I can’t believe that it is already 2017. It seems like just a few weeks ago that I got used to writing 2016 on all my checks and paperwork and now I have to start all over again!

If your household is like mine you get so busy at the end of the year, that once January rolls around there is almost a let down because there might not seem to be anything exciting going on…  Well you can change that!  Browse through this list of January holidays and you can find a great excuse to rejoice every day. Some of these January holidays are well known while others are unique, and in some cases, strange.

If you like the calendar image featured here, you can click on it and download it to your computer. If you want to check out and (and download and print) even more January calendar pages, check out this collection of printable January calendars. If you prefer a printable calendar that shows you all of the months on a single page, these 2017 printable calendars are right up your alley.

Month Long Observances in January

• Birth Defects Prevention Month
• Cervical Health Awareness Month
• Eye Care Month
• Get Organized Month
• Hot Tea Month
• Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month
• National Bath Safety Month
• National Blood Donor Month
• National Braille Literacy Month
• National Hobby Month
• National Soup Month
• National Staying Healthy Month
• National Thank You Month
• Oatmeal Month

Week Long Observances in January

• Universal Letter Writing Week (second week of January)
• Clean Out Your Inbox Week (the last fullweek of January)

January 1st

• Betsy Ross’s Birthday
  Born in 1752.
• Commitment Day
• Ellis Island Aniversary
  Ellis Island opened on this day in 1892.
• First Foot Day
• Le Jour de l’An
  French New Year
• New Year’s Day
• Paul Revere’s Birthday
  Born in 1735.

January 2nd

• Boo Boo Bear’s Birthday
  Yogi the Bear’s little buddy.
• Drinking Straw Patented
  On this day in 1888.
• National Buffet Day
• National Motivation & Inspiration Day
• National Science Fiction Day

January 3rd

• Festival Of Sleep Day
• Fruitcake Toss Day
• Humiliation Day
• J.R.R. Tolkien’s Birthday
  Born in 1892.
• National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day

January 4th

• Isaac Newton’s Birthday
  Born in 1642
• Jakob Grimm’s Birthday
  Born in 1785.
• Louis Braille’s Birthday
  Born in 1809.
• Trivia Day
• World Hypnotism Day

January 5th

• First Woman Governor Inaugurated
  1925 inauguration of Nellie Ross as Wyoming’s Governor.
• National Bird Day

January 6th

• Bean Day
• Cuddle Up Day
• Dia de Reyes
  Celebrated in Mexico.
• Epiphany
• Sherlock Holmes’ Birthday

January 7th

• Harlem Globetrotter’s Day
• Old Rock Day

January 8th

• Argyle Day
• Bubble Bath Day
• Elvis Presley’s Birthday
  Born in 1935.
• National English Toffee Day

January 9th

• Coming-of-Age Day
  Celebrated in Japan on the second Monday of January.
• National Apricot Day
• National Clean Off Your Desk Day
  Second Monday of January
• National Static Electricity Day
• Play God Day

January 10th

• First Meeting of United Nations
  In London in 1946.
• Houseplant Appreciation Day
• National Cut Your Energy Costs Day
• Peculiar People Day

January 11th

• Learn Your Name in Morse Code Day
• Milk Day
  Milk delivered in bottles for the first time in 1878.
• Secret Pal Day

January 12th

• National Pharmacist Day
• Work Harder Day

January 13th

• Make Your Dreams Come True Day
• Poetry Break Day
• Rubber Duckie’s Birthday
  Sesame Street Character.

January 14th

• National Dress Up Your Pet Day
• Organize Your Home Day
• Ratification Day

January 15th

• First Super Bowl
  Played in 1967. Green Bay (35) defeated Kansas City (10).
• National Hat Day

January 16th

• Appreciate a Dragon Day
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
  Honoring his birthday (born in 1929). It is observed on the Third Monday in January.
• National Nothing Day
• Religious Freedom Day

January 17th

• Benjamin Franklin’s Birthday
  Born in 1706.
• Cable Car Day
• Kid Inventors’ Day
• Shari Lewis’ Birthday
  Born in 1934.

January 18th

• Thesaurus Day
• Winnie the Pooh Day
  A.A. Milne’s Birthday. Born in 1882.

January 19th

• Popcorn Day
• Tin Can Day
• World Religion Day

January 20th

• Cheese Day
• Inauguration Day
• National Buttercrunch Day
• Penguin Awareness Day

January 21st

• National Hugging Day
• Squirrel Appreciation Day

January 22nd

• National Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day
• National Blonde Brownie Day

January 23rd

• Measure Your Feet Day
• National Handwriting Day
• National Pie Day
• Snow Plow Mailbox Hockey Day
• Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day
  Always on a Saturday.

January 24th

• Compliment Day
• Eskimo Pie Patented
  By Christian Nelson in 1922.
• Global Belly Laugh Day
• Gold Discovered in California
  At Sutter’s Mill in 1848.
• National Peanut Butter Day

January 25th

• Burns Night
  Celebrated in Scotland.
• Opposite Day

January 26th

• Australia Day
  The day Sydney Australia was settled in 1778.
• National Kazoo Day
  Usually celebrated on the fourth Thursday of January.
• National Peanut Brittle Day
• World Leprosy Day

January 27th

• Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day
• Chocolate Cake Day
• Lewis Carroll’s Birthday
  Born in 1832.
• Punch the Clock Day

January 28th

• Chinese New Year
  Today starts the year of the rooster. This date changes every year.
• Data Privacy Day
• Ernie’s Birthday
  Sesame Street Character.
• Thank a Plugin Developer Day

January 29th

• Freethinker’s Day
• National Corn Chip Day
• National Puzzle Day
• Seeing Eye Dog Day

January 30th

• Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Birthday
  Born in 1882.
• National Inane Answering Message Day
• Yodel for Your Neighbors Day

January 31st

• Backwards Day
• Inspire Your Heart with Art Day
• Jackie Robinson’s Birthday
  Born in 1919.

I hope you enjoy celebrating many of these special days with your friends and family. I have done a lot of research to try to ensure the validity of all of the special events on this list. If you find any conflicting information, please feel free to share it with me. If you know of any other special days that should be part of this list, let me know.