January 2021 Cultural Events

15^th

18^th

Happy Birthday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.! (1929-1968)

(Observed) National holiday celebrating the birthday of this social justice and civil rights leader

While we are taught of Dr. King’s many achievements in the civil rights movement, it is not as often iterated that at the age of thirty-five, being the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize, he turned over the prize money, totaling $54,123 to the furtherance of the movement. This brave and righteous leader achieved significant progress for the rights of black Americans before his life was tragically cut short. Dr. King was assassinated while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, but his influence did not end there. Dr. King’s work as a proponent for peaceful justice and social equality has inspired leaders around the world perpetuating his legacy of equal rights for all.

Did you know? New Hampshire was the last state in the country to observe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day? It became official in the year 2000.

22^nd

1973: Roe v.Wade

In its landmark 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declares that the Constitution protects a woman’s

legal right to an abortion.

23^rd

1849: Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to graduate from medical school and become a doctor in the United States. Born in Bristol, England, she graduated from Geneva College in New York with the highest grades in her entire class. Blackwell championed the participation of women in the medical profession and ultimately opened her own medical college for women.

24^th

2013: The U.S. military removes a ban against women serving in combat positions

While the number of women serving in combat positions and officer positions remains significantly lower than the number of men serving in similar positions, there has been increases in women in these positions in every branch of the military. The Air Force has the best female representation of all branches, while the Marines and Special Forces Units have the lowest representation of females. There are 613 female Marines, while none of the traditional Special Operations components have been integrated.

27^th

International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

The UN General Assembly designated this day the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz- Birkenau to honor the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism.