Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service – This day encourages people to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. by participating in community service and volunteering.
Winnie the Pooh Day – This day celebrates the birthday of author A.A. Milne and his beloved creation, Winnie the Pooh, and encourages people to read and enjoy the classic children’s stories.
Thesaurus Day – This day celebrates the importance and diversity of language, and encourages people to expand their vocabulary and appreciate the nuances of words.
World Day of War Orphans – This day raises awareness about the plight of children who have lost parents due to war and conflict, and promotes efforts to support and protect these vulnerable children.
Peking Duck Day – This day celebrates the famous Chinese dish of roasted Peking duck, and encourages people to enjoy this delicious and iconic cuisine.
1670 – Henry Morgan captures Panama City, the last Spanish stronghold in Central America.
1778 – James Cook becomes the first European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the “Sandwich Islands” after the fourth Earl of Sandwich.
1911 – Eugene Ely becomes the first person to land an airplane on a ship, landing his Curtiss biplane on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay.
1943 – The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins, as Jewish resistance fighters launch an armed revolt against Nazi forces.
1964 – Plans for the construction of the World Trade Center in New York City are announced.
1991 – The United States and its allies launch Operation Desert Storm, a massive air campaign against Iraq that marks the beginning of the Gulf War.
2005 – The Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger plane, makes its first commercial flight.
2012 – The internet-based protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) leads to the shutdown of thousands of websites, including Wikipedia and Google.
2020 – The World Health Organization confirms the first cases of COVID-19 in the United States.