Brandy Alexander Day Yes, January 31st is National Brandy Alexander Day! Though rumored to have been created for the wedding of The Princess Mary, Princess Royal (eldest daughter of England’s King George V and Queen Mary) and George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood in 1922, the true origin of this classic drink is unknown. A previous drink named simply “The Alexander”, contained gin, creme de cocao and sweet cream, and the “brandy” version may just be a simple swap-out…

Here is a little twist on the classic recipe:

Hiram’s Brandy Alexander:
recipe courtesy of Hiram Walker

1 1/2 parts brandy,
1 part Hiram Walker Brown Creme de Cacao
1/2 part cream or half-and-half
splash coffee.
Glass: Cocktail

Garnish: grated nutmeg
http://www.ahistoryofdrinking.com/wordpress/2011/01/happy-national-brandy-alexander-day/

Appreciate Your Social Security Check Day

Inspire Your Heart with Art Day While the origins of this annual "holiday" are unknown, Inspire Your Heart with Art Day celebrates art of all shapes, sizes and varieties. Whether it's a trip to a local museum, watching or acting in a play at the local theater or tapping your toes to a rockin' concert, today celebrates creativity with an artistic flair as well as the positive effect it has on our lives. Art inspires us to get creative and appreciate all different forms of art.

How to Celebrate

Sign up for pottery classes and create that special, one-of-a-kind piece of pottery.
Visit a local art gallery and ask yourself how each piece makes you feel?
What gal doesn't love a little bling every now-and-then? Why not make your own jewelry in honor of the holiday? http://www.examiner.com/article/inspire-your-heart-with-art-day-celebrating-art-is-good-for-your-heart

National Seed Swap Day Seed swaps are events where gardeners meet to exchange seeds. Swapping can be arranged online or by mail,[1] especially when participants are spread out geographically. Swap meet events, where growers meet and exchange their excess seeds in person, are also growing in popularity. In part this is due to increased interest in organic gardening and heritage or heirloom plant varietals. This reflects gardeners' interest in "unusual or particular varieties of flowers and vegetables," according to Kathy Jentz of Washington Gardener Magazine (Maryland).[2]

Seed swaps also help consumers who, due to increases in the cost of living or cut down on expenditures, wish to grow their own food.[3][4] Some events are organized as part of an educational effort, where visitors are taught gardening and growing skills[5][6] and how to preserve an area's cultural heritage[7] and biodiversity.[8] In the United States, the last Saturday of January is "National Seed Swap Day."[9][10][11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed_swap

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/january31.html

National Croissant Day While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

January 30 has never been butter - it's National Croissant Day!

You can’t have a continental breakfast without a pastry or piece of bread, so today, enjoy a fluffy, flaky croissant on your plate.

While the origin of croissants is often debated, it’s quite likely that they’re not - sacré bleu! - French. They’re Viennese. http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/01/30/national-croissant-day/


Inane Answering Message Day
National Inane Answering Message Day is celebrated on January 30, 2015. An inane answering machine message is for example: "I, uh ... hello, I just wanted ... no, not ... OK, leave a message, bye!" The day was introduced in 2001 to put an end to such senseless messages. The day is to give comfort to those who are tired of senseless answering machine messages. http://www.cute-calendar.com/event/national-inane-answering-message-day/18122.html


National Pre-school Fitness Day The last Friday in January is National Preschool Health and Fitness Day. Whether you’re a teacher,school director,club owner or parent it’s important to support physical fitness for preschool children. Aerobic Fitness Consultants' KID-FIT™ is a preschool physical education program designed to instill healthy lifestyle habits in children ages 2-5. Offering kid's fitness classes will teach small children all about their bodies and how they work. http://mcg.metrocreativeconnection.com/publish/sections/calendar-details.php?National-Preschool-Fitness-Day-1075

NEW YORK • McDonald's CEO Don Thompson is stepping down as the world's biggest hamburger chain fights to hold onto customers and transform its image.

The company said Thompson, who has been CEO for two-and-a-half years, will be replaced by Steve Easterbrook, a company veteran who rejoined McDonald's as its chief brand officer in 2013.

McDonald's Corp., which has more than 36,000 locations around the world, is struggling amid intensifying competition and changing attitudes about food. Customer traffic at established locations in the U.S. fell 4.1 percent last year, following a 1.6 percent decline in 2013. It's also trying to recover after a supplier scandal in China that damaged its reputation.

On Wednesday, McDonald's said Thompson will retire March 1 after nearly 25 years with the company. Thompson, 51, was the first African-American to head the company since it was founded in 1955.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/mcdonald-s-ceo-steps-down-as-sales-decline/article_38397ef8-ef60-5e14-8f9c-7465ba9589e8.html

WASHINGTON • The U.S. Air Force said on Wednesday it would use Boeing Co.'s commercial 747-8 airliner to replace its current fleet of two Air Force One presidential aircraft, one of the most visible symbols of the United States.

The decision comes a month after Boeing said it would slow production of the four-engine 747-8 aircraft to 1.3 a month from 1.5 a month because of declining orders.

"The Boeing 747-8 is the only aircraft manufactured in the United States (that) when fully missionized meets the necessary capabilities established to execute the presidential support mission," said Air Force Secretary Deborah James in a statement.

Boeing welcomed the Air Force's decision to skip a competition and opt for the 747-8, citing its 50-year history of building presidential aircraft.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/u-s-air-force-picks-boeing---to-replace/article_bd454af6-2f30-58bd-ba1f-c84b53c2d695.html

ST. LOUIS • The chairman of the region’s tourism bureau, landlord of the Edward Jones Dome, said on Wednesday that he believes the St. Louis Rams want to leave for Los Angeles.

The fight to keep the football team here, said Andrew Leonard, chairman of the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, will have to be a “spectacular effort.”

“There’s no question about it, they’d rather be in Los Angeles, in my mind,” Leonard said at a commission meeting Wednesday.

Leonard said he fully supported the St. Louis stadium effort. http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/spectacular-effort-would-be-needed-to-keep-rams-cvc-chairman/article_22d31c15-4b3d-58f6-a69a-dc9880358d88.html

TOWN AND COUNTRY • The investigation into hazing allegations at a sports camp at Principia Upper School last summer has led to felony charges for two teens, and misdemeanor counts against another.

Joshua P. Brewer, 17, and Maverick S. Holmsley, 18, have each been charged with four counts of first degree sodomy in St. Louis County Circuit Court. Ricardo M. Loma, 18, faces seven counts of third-degree assault.

Brewer, Holmsley and Loma, who played football, were kicked out of Principia in August after school officials contacted police about “an assault related to hazing of juvenile students.”

Brewer, of Town and Country, and Holmsley, of Wright City, are accused of penetrating the anus of four victims “for the purpose of terrorizing them,” according to court documents. Loma, of Kirkwood, is charged with punching those four and three others. Two others who faced allegations were juveniles.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/three-charged-in-principia-football-hazing-case/article_2a28e65d-c4ed-5c53-a255-a70e1a14f92f.html

Curmudgeons Day a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/curmudgeon

Freethinkers Day Thomas Paine Day Freethinkers Day, also known as Thomas Paine Day, is an opportunity to promote appreciation of freethought thought the life and works of Thomas Paine. Freethought supports reason over faith, and rejects arbitrary authority.

Thomas Paine was a courageous freethinker, whose life and work inspired great social and political advancement across world. Raised in England, Paine played a vital role in the American and French Revolutions. His books and pamphlets, including The Age of Reason, The Rights of Man, and Common Sense gained a mass audience for the liberating philosophy of the Enlightenment.

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) arrived in America in 1774 at Benjamin Franklin's request. On January 10, 1776, he published Common Sense, a remarkable and powerful republican pamphlet which had an immediate success. He served in the Revolutionary War under General Greene and later in official positions appointed by congress and in the Pennsylvania legislature. In his later publication, Age of Reason, Paine expressed that "all religions are in their nature mild and benign" when not associated with political systems. Paine was the quintessential Deist of the 18th century.

Between March 1791 and February 1792 he published numerous editions of his Rights of Man, in which he defended the French Revolution. The words of Thomas Paine inspired many to strive for political, economic and social advancement. He was among the first to call for an end to slavery and the establishment of human rights around the world.

National Puzzle Day This National Puzzle Day, January 29th, break out that crossword puzzle or Sudoku book. This is the day to work your way through brain teasers and get your friends and family involved. While National Puzzle Day is hardly an official holiday, it stirs up excitement in puzzle addicts across the US. Here's how you can celebrate:
Get the most complicated jigsaw puzzle you can find, and invite friends over to solve it as a group.
Watch puzzle-crazy movies, like Wordplay, a documentary about the editor of the New York Times crossword, and Word Wars, about the world of competitive Scrabble. http://www.life123.com/holidays/more-holidays/january-holidays/national-puzzle-day.shtml


Seeing Eye Dog Day “Buddy delivered to me the divine gift of freedom,” said Morris Frank (1908-1980), the first American to benefit from a Seeing Eye dog.

Before there were guide dogs, people with any type of disability–including a visual disability–were simply marginalized. There were no provisions for them to be in public or hold jobs–they were totally dependent on others for whatever they needed.

Prior to having a guide dog, Morris Frank, who lost the use of one eye in a childhood accident and the other in a boxing match at the age of 16, hired a boy guide but the fellow “got bored easily” and occasionally left Frank alone to unexpectedly fend for himself.

In 1927 The Saturday Evening Post ran an article by Dorothy Harrison Eustis, an American dog breeder living in Switzerland who was training German shepherds to work as police dogs. Though Eustis had been asked to write about her own program, she instead wrote about a guide dog program in Potsdam, Germany where the dogs were being trained to be the eyes for German World War I veterans who had lost their sight because of mustard gas. http://americacomesalive.com/2011/07/19/buddy-the-first-seeing-eye-dog/#.VMnl_Vo-A2Y


http://www.famousbirthdays.com/january29.html

National Blueberry 
Pancake Day While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

Time to flip out! January 28 is National Blueberry Pancake Day.

There’s something special about a day that begins with pancakes. Their warmth and sweetness really sets the right tone. Historically, pancakes started out simply – no funky flavors or special toppings. Today, everything from bacon to bits of chocolate can be added to the batter.

Pancakes rose in popularity in Europe when Catholicism dominated the continent. During Lent, eating eggs and fat was forbidden, but back then, pancake recipes consisted only of milk and flour. In the Medieval era, pancakes became particularly popular on Shrove Tuesday and remain so to this day. http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/01/28/national-blueberry-pancake-day/

Data Privacy Day Data Privacy Day is an international holiday that occurs every January 28.[1] The purpose of Data Privacy Day (Data Protection Day in Europe) is to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices. It is currently 'celebrated' in the United States, Canada, and 27 European countries. In Europe it is referred to as Data Protection Day.[2]

Data Privacy Day's educational initiative originally focused on raising awareness among businesses as well as users about the importance of protecting the privacy of their personal information online, particularly in the context of social networking. The educational focus has expanded over the past four years to include families, consumers and businesses. In addition to its educational initiative, Data Privacy Day promotes events and activities that stimulate the development of technology tools that promote individual control over personally identifiable information; encourage compliance with privacy laws and regulations; and create dialogues among stakeholders interested in advancing data protection and privacy. The international celebration offers many opportunities for collaboration among governments, industry, academia, nonprofits, privacy professionals and educators.

The Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data was opened for signature by the Council of Europe on January 28, 1981. This convention is currently in the process of being updated in order to reflect new legal challenges caused by technological development. The Convention on Cybercrime is also protecting the integrity of data systems and thus of privacy in cyberspace. Privacy including data protection is also protected by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The day was initiated by the Council of Europe to be first held in 2007 as the European Data Protection Day. Two years later, on January 26, 2009, the United States House of Representatives passed House Resolution HR 31 by a vote of 402–0, declaring January 28 National Data Privacy Day.[3] On January 28, 2009, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 25 also recognizing January 28, 2009 as National Data Privacy Day. The United States Senate also recognized Data Privacy Day in 2010 and in 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Privacy_Day

National Kazoo Day Celebrating 164 years of kazoo playing in America, National Kazoo Day will be celebrated on January 28, 2015.

Of course, kazoo players are not known to be perfectly precise, so feel free to celebrate National Kazoo Day on January 29, if you so desire, as some folks have the impression that the date is supposed to be the fourth Thursday in January.

In fact, most people will agree that we should consider January 24-31, 2015, National Kazoo WEEK! So celebrate all week long.

- See more at: http://www.nationalkazooday.com/#sthash.uqDvEZwV.dpuf

Thank A Plugin Developer Day WordPress by itself is very simple — what makes it compelling for most of its users is the wide array of plugins (and themes) available for WP. The average WordPress blog has about 5 plugins installed! Today we just passed 4,000 plugins available in our plugin directory. (Which is also embedded into everyone’s WordPress 2.7 or above.)

I declare January 28th our official “Thank a Plugin Developer” day. To celebrate take a look at the plugins you use and love, visit the author’s site, find their contact form, and drop them a note thanking them. (Or Paypal!) Look for the links in the plugin directory to “author homepage” and also to donate directly if they’ve specified a Paypal address.

Thank you to everyone who has ever written a plugin for WordPress, and here’s to the next four thousand. https://wordpress.org/news/2009/01/thank-a-plugin-developer-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/january28.html

Chocolate Cake Day Did You Know: The first French word for chocolate mousse translates in English “chocolate mayonnaise”
Daily Trivia: The “blood” that you see in infamous “shower scene” in Psycho is actually chocolate syrup.
Today’s Quote: “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”~Charles M. Schulz
http://foodimentary.com/2014/01/27/january-27-is-national-chocolate-cake-day/

Auschwitz Liberation Day January 2015 marks seventy years since the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest camp established by the Germans. A complex of camps, Auschwitz included a concentration camp, killing center, and forced-labor camps. It was located 37 miles west of Krakow (Cracow), near the prewar German-Polish border. http://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-features/special-focus/liberation-of-auschwitz

Holocaust Memorial Day The UN General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the victims of the Nazi era and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides. http://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-features/special-focus/international-holocaust-remembrance-day

International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust 27 January marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Soviet troops in 1945. This date was proclaimed International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust by the United Nations General Assembly. - See more at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/commemoration-in-memory-of-the-victims-of-the-holocaust-2014/#sthash.g7bPFho5.dpuf

National Geographic Day On January 27, 1888, the National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C., for "the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge."

The 33 men who originally met and formed the National Geographic Society were a diverse group of geographers, explorers, teachers, lawyers, cartographers, military officers and financiers. All shared an interest in scientific and geographical knowledge, as well as an opinion that in a time of discovery, invention, change and mass communication, Americans were becoming more curious about the world around them. With this in mind, the men drafted a constitution and elected as the Society's president a lawyer and philanthropist named Gardiner Greene Hubbard. Neither a scientist nor a geographer, Hubbard represented the Society's desire to reach out to the layman. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/national-geographic-society-founded

Thomas Crapper Day Thomas Crapper (baptised 28 September 1836; died 27 January 1910) was a plumber who founded Thomas Crapper & Co in London. Contrary to widespread misconceptions, Crapper did not invent the flush toilet. He did, however, do much to increase the popularity of the toilet, and developed some important related inventions, such as the ballcock. He was noted for the quality of his products and received several royal warrants.

Manhole covers with Crapper's company's name on them in Westminster Abbey are now one of London's minor tourist attractions.[2][3] Thomas Crapper & Co owned the world's first bath, toilet and sink showroom, in King's Road until 1966. The firm's lavatorial equipment was manufactured at premises in nearby Marlborough Road (now Draycott Avenue). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Crapper

Viet Nam Peace Day The United States, South Vietnam, Viet Cong, and North Vietnam formally sign "An Agreement Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam" in Paris. Due to South Vietnam's unwillingness to recognize the Viet Cong's Provisional Revolutionary Government, all references to it were confined to a two-party version of the document signed by North Vietnam and the United States—the South Vietnamese were presented with a separate document that did not make reference to the Viet Cong government. This was part of Saigon's long-time refusal to recognize the Viet Cong as a legitimate participant in the discussions to end the war. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/paris-peace-accords-signed



http://www.famousbirthdays.com/january27.html

National Pistachio Day Hard to believe, but it wasn’t until 1976 that Americans harvested the first commercial crop of pistachios. They had been enjoying the nut since about the 1800s, but it was not until the 1930s that the love for pistachios really took off.

What may have made the little tree nut so admired, though, is the invention of pistachio ice cream in the 1940s by James W. Parkinson of Philadelphia.

Today, California produces 300 million pounds of pistachios, which is about 98 percent of the domestic crop. Other world producers include Turkey, Syria, Italy and Greece.

Remember getting that red dye all over your fingers back in the day when pistachios were dyed crimson? Hard to imagine now but the apparent reason for the colouring was to hide flaws on the shell and to make them stand out in vending machines! http://www.worldpistachioday.com

Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day ELMWOOD PARK, N.J., JAN. 26, 2015 — /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the 15th Annual Bubble Wrap® Appreciation Day, a day when the world celebrates the fun side of a material that has protected millions of products over the last 55 years. To share in the excitement of fans popping Bubble Wrap® worldwide, Sealed Air Corporation, the inventors of Bubble Wrap® brand cushioning, has teamed with internet sensations Dude Perfect to create a one-of-a-kind Bubble Wrap® Appreciation Day video, which will be unveiled today at 6:00pm EST on www.YouTube.com/DudePerfect.

"Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day provides fans around the world a chance to celebrate the protection, fun and creativity that this iconic packaging material delivers all year round," said David Weiss, Business Manager at Sealed Air Corporation. "To take the annual celebration to the next level, we knew partnering with Dude Perfect for their latest video and having them unveil it on the holiday was the way to create something memorable, fun, and exciting for our fans and theirs."

Dude Perfect took the Bubble Wrap® Appreciation Day celebration to Charlotte, NC, the new home and global headquarters of Sealed Air Corporation. Armed with enough Bubble Wrap® material to make even the biggest enthusiast jealous, Dude Perfect put the pop-ular protective packaging material to the test. From Bubble Wrap® jousting and paintball duels, to scooter races and sumo wrestling, Dude Perfect celebrated the 15th Annual Bubble Wrap® Appreciation Day the way only the biggest of fans do – BIG!

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2015/01/26/6734426/bubble-wrap-appreciation-day-goes.html#storylink=cpy

Lotus 1-2-3 Day 1-2-3 was not the first spreadsheet application — it was preceded by VisiCalc. But 1-2-3 quickly became the most popular, helping to boost sales of IBM PCs and PC clones, all of which ran DOS, and facilitating the rapid rise of Microsoft’s operating system.
http://www.wired.com/2011/01/0126lotus-1-2-3/

National Peanut Brittle Day Fun Ways to Celebrate National Peanut Brittle Day http://nationalpeanutboard.org/recipes/fun-ways-to-celebrate-national-peanut-brittle-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/january26.html