January 15 Holidays

National Bagel Day celebrates the boiled-then-baked yeasted ring that Polish Jewish communities carried to New York’s Lower East Side — generating an estimated 1 billion bagels consumed annually in the United States. National Hat Day celebrates the hat in all approximately 400 styles — from baseball caps to fascinators — whose social, protective, and expressive functions have made it one of the most enduring human accessories. Alpha Kappa Alpha Day marks January 15, 1908, when Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded at Howard University — the first Greek-letter sorority established by and for African-American women, with membership now exceeding 340,000 in more than 1,000 chapters. Makar Sankranti shifts to January 15 in 2027, the Hindu solar harvest festival marking the sun’s transit into Capricorn — celebrated with kite flying, bonfires, and sesame-jaggery sweets.