Today@Dal

The full calendar is available on the website, http://www.dal.ca/dept/dalrespect/about/calendar.html

January 18
Martin Luther King Day (USA)
Born on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. grew to become one of the greatest Social Activists the world has ever known. At 35 he became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace prize. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 while making a speech from the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee. His birthday became a National Holiday by an act of the United Stated Congress in 1983. King was the chief spokesman of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. He was assassinated in 1968.

January 18 – 25
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
The traditional period in the northern hemisphere for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is January 18 to 25. Those dates were proposed in 1908 by Paul Wattson to cover the days between the feasts of St Peter and St Paul, and therefore have a symbolic significance.

January 19
Sultan (Sovereignty) (BA)
The seventeenth month of the Baha’i year.

January 24
Tu B'Shevat (JU)
Tu Bishvat (or Tu B'Shevat) is a minor Jewish holiday in the Hebrew month of Shivat, usually sometime in late January or early February that marks the "New Year of the Trees. Tu Bishvat is one of four "New Year’s" mentioned in the Mishnah. Customs include planting trees and eating dried fruits and nuts, especially figs, dates, raisins, carob, and almonds.

January 24 -27
Mahayana New Year (BU)
A New Year is a special time because it urges people to make a new beginning with the onset of a fresh new year. In Buddhism, too, the significance of the New Year is no less. However, given the fact that Buddhism is practiced in many countries around the world, the time and method of celebrating it varies from place to place.