50+ Lifestyles

Welcome 2021 – Fun Facts about January

By Eloise Graham

1. January is the first of seven months to have 31 days.
2.  Birthstone is the garnet.
3. The weather the first 12 days is said to predict the next 12 months.
4. January 17 is Benjamin Franklin’s birthday- born 1706 in Boston.
5.  January 2, 2021, the Earth is at its closest point to the sun – a mere 91,399,454 miles away.
6. In 2021, January’s full moon will be January 28.
7. January birth flowers are the snowdrop and the carnation.
8. The Rose Parade in Pasadena has been held every year since 1890, but not in 2021. A two hour televised special will be aired.
9. The Anglo-Saxons called January “Wulfmonath” because starving wolves scavenged the area.
10. King Charlemagne called January “Wintermanoth” meaning “cold month”.
11. January 3, 1959 Alaska became the 49th state of the United States.
12. 12. In 1892, Ellis Island opened, allowing for immigration.
13. The first Penal Colony in Australia was established in 1788 by Britain to relieve overcrowded English prisons.
14. First ever Emmy Awards was held on January 25, 1949.
15. 1952 saw the first commercial jet, the BOAC’s Comet, being put into service.
16. Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula in 1957.
17. University of Notre Dame received its charter January 15, 1844.
18. The first Superbowl was played January 15, 1967.
19. James Naismith invented basketball in 1891.
20. The Pentagon, the world’s largest office building, opened in 1943.
21. The Green Hornet radio show debuted on January 31, 1936.