January 3

 Holidays and Observances
(Alphabetical Order)

2025 Daily Holidays that fall on January 3, include:

• Festival of Sleep Day
  
• Fruitcake Toss Day 
• Humiliation Day 
• International Mind-Body Wellness Day 
• J.R.R. Tolkien Day 
• Memento Mori "Remember You Die" Day 
  
• National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day 
• National Drinking Straw Day 
• National Write to Congress Day 
• Women Rock! Day 

2025 Weekly Holidays that include January 3, are:

• Celebration of Life Week - January 1-7
• Christmas Bird Count Week - December 14, 2024 - January 5, 2025
  
• Diet Resolution Week - January 1-7
• National Time Consciousness Week - January 1-7 (Philippines)
  
• New Years' Resolution Week - January 1-8
• Silent Record Week - January 1-7
• Someday We'll Laugh About This Week - January 2-8
• Take a New Year's Resolution to Stop Smoking Month (TANYRSS) -  December 17, 2024 - February 5, 2025
• The World Series of Beer Pong - January 1-5, 2025

2025 Monthly Holidays that include January 3, are:

There are too many monthly holidays to include here, so please check out my January Holidays page to see all of the holidays that are celebrated the entire month of January.

NOTE:

1. A page on each holiday will be coming soon and linked above.
2. If a date is a movable holiday, that is different every year, I'll include the year as well as the date rule above. Otherwise, the holiday falls on the same date each year.

World Festivals and Events
(Date Order)

• Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival - Usually starts annually on January 5, and typically runs for a month or more, in Harbin, China and is the largest ice and snow festival in the world! 2025 dates are December 25, 2024 - Late February / Early March, 2025, depending on weather conditions. 

Astrological Sign

The Astrological Sign for January 3 is a Capricorn.

Birth Flower of the Month

The Birth Flower(s) for the Month for January are:

• Carnation - The Carnation is the Birth Flower for January. The  symbolization of the Carnation means love, pride, beauty, purity, distinction, fascination, and loyal.
• Snowdrop is a white flower with three small petals in the middle surrounded by three larger petals on the outside. The symbolization of the snowdrop means love, fascination, and purity.

See our GARDEN HOLIDAYS page for all the special days celebrating things of the garden!

Birthstone

The Birthstone for January is a Garnet.

Famous Birthdays

• 1892 - J.R.R. Tolkien - author (Lord of the Rings)
• 1897 - Marion Davies, a US actress was born as Marion Cecilia Douras. Also known as William Randall Hearst's long time mistress, and hostess of many of his events at his home, known as Hearst Castle at San Simeon, California.
• 1945 - Stephen Stills, songwriter/guitarist for Cosby Stills & Nash
• 1956 - Mel Gibson - actor
  

Famous Deaths

• 2012 - Bob Weston, English songwriter and guitarist (Fleetwood Mac) (b. 1947)
• 2014 - Phil Everly, American singer and guitarist (The Everly Brothers) (b. 1939)
• 2019 - Herb Kelleher, an American businessman who co-founded Southwest Airlines (b. 1931)

Quote of the Day

In honor of J.R.R. Tolkien's birthday, the quote of the day is from him!

Image by Joseph McGinn taken on the road from Dunedin to Queenstown, New Zealand.   As Military Dependents, we were lucky and lived in Australia for 4 years while growing up. While there, we took a week vacation, and traveled all over New Zealand's southern island and actually stopped in Dunedin on our way back up to Christchurch.  Super Gorgeous Country - See Holidays in New Zealand for more info!

Healthy Diet Habit Tip of the Day 
or a Recipe of the Day

Two of the Observances in January are Bread Machine Baking Month, and National Oatmeal Month, so preparing this great Oatmeal Bread Recipe in a bread machine is a great choice!  You can find the recipe at the link above, on Kerry's Healthy Diet Habits website.

This Day in History

• 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the bishop
• 1777 - Washington defeats the British at Battle of Princeton, NJ
• 1870 - Construction begins on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, and is completed May 24, 1883
• 1933 - Minnie D. Craig becomes the first female elected as Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives and is the first female to hold a Speaker position anywhere in the United States.
• 1938 - The March of Dimes is established to fight polio
• 1941 - Canada & the United States both acquire air bases in Newfoundland. (We actually stopped at the US Air Base on our way back to the US after my Dad had been stationed in Augsberg, Germany for several years, where we were both born.)
• 1943 - 1st missing persons telecast in New York City
• 1944 - In World War II, Top Ace Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington is shot down in his Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Zero. (I think I pretty much watched every TV episode of the Black Sheep Squadron with Robert Conrad)
• 1958 - Edmund Hillary reaches the South Pole overland
• 1959 - Alaska is admitted as the 49th United States state
• 1976 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1977 - Apple Computers incorporate
• 2000 - The last weekday original Peanuts comic strip is published.
• 2015 - Militants from Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist group, attack the entire town of Baga in northeast Nigeria and kill at least 2,000 people
• 2020 - An American airstrike near the Baghdad International Airport kills Iranian General Qasem Soleimani

This Day in Music

• 1964 - Jack Paar Show, shows a clip of the Beatles singing "She Loves You"
• 1967 - Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys is indicted for draft evasion
• 1969 - John Lennon's "2 Virgins" album declared pornographic in NJ
• 1970 - Davy Jones of the Monkey's announces he is leaving the group. (He was always my favorite!!)
• 1971 - B.J. Thomas' Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, hits #1.
  
• 1972 - Don McLean's American Pie song is Certified Gold.
• 1974 - Jim Croce's Time in a Bottle song is Certified Gold.
• 1987 - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducts 1st female artist Aretha Franklin
• 1999 - The Mars Polar Lander was launched.

B.J. Thomas's Song, Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head was used in one of my favorite parts in the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Movie with Katherine Ross, Paul Newman, and Robert Redford. This was such a great movie!!

This Day in Sports

• 1920 - New York Yankees purchase Babe Ruth from Red Sox for $125,000
• 1983 - Tony Dorsett sets NFL record with 99-yd rush, Dallas vs Minnesota

Word of the Day from Wiktionary

Wishing You a Great Day!