Pueblo (Navy Intelligence technical research ship) is boarded and captured by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (1968) - Jan. 23
Ibuki (the World's first greenhouse-gas probe) is launched on an H2A rocket from Tanegaslhima Space Center in Japan (2009) - Jan. 23
Measure Your Feet Day - Jan. 23
National Handwriting Day (recognizes John Hancock's Birthday) - Jan. 23 (NS)
Madeline Albright is sworn in as the first woman to become United States Secretary of State (1997) - 1/23
National Pie Day - Jan. 23
Royal Exchange in London is opened by Queen Elizabeth I (1571) - Jan. 23
January 24, 2018
Air India Flight 101 crashes into the side of Mount Blanc in Switzerland killing all 117 aboard (1966) - Jan. 24
Belly Laugh Day - 1/24
Cosmos 954 (Soviet Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite with an onboard nuclear reactor) reentered Earth's atmosphere and crashed (1978) - 1/24
Elizabeth Alexeivna (future wife of Alexander I of Russia) is born as Princess Louise Marie Auguste of Baden (1779) - Jan. 24
Eskimo Pie is patented Day (1922) - Jan. 24
US Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation with the appointment of Tom Ridge as Secretary of Homeland Security (2003) - Jan. 24
Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller divorce after less than five years of marriage due to their differing lifestyles (1961) - Jan. 24
Sutter's Mill (sawmill owned by John Sutter) is where James Marshall found several flakes of gold beginning the California gold rush (1848) - Jan. 24
The Pleasure Garden (silent film, and Alfred Hitchock's debut) is released into theaters (1927) - Jan. 24
Ugur Mumcu (Turkish investigative journalist and columnist) is killed by a bomb placed in his car outside of his home (1993) - Jan. 24
Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Uranus discovering 10 previously unknown moons (1986) - Jan. 24
Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister) dies from complications of a severe stroke 70 years to the day after his father's death (1965) - Jan. 24
Compliment Day - 1/24
Machu Picchu (ancient Inca ruins in Peru) is closed when floods and mudslides leave over 2,000 tourists in need of rescue by helicopter (2010) - Jan. 24
National Speak Up and Succeed Day - Jan. 24
January 25, 2018
First Emmy Award Ceremony is held at the Hollywood Athletic club, but solely to honor shows produced and aired in Los Angeles, CA (1949) - Jan. 25
The first Olympic Winter Games are held in Chamonix France (1924) - Jan. 25
Henry VIII of England secretly weds Anne Boleyn in London (1533) - Jan. 25
Ava Gardner (US Oscar nominated actress and former wife to Frank Sinatra) dies in London at age 67 in London from bronchial pneumonia (1990) - Jan. 25
Burns' Day storm hits England and Wales with Hurricane-force winds kills at least 39 people in the UK and 21 people in France (1990) - 1/25
Burns Supper Night (Scotland - a dinner held in honor of Robert Burns, the Scottish poet) where haggis and scotch whiskey are served - Jan. 25
Isabella of France marries Edward II of England at Boulogne-sur-Mer (1308) - 1/25
Opposite Day - (2011) - Jan. 25
Nellie Bly (American journalist, author, industrialist and charity worker) returns from her 72-day record-breaking trip around the world (1890) - 1/25
Robert Burns (Scottish Poet and Lyracist) is born in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland (1759) - Jan. 25
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after take-off killing all 90 on board (2010) - Jan.25
Saint Dwynwen's Day (Welsh equivalent to Valentine's Day) - 1/25
American Airlines introduces the first transcontinental jet service using Boeing 707s (1959) - Jan. 25
Monte Carlo Resort and Casino (Las Vegas Nevada) experiences a three-alarm fire that resulted in 17 people with minor injuries with a total loss of $100 million (2008) - 1/25
Tatiana Day (Russian Religious Holiday honoring Saint Tatiana's Feast Day - the day she was executed - Jan. 12 on Julian Calendar) - 1/25
January 26, 2018
Cascadia Earthquake (a magnitude 8.7-9.2 megathrust earthquake along the western coast of North America) causes a tsunami to strike Japan (1700) - Jan. 26
Benedict Arnold is cleared of all but 2 minor charges in his court martial that began in December (1780) - Jan 26
Cullinan diamond is discovered by Frederick Wells, Manager of the Premier Diamond Mining Co and named after the owner of the diamond mine (1905) - Jan. 26
Disneyland (Amusement park in Anaheim, CA) is founded (groundbreaking ceremony - 1954) - Jan. 26
Electric Dental Drill is patented by American dentist George F. Green from Kalamazoo, MI (1875) - Jan. 26
Glendale Train crash (2nd deadliest incident for Metrolink) occurs when a Metrolink commuter train and utility vehicle collide killing 11 (2005) - Jan. 26
Gujarat earthquake (magnitude of 8.1) occurs during India's 51st Republic Day killing more than 20,000 and injuring another 167,000 (2001) - Jan. 26
Australia Day (commemorates the first British settlement established in Australia - 1788) - Jan. 26
Michigan is admitted to the union as the 26th US state (1837) - 1/26
Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber version) has its Broadway premiere at the Majestic Theatre (1988) - Jan. 26
Republic Day (India) - Jan. 26
Television is first demonstrated by John Logie Baird in London (1926) - 1/26
January 27, 2018
Apollo 1 - the command module is destroyed by fire during a test and training exercise with the crew aboard - all 3 died in the fire (1967) - Jan. 27
John James Audobon (American ornithologist, naturalist, hunter and painter) dies in his family home (1851) - Jan. 27
Chocolate Cake Day - Jan. 27
Henry VI (Holy Roman Emperor) marries Constance of Sicily (1186) - Jan. 27
International Holocaust Memorial Day - Jan. 27
Jack Paar (American radio and TV talk host) dies at his home in Connecticut (2004) - Jan. 27
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Austrian composer) is born (1756) - Jan. 27
Lewis Carroll (English author, photographer and Anglican Deacon best known for his Alice in Wonderland series) is born in Daresbury England (1832) - 1/27
Nellie Bly (American journalist and author) dies from pneumonia in New York City at age 57 (1922) - Jan. 27
J.D. Salinger (reclusive American author best known for his novel "The Catcher in the Rye") dies at age 91 in his New Hampshire home (2010) - Jan. 27
National Toilet Day commemorates the death of Thomas Crapper at age 73 (1910) - Jan. 27
Giuseppe Verdi (Italian Romantic Composer of primarily operas) dies of complications from a stroke at age 87 (1901) - Jan. 27
Heartbreak Hotel (First #1 pop record by Elvis Presley that also made best selling single for the year) is released (1956) - Jan. 27
John Updike (American novelist, poet and short story writer most famous for his Rabbit series) dies at age 76 (2009) - Jan. 27
Paris Peace Accords (intended to put an end to the Vietnam Conflict) are signed (1973) - Jan. 27
Escape Day (When you simply get away from it all) Last Friday in January (2017) - 1/27
Zelda Rubinstein (American actress best known for her role in the movie Poltergeist) dies from a combination of cardiac and respiratory problems at age 76 (2010) - Jan. 27
Fun at Work Day - celebrated on the last Friday of January (2017) - Jan. 27
January 28, 2018
Daisy Day - Jan. 28
National Kazoo Day - Jan. 28
Knickerbocker Storm (Washington, DC) where a 20-inch snow fall causes the flat roof of the Knickerbocker Theater to collapse with 98 deaths (1922) - Jan. 28
Bald Eagle Day Proclamation made by Ronald Reagan (1982) - Jan. 28
Blueberry Pancake Day - Jan. 28
Henry VIII dies at age 55, on what would have been his father's 90th birthday, and is succeeded by his nine-year-old son Edward VI (1547) - 1/28
Pride and Prejudice (novel by Jane Austen) is first published in the United Kingdom (1813) - Jan. 28
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurs when the Challenger orbiter breaks apart 73 seconds into its flight killing all 7 aboard (1986) - Jan. 28
Tomb of the Unknown soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris France for the unknown dead WWI soldiers (1921) - Jan. 28
Grammy Awards - 59th Annual Ceremony held at Madison Square Garden in NYC airs on CBS (2018) - 1/28
Most captions and photos are courtesy of Wikipedia
