Holidays Calendar for January 6, 2019
Christmas and Epiphany (Theophany) are among the most important feast days in Christianity. Most denominations celebrate the two feasts separately. However, the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the Nativity of Jesus Christ on the same day as Epiphany.
January 6 is Armed Forces Day (Army Day) in Iraq. This holiday is observed annually since 1921 after the activation of the Iraq Army and today it is a national holiday and a day off.
Traditional Day of Offering is a Bhutanese holiday celebrated on the first day of the twelfth month of the Bhutanese calendar. It typically falls in January or February.
For many Christians, the celebration of Christmas begins on Christmas Eve observed on December 24. However, most Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches still use the old Julian calendar, which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, so their Christmas Eve falls on January 6 in the Gregorian calendar.

Epiphany in Western Christianity
Epiphany, also known as Theophany, Little Christmas, or Three King’s Day, is one of the most important Christian feasts. It celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. The feast is observed on January 6 in most Western Christian denominations.
World Day for War Orphans is observed annually on January 6. It was created to raise awareness of the fact that millions of children have been orphaned due to war, highlight their plight, and mobilize international efforts to support these children.
Bank and Finance Employees Day is one of the many professional holidays celebrated in the Republic of Belarus. It is observed on the first Sunday of January to commemorate the establishment of the Belarusian office of the State Bank in 1922.
On January 6 every year, Jamaican Maroons hold a large festival to celebrate their culture. The celebration takes place in the historical Maroon village of Accompong and includes singing, dancing, drum-playing, and traditional foods.
Pathet Lao Day in Laos falls on January 6. This day Laotians celebrate the anniversary of victory of the Pathet Lao over Lao Royal government.
January 6 is National Shortbread Day in the USA. This is a good reason to treat yourself to some delicious shortbread or even try baking it.
Can you imagine your life without technology? Neither can we! Technological advancements have made our world what it is today, and they surely deserve to be celebrated. National Technology Day, observed annually on January 6, was created to highlight the role of technology in the modern world and celebrate the people behind it.
National Bean Day, also known as Dry Bean Day, is observed annually on January 6. It celebrates all the different kinds of beans that are a staple food in many cultures because of their high protein content.
As much as we wish the holiday season could last forever, at some point we have to return to our everyday lives. However, there is one thing you need to do before that: take down your Christmas tree. January 6 is a great day to say goodbye to Christmas decorations because it is National Take Down the Christmas Tree Day.
Festivals on January 6, 2019
- Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles, USA
- St. Louis Mardi Gras in St. Louis, USA
- New Orleans Mardi Gras in New Orleans, USA
- Carnival in French Guiana in Cayenne, French Guiana
- Carnival in Guadeloupe in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe
- Kastoria Ragoutsaria Carnival in Kastoria, Greece
- International Kite Festival in Gujarat in Ahmedabad, India
- Dolomiti Balloonfestival in Toblach, Italy
- Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in Harbin, China
- Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival in Hwacheon, South Korea
- Aruban Carnival in Oranjestad, Aruba
- Blacks and Whites’ Carnival in Pasto, Colombia
- Carnival of Putignano in Putignano, Italy
- Dubai Shopping Festival in Dubai, UAE
- TSB Festival of Lights in New Plymouth, New Zealand
This Day in History
- 2004 Died: Charles Dumas, American high jumper. He was the 1956 Olympic champion and the very first person to clear 7 ft.
- 2000 Died: Don Martin, American cartoonist. He's best known work was published in Mad from 1956 to 1988.
- 2000 An accident caused by train collision in Graniteville, South California, resulted in release of about 60 tons of chlorine gas.
- 1994 Died: Virginia Clinton Kelley, mother of Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States.
- 1974 Because of 1973 oil crisis daylight saving time began almost four months earlier in the U.S.
- 1955 Born: Rowan Atkinson, English comedian and actor. He's best known for his roles as Mr. Bean and Edmund Blackadder in British sitcoms.
- 1949 Died: Victor Fleming, American director, producer, and cinematographer. Known for his films Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz.
- 1946 Born: Syd Barrett, English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is known as a founder member of Pink Floyd.
- 1944 Born: Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist and Nobel Prize laureate. He was awarded for the discovery of how the immune system recognizes virus-infected cells.
- 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address. According to the speech people in every country ought to enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
- 1938 Born: Adriano Celentano, Italian singer, songwriter, actor, director. He is recognized as the best-selling male Italian singer.
- 1931 Died: Rodolphe Kreutzer, French violinist, composer and conductor. He composed 40 French operas, including La mort d'Abel, as the most famous one. Also Kreutzer is known as the dedicatee of Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 9, but he never played that work and declared it as incomprehensible and unplayable.
- 1930 The first diesel-engined automobile trip was completed. It started in Indianapolis and finished in New York.
- 1929 Mother Theresa arrived in Calcutta, India, to begin her work among the poorest and sick people.
- 1925 Born: John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman. He's famous as the founder of the DeLorean Motor Company.
- 1919 Died: Theodore Roosevelt, American politician, author, naturalist, historian, soldier and explorer. Served as the 26th President of the United States.
- 1918 Died: Georg Cantor, German mathematician. He is known as the inventor of set theory that became fundamental theory in mathematics.
- 1912 Alfred Wegener, German geophysicist, presented his theory of continental drift.
- 1907 Born: David Fleay, Australian ornithologist and zoologist. He was the pioneer in breeding of endangered species and the very first person who bred platypus in captivity.
- 1907 Maria Montessori, known Italian physician and educator, opened her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome.
- 1884 Died: Gregor Johann Mendel, Austrian geneticist. Gained posthumous fame as the founder of the modern genetics.
- 1868 Born: Vittorio Monti, Italian violinist, composer and conductor. He's the most famous work Csárdás is played by almost every gypsy orchestra.
- 1852 Died: Louis Braille, French educator. He's famous for invention of system (known simply as braille) that enabled the blind or visually impaired to write and to read.
- 1839 The most damaging storm in 300 years swept across Ireland. It resulted in damaging and destroying more than 20% houses in Dublin.
- 1838 Alfred Vail demonstrated a new telegraph system using dots and dashes. This system was a forerunner of Morse code.
- 1822 Born: Heinrich Schliemann, German archaeologist. He excavated Hissarlik (it is presumed to be the site of Troy), Mycenae and Tiryns. Thanks to Schliemann's work the idea that Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid reflected actual historic events lent weight.
- 1745 Born: Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, French inventor. He co-invented with his brother Joseph-Michel Montgolfier hot air balloon.
- 1536 Died: Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect and painter. He worked for years with Raphael, Bramante and Sangallo. Peruzzi is known for his architectural masterpiece the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne.
- 1412 Born: Joan of Arc, French saint and outstanding historical person of the Hundred Years' War.
- 200 The last Pyrenean ibex Celia (Iberian wild goat) found dead after a tree had landed on her.