24-30 January 2015
Saturday
Read letters day
Books were devoured across the US as part of the country’s first National Readathon Day. Americans were encouraged to make #timetoread for four hours in an effort to promote literacy.
Sunday
The Hawking effect
Eddie Redmayne became the bookies’ favourite for best actor at the Academy Awards after scooping the equivalent gong from the Screen Actors Guild for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.
Monday
Home and away
Shrimp were thrown on the barbie for Australia Day. The celebration marks the arrival in New South Wales of the “First Fleet” of ships from Britain in 1788, signalling the beginning of European settlement.
Tuesday
Troubled beginnings
The ATL teaching union released a survey revealing that nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of trainee, student and newly qualified teachers have already considered leaving the profession.
Wednesday
Pride and joy
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was released on this day in 1813. The staple of the GCSE literature curriculum has sold more than 20 million copies and has even spawned a horror spoof: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Thursday
Information overload
The Royal Society of Arts held a talk on thinking straight in the modern world, with neuroscientist Daniel Levitin explaining how “we can organise our brains to keep up with the demands of the digital age”.
Friday
Peaceful protest, violent end
On this day in 1948, less than a year after India gained independence from the British Empire, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. He led the campaign against imperial rule by following a path of non-violent protest.
31 January - 6 February 2015
Saturday
Taxing deadline
For moonlighting teachers - or those doing a spot of private tutoring - now is the time to file your income tax return online. And you thought the paperwork at your day job was boring.
Sunday
Super Bowled over
The American football season concludes in Arizona as defending champions the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots. The event is so widely watched that a 30-second advert slot costs $4 million.
Monday
Tutu can pli at that game
Want to support the teaching of the arts? Consider donning a costume for World Tutu Day. The funds raised by the event will go to ballet schools to provide scholarships and bursaries for students in need.
Tuesday
Reaching for the Moon
A spacecraft made a soft landing on the Moon for the first time on this day in 1966. The unmanned Russian probe Luna 9 sent back surface-level pictures of the satellite, proving it wasn’t made of cheese after all.
Wednesday
By George, he did it
In a landslide victory most politicians could barely dream of, George Washington was elected as the first US president in 1789 with 100 per cent of the votes - a position he held until he stepped down in 1797.
Thursday
Ice to see you
About 2 million people are expected to slip and slide their way around the week-long Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan. Snow statues and ice sculptures line the streets in one of the world’s biggest winter events.
Friday
Raising FGM awareness
The annual International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation takes place. The practice is recognised globally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women (see pages 18-19).
