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| garnet, the birthstone of January |
- January is the first month of the year in the Gregorian calendar.
- January is one of 7 Gregorian months with the length of 31 days.
- January is, on average, the coldest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
- The month is named after Janus (Ianuarius), the god of the doorway.
- January's birthstone is the garnet.
- The Anglo-Saxons called January Wulf-monath (meaning wolf month).
- In Czech, January is called leden, meaning ice month.
- According to Theodor Mommsen, the first of January became the first day of the year in 153 BC.
- The first of January is Independence Day in Haiti.
- The third Monday of January is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States.
- The birth flower of January is the Dianthus caryophyllus or Galanthus.
- Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706.
- Edgar Allan Poe, was born on January 19, 1809.
