Celebrations Today – January 8

Holidays and observances

• Babinden (Belarus, Russia)
• Christian feast day:
  • Abo of Tiflis
  • Apollinaris Claudius
  • Blessed Eurosia Fabris
  • Gauchito Gil (Folk Catholicism)
  • Gudula
  • Harriet Bedell (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Lawrence Giustiniani
  • Lucian of Beauvais
  • Our Lady of Prompt Succor (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Pega (Anglican and Roman Catholic churches)
  • Severinus of Noricum
  • Thorfinn of Hamar
  • January 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Commonwealth Day (Northern Mariana Islands)
• Earliest day on which Children’s Day can fall, while January 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Saturday in January. (Thailand)
• Earliest day on which Lee–Jackson Day can fall, while January 14 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (Virginia)
• Typing Day (International observance)

Celebrations Today – USA: January 8

National Winter Skin Relief Day
National Argyle Day
National Bubble Bath Day
National English Toffee Day
National JoyGerm Day
National Sunday Supper Day – Second Sunday in January
National Argyle Day
National Bubble Bath Day
Earth’s Rotation Day
National Man Watcher’s Day
National Show and Tell Day at Work Day
National War on Poverty Day
World Typing Day

Today in US History: January 8

Battle of New Orleans

Remember New Orleans I say,
Where Jackson show’d them Yankee play,
And beat them off and gain’d the day,
And then we heard the people say
Huzza! for Gen’ral Jackson.”Huzza! for General Jackson.”
America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets

Battle of New Orleans, [detail]
Joseph Yeager, engraver, circa 1815-20.
By Popular Demand: Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies, 1789-Present

On January 8, 1815, Major General Andrew Jackson led a small, poorly-equipped army to victory against eight thousand British troops at the Battle of New Orleans. The victory made Jackson a national hero. Although the American victory was a big morale boost for the young nation, its military significance was minimal as it occurred after the signing (although before ratification) of the Treaty of Ghent that officially ended the war between the U.S. and Great Britain. The battle was fought before word of the Treaty reached the respective armies in the field. The anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans was widely celebrated with parties and dances during the nineteenth century, especially in the South.

A traditional fiddle tune commemorating the event came to be known as “Jackson’s Victory” or “The Eighth of January.” Listen to a version of this tune played on fiddle and guitar by Bill and Jessie Robinson in the collection Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941.

“The Eighth of January”
Performed by Bill Robinson, fiddle, and Jesse Robinson, guitar,
Recorded at Visalia FSA Camp,
August 30, 1941.
Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941

Real Audio Format

wav Format, 3621 Kb

Although the anniversary of the battle is no longer celebrated, the tune continues to be popular. In the 1940s, ethnographers Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin collected several versions of “The Eighth of January” from migrant workers who had left the dust bowl of Oklahoma to work in California. It was a favorite tune for square dancing. Search the collection on the terms eighth of january for several more versions of the tune and one version of the words to the song as recalled by Mrs. Mary Sullivan.

Saturday Night Dance,
Tulare Migrant Camp, Visalia, California,
Arthur Rothstein, photographer, circa 1940.
Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941

In 1958, James Morris (Jimmy Driftwood) composed lyrics to the old tune and recorded it as “The Battle of New Orleans” (recorded on Jimmie Driftwood Sings Newly Discovered Early American Folk Songs, Victor RPM 1635). In 1959, Johnny Horton recorded a version of Driftwood’s song, and the song rose to the top of the hit parade that year (recorded on Johnny Horton Makes History, Columbia 1478).

For more American folk music, visit California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties.

Learn more about Andrew Jackson in American Memory:

• Read the text of a February 1815 House of Representatives resolution proposed to honor Major General Jackson and the men under his command at the Battle of New Orleans. In his resolution, Congressman Troup of Georgia commends Jackson for “illustrating the patriotic defence of the country with brilliant achievement, and signalizing the Americans by steady perseverence, incessant vigilance, patient suffering, undaunted firmness, and in victory moderation and clemency…” The resolution is found within the Annals of Congress, formally known as The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States. The Annals cover the First Congress through the first session of the Eighteenth Congress, from 1789 to 1824, and are just one of the documentary history resources on the United States Congress found within A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation.
• Search on Andrew Jackson in America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets for more songs honoring Andrew Jackson such as “Huzza! for General Jackson” and “Old Hickory’s Days.”
• Listen to the “British Field March,” said to be the tune used by the British to retreat in the Battle of New Orleans. Search on the term Battle of New Orleans in the collection Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier to find both the audio version of this march and a transcription.
• Search the Today in History Archive on Andrew Jackson for more events in the life of “Old Hickory” including his presidential inauguration and his role in the Nullification Crisis.
• See the profile of Andrew Jackson featured in C-SPAN’s American Presidents: Life PortraitsWeb site.

Today in History – January 8-External Links

Today’s Weather in History
Today in Earthquake History
This Day in Naval History
Today’s Document from the National Archives
Today’s Events, Births & Deaths –Wikipedia
Today in History by AP
On this Day -1950 to 2005 – Today’s Story–BBC
On This Day: The New York Times
This Day in History –History.com
Today in Canadian History – Canada Channel
History of Britain that took place On This Day
Russia in History –Russiapedia