National Carnation Day
January 29
The scientific name for the carnation flower is “Dianthus caryophyllus”. In Greek, dios means Zeus or God and anthos means flower. So the literal translation is “flower of the gods” or “heavenly flower.” Carnations were revered in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. These two cultures were the first to cultivate the flower over 2,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest cultivated flowers in the world. Each specific carnation color also carries its own meanings: white carnations symbolize purity, red carnations symbolize love and passion, pink carnations symbolize gratitude and purple carnations symbolize capriciousness.
National Puzzle Day
January 29
A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person’s ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle. There are hundreds of different types of puzzles, including crosswords, word-search, number, relational or logic puzzles.
Today’s Birthdays of Note….
Tom Selleck – Actor – born in Detroit, Michigan
