Tomorrow Is Handwriting Day

January 23 is Handwriting Day, a day to get your hands on a pen or pencil and paper and practice and revive the elegant art of handwriting. Grab that journal (or paper) and start writing.
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Handwriting is the act of writing by hand using an instrument such as a pen, pencil or brush. It is thought that a person's handwriting is as unique as his or her fingerprint - no two people have the same writing style or handwriting. Because of this, handwriting is often used by many forensic experts and historians to test the authenticity of documents.

Originally introduced by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association in 1977 to promote the sale of writing materials, National Handwriting Day has become an opportunity to celebrate manuscript and cursive—and remind ourselves why it’s so important for students’ literacy development!

The twenty-third of January is John Hancock’s birthday. Hancock is best known as having the first and most prominent signature on the Declaration of Independence, and signatures are often referred to as a “John Hancock” as a result. Hancock was president of the Continental Congress and his signature served to validate the final version of the document in 1776.

How to Celebrate?
Pick up a pen and write a note to a friend or family member.
Carry a notepad and a pen with you wherever you go and use them whenever you need to write anything.
Use post-its to remind yourself of tasks instead of online task reminders.
Get out your journal and start writing.
 
Did You Know…

• That you can draw a 35-mile long line with a single pencil.
• On average a pen can write approximately 45,000 words.
• Before the invention of erasers, writers and artists used bread crumbs to erase mistakes.
• The first fountain pen was invented by a New York insurance agent, Lewis Edson Waterman in 1883. Waterman had it patented in 1884.
• Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck both used pencils to write their novels.
• In 1949 Marcel Bich introduced the first inexpensive ballpoint pen, aptly named BIC after himself.
• Faber-Castell is the world’s largest pencil manufacturer, and Ray Bradbury even named a character in Fahrenheit 451 after them!
• In 1984 gel ink was first invented by a company called ‘Sakura Color Products Corp’, based in Osaka, Japan. Gel pens were also developed by the same company.
• Thomas Edison had pencils specially made so that they were thicker than regular pencils.

 
Have an amazingly creative day,
Larissa