Holidays Calendar for January 18, 2024
Thai soldiers celebrate their professional day on January18. It is Royal Thai Armed Forces Day, that annually commemorates the victory of King Naresuan in a duel.
January 18 is Revolution Day in Tunisia. This is not a public holiday, however the flag of Tunisia is flown on every public and military building.
January 18 is Foundation Day of Lima, the capital of Peru. It was founded by Francisco Pizarro in 1535. This is not a public holiday, but it is observed among the citizens of Lima.
January 18 is National Peking Duck Day. This dish is very delicious and if you haven't tasted it yet, you've got a great opportunity to do it.
If you think of yourself as a coffee connoisseur or would like to become one, you absolutely should celebrate National Gourmet Coffee Day on January 18. This amazing holiday was created to encourage the general public to learn more about gourmet coffee, and, of course, to give it a try!
Winnie-the-Pooh is an iconic and beloved character, so it is not surprising that there is a holiday dedicated to him. National Winnie-the-Pooh Day is celebrated annually on January 18 to commemorate the birthday of Pooh’s creator, English author Alan Alexander Milne.
National Thesaurus Day is celebrated annually on January 18. It commemorates the birthday of British lexicographer Peter Mark Roget who is remembered for publishing the Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases, commonly known as Roget’s Thesaurus, in 1852.
Festivals on January 18, 2024
- International Kolkata Book Fair in Kolkata, India
- Sundance Film Festival in Park CIty, USA
- Havasu Balloon Festival and Fair in Lake Havasu City, USA
- Celtic Connections in Glasgow, United Kingdom
- Rijeka Carnival in Rijeka, Croatia
- Manfredonia Carnival in Manfredonia, Italy
- Patras Carnival in Patras, Greece
- M1 Singapore Fringe Festival in Singapore, Singapore
- Massafra Carnival in Massafra, Italy
- Solothurn Film Festival in Solothurn, Switzerland
- London Art Fair in London, United Kingdom
- imm cologne (Cologne Furniture Fair) in Cologne, Germany
- Niagara Icewine Festival in Niagara Falls, Canada
- Carnival of Limoux in Limoux, France
- Carnival in Guadeloupe in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe
This Day in History
- 2023 A helicopter carrying ten people, including Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky and State Secretary Yurii Lubkovych, crashed in the Kyiv suburb of Brovary, killing 14 people (all 10 on board and 4 on the ground).
- 2019 A pipeline transporting gasoline exploded in the town of Tlahuelilpan, in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, killing 137 people and injuring dozens more.
- 2012 Died: Yuri Rasovsky, American playwright and producer, founder of The National Radio Theater of Chicago and the Hollywood Theater of the Ear.
- 2005 The Airbus A380, the world's largest commercial jet at the time, was unveiled at a ceremony in Toulouse, France.
- 1995 Died: Adolf Butenandt, German biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry for his work on sex hormones.
- 1994 Witnesses claimed to have seen a fireball in the sky in Cando, Spain that was visible for almost one minute. The Cando Event is regarded as a possible bolide impact.
- 1980 Born: Jason Segel, American actor best known his role as Marshall Eriksen in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother that ran from 2005 to 2014.
- 1978 Died: Carl Betz, American actor, mostly remembered as Donna Reed's husband in the ABC sitcom The Donna Reed Show.
- 1978 The European Court of Human Rights found the government of England guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of their torture.
- 1977 Australia's worst rail disaster: 83 people died, 210 were injured and 1,300 were affected when a commuter train derailed and ran into the supports of a road bridge at Granville in Western Sydney.
- 1977 An unknown bacterium that caused the mysterious Legionnaires' disease was identified by scientists.
- 1971 Born: Jonathan Davis, American singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of the nu metal band Korn.
- 1969 Born: Jesse L. Martin, American actor and singer best known for originating the role of Tom Collins in the Broadway musical Rent and playing Joe West on The Flash.
- 1969 Born: Dave Bautista, American actor and retired professional wrestler known for his portrayal of Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- 1966 Died: Kathleen Norris, American novelist and newspaper columnist. She was one of the most widely read and highest paid female writers in the United States for nearly fifty years.
- 1960 Born: Mark Rylance, English actor, playwright, and theatre director. He has received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Olivier Awards, and three Tony Awards (as of 2023).
- 1956 Died: Konstantin Päts, Estonian politician, 1st President of Estonia. Päts was one of the most influential politicians of interwar Estonia.
- 1955 Born: Kevin Costner, American actor, filmmaker, and musicians. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award (as of 2024).
- 1936 Died: Rudyard Kipling, English author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate. He is best known for his stories for children, as well as tales and poems of British soldiers in India.
- 1933 Born: Ray Dolby, American engineer and businessman, founder of Dolby Laboratories. The company specializes in audio noise reduction and audio encoding/compression.
- 1916 A 611 gram chondrite type meteorite struck a house near the village of Baxter in Stone County, Missouri.
- 1904 Born: Cary Grant, English-American actor known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comedic timing.
- 1903 The first transatlantic radio transmission originating in the U.S. was sent by President Theodore Roosevelt to Kind Edward VII.
- 1897 Died: Gertrude Olmstead, American actress. She appeared in 56 films of the silent era.
- 1896 H.L. Smith exhibited an X-ray generating machine for the first time.
- 1892 Born: Oliver Hardy, American comedian and actor. He is famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, a classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted for 25 years from 1927 to 1951.
- 1886 The Hockey Association was formed in England. This event is widely regarded as the birthday of modern hockey.
- 1882 Born: Alan Alexander Milne, English author. Milne is best known for this books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh.
- 1881 Born: Gaston Gallimard, French publisher. He is best known for founding Éditions Gallimard, one of the leading French books publishers.
- 1878 Died: Antoine César Becquerel, French physicist. Becquerel was a pioneer in the study of electric and luminescent phenomena.
- 1862 Died: John Tyler, American politician, the 10th President of the United States.
- 1778 James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands which he named the "Sandwich Islands".
- 1689 Born: Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher. Montesquieu is famous for his theory of separation of powers, which is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world.
- 1677 Died: Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch administrator, founder of Cape Town, the second most-populous city in South Africa after Johannesburg.