All - Leep Calendar

Blueberries are native to the United States, but they’ve only been part of the American diet for the past 100 years. Blueberries are packed with antioxidants, low in calories, and blend well with several flavors, including oats, salads, and pancakes! Blueberry pancakes substitute blueberry syrup with whole blueberries for maple syrup, providing a feast for your senses in color, smell, and taste. Or, blueberries can be baked inside the pancake batter for a tart and sweet treat. Blueberry Pancake Day is your excuse to enjoy this all-American flapjack version of a breakfast favorite.

Africa

Jan

Community Engagement Day, Global: January 28

06:20 AM | -

Global Community Engagement Day promotes active community engagement and addresses societal challenges that enhance communities' well-being. The event began in South Australia, a state known for its progressive community involvement and social planning approach. South Australian community leaders and organizations emphasized the need for a dedicated day to celebrate and promote the principles of community engagement. Community engagement is a dynamic process involving working collaboratively with groups affiliated by geographic proximity, special interests, or similar situations. The core principles of community engagement are essential for ensuring that this process is effective, inclusive, and sustainable. These principles include: 1) Inclusivity and Diversity—engaging various voices to ensure processes reflect the community and incorporate a broad spectrum of perspectives and experiences. 2) Openness and Transparency—transparency builds trust and ensures that the community understands how their input is used and their needs are addressed. 3) Mutual Respect and Recognition—respecting all participants' knowledge, insights, and values form the basis of a productive engagement. 4) Purposeful and Outcome-Oriented—clear objectives and focus on achieving tangible outcomes that benefit the community through realistic goals and working collaboratively. 5) Empowerment and Capacity Building—building the community's skills, knowledge, and confidence, ensuring all participate fully. 6) Collaboration and Partnerships—engaging stakeholders, pooling resources, knowledge, and expertise. 7) Flexibility and Responsiveness—adapting to the changing needs and circumstances of the community by being responsive to feedback and willing to adjust strategies. 8) Sustainability and Long-term Commitment—planning for outcomes and ongoing involvement to ensure lasting benefits for the community. 9) Accountability and Feedback—regularly evaluate and respond to participants to maintain accountability. 10) Integrated and Holistic Approach—adapting interconnections among various community issues to increase engagement and seek solutions. Each of the above guides the planning, implementation, and evaluation of engagement activities, ensuring people are respectful and effective while communities thrive. Global Community Engagement Day serves as a reminder of the power of collective action and the results achieved when communities work together towards common goals. Today, Global Community Engagement Day is recognized globally, with various events, workshops, and activities organized to mark the occasion. These events often focus on sharing best practices, showcasing successful community projects, and exploring new ways to engage citizens in decision-making processes.

Africa

Jan

Data Privacy and Protection Day (US/EU)(1981): January 28

06:20 AM | -

Data Privacy & Protection Day aims to raise awareness and promote healthy privacy and protection practices. Sponsored by several organizations throughout the country, Data Privacy and Protection Day is an educational initiative that focuses on businesses and schools/universities. This date marks the anniversary of the creation of the first data privacy directive on January 28, 1981.

Africa

Jan

Kazoo Day, Ntl. (1852): January 28

06:20 AM | -

National Kazoo Day celebrates an instrument created during the nineteenth century in the United States. Celebrated on January 28th (or on the fourth Thursday in January), National Kazoo Day was founded by Chaplin Willard Rahn of the Joyful Noise Kazoo Band located at the Homewood Retirement Home in Williamsport, Maryland. The campaign to make the kazoo the national musical instrument of the United States continues to this day. The kazoo is an American musical instrument first developed in the 1840s and introduced to the world in 1852 by Alabama Vest and Thaddeus Von Clegg, a German clockmaker, during the Georgia State Fair. Often referred to as the Down South Submarine, the kazoo creates music via vibrations through the instrument. Changing the humming style of the musician changes the vibration. On this day, kazoo enthusiasts would be delighted to know that kazoos go on sale. It is also when kazoo players meet up, play and share their music.

Africa

Jan

Pediatrician Day, Ntl.: January 28

06:20 AM | -

National Pediatrician Day honors the medical doctors who care for children. Annually on January 28.

Africa

Jan

Thank a Plugin Developer Day: January 28

06:20 AM | -

Thank a Plugin Developer Day was created by WordPress developer and techie Matt Mullenweg in 2009. Plugin Developers, by that year, had already produced over 4000 plugins that make building websites for the average person easy and economical. The day continues to honor those techies who make life easier for the rest of us, who are often a bit technologically challenged.

Africa

Jan

Comics Festival, Angouleme (FR): January 29 - February 1

06:20 AM | -

The largest comics show in Europe, Angouleme Comics Festival attracts over 200,000 enthusiasts each year. The event began in 1974. PLEASE NOTE: Treat all televised and venue-specific events (sporting, concerts, trade shows, etc.) as estimated. Several factors can cause an event to move dates at the last minute, including weather, strikes, natural disasters, political upheaval, conflicting programming, pandemics, and current events. Because of this, always verify the event with the promotor before committing resources. LEEP often estimates dates based on the previous year's schedules, as the final dates are only a few months, weeks, or days before the event. If the date is known to be estimated, you will see an (est) following the date in the title.

Africa

Jan

Corn Chip Day, Ntl.: January 29

06:20 AM | -

National Corn Chip Day is a day to acknowledge and honor fried or baked cornmeal, divided into bite-sized pieces, usually sold in bags and eaten alone or with a dip. Since 1932, people have been indulging in corn chips. It started when C.E. "Elmer" Doolin bought a bag of fried corn chips and realized he'd discovered gold. Doolin sold his mother's wedding ring and purchased the recipe, and he immediately began manufacturing them under the name "Frito." Ever since that day, we've been enjoying corn chips.

Africa

Jan

Curmudgeon's Day (1880): January 29

06:20 AM | -

Curmudgeon's Day celebrates the anniversary of the birth of satirist, actor, and writer William Claude Dukenfield, better known as WC Fields, who was born on January 29, 1880. He was famous for his portrayal of pessimistic, aggressive, and suspicious-natured men, better known as curmudgeons.

Africa

Jan

Free Thinker Day (1737): January 29

06:20 AM | -

Freethinkers Day, also known as Thomas Paine Day, is an opportunity to promote appreciation of free thought in honor of the life and works of Thomas Paine. Free thought supports reason over faith and rejects arbitrary authority. Thomas Paine was a courageous freethinker whose work inspired great social and political advancement across the 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. In the 1990s, the Truth-seeker magazine began celebrating Freethinkers Day on Thomas Paine's birthday to educate the public on the importance of Thomas Paine in the history of freedom. Also in the 1990s, the Thomas Paine Foundation began celebrating the birthday of Thomas Paine on January 29, a Thomas Paine Day proclamation on June 8, and other Paine theme events during the year.

Africa

Jan

Puzzle Day, Ntl. (UK)(1767): January 29

06:20 AM | -

National Puzzle Day in the United Kingdom and the United States celebrates brain teasers. It's an opportunity to test your wit at problem-solving intellectually or spatially. Riddles have been around for thousands of years and can be found in every major world culture. The first commercially produced puzzle was a jigsaw puzzle created in 1767 and was map cut into pieces. Today, puzzles can be physical (like jigsaw puzzles or rubric cubes), written such as crosswords, Sudoku, and riddles, or electronic such as apps or games.

Africa

Jan

Seeing Eye Dog Day, Ntl. (1929): January 29

06:20 AM | -

National Seeing-eye Dog Day celebrates seeing-eye dogs. This day marks the anniversary of the creation of The Seeing Eye on January 29, 1929, the organization that pioneered seeing-eye dogs. Usually seeing eye dogs are Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, or German Shepherds since these are some of the most intelligent breeds capable of complex training. Additionally, these breeds tend to be calm, focused, friendly, and loyal. Dogs have been companions of humans with disabilities since ancient Roman times, and there are records of dogs leading the blind during that era. The first attempt to train dogs as eyes for human beings occurred in Paris in 1780 at the school for the blind. In 1788 Josef Riesinger, blind himself, successfully trained his Spitz to be his helper in Vienna, Austria. Guide dogs for the blind didn't take off until 1927 when Dorothy Eustis published an article in the Saturday Evening Post about her efforts in training dogs for the blind. It was read to Morris Frank, himself blind. Together Eustis and Frank went to Switzerland and trained the first official seeing-eye dog, Buddy. They established a school in Switzerland to train more dogs in 1928. Buddy was introduced to The Seeing Eye in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1929, and from there, seeing-eye dogs grew in popularity and utility.

Africa

Jan

Big Wig Day, Ntl.: January 30

06:20 AM | -

The term 'big wig' originated in 1730s Europe. The wealthier you were, the larger the wig you wore. Large or big wigs were an outward sign of a rich, important person. Centuries later, the term would designate the boss, a VIP, or someone in authority. National Big Wig Day doesn't aspire to such august ambitions. It started as silliness in 2016 and as a way to brighten up a lackluster mid-winter day. It became a fundraiser for people struggling with cancer and enduring chemotherapy, as hair loss is a symptom. The best way to celebrate, sport your favorite wig today and go to the website for the event and choose a charity to donate to. Each year more charities join. Check the site for the most updated list.

Africa

Jan

Multicultural Children's Book Day: January 30

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Multicultural Children's Book Day seeks to raise awareness of the diversity in children's literature, allowing all kids to see themselves in books. The Multicultural Children's Book Day mission is to put diverse children's books on shelves and into the hands of children and families across the country. As of 2020, an ideological war rages regarding children's books in the United States. Part of that war silences voices that do not fit a specific racial or theological narrative. The three books in the header, LEEP highly recommends. Doris Pilkington Garimara's "Follow the Rabbit-proof Fence" focuses on the Aboriginal experience of three orphans in 20th-century Australia. There is also a film, "Rabbit-proof Fence," an Australian film from 2002. Erika L. Sánchez's delightful comedic take on growing up as a Mexican-American girl, "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter," takes on the stereotypes within her community and outside of it. And finally, Golbarg Bashi's "P is for Palestine" is a fantastic book that shares the experience of Christian and Muslim children growing up under occupation through the alphabet. Did we mention that "P is for Palestine" continues to be banned by groups interested in maintaining the political status quo? These political interests are TERRIFIED of this book because it humanizes and teaches culture. Who knew children's stories and the alphabet were so powerful? This event first ran in 2014.

Africa

Jan

Preschool Fitness Day, Ntl.: January 30

06:20 AM | -

National Preschool Fitness Day occurs on the last Friday of January. It's a day that promotes physical fitness, education, and healthy eating among children. The early childhood years of three to five are critical in the development of the human body. Poor fitness and eating habits during this period contribute to most illnesses we develop later in our lives. On National Preschool Fitness Day, we are encouraged to spread the word about the importance of sound fitness and eating habits with their children and communities.

Africa