January

1 New Year’s Day (Gregorian calendar)
• Emancipation Proclamation took effect 1863.

2 Ancestor’s Day (Haiti).

6 Armenian (Orthodox) Christmas, Epiphany, Día de los Reyes, Twelfth Day: Christians celebrate the visits of the Magi.

7 Ethiopian, Greek, and Ukranian (Orthodox) Christmas (Julian calendar).

9 Birthday of Rigoberta Menchú (1959-): Quiche Maya activist for indigenous peoples’ rights in Guatemala.

13 Frisbee invented (1957).

14 Makar Sankranti, Gujarat (India): Hindus celebrate the sun’s changing position by flying kites.

15 Humanitarian Day: celebrates those who changed U.S. racial segregation laws.

17 Día de San Antonio (Mexico): blessing of animals.

18 World Religion Day: dedicated to increasing interfaith understanding
• Birthday of Alan Alexander Milne (1882-1956): author of Winnie the Pooh.

19 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day (1929-68): birthday of African American civil rights leader.

24 Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) addressed the first African American women’s rights convention in 1851.

26 Yuan Tuan (China): New Year, Year of the Ox, celebrated with firecrackers, parades, and special family meals
• Tet (Vietnam), Seol-Nal (Korea): New Year, children pay respect to their elders and receive gifts of money
• Losar (Tibet): New Year.

27 Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nazism.

February

African American History Month

1 National Freedom Day: celebrates the 1865 abolition of slavery
• African American students staged a nonviolent protest of segregation at a North Carolina lunch counter, launching civil rights activism, 1960
• Birthday of Langston Hughes (1902-67): African American writer.

2 Día de la Candelaria (Mexico): celebration with dances and processions
• Groundhog Day.

3 Setsubun (Japan): Bean-throwing Festival celebrates winter’s end
• Birthday of Rosa Parks (1913-2005): civil rights activist.

6 Birthday of Bob Marley (1945-81): influential reggae musician in the Rastafarian movement.

8 Tu B’Shevat (Jewish): celebrates trees and plants, begins at sundown.

9 Teng Chieh (China): Lantern Festival, ends the New Year holiday period
• Birthday of Alice Walker (1944-): African American author and activist.

12 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) established, 1909.

14 Valentine’s Day.

15 Birthday of Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906): early women’s rights advocate
• Birthday of John Trudell (1946-): Lakota activist and poet.

16 Presidents’ Day
• Birthday of Toni Morrison (1931-): African American author.

19 Japanese American Internment Day of Remembrance: remembers the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans
• Birthday of Amy Tan (1952-): Chinese American author.

23 Birthday of W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963): sociologist who helped found the NAACP.

24 Carnival, Mardi Gras (Brazil, Caribbean, Italy): celebration of the cycles of life with music, costume balls, and parades
• Día de la Bandera: Mexican flag day
• Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890-1964) led 20,000 women in the 1912 “Bread & Roses” textile strike.

March

Women’s History Month

2 Birthday of Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel, 1904-91): children’s book author.

3 Read Across America Day
• Hina Matsuri ( Japan): Doll Festival, special festival for girls
• First law regulating children’s hours of employment passed, 1824.

6 Birthday of Gabriel García Márquez (1928-): Colombian author.

7 California Arbor Day.

8 Mawlid al Nabi (Islam): celebrates the birthday of the prophet Muhammad (570-632), begins at sundown
• International Women’s Day: holiday started by U.S. women garment workers demonstrating for the right to vote.

9 Youth Day (Zambia)
• Barbie debuts 1959.

10 Death of Harriet Tubman (1821-1913): Underground Railroad leader and self-liberated slave.

11 Holi (India): Hindu spring festival of colors.

17 St. Patrick’s Day (Irish)
• South Africa ended apartheid, 1992.

20 Spring Equinox (Northern Hemisphere)

21 Day of the Indian Child (Mexico)
• Noruz (Persian): New Year celebrated with ancient rituals, including seven symbolic dishes beginning with the Farsi letter ‘s’
• International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (U.N.)
• Birthday of Benito Juarez (1806-72): Zapotec leader of resistance to foreign invasion of Mexico.

23 Easter.

24 Birthday of Harry Houdini (1874-1926): magician and escape artist.

27 Varsha-Pratipada (Hindu): New Year begins (2066).

29 Youth Day (Taiwan).

31 Cesar Chavez Day (1927-93): the birthday of the Mexican American labor leader who organized migrant farmworkers.  

April

Month of the Young Child
Child Abuse Prevention Month

1 April Fool’s Day.

4 Ch’ing Ming (China), Han Sik’il (Korea): celebrates spring and honors ancestors
• Birthday of Maya Angelou (1928-): African American author.

5 Birthday of Booker T. Washington (1856-1915): African American leader and educator.

8 Passover (Jewish): Jewish celebration of liberation from slavery, begins at sundown.

9 Birthday of Paul Robeson (1898-1976): African American actor, activist.

10 Birthday of Dolores Huerta (1930-): Chicana labor rights leader and social activist.

13 Thingyan (Burma), Songkran (Thailand): New Year, celebrated by splashing water on others and on Buddha images

19 Week of the Young Child begins. 

21 Birthday of Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852): father of kindergarten, an originator of the progressive education movement
• Birthday of John Muir (1838-1914): naturalist and conservationist.

22 Earth Day: day to honor the earth and promote environment-friendly living.

23 Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

30 Día de los Niños (Mexico, U.S.)
• Spank Out Day: promotes alternative methods of discipline.

May

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

1 Worthy Wage Day: day to advocate for adequate wages for child care workers to ensure quality care for children
• International Workers’ Day, May Day: honors workers
• Lei Day (Hawai’i): leis are made and worn
• Mother Goose Day.

5 Cinco de Mayo (Mexico)
• Children’s Day (Japan and Korea)
• National Teachers’ Day
• World Asthma Day
• Occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, by the American Indian Movement ended, 1973.

8 National Provider Appreciation Day: honors child care providers and teachers.

10 Mothers’ Day.

17 Brown v. Board of Education mandated desegregation in public schools, 1954.

19 Birthday of Malcolm X (1925-65): African American nationalist, civil rights activist.

22 Birthday of Harvey Milk (1930-78): gay rights leader.

25 Memorial Day
• African Freedom Day: independence day for many African countries, celebrated with contests, rallies, and dances.

June

Gay and Lesbian Pride Month

1 Stand for Children Day: day to advocate for children
• International Children’s Day (U.N.)

12 Philippines Independence Day
• Birthday of Anne Frank (1929).

16 Cherokees were forced to begin the 1,200 mile Trail of Tears to Oklahoma , 1838.

19 Juneteenth: celebrates the 1865 proclamation that freed the slaves of Texas
• Birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi (1945-): Burmese leader for democracy and nonviolence.

20 World Juggling Day.

21 Fathers’ Day
•Summer solstice (Northern Hemisphere).

24 Inti Raymi (Inca): sun god festival, celebrated with bonfires, dances, processions.

28 Stonewall Riot (1969): launched the gay liberation movement.

29 Birthday of Julia Lathrop (1856-1932): pioneer in the struggle to establish child labor laws.

July

1 Canada Day.

2 Birthday of Thurgood Marshall (1908-93): first African American Supreme Court justice.

3 Child laborers struck for an 11-hour work day and six-day work week, 1835.

4 U.S. Independence Day.

6 Birthday of the Dalai Lama (1935-): Tibet ’s spiritual leader.

7 Tanabata (Japan): Star Festival, children tie wishes to bamboo sticks and offer them to the stars.

12 Birthday of Pablo Neruda (1904-73): Chilean poet and diplomat.

13 Obon Festival (Japan): lanterns and bonfires honor the dead.

18 Birthday of Nelson Mandela (1918-): South African black leader against apartheid. Imprisoned for 27 years, he was president of South Africa (1994-99)
• Children’s Defense Fund founded by Marian Wright Edelman, 1967.

19 Seneca Falls convention: women drafted the “Declaration of Sentiments” asserting women’s right to equality, 1848.

20 First Special Olympics held, 1968.

26 Americans with Disabilities Act signed, 1990.

August

1 International Clown Week begins.

5 Raksha Bandhan (India): brothers and sisters promise to be good to each other.

6 Hiroshima Day: remembers the 1945 atomic bombing and promotes peace.

9 International Day of the World’s Indigenous People (U.N.)
• March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the “I Have a Dream” speech, 1963
• Birthday of Jean Piaget (1896-1980): Swiss philosopher and psychologist who studied children’s mental development.

15 Birthday of Oscar Romero (1917-80): archbishop who worked for justice and peace in El Salvador.

18 Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave women the right to vote, 1920.

21 Ramadan (Islam): month of fasting and prayer, begins at sundown.

27 Birthday of Mother Teresa (1910-97): devoted her life to caring for the destitute of Calcutta, India.

September

Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15)

1 Childhood Injury Prevention Week begins.

3 Frederick Douglass (1817-95) escaped from slavery in 1838 and became a leader in the struggle.

7 Labor Day (U.S., Canada): honors workers.

11 Patriot Day
• Ethiopian New Year (2002)
• Coptic New Year (1726).

13 Grandparents’ Day.

16 Mexican Independence Day.

17 U.S. Constitution signed in 1787.

18 Rosh Hashanah (Jewish): New Year, begins at sundown (Year 5770).

20 Eid-al-Fitr (Islam): end of Ramadan, celebrated with feasting and praying, begins at sundown.

21 International Peace Day (U.N.)

22 Birthday of the ice cream cone, 1913. Originated by Italo Marchiony, who sold lemon ice from a pushcart.
• Fall equinox (Northern Hemisphere).

27 Yom Kippur (Jewish): Day of Atonement, begins at sundown
• Banned Books Week begins.

28 Teachers’ Day and Confucius’s birthday (551-479 B.C.E.), Taiwan , China.

October

Child Health Month

2 Sukkot: Jewish harvest festival, begins at sundown.
• Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948): leader of India ’s nonviolent struggle for independence
• Birthday of Charlie Brown and Snoopy (1950).

3 Tet Trung Thu (Vietnam): autumn festival, children parade through the streets with lanterns
• Chusok (Korea): harvest thanksgiving festival.

5 Death of Tecumseh (1768?-1813): Shawnee leader who spoke out against unfair treaties with white settlers.

7 Walk to School Day
•Birthday of Desmond Tutu (1931-): South African archbishop and leader in the struggle against apartheid.

10 Birthday of Ken Saro Wiwa (1941-95): Ogoni environmental and human rights activist in Nigeria.

11 Lotu Tomaitu (Samoa): White Sunday, parents prepare a feast for their children.

12 Indigenous Peoples’ Day
• Día de la Raza (Mexico).

17 Diwali (India): Festival of Lights, celebrates fortune and generosity
• International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (U.N.)

21 Lights on Afterschool! publicizes the need for more afterschool programs.

24 United Nations founded to work for world peace, 1945.

31 Halloween.

November

Native American Indian Heritage Month

1 Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, Mexico): honors departed loved ones at cemeteries and by decorating shrines
• Child Protection Act passed, banning hazardous toys, 1966.

9 Berlin Wall torn down, symbolizing the end of the Cold War, 1989.

10 Sesame Street, the children’s educational television program, premiered, 1969.

11 Veteran’s Day

12 National Children’s Book Week begins.

14 Children’s Day (India): commemorates the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), India’s first prime minister.

18 Birthday of Wilma Mankiller (1945-): former chief of the Cherokee nation (1985-95)
• Children’s Advocate newspaper began publication, 1973.

20 Universal Children’s Day (U.N.)

25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (UN)

26 Thanksgiving.

27 Buy Nothing Day: established to advocate against over-consumption.

29 Education for All Handicapped Children Act passed, 1975.

30 Andres Bonifacio Day (1863-97): Birthday of Filipino leader who led the revolt against Spain. 

December

1 World AIDS Day
• Arrest of civil rights leader Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat in a bus, 1955. This launched a boycott which ended segregation on buses throughout the southern U.S.

3 International Day of Disabled Persons (U.N.)
• Birthday of Anna Freud (1895-1982): authority on children’s mental disorders. She warned against neglect and harsh discipline.

10 Human Rights Day (U.N.)
• Birthday of Thomas Gallaudet (1787-1851), pioneer in the education of deaf people.

11 Chanukah (Jewish): Festival of Lights, begins at sundown
• United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) established, 1946.

12 Feast of the Virgen de Guadalupe: patroness of Mexico.

16 Las Posadas (U.S., Mexico), Simbang Gabi (Philippines): celebrated with candlelight parades, lasts until January 6.

18 Awwal Muharram, Al Hijra (Islam): New Year (1431), begins at sundown.

20 Birthday of Sandra Cisneros (1954-): Mexican American author.

21 Winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere).

25 Christmas.

26 Kwanzaa (African American): seven-day family celebration, commemorates traditional African harvest festivals.

30 Rizal Day (Philippines): date of execution of Dr. Jose Rizal (1861-96), Filipino reformer and writer.

31 New Year’s Eve
• World Peace Meditation.