The English got their alphabet when Christian monks arrived in the 6th century CE with their Latin alphabet to replace the native runes. Near the end of the 9th century CE, Charlemagne—king of the Franks and Holy Roman emperor—ordered a monk named Alcuin to devise a unified alphabet of letters […]
History
Dictionary Day was October 16th and celebrates the birthday of Noah Webster, considered to be the father of the American dictionary. The Meriam-Webster website says this day celebrates language, emphasizes the importance of learning, and encourages readers to use the dictionary to improve vocabulary. The word “dictionary” was invented by […]
Punctuation Day is celebrated every year on September 24th. Punctuation hasn’t changed much since 1500 (except for the introduction of computers). With the publication of the Guttenberg bible, printing had arrived and required standardized punctuation. Within 50 years that was achieved. […]
(I’m posting this now because Thursday September 8th is also International Literacy Day. National Ampersand Day is celebrated on September 8th every year to acknowledge this terrific little symbol. Its creation has been attributed to individuals from Roman orator Cicero’s secretary Tiro to 19th century French physicist and mathematician Andre-Marie […]
Today is National Paperback Book Day. Surprise: who knew it was so interesting? Believe it or not, Charles Dickens is credited with the creation of the mass- market paperback that is ubiquitous today. I wrote a prequel to today’s celebration where I gave a shortened version of a lecture by […]
In prepping a blog for National Paperback Day on July 30th, I stumbled across an accounting of how Charles Dickens is credited as being the creator of the paperback book—though of course, they didn’t call them that then. Dr. Elliot Engle has taught at North Carolina State University, written plays, […]
Celebration of Libraries April is a big month for the celebration of books and libraries—all kinds of libraries: school, public, academic, and institutional. The celebration is kicked off with International Children’s Book Day on April 2nd. It’s always held on the 2nd of April, which is also the birthday of […]
The United Nation’s celebration today fosters multilingualism for inclusion in education and society. International Mother Language Day recognizes that languages and multilingualism can advance inclusion, and their Sustainable Development Goals’ focus on leaving no one behind. UNESCO believes education, based on the first language or mother tongue, must begin from […]
It’s National Punctuation Day! Punctuation is the use of spacing and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding of reading. The word itself is derived from the Latin punctus, “point,” and the term was first recorded in the middle of the 16th Century. Punctuation hasn’t changed much since 1500 […]
Any language can incorporate foreign words and most have. Simple contact between cultures is all it takes. John McWhorter in The Power of Babel, says “intercultural contact is the very heart of human history, and thus the six thousand human languages are replete with the results of it.” And, he […]