IOTD

Calendar day; January 25, 2015

Sunday, the 25th of January, 2015 is the 25th day in 2015 and in the 4th calendar week.

General Events:

Burns Supper 2015
January 25, 2015 in Scotland

A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, author of many Scots poems. The suppers are held on or near January 25, 2015, sometimes also known as Robert Burns Day, Robbie Burns Day or Burns Night.

Burns suppers are most common in Scotland and Northern Ireland but occur wherever there are Burns Clubs, Scottish Societies, expatriate Scots, or aficionados of Burns’ poetry. There is a particularly strong tradition of them in southern New Zealand’s main city Dunedin, of which Burns’ nephew Thomas Burns was a founding father.

Burns suppers may be formal or informal. Both typically include haggis (a traditional Scottish dish celebrated by Burns in Address to a Haggis), Scotch whisky and the recitation of Burns’ poetry. Formal dinners are hosted by organisations such as Burns clubs, the Freemasons or St Andrews Societies and occasionally end with dancing when ladies are present. Formal suppers follow a standard format.

Where is Burns Supper?
Nationwide Scotland

Dydd Santes Dwynwen
January 25, 2015 in Wales

Dydd Santes Dwynwen is celebrated on January 25, 2015. Dydd Santes Dwynwen (Welsh for St Dwynwen’s Day) is considered to be the Welsh equivalent to Valentine’s Day. It celebrates Dwynwen: she is the Welsh saint of love. The popularity and celebration of St Dwynwen’s day has increased considerably in recent years, with special events, such as concerts and parties, often held and greetings cards printed. Although still not as popular as St Valentine’s Day in February, St Dwynwen is certainly becoming better-known among today’s population of Wales.

Where is Dydd Santes Dwynwen?
Nationwide Wales

Opposite Day 2015
January 25, 2015 in the World

Opposite Day is observed on January 25, 2015, where speech is modified so that meaning is inverted. Once Opposite Day is declared, statements mean the opposite of what they usually mean. If you say yes, it means no. If you say bright, you mean dark. And so on … Opposite Day can also be declared retroactively to indicate that what was just asserted had the opposite meaning of what was originally intended (similar to the practice of crossed fingers to automatically nullify promises).

In lexical semantics, opposites are words that lie in an inherently incompatible binary relationship as in the opposite pairs male : female, long : short, and precede : follow. The notion of incompatibility here refers to the fact that one word in an opposite pair entails that it is not the other pair member. For example, something that is long entails that it is not short.

Opposites are simultaneously different and similar in meaning. Typically, they differ in only one dimension of meaning, but are similar in most other respects, including similarity in grammar and positions of semantic abnormality. Additionally, not all words have an opposite. Some words are non-opposable. For example, animal or plant species have no binary opposite.

Where is the event?
Worldwide

Tatiana Day 2015
January 25, 2015 in Russia

Tatiana Day takes place on January 25, 2015. Tatiana Day is a Russian religious holiday. It is named after Saint Tatiana, a Christian martyr in 3rd century Rome during the reign of Emperor Alexander Severus. In 1755 on the name day of Ivan Shuvalov’s mother Tatiana Rodionovna, his mistress Empress Elizabeth of Russia endorsed his petition to establish a university in Moscow. The church of Saint Tatiana was later built in the university campus, the Russian Orthodox Church declared Saint Tatiana the patron saint of students, and Tatiana Day has become celebrated as Russian Students Day. Coincidentally 25 January is also end of the first term of traditional academic year for Russian students – the end of winter exams session, followed by a two-week winter holiday.

Where is Tatiana Day?
Nationwide Russia

National Irish Coffee Day
January 25, 2015 in the USA

It’s National Irish Coffee Day! Irish coffee is a delicious cocktail made with black coffee, sugar, Irish whiskey, and whipped cream.

Joe Sheridan, a bartender at Foynes Airbase in Ireland, invented the drink in 1942. A group of passengers stopped at the bar after a miserably cold eighteen-hour journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Joe brewed hot coffee, added a splash of whiskey, and offered the concoction to the travelers. According to legend, one of the passengers asked him, “Is this Brazilian coffee?” and Joe laughed and said, “No, that’s Irish coffee.”

Ten years later, Jack Koeppler, the owner of the Buena Vista bar in San Francisco, and travel writer Stanton Delaplane teamed up to bring Joe’s famous Irish coffee to the States. They experimented for months before they got the taste just right and put it on the menu. The popularity of the drink soon spread nationwide and it’s been a favorite ever since.

The original recipe as per Joseph Sheridan: “Cream as rich as an Irish brogue; coffee as strong as a friendly hand; sugar sweet as the tongue of a rogue; and whiskey smooth as the wit of the land.”

Where is the event?
Nationwide USA

Historical Events on 25th January:

41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate.

1348 – Earthquake destroys Villach, killing 5,000

1565 – Battle at Talikota India: the Deccan sultanate destroy Vijayanagar’s army and the last Hindu kingdom of Southern India

1755 – Moscow University established on Tatiana Day

1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte elected president of Italian (Cisalpine) Republic

1840 – American naval expedition under Charles Wilkes first to identify Antarctica as a new continent

1858 – Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” first played, at wedding of Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Victoria, to crown prince of Prussia

1881 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.

1910 – Children initiate idea of planting trees in Jerusalem

1914 – An Indian mass meeting in Durban unanimously endorse the agreement between General J.C. Smuts and Mahatma Gandhi regarding voluntary registration, poll tax, recognition of Indian marriages and other matters

1915 – Alexander Graham Bell in NY calls Thomas Watson in SF

1918 – Russia declared a republic of Soviets

1937 – 1st broadcast of “Guiding Light” on NBC radio

1939 – Earthquake hits Chillan Chile, 10,000 killed

1951 – UN begins counter offensive in Korea

1955 – US & Panama sign canal treaty

1970 – Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H premieres

1974 – Christian Barnard transplants 1st human heart without removal of old

1979 – 1st documented case of a robot killing a human in US

1981 – Mao’s widow Jiang Qing sentenced to death

1993 – Sears announces it is closing its catalog sales dept after 97 years

1999 – After an inquiry into a corruption scandal, 6 International Olympic Committee members are expelled