International Day of Persons with Disabilities – December 3
“We strive to provide front-line services and support for people with disability all over the world. International Day of People With Disabilities is more than just an annual day, but a movement used to break down barriers to inclusion and advocate for the rights of people with disability.”
– admin@idpwd.org
“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”
– Christopher Reeve
Pearl Harbor Remembrance – December 7
“We have not forgotten, nor will we. We live in a world made more free, more just, and more peaceful by those who will answer roll call no more, those who will report for muster never again. We do remember Pearl Harbor.” – from Proclamation 5582
– President Ronald Reagan
Human Rights Day – December 10
“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.”
– Nelson Mandela
“You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man’s freedom. You can only be free if I am free.”
– Clarence Darrow
Golf Tee is patented – December 12, 1899
“Although golf was originally restricted to wealthy, overweight Protestants, today it’s open to anybody who owns hideous clothing.”
– Dave Berry
“A shot that goes in the cup is pure luck, but a shot to within two feet of the flag is skill.”
– Ben Hogan
Bill of Rights Day – December 15
“All power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people.”
– James Madison
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
– Amendment I from the Bill of Rights
Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was published – December 19, 1843
“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.”
– Charles Dickens
“Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
– Charles Dickens
Christmas – December 25
“Christmas isn’t just a day, it’s a frame of mind.”
–from Miracle on 34th Street
“Remember this December, that love weighs more than gold.”
– Josephine Dodge, Daskam Bacon
Hanukkah – begins the evening of December 25 – January 2
“When we share something material, we are left with less of what we started. But currencies of spirit, elements such as light, love and knowledge, defy these physical conditions—they increase as they are shared and become eternal. On Chanukah when we use one flame to light another, the glow is not halved – the light is multiplied.”
– Micaela Ezra
“Hanukkah is about the freedom to be true to what we believe without denying the freedom of those who believe otherwise. It’s about lighting our candle, while not being threatened by or threatening anyone else’s candle.”
– Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z’l
Kwanzaa – December 26 – January 1
“The holiday reflects the best of African thought and practice in its reaffirmation of the dignity of the human person in community and culture, the well-being of family and community, the integrity of the environment and our kinship with it, and the rich resource and meaning of a people’s culture.”
– Dr. Maulana Karenga
“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”
– Maya Angelou
New Years Eve December 31
“Every year you make a resolution to change yourself. This year, make a resolution to be yourself.”
– Unknown
“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go. They merely determine where you start.”
– Nido Qubein
Trivia Day – January 4
Allodoxaphobia is the fear of other people’s opinions.
A fear of long words is called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.
The circulatory system is more than 60,000 miles long.
Wearing a necktie could reduce blood flow to your brain by up to 7.5 percent.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – January 20
“I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream.”
– MLK, Jr.
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never infinite hope.”
– MLK, Jr.
Chinese New Year begins Year of the Snake – January 29
“May the bright glow of the New Year candle warm your days the whole year through.”
– chinahighglights.com
Baseball Hall of Fame established – January 29, 1936
“Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.”
– Yogi Berra