February 21

 Holidays and Observances
(Alphabetical Order)

2023 Daily Holidays that fall on February 21, include:

• Card Reading Day 
• International Mother Language Day 
• International Pancake Day - February 21, 2023
• Mardi Gras Carnival (New Orleans) - February 21, 2023
• National Grain Free Day 
• National Sticky Bun Day 
• Paczki Day - February 21, 2023 (Always Shrove Tuesday - 47 Days Before Easter)
• Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras - February 21, 2023 (State Holiday in Alabama, Florida and Louisiana)

2023 Weekly Holidays that include February 21, are:

• Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Staff Education Week - February 14-21
• American Camp Week - February 21-24, 2023
• Bird Health Awareness Week - February 19-25, 2023 (Last Full Week of February)
• Brotherhood / Sisterhood Week - February 19-25, 2023 (Third Week in February)
• Build a Better Trade Show Image Week - February 19-25, 2023 (Third Full Week in February)
• International Petroleum Week - February 21-23, 2023
• Love Teaching Week - February 14-21
  
• Make Mine Chocolate - (Campaign kicks off annually on Feb 15, and ends on Easter which is April 9, 2023)
• National Condom Week - February 14-21
  
• National Eating Disorders Awareness Week - February 20-26, 2023
• National Engineer's Week - February 19-25, 2023 (Third Full Week in February)
  
• National FFA Week - February 18-25, 2023 (Runs Saturday to Saturday and has February 22, George Washington's birthday in the week)
  
• National Green Week - February 5 - April 30, 2023 (Start First Full Week in February to April 30)
• National Justice for Animals Week - February 19-25, 2023 (Begins on the Fourth Week in February)
• National Nestbox Week - February 14-21
  
• National Pancake Week - February 19-25, 2023
• National Sauna Week - February 19-25, 2023 (Last Full Week of February)
• NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week - February 14-21
• Shrovetide - February 19-21, 2023 (Shove Tuesday plus two days before)
• Through with the Chew (Chewing Tobacco) - February 19-25, 2023 (Third Full Week in February)

2023 Monthly Holidays that include February 21, are:

There are too many monthly holidays to include here, so please check out our February Holidays page to see all of the holidays that are celebrated the entire month of February.

NOTE:

1. A page on each holiday will be coming soon and linked above.
2. If a date is a movable holiday, that is different every year, I'll include the year as well as the date rule above. Otherwise, the holiday falls on the same date each year.

World Festivals and Events
(Date Order)

• Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival - Usually starts annually on January 5, and typically runs for a month or more, in Harbin, China and is the largest ice and snow festival in the world! 2023 dates are December 23, 2022 - February 28, 2023.
  
• Chinese New Year Festival and Parade - (San Francisco) - January 14 - March 5, 2023, Parade on February 4, 2023
• Yukon Quest - Starting in Whitehorse on February 11, 2023, there will be 3 races - 100 mile, 250 miles and a 450 mile. The race typically runs for 10 to 16 days until the last team finishes.
• Carnival (Rio de Janeiro in Brazil) - February 17 - 25, 2023 - Carnival is the biggest festival in the world with two million people a day on the streets. Floats, Parades, Balls, Music and Dancing are all part of the Event
  
• Carnival of Venice - February 17 - 25, 2023 - An annual festival held in Venice, Italy where people wear masks and costumes
• Losar - February 19-23, 2023 - The Tibetan New Year, typically a three-day festival that mixes sacred and secular practices that include prayers, ceremonies, hanging prayer flags, as well as sacred and folk dancing and partying. The first day is the most important. (Buddhist)

Astrological Sign

The Astrological Sign for February 21 is Pisces.

Birth Flower of the Month

The Birth Flower(s) for the Month for February are:

• Violet - symbolizes faithfulness, loyalty, humility, wisdom, and hope
  
• Primrose - Modesty, distinction, and virtue
  
  

Birthstone

The Birthstone for February is Amethyst.

Famous Birthdays

• 1924 – Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe 1987–present
• 1927 – Erma Bombeck, American humorist (d. 1996)
• 1934 – Rue McClanahan, American actress (The Golden Girls) (d. 2010)
• 1946 – Tyne Daly, American actress (Cagney & Lacey)
• 1955 – Kelsey Grammer, American actor (Frasier)
• 1958 – Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer
• 1963 – William Baldwin, American actor
• 1979 – Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress and singer (Party of Five, Ghost Whisperer)
• 1987 – Ashley Greene, American model and actress (Twilight)

Famous Deaths

• 1945 - Eric Liddell, Scottish runner (Olympic gold in1924), dies at 43
• 1965 – Malcolm X, Multi-Racial American civil rights leader assassinated in NYC at 39 (b. 1925)
  
• 2008 – Sunny Lowry, first British woman to swim the English Channel (b. 1911)
• 2018 - Billy Graham, American evangelist (b. 1918)
• 2019 - Peter Tork, American musician and actor (The Monkees) (b. 1942)

Famous Weddings and Divorces

• 1952 - Liz Taylor's 2nd marriage to Michael Wilding

Quote of the Day

Erma Bombeck, an American humorist was born on this day in 1927, and passed away on April 22, 1996.  She wrote a newspaper column from the mid 1960's until the late 1990 that described suburban home life and motherhood, which was published in over 900 newspapers, and read by 30 million people. She also wrote 15 books with most of them becoming bestsellers.

Recipe of the Day or a
Healthy Diet Habit Tip of the Day

The Holidays and Observances Recipe of the Day for February 21, is an Easy Chicken Soup Recipe from Kerry, of Healthy Diet Habits.

This Day in History

• 1431 - England begins trial against Joan of Arc
• 1848 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.
• 1857 - US issues flying eagle cents
• 1874 – The Oakland Daily Tribune publishes its first edition.
• 1878 – The first telephone book is issued in New Haven, Connecticut (one page with 50 names!)
  
• 1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated.

This is a picture of my daughter in law, Marlene, standing in front of the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. during a trip her and my son, Ryan took in Nov. 2009. The Washington Monument was dedicated on this day in 1885!

Photo Credit: Ryan 

More happenings on this day:

• 1887 - Oregon becomes 1st US state to make Labor Day a holiday
• 1902 - Dr Harvey Cushing, 1st US brain surgeon, does his 1st brain operation
• 1915 - World's Fair in San Francisco opens
• 1925 – The New Yorker publishes its first issue.
• 1931 - Alka Seltzer is introduced
• 1948 – NASCAR is incorporated
• 1972 - Richard Nixon becomes the 1st US president to visit China
• 1995 – Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.

This Day in Music

• 1972 - Climax' Precious and Few is certified gold
• 1975 - John Lennon releases Rock 'n' Roll album
• 1979 - The Dire Straits album is certified gold
• 1979 - Rod Stewart's Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? is certified gold
• 1990 - Paul McCartney receives the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 32nd annual Grammy's.
• 2008 - Crystal Gayle is inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame.
• 2011 - Lady Gaga performs the first of two shows at Madison Square Garden that will make up the footage of her HBO concert special in May.

Flash back to Junior High for Climax' Precious and Few that was certified gold in 1972!  Loved this song...his fringed white shirt, not so much!!

This Day in Sports

• 1931 - Chicago White Sox & New York Giants play 1st exhibition night game
• 1952 - Dick Button performs 1st figure skating triple jump in competition
• 1968 - Baseball announces a minimum annual salary of $10,000
• 1976 – The inaugural Winter Paralympic Games opened in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
• 1983 - Donald Davis runs 1 mile backwards in 6 m 7.1 seconds
• 1992 - Kristi Yamaguchi of the US wins Olympic gold medal in women's figure skating

Word of the Day from Wiktionary

Wishing You a Great Day Today!