January 23 Holidays

National Pie Day celebrates the pie — the baked dish of filling enclosed in pastry that appears in virtually every food culture, from Roman placenta cake to British meat pie, American apple pie, and South American empanada. National Handwriting Day marks January 23, 1737, the birthday of John Hancock — whose oversized Declaration signature made his name synonymous with bold legibility — established to promote handwriting as a foundational literacy skill. International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day celebrates the sticky toffee pudding — the steamed British sponge cake drenched in toffee sauce, invented at the Sharrow Bay Hotel in the Lake District in 1970 by Francis Coulson and Robert Lee. Local Quilt Shop Day shifts to January 23 in 2027, encouraging quilters to visit and purchase from their local independent quilt shops.