My Favorite Ginger (Awww Monday) and Inspiring Quote of the Week

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays.  Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that's it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you.  What better way to start the week than with a smile!

My favorite ginger:

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Sparks, the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, is on hiatus, so here's an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.

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Today is:

Assembly Line Workers' Day -- listed on many sites but no particular reason for it to be this day; then again, why not today?

Ati-Atihan Festival -- Aklan, Kalibo, Panay Island, Philippines (start of the vivid religious carnival/feast dating back to the 13th century to honor Santo Nino [Baby Jesus]; through the 20th)

Australian Open -- Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia (part of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments; through the 27th)

Azhirnikhua -- Abkhazia (Day of World Creation)

Cakes and Ale Day -- emblems of the good life, a day to remember the good things we have, and be grateful

Celebration of the 2nd Week of Moonhopper -- Fairy Calendar

Clean Off Your Desk Day -- me and what army? (Note:  some sites put this as always on Jan. 9, some the second Monday of January; either way, my question remains)

Daikoku Matsuri -- Kanda Myojin Shine, Tokyo, Japan (purification ceremony; through tomorrow)

Day of Defenders of the Native Land (Army Day) -- Uzbekistan

Eugenio Maria de Hostos' Day -- Puerto Rico (birth anniv. obs.)

Feast of Divina Pastora -- Barquisimeto, Venezuela (religious procession attended by about 2 million people)

Feast of the Ass -- Medieval Christianity (commemorates the Flight Into Egypt)

International Kite Festival -- Jaipur and Ahmedabad, India

Makar Sandranti -- India/Hindu Calendar (part of the sidereal solstice festivals)

National Dress Up Your Pet Day -- do you really dislike your pet this much?

National Forest Conservation Day -- Thailand

National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day

Niino no Yukimatsuri -- Izu shrine, Niino, Nagano Prefecture, Japan (snow festival with offerings made to bring a good harvest in the coming year; through tomorrow)

North American International Auto Show -- Detroit, MI, US (a showcase for the world's vehicle introductions; through the 27th)

Organize Your Home Day -- another one that i can't figure out who started it, but i will say s/he was nuts to think this could be done in one day

Orthodox New Year -- RS, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Serbia

Pongal continues -- Tamil New Year, among the Tamil People (multiple day thanksgiving festival at the end of harvest)

    Tamil Thai Pongal Day -- Sri Lanka

    Maghi Parba/Maghe Sankranti -- Western Nepal

Ratification Day -- US (anniversary of the Treaty of Paris that recognized the independence of the US from England)

Revolution and Youth Day -- Tunisia

Seijin-no-hi -- Japan (Adult's Day, or Coming of Age Day; celebrating all who have reached age 20, full legal adult age, in the past year)

Sidereal Winter Solstice Celebrations -- throughout South and Southeast Asia

St. Felix of Nola's Day (Patron of domestic animals, eyes; Nola, Italy; against eye diseases, false witness, lies, perjury)

St. Sava's Day (Patron of Serbia and all Serbs)

Take a Missionary to Lunch Day -- to honor Albert Schweitzer's birth anniversary

Anniversaries Today:

Joe DiMaggio marries Marilyn Monroe, 1954

Birthdays Today:

Kristin Cavallari, 1987

Jason Bateman, 1969

Emily Watson, 1967

Shepard Smith, 1964

Steven Soderbergh, 1963

Lawrence Kasdan, 1949

Carl Weathers, 1948

Nina Totenberg, 1944

Holland Taylor, 1943

Faye Dunaway, 1941

Jack Jones, 1938

Andy Rooney, 1919

William Bendix, 1906

John dos Passos, 1896

Hal Roach, 1892

Hugh Lofting, 1886

Albert Schweitzer, 1875

Thornton W. Burgess, 1874

Richard Felton Outcault, 1863

Matthew Fontaine Maury, 1806

Benedict Arnold, 1741

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Bionic Woman"(TV), 1976

"Sanford and Son"(TV), 1972

"Sinfonia Antartica"(Vaughan Williams' 7th symphony), 1953

"Today Show"(TV), 1952

"Tosca"(Puccini Opera), 1900

Today in History:

The Knights Templar are formally approved by the Roman Catholic Church, 1129

Pope Leo X issues a papal bull against slavery, 1514

Spain annexes Cuba, 1539

The "Fundamental Orders", the first written constitution that created a government, is adopted in Connecticut, 1639

Massachusetts holds a day of fasting for wrongly accusing "witches", 1699

Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris, formally ending the American Revolutionary War, 1783

The US Supreme Court rules that racial separation on trains is unconstitutional, 1878

An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills more than 1000, 1907

Henry Ford introduces the assembly line to the production of the Model-T, 1914

The first prototype of the MiG-17 makes its maiden flight, 1950

The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country's central bank and banknote issuing authority, is established, 1960

Toronto, Ontario Mayor Mel Lastman becomes the first mayor in Canada to call in the Army to help with emergency medical evacuations and snow removal after more than one meter of snow paralyzes the city, 1999

The national flag of Georgia, the so-called "five cross flag", is restored to official use after a hiatus of some 500 years, 2004

Landing of the Huygens probe on Saturn's moon Titan, 2005

The MESSENGER spacecraft performs a Mercury flyby, 2008

American rock climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson become the first to successfully free-climb the Dawn Wall face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, 2015