January 4, 2023 - National Trivia Day | World Braille Day

Welcome to January 4th, 2023 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate nerding out and seeing things in a different light. If you’ve ever attended quiz night at a local pub, you know how exciting trivia can be. There’s a thrill that comes from knowing that a seemingly useless piece of information holds the key to winning a game. Even in the early days of television, trivia was all the rage. Quiz shows were so popular that when news broke about cheating on the shows, it became national news and Congress held hearings to get to the bottom of things. Celebrate National Trivia Day being a know-it-all by sharing this, or any other random facts. Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809 in a small French village. While playing in his parents saddle shop, he injured his eye and by age five Louis was totally blind. He learned by listening and the diligent student was enrolled in the National Institute for Blind Children in Paris. As fate would have it, a captain in Napoleon's army visited the school and taught the children Night Writing. This complex communication code used 12 dots, but young Louis believed he could make it more simple. By age 15 Louis Braille completed the 6 dot fingertip reading system with 64 characters in total. The code was adopted at Louis’s school in 1824 but a new school Director banned the Braille system in 1840, saying it would make sighted teachers obsolete. Thankfully, the world recognized the genius of Louis Braille and by 1916 his system was used in American schools for the blind. On World Braille Day, we celebrate the far reaching impact of a boy who saw things differently. I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices