Here’s the list of January, 2018 holidays, observances, food themes, awareness days , historic figures and authors birthdays, science and historic based anniversaries,  and more!  Whether you’re looking for something special to study, trivia, a day to celebrate, or foods to add to the menu, you’re going to find it here!

Resources for teaching through January, including a PDF of January’s Special Days, can be found at the end of this list.

January’s Themes

• Book Blitz
• Change Your Stars
• Clean Up Your Computer
• Creativity
• Family Fit Lifestyle
• Get Organized
• High Tech
• Hobby
• It’s OK To Be Different
• Mail Order Gardening
• Mentoring
• New Year’s Resolutions
• Polka Music
• Reaching Your Potential
• Reference Book
• Rising Star
• Shape Up
• Skating
• Thank You
• Train Your Dog
• Way Finding

January’s Food Themes

• Apple
• Apricots
• Artichoke
• Asparagus
• Be Kind to Food Servers
• Bread Machine Baking
• Candy
• Dried Fruits
• Eggs
• Fiber Focus
• Hot Foods
• Hot Tea
• Meat
• Oatmeal
• Prune Breakfast
• Slow Cooking
• Soup
• Wheat Bread

January Awareness

• Bath Safety
• Blood Donor
• Birth Defects
• Braille Literacy
• Celebration of Life
• Eye Care
• Financial Wellness
• Glaucoma
• Quality of Life
• Personal Self-Defense
• Poverty in America
• Prune the Fat
• Teen Driving
• Thyroid

January, 2017 Daily Specials (the * means that the special day may fall on a different date each year)

Jan. 1

• Apple Gifting Day
• Australia Independence Day 1901
• Cameroon Independence Day 1960
• Commitment Day
• Copyright Law Day
• The Council on Environmental Quality established 1969
• Daydreamers Day
• Diet Resolution Week begins
• Ellis Island Anniversary 1892
• Emancipation Proclamation Day 1868
• Euro Day
• First Foot Day
• Global Family Day
• Handsel Monday * (1st Mon.)
• Haiti Independence Day 1804
• Hogmanay
• New Year’s Day
• New Year’s Resolutions Week begins
• Paul Revere born 1735
• Polar Bear Plunge
• St. Basil’s Day
• Betsy Ross born 1752
• Samoa Independence Day 1962
• Sudan Independence Day 1956
• Z Day

Jan. 2

• Berchtold’s Day (Switzerland)
• Buffet Day
• Cream Puff Day
• Drinking Straw patented 1888
• Georgia Statehood 1788
• Happy Mew Year for Cats
• Motivation and Inspiration Day
• Run Up the Flagpole and See if Anyone Salutes Day
• Science Fiction Day
• Someday We’ll Laugh About Week begins
• Suffragist Martha Carey Thomas born 1857

Jan. 3

• Alaska Statehood 1959
• Chocolate Covered Cherry Day
• Drinking Straw Invented
• Festival of Sleep
• Fruitcake Toss Day
• Humiliation Day
• Olelo margarine patented 1871
• J.R.R. Tolkien Day

Jan. 4

• Blender patented 1910
• Louis Braille born 1809
• Burma/Myanmar Independence Day 1948
• Folic Acid Awareness Week begins
• Author Jacob Grimm born 1785
• Home Office Safety and Security Week begins
• Hypnotism Day
• Scientist Issac Newton born 1643
• Pop Music Chart Day
• Spaghetti Day
• Trivia Day
• Utah Statehood 1896

Jan. 5

• Bird Day
• Explorer Zebulon Pike born 1779
• Twelfth Night
• Weigh-In Day
• Whipped Cream Day
• X-Ray discovered 1896

Jan. 6

• Apple Tree Day
• Bean Day
• Joan of Arc born 1412
• Bean Day
• Cuddle Up Day
• Epiphany
• New Mexico Statehood 1912
• Shortbread Day
• Telegraph First Demonstrated 1838
• Three Kings Day

Jan. 7

• President Millard Fillmore born 1800
• Folic Acid Awareness Week begins *
• Harlem Globetrotter’s Day
• Programmers’ Day
• Old Rock Day
• Tempura Day

Jan. 8

• Argyle Day
• Bubble Bath Day
• Earth’s Rotation Day
• Elvis Presley born 1935
• English Toffee Day
• Physicist Stephen Hawking born 1942
• Joygerm Day
• Midwife’s Day
• Plough Monday * (Mon. after Twelfth Night)
• War on Poverty Day
• Universal Letter Writing Week begins

Jan. 9

• Apricot Day
• Balloon Ascension Day
• Connecticut Statehood 1788
• 1st Dear Abby Newspaper Column published 1956
• President Richard Nixon born 1913
• Static Electricity Day
• Word Nerd Day

Jan. 10

• Bittersweet Chocolate Day
• Cut Your Energy Costs Day
• Houseplant Appreciation Day
• London Underground begin operating 1863
• Peculiar People Day
• !st UN Meeting Anniversary 1944

Jan. 11

• Scientist Joseph Charles Arthur born 1850
• Chad Independence Day Celebrated (Actual date Aug. 11, 1960)
• Cuckoo Dancing Week begins
• Grand Canyon National Monument dedicated 1908
• Milk Day
• Secret Pal Day
• Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend Day
• Thank You Day

Jan. 12

• Clean Your Desk Day
• Curried Chicken Day
• Make Your Dream Come True Day
• Marzipan Day
• Stick To Your New Year’s Resolution Day
• Work Harder Day

Jan. 13

• Author Michael Bond born 1926
• Composer Stephen Foster born 1864
• Frisbee introduced 1957
• Saint Hilary’s Day
• Make Your Dream Come True Day
• Peach Melba Day
• Poetry Break Day
• Public Radio Broadcasting Day
• Rubber Ducky Day
• Skeptics Day

Jan. 14

• Dress Up Your Pet Day
• Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day
• Organize Your Home Day
• Missionary Albert Schweitzer born 1875

Jan. 15

• Elementary School Teacher Day
• Hat Day
• Humanitarian Day
• Martin Luther King Jr. born 1929
• Strawberry Ice Cream Day
• 1st Super Bowl Game (1967)

Jan. 16

• Appreciate a Dragon Day
• Fig Newton Day
• Hot and Spicy Food Day
• Missionary Eric Liddell born 1902
• Nothing Day
• Religious Freedom Day

Jan. 17

• Cable Car Day
• Ditch New Years Resolutions Day
• Inventor/Author/Patriot Benjamin Franklin born 1706
• Fresh Squeezed Juice Week begins
• Hot Heads Chili Day
• Kid Inventors’ Day
• Popeye the Sailorman debut 1929

Jan. 18

• Bald Eagle Appreciation Day (18 & 19)
• Peking Duck Day
• Prayer of Christian Unity Week begins
• Sanctity of Human Life Day
• Scott reaches South Pole 1910
• Thesaurus Day
• Daniel Webster born 1782
• Winnie the Pooh Day (A.A. Milne born 1882)
• Women’s Healthy Weight Day * (other sources say 25th)

Jan. 19

• Artist Paul Cezanne born 1839
• International Flower Day
• Metric System Day
• Neon Sign patented 1915
• Author Edgar Allan Poe born 1809
• Popcorn Day
• Tin Can Day

Jan. 20

• Saint Agnes’s Eve
• Astronaut Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin born 1930
• Buttercrunch Day
• Cheese Lovers’ Day
• Disc Jockey Day
• Draw a Dinosaur Day
• 1st English Parliament 1265
• Penguin Awareness Day
• Rid the World of Fad Diets and Gimmicks Day
• 1st Webster’s American Dictionary 1825

Jan. 21

• Granola Bar Day
• Hugging Day
• New England Clam Chowder Day
• Squirrel Appreciation Day

Jan. 22

• 1st American Postal Route established 1673
• Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day
• Blonde Brownie Day
• Celebration of Life Day

Jan. 23

• John Hancock born 1737
• Handwriting Analysis Week begins
• Handwriting Day
• Measure Your Feet Day
• Pie Day

Jan. 24

• Apple introduced the Macintosh Personal Computer 1984
• Belly Laugh Day
• Compliment Day
• Gold Discovered at Sutter’s Mill 1848  (Other sources say Dec. 5)
• Peanut Butter Day
• Talk Like a Grizzled Prospector Day

Jan. 25

• Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day
• Burns Night (Scotland)
• Poet Robert Burns born 1759
• Clean Out Your Inbox Week begins
• Saint Dwynwen’s Day
• Meat Week
• Opposite Day
• Women’s Healthy Weight Day * (other sources say 18th)

Jan. 26

• Australia Day (founded 1788)
• Michigan Statehood 1837
• Peanut Brittle Day
• Pistachio Day
• School Choice Week begins
• Spouse’s Day

Jan. 27

• Big Garden Bird Watch *
• Author Lewis Carrol born 1832
• Chocolate Cake Day
• Holocaust Memorial Day
• Composer Mozart born 1756
• Punch the Clock Day
• Vietnam Peace Day 1973

Jan. 28

• Blueberry Pancake Day
• Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 1986
• Fun at Work Day
• Kazoo day
• Snow Sculpting Week begins
• US Coast Guard formed 1915

Jan. 29

• Corn Chip Day
• Free Thinkers Day
• Kansas Statehood 1861
• President Wm. McKinley born 1843
• Patriot Thomas Paine born 1737
• Puzzle Day
• Seeing Eye Dog Day

Jan. 30

• Croissant Day
• Fun at Work Day
• Mohandas Gandhi assassinated 1948
• 1st Lone Ranger radio broadcast 1933
• Preschool Fitness Day
• President Franklin Roosevelt born 1882
• Yodel For Your Neighbors Day

Jan. 31

• Backwards Day
• Explorer 1 launched 1958
• Inspire Your Heart With Art Day
• Nauru Independence Day 1968
• Composer Franz Schubert born 1797
• Street Children Day
• International Zebra Day

Free Printable  –  Special Days in January

January Resources (under construction)   https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2017/01/01/january-resources/

Here’s my favorite resources for help with teaching special days each month   https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2016/07/31/learning-resources-for-special-days/

How I use Special Days lists in our homeschool blog series :

Special Days and the Evolution of Morning Calendar Time

Special Days and Biographies

Special Days and Geography

Special Days and Science

I make my monthly special days lists from several sources including old calendars,  holiday books, newspapers, and the web. If you know of a special day that I do not have listed, please comment and let me know what it is so I can add it in.   Below are the links to my favorite online calendars.

http://www.se7en.org.za/se7ens-january

http://food.unl.edu/january-food-calendar

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/january.htm

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/

https://whatismyspiritanimal.com/animal-holidays-celebrations/

http://www.projectbritain.com/calendar/

http://aglobalworld.com/international-independence-days/country-independence-day.php

Have a Happy January!

betty jo