Saturday, the 17th of January, 2015 is the 17th day in 2015 and in the 3rd calendar week.
General Events:
Ditch New Years Resolutions Day
January 17, 2015 in the World
Ditch New Years Resolutions Day is observed on January 17, 2015. It’s a day to brake or give up all of those New Year’s resolutions you made two weeks ago on New Year’s Days. But think about it: is it easier to slip back into old habits, or is it better to hold on your New Year’s resolutions? You can get it if you want it!
A New Year’s resolution is a secular tradition, most common in the Western Hemisphere but also found in the Eastern Hemisphere, in which a person makes a promise to do an act of self-improvement or something slightly nice.
A study involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study’s participants were confident of success at the beginning. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.
Where is Ditch New Years Resolutions Day?
Worldwide
Kid Inventors’ Day
January 17, 2015 in the World
It’s Kid Inventors’ Day! Today we celebrate the creativity and ingenuity of young people all around the world. Kids are always asking how things work and trying to figure out for themselves by trying different things until it does something “cool”…. or breaks. Whichever comes first. It is the joy of kids to invent and Kid Inventors’ Day is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the imagination, ingenuity, and unbound curiosity of young people in all sorts of places.
You might think to yourself, “Kid inventors? That’s really cute, but surely kids haven’t invented anything groundbreaking or of real impact and significance.” Well, think again. The ingenuity of young minds have blessed mankind with such things as earmuffs, swim flippers, popsicles, trampolines, Braille, and even the television! The mind of a child works in ways that the adult mind no longer does which enables kids to see things in a whole new way and might just allow them to make the next big break through! Encouraging these tendencies is the reason behind Kid Inventors’ Day.
In the year 1718, young Ben stood on the edge of the water and wished he could swim faster and stronger, the dream of many young boys. However, Ben was not like other young boys and so he invented the first pair of swim flippers. As you have probably guessed young Ben is Benjamin Franklin, who invented swim flippers when he was only 12 years old. Benjamin Franklin is credited with the invention of several other items of great interest, but he started out as a kid inventor and gifted upon the whole scuba and snorkeling community the “swim flipper” which is now commonplace.
Kid Inventors’ Day is celebrated in honor of this noted kid inventor, though Benjamin Franklin is certainly not the only child to invent something of great note. In 1824, the blind Louis Braille (you probably have guessed where this is going) became frustrated with the “night writing” system of letters that was then available for the blind. So, at the age of 15 he took it upon himself to improve the system. His new writing/reading system was named Braille in honor of the young inventor.
The best way to celebrate Kid Inventors’ Day is to encourage the young inventors around you! Children are naturally inventive so if you know any kids at all they’re likely to have the tendencies of an inventor.
Where is Kid Inventors’ Day?
Worldwide
Popeye Day
January 17, 2015 in the World
On this day in 1929, Popeye, the Sailor Man, renowned comic-strip character, first appeared in print. The Victoria Advocate is credited as the first newspaper in the nation to run Elzie Crisler Segar’s comic strip, originally called “Thimble Theatre,” which starred the spinach-eating hero.
In 1917, Segar worked for the Chicago Evening American, where he drew “Looping the Loop,” a cartoon covering local events. In late 1919 the editor of the American sent some of Segar’s drawings to the King Features Syndicate in New York; three weeks later Segar moved there, where, as he recalled, “I met `Popeye,’ `Castor Oyl,’ `Olive Oyle,’ and the members of the cast of `Thimble Theater.'” The salty sailor was not among the strip’s original cast but appeared on January 17, 1929, when Segar was living in Santa Monica, California. The new character was probably inspired by Frank “Rocky” Feigle of Segar’s hometown. By 1932 Popeye was the undisputed star of “Thimble Theatre,” as evidenced in fan mail, toys, games, novelties, and jokes. The comic strip’s cast of characters grew to include Sea Hag, Professor O. G. Watasnozzle, Eugene the Jeep, Brutus, Alice the Goon, J. Wellington Wimpy, Swee’Pea, Granny, and Poopdeck Pappy.
The cartoon series was animated in 1932 under the direction of Max Fleischer, and Sammy Lerner composed the words and music to the theme song, “I’m Popeye the Sailor Man.”
The spinach industry credited Popeye and Segar with the 33 percent increase in spinach consumption from 1931 to 1936, and in 1937 Crystal City, Texas, the “Spinach Capital of the World,” erected a statue to honor Segar and his sailor.
Where is the event?
Worldwide
Old Twelveth Night
January 17, 2015 in England
Old Twelveth Night is celebrated on January 17, 2015. The Old Twelveth Night, also known as the Epiphany or Old Christmas Day, is an old Anglo-Saxon tradition that celebrates the last day of medieval Christmas festivities and the end of Twelfthtide, the 12-day season after Christmas. The old English custom of wassailing is also closely linked to the Old Twelfth Night. This custom is still observed in some parts of the United Kingdom, particularly south-western England. There is much confusion about the exact date of the Old Twelveth Night. [4] Some people believe that it corresponds to the date of the Old Christmas Eve (January 5) while others claim that it should be marked on the Twelveth Night (January 6). According to tradition, the correct date for the Old Twelveth Night should be on January 17 since the custom was created at a time when the Julian calendar was still in effect.
Where is Old Twelveth Night?
Nationwide England
National Hot Buttered Rum Day
January 17, 2015 in the USA
Today is Hot-Buttered Rum Day! Hot-buttered rum is a warm alcoholic beverage flavored with butter, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. These ingredients form a batter that is then mixed with rich, dark rum.
Mulled wines and other “toddies” originated in Europe, but hot-buttered rum is an American innovation. During the colonial period, merchants began importing molasses (the basis for rum) from Jamaica. The first rum distillery opened in the 1660s and it wasn’t long before the colonists began mixing the alcohol with spices to create a warm winter refreshment.
Try making a homemade batch for your friends to celebrate Hot-Buttered Rum Day!
Where is National Hot Buttered Rum Day?
Nationwide USA
Art’s Birthday
January 17, 2015 in the World
Art’s Birthday is observed on January 17, 2015. Robert Filliou was a French Fluxus artist, who produced works as a filmmaker, “action poet,” sculptor, and happenings maestro. Filliou proposed “Art’s Birthday” in 1963.
He suggested that 1,000,000 years ago, there was no art. But one day, on January 17 to be precise, Art was born. Filliou says it happened when someone dropped a dry sponge into a bucket of water.
He also proposed a public holiday to celebrate the presence of art in our lives. Art’s Birthday was first publicly celebrated in 1973 in Auchen, Germany and at the same time in Paris, France.
Where is the event?
Worldwide
Historical Events on 17th January:
1524 – Beginning of Giovanni da Verrazzano’s voyage to find a passage to China.
1718 – Avalanche destroys every building in Leukerbad, Switz; kills 53
1773 – Capt James Cook becomes 1st to cross Antarctic Circle (66° 33′ S)
1775 – 9 old women burnt as witches for causing bad harvests, Kalisk, Pol
1779 – Captain Cook’s last notation in ship’s log Discovery
1871 – 1st cable car patented, by Andrew S Hallidie (begins service in 1873)
1873 – A group of Modoc warriors defeat the United States Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold, a part of the Modoc War.
1893 – Queen Liliuokalani deposed, Kingdom of Hawaii becomes a republic
1899 – US takes possession of Wake Island in Pacific
1912 – Captain Robert Scott’s expedition arrives at South Pole, 1 month after Amundsen
1917 – US pays Denmark $25 million for Virgin Islands (or 3/21)
1929 – Popeye makes 1st appearance, in comic strip “Thimble Theater”
1941 – Kuomintang forces under orders from Chiang Kai-Shek open fire at communist forces, resuming the Chinese Civil War after World War II.
1945 – Auschwitz concentration camp begins evacuation
1945 – Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis, arrested by secret police in Hungary
1946 – United Nations Security Council holds its 1st meeting
1950 – The Great Brinks Robbery – 11 men rob $1.2M cash & $1.5M securities from armored car company Brink’s offices in Boston, Massachusetts
1961 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the “military-industrial complex”.
1966 – Martin Luther King Jr. opens campaign in Chicago
1973 – City of Amsterdam decides to support Hanoi
1984 – Supreme Court rules (5-4) oks private use of home VCRs to tape TV programs for later viewing does not violate federal copyright laws
1987 – US President Reagan signs secret order permitting covert sale of arms to Iran
1989 – Murden & Metz are 1st women to reach South Pole overland (on skis)
1991 – Operation Desert Storm begins against Saddam Hussein
1995 – 7.2 earthquake destroys Kobe Japan (5,372 die)
1996 – Iraq agrees to talks concerning a UN plan to allow for the Iraqi sale of $1 billion of oil; proceeds from the sale would be used for humanitarian purposes
2002 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.
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