Holidays Calendar for January 26, 2024
Australia Day, celebrated annually on January 26, is the official national day of Australia. It commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at New South Wales, which led to the foundation of the first European settlement in Australia.
On January 26, the Dominican Republic celebrates Duarte Day. This public holiday honors Juan Pablo Duarte who is considered to be one of the architects of the independent Dominican Republic.
Republic Day is one of the three national holidays in India, along with Independence Day and Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. It is celebrated on January 26, honoring the date on which the country’s constitution came into force in 1950.
NRM Liberation Day is one of Uganda's public holidays. It is celebrated on January 26. The holiday commemorates the fall of Tito Okello's regime in 1986.
International Customs Day is observed on January 26 each year. It was introduced by the World Customs Organization (WCO) in 1983.
The issue of environmental protection and education is so important these days that World Environmental Education Day is celebrated more than once a year. The World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) holds the observance on October 14, but many other environmental organizations celebrate Environmental Education Day on January 26.
January 26 is a double professional holiday in Panama – Engineer's and Architect's Day. These two professions are closely intertwined, that's why they share one holiday.
State Audit Service Day is an official professional holiday in Ukraine celebrated annually on January 26. Officially established in 1993, it was formerly known as the State Control and Revision Service Day in Ukraine.
The birth anniversary of Napoleon Abueva, also known as the birth anniversary of National Artist Napoleon Abueva, is observed in the Philippines on January 26 each year. It honors a renowned sculptor who is regarded as the “father of modern Philippine sculpture”.
Day of the International Recognition of Latvia is observed on January 26. Although it is an official observance, it is not celebrated as a public holiday in the Republic of Latvia.
You can celebrate National Peanut Brittle Day on any day of any week and month if you want to, but that's too much, isn't it? That is why there is a special day for this candy – January 26.
National Green Juice Day is celebrated every January 26 by those who’ve made a New Year’s resolution to live healthier and are determined to stick to it no matter what. It was founded by Evolution Fresh in 2016.
National Big Wig Day is celebrated annually on the last Friday of January. This amazing holiday is about two things: having silly fun to get rid of the post holiday blues and donating to charity to make other people’s lives better.
The International Day of Clean Energy is a United Nations observance held annually on January 26. It was established to raise awareness of the environmental impact of fossil fuels and promote transition to clean energy sources.
Men’s Day (Bóndadagur, literally “Farmer’s Day”) is a traditional celebration in Iceland occurring in late January. The holiday originated as a midwinter festival dedicated to the Norse personification of frost, but today it is somewhat of an equivalent to Valentine’s Day.
National Preschool Health and Fitness Day is observed annually on the last Friday of January. It was created to highlight the importance of healthy eating and physical education in preschool children, as well as to promote healthy lifestyle habits from an early age.
Festivals on January 26, 2024
- Göteborg Film Festival in Gothenburg, Sweden
- Delhi Republic Day Parade in New Delhi, India
- Mobile Carnival (Mobile Mardi Gras) in Mobile, USA
- HIPPOLOGICA Berlin in Berlin, Germany
- Quebec Winter Carnival in Quebec City, Canada
- Montevideo Carnival in Montevideo, Uruguay
- International Film Festival Rotterdam in Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Angoulême International Comics Festival in Angoulême, France
- Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
- Kiwiburn in Hunterville, New Zealand
- Temple Bar TradFest in Dublin, Ireland
- Cairo International Book Fair in Cairo, Egypt
- Mozart Week in Salzburg in Salzburg, Austria
- Gérardmer Fantastic Film Festival in Gérardmer, France
- Küstendorf International Film and Music Festival in Drvengrad, Serbia
This Day in History
- 2020 Died: Kobe Bryant, American professional basketball player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he won five NBA championships and was an 18-time All-Star.
- 2019 Died: Michel Legrand, French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand won his first Oscar for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair.
- 2013 Died: Patricia Lovell, Australian television host and producer, notable for her works in Australia, most remembered for Picnic at Hanging Rock.
- 2011 Died: Gladys Horton, American R&B and pop singer, the founder and lead singer of The Marvelettes.
- 2001 An earthquake in Gujarat, India, caused more than 20,000 deaths.
- 1998 Died: Shinichi Suzuki, Japanese violinist and educator, inventor of the international Suzuki method of music education, developer of philosophy for educating people of all ages.
- 1998 U.S. President Bill Clinton denied on American television having had sexual relations with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
- 1993 Born: Cameron Bright, Canadian actor. He is known for his role as Alec in The Twilight Saga and appearances in X-Men: The Last Stand, Thank You for Smoking, and other films.
- 1979 Died: Nelson Rockefeller, American politician, 41st Vice President of the United States, a member of the wealthy Rockefeller family.
- 1967 Born: Colin Needham, English businessman, co-founder of Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
- 1966 The Beaumont children went missing form Glenelg Beach, South Australia. This case is one of the largest police investigations in Australian criminal history.
- 1963 Born: José Mourinho, Portuguese professional football manager and former player. Dubbed "The Special One" by the British media, Mourinho is one of the most decorated managers ever.
- 1962 Ranger 3 was launched to study the Moon. The space probe missed the Moon by 22,000 miles.
- 1961 Born: Wayne Gretzky, Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "the Great One", he is widely regarded as the greatest ice hockey player ever.
- 1958 Born: Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian, actress, writer, and talk show host. She became famous due to the sitcom Ellen and later hosted her own syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show from 2003 to 2022.
- 1955 Born: Eddie Van Halen, Dutch-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer, known as the co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen.
- 1952 Black Saturday in Egypt. Rioters burnt the central business district in Cairo, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
- 1933 Died: Alva Belmont, American multi-millionaire and a major figure in the women's suffrage movement.
- 1932 Died: William Wrigley, Jr., American businessman, chewing gum industrialist, the founder of the Wrigley Company.
- 1925 Born: Paul Newman, American actor and film director. His role in The Color of Money brought him an Academy Award in 1986. Newman is also known as the co-founder of Newman's Own.
- 1921 Born: Akio Morita, Japanese businessman, known as the co-founder of Sony, one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products for the consumer and professional markets.
- 1920 Born: Hans Holzer, American-American author and paranormal researcher. He wrote over 100 books on supernatural and occult subjects for the popular market and hosted the TV show Ghost Hunter.
- 1918 Born: Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian politician, the first President of Romania from 1974 to 1989.
- 1905 The Cullinan, largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found, was found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa. The Cullinan's weight is 3,106.75 carats.
- 1904 Born: Seán MacBride, Irish politician who founded or participated in many international organizations of the 20th century. He was the recipient of the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize.
- 1891 Died: Nikolaus Otto, German engineer, inventor of the internal combustion engine that efficiently burned fuel directly in a piston chamber.
- 1824 Died: Théodore Géricault, French painter, mostly known for The Raft of the Medusa. Géricault died young, but he was one of the pioneers of the Romantic movement.
- 1808 The Rum Rebellion began in Australia. This was the only successful armed takeover of government in the history of Australia.
- 1795 Died: Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German composer, the ninth son of Johann Sebastian Bach, often confused with other similarly named members of the Bach family.
- 1788 The British fleet sailed into Port Jackson (another name is Sydney Harbor) to establish Sydney. This city became the first permanent European settlement in Australia.
- 1697 Died: Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician who was the first to prove the Mohr–Mascheroni theorem (any geometric construction that can be done with compass and straightedge can also be done with compasses alone).
- 1531 An earthquake hit Lisbon, Portugal. Thousands of people died.
- 1500 Vicente Yáñez Pinzón became the first European to set foot in Brazil.