Langston Hughes - February 1

Sunday, February 1, 2026

Today is Change Your Password Day, Dark Chocolate Day, G.I. Joe Day, Black Women in Arts Day, Girls & Women in Sports Day, National Signing Day, Robinson Crusoe Day, Serpent Day, World Hijab Day, and  World Read Aloud Day

Today's Birthdays
Songs of the Day
Today's Theme: Langston Hughes

Black History Month Resources of the Day: Artist Faith Ringgold
Reading Rainbow - Tar Beach
Faith Ringgold Reads Tar Beach
Faith Ringgold's Life's Work
Faith Ringgold on the Process of Creating the "Tar Beach" Story Quilt
Faith Ringgold on Writing Tar Beach
Faith Ringgold - Guggenheim Museum
Faith Ringgold and Story Quilts Lesson Plan
Kimball Art Center: Faith Ringgold Story Quilts Lesson Plan

ON THIS DATE

• 1861 - Texas secedes from the United States.
• 1862 - "The Battle Hymn of the Republic,"  by Julia Ward Howe was published in the Atlantic Monthly.
• 1942 - Voice of America begins broadcasting.
• 1960 - Four black students stage the first of the Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
• 1964 - The Beatles have their first number-one hit in the United States with "I Want to Hold Your Hand."
• 1982 - "Late Night with David Letterman" premiered on NBC.
• 2003 - The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
• 2004 - Singer Janet Jackson had a "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl halftime show. By the way, the Patriots won.

BIRTHDAYS

• 1895 - Director John Ford
• 1901 - Actor Clark Gable
• 1902 - Poet and novelist Langston Hughes
• 1931 - Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin
• 1937 - Singer-songwriter Don Everly
• 1942 - Welsh actor Terry Jones
• 1948 - Singer-songwriter Rick James
• 1994 - Singer-songwriter Harry Styles

SONGS OF THE DAY 

• The Everly Brothers - All I Have to Do Is Dream - LISTEN
• The Beatles  - I Want to Hold Your Hand - LISTEN
  
• Rick James - Super Freak - LISTEN

THEME:  LANGSTON HUGHES

• Grades 3-8 - PBS LearningMedia - Know Ohio - Langston Hughes (3:15) - VIEW
• Grades 6-8 - EDSITEment -The Poet's Voice: Langston Hughes and You Lesson Plan - READ and DO
• Grades 6-12 - PBS LearningMedia -  A Walk Through Harlem - "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" (0:58) - VIEW and DO
• Grades 6-12 - PBS LearningMedia -  A Walk Through Harlem - Symbolism in "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" (0:58) - VIEW and DO
• Grades 7-12 - NHPBS Video - Poetry in America - Harlem by Langston Hughes (25:26) - VIEW
• Grades 7-12 - NHPBS Video - American Experience - Langston Hughes on Trial (4:39) - VIEW
• Grades 7-12 - NHPBS Video - Antiques Roadshow - Appraisal: Langston Hughes Signed First Edition Books (3:53) -  VIEW
• Grades 7-12 - ReadWriteThink - Langston Hughes Activities - READ and DO
• Grades 8-12 - EDSITEment - The Works of Langston Hughes Teacher's Guide -DO
• Grades 9-12 - ReadWriteThink - Discovering a Passion for Poetry With Langston Hughes Lesson Plan - READ and DO
• Grades 10-12 - PBS LearningMedia - American Passages: Unit 10 - Rhythms in Poetry (28:23) - VIEW

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