Author: Lisa Mungovan

George Washington Carver was an African-American scientist, inventor, and educator, that was born into slavery, during the Civil War. He taught farmers how to rotate crops for better soil, and found hundreds of uses for peanuts and sweet potatoes, including lotions, plastics, and even gasoline. Celebrate Carver Day, with your own peanut invention.

Today is Bird Day. There are around 18,000 different bird species! The largest non-flying bird is the ostrich, the kori bustard is the heaviest bird that can fly, and the wandering albatross has the largest wingspan, at up to 11 feet! The bee hummingbird is smallest at 2 1/4 inches long. The Australian lyrebird sounds like R2-D2!

Pie and hot chocolate are even better, with a tower of whipped cream sprayed on top! For Whipped Cream Day, try making your own. Simply put some heavy whipping cream in a jar, and shake it for a few minutes! Just don’t shake it too long, or it will turn into butter.

It’s finally the 12th day of Christmas. I hope you actually receive 12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping, 10 lords a-leaping, 9 ladies dancing, 8 maids a-milking, 7 swans a-swimming, 6 geese a-laying, 5 gold rings, 4 calling birds, 3 French hens, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree!

Kranthi Kumar Panikera, also known as Drill Man, put his tongue to the test to set a world record. The stuntman stopped 57 electric fans in one minute, using his tongue! He also holds records for pounding the most nails into his nose with a hammer, and pulling a vehicle with a swallowed sword.

The Quadrantids meteor shower, is at its peak. The meteors are caused by space debris, from a metallic asteroid called 2003 EH1. You could see 80 to 110 meteors-per-hour, if you watch from a spot where there’s not much light pollution. Dress warmly, and wish on lots of falling stars.

Will you notice Earth’s big moment this morning? It reaches its perihelion, which is the closest it gets to the Sun each year. The distance at that point is 91,403,034 miles, measured from the center of the Earth to the center of the Sun. The farthest distance is called aphelion, occurring on July 3rd.

Today is World Braille Day. The Braille alphabet is a pattern of raised dots, so blind people can read by feeling the letters. Did you know LEGO makes Braille Bricks? The bricks also have a letter printed on each piece, so everyone can learn to read by touch. The LEGOs connect to regular sets.

Name 3 things celebrated on January 4th. Give up? One answer is Hypnotism Day, Spaghetti Day, and Trivia Day! Make up your own trivia questions and play with your family, while eating a spaghetti dinner. Then try to hypnotize someone and tell them to act like a chicken! You’re getting very, very, sleepy.

A pair of twins were born on different days, months, and years, just celebrated their first birthday. Big brother Ezra was born December 31st, 20 23, and his brother Ezekiel, was born 40 minutes later, on January 1st, 20 24! Ezra still has to share a birthday though, since his dad’s birthday is also December 31st.