On This Day January 21st

 OTD

January 21st is the Twenty-First day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 344 days remain until the end of the year.

 

Events

1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.

1749 – The Teatro Filarmonico in Verona is destroyed by fire because a torch was left behind in the box of a nobleman after a performance. It was rebuilt in 1754.

1789 – The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy, or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth by William Hill Brown, is printed in Boston.

1793 – After being found guilty of treason by the French National Convention, Louis XVI of France is exec1854 – The RMS Tayleur sinks off Lambay Island on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Australia with significant loss of life.

1861 – The American Civil War starts, and Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.

1893 – The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.

1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place.

1915 – Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit.

1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched in Groton, Connecticut, by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States.

1976 – The commercial service of Concorde began with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.

1981 – The DeLorean sports car production begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

2004 – NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in managing its flash memory, which will be fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.

 

Birthdays

1655 – Antonio Molinari, Italian painter (d. 1704)

1655 – Antonio Molinari, Italian painter (d. 1704)

1738 – Ethan Allen, American general (d. 1789)

1824 – Stonewall Jackson, American general (d. 1863)

1869 – Grigori Rasputin, Russian mystic (d. 1916)

1905 – Karl Wallenda, German American acrobat and tightrope walker, founded The Flying Wallendas (d. 1978)

1924 – Benny Hill, English actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)

1940 – Jack Nicklaus, American golfer and sportscaster

1956 – Geena Davis, American actress and producer

1965 – Jam Master Jay, American DJ, rapper, and producer (d. 2002)

1972 – Cat Power, American singer, musician and actress.

1987 – Brandon Crawford, American baseball player

 

Holiday Spotlight

  In 2001, wildlife rehabilitation specialist Christy Hargrove founded Squirrel Appreciation Day in Asheville, North Carolina. Christy created this day to encourage kind attitudes towards our bushy-tailed neighbors by setting out food and water for squirrels and even allowing them to play with that birdfeeder you usually don’t want them touching. We might look at squirrels as an unnecessary nuisance, but their existence is beneficial to the environment and, in urban areas, assists in park beautification. Albeit by accident, squirrels plant seeds (initially meaning to store away nuts to return to when hungry), eventually growing into trees, thus assisting with forest renewal. They’re nature gardeners!

 Up until the mid-19th century, squirrels weren’t present in American cities. To have squirrels in the middle of urban areas, you’d need to transform the landscape by planting trees and building parks. It would be best if you also changed how people behave by discouraging them from shooting squirrels and encouraging them to start feeding the animals instead.

 The first documented introduction occurred in Philadelphia’s Franklin Square in 1847. Boston and New Haven followed suit and brought in squirrels a few years later, in 1850. The squirrel experiment had ended by the 1860s when many squirrels had either passed or were killed amid concerns that they would disturb birds and lead to insect problems. But releases began again in the 1870s, this time on a larger scale as expansive parks were built in New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago, and other major cities, providing a welcome habitat for squirrels to live and thrive.

 

 

Other Include

International Playdate Day

International Sweatpants Day

National Cheesy Socks Day

National Granola Bar Day

National Hug Your Puppy Day

National Hugging Day

New England Clam Chowder Day

One-Liners Day

Own Your Home Day

Squirrel Appreciation Day

World Religion Day

World Snow Day 

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