5-11 April 2014
Saturday
Stirrup cup
Pineau de Re: no, not the tipple of choice for teachers embarking on their Easter break but the tip of choice for the 167th Grand National horse race, held at Aintree. The 11-year-old galloped to victory at 25-1.
Sunday
Pucker up and party
A whole room whistled while they networked as part of the 41st annual International Whistlers Convention, held in Japan. Whistling, of course, is easy: you just put your lips together and blow.
Monday
From bad to verse
Poet, Romantic and scourge of teenage literature students everywhere, William Wordsworth - he of the daffodils and wandering lonely as a cloud - was born on this day in 1770.
Tuesday
Thought crime
A report by the Global Warming Policy Foundation thinktank accused schools of “green brainwashing” students, and called for an inquiry into the way climate change was being taught in England.
Wednesday
(Not) the end of the world
If you’ve ever wondered how to survive in a post-apocalyptic landscape, The Knowledge, published this week, is the guide you’ve been waiting for. But surely teachers already know how to bring order to anarchy?
Thursday
Hello, goodbye
Paul McCartney broke hearts worldwide on this day in 1970 when he announced that he would be leaving The Beatles for “personal and professional reasons”. He released his first solo album the following week.
Friday
Teaching the Torah
Education and Sharing Day is marked in the US. The event honours Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Hasidic leader who died in 1994, for his educational outreach work benefiting Jews and non-Jews alike.
12-18 April 2014
Saturday
History in the making
A night at the museum is on the cards for keen cultural types in Hamburg, Germany, as part of the 14th Long Night of Museums festival, when 53 institutions will stay open into the small hours.
Sunday
Check the mileage
More than 30,000 runners will take to the streets of London for the annual London Marathon. One of them will be Olympic double gold medallist Mo Farah, hoping for his first ever win over 26.2 miles.
Monday
Indian summer
Indians of several faiths will celebrate the Vaisakhi harvest festival today. For Hindus, it marks the start of the new year in the solar calendar, and for Sikhs the date in 1699 when their community was founded.
Tuesday
The cruel sea
The “unsinkable” luxury liner Titanic sank on this date in 1912 less than three hours after striking an iceberg. A lack of lifeboats, among other factors, led to the deaths of more than 1,500 people on board.
Wednesday
A big shout-out to.
.World Voice Day. Designed to showcase the importance of the voice in our lives, events will be running all over the world, including one at the University of York on the secret science of choral singing.
Thursday
A parfit gentil Jedi knyght
In 1397, Geoffrey Chaucer recited The Canterbury Tales for the first time. Nearly six centuries later, George Lucas began work on another epic: this is also the date he started writing Star Wars, in 1973.
Friday
Not such fluffy bunnies
The national conferences of the NUT and NASUWT teaching unions will get under way for the Easter weekend. Expect tub-thumping and threats of industrial action over changes to pay and conditions.
