Special Days in January

Here’s the list of January’s 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

Special Days without Set Dates

● Thank God It’s Monday Day (1st Mon.)
● Handsel Monday (1st Mon.)
● Weigh-In Day (1st Monday after New Year’s
Day)
● Folic Acid Awareness Week (varies)
● Pizza Week (2nd Sun.)
● Clean Off Your Desk Week begins (2nd Mon.)
● Coming of Age Day – Japan (2nd Mon.)
● Plough Monday (Mon. after the 5th)
● Hunt for Happiness Week begins (3rd full
week)
● International Printing Week begins (week
including Jan. 17)
● Healthy Weight Week (3rd Sun.)
● Women’s Healthy Weight Day (varies)
● World Religion Day (3rd Sun.)
● Martin Luther King Jr. Day (3rd Mon.)
● Sugar Awareness Week begins (3rd Mon.)
● Maintenance Day (3rd Wed.)
● Women’s Healthy Weight Week (varies)
● Celebrity Read a Book Week (last full week)
● Meat Week (varies)
● Take Back Your Time Week (last full work
week)
● School Nurse’s Day (4th Wed.)
● Chinese New Year (Sometimes in Feb.)
● Seed Swap Day (last Sat.)
● Leprosy Day (last Sun.)
● Big Garden Bird Watch

January Special Days with Set Dates

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
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
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 patented 1888
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
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
Harlem Globetrotter’s Day
Old Rock Day
Programmers’ 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
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 Sailor Man 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)

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
Chinese New Year *
Clean Out Your Inbox Week begins
Saint Dwynwen’s Day
Meat Week
Opposite Day

Jan. 26

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

Jan. 27

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
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 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.