Pitching, creating, and publishing public scholarship can all happen rapidly or take months, so it’s always a good idea to plan ahead where possible! Obviously things come up on the daily now that launch historians of all kinds and their work into mainstream relevance, but here are a couple lists that can help you plan for more reliable opportunities. These lists are US-centric, but hopefully can be a starting places for ideas if your subject area is not!
2026 Anniversaries
Many of these anniversaries have been sourced from the History List and Ideas4Writers websites linked here with even more notable anniversaries. (As I am writing this in May 2026, I will start from mid-May.)
- May
- 65th of first community nuclear fallout shelter (Highlands Community Fallout Shelter – May 18
- 100th birthday of Miles Davis – May 26
- 105th of Tulsa Race Massacre – May 31
- June
- 100th birthday of Marilyn Monroe – Jun 1
- 80th of NBA founding (via BAA) – Jun 6
- 60th of Miranda v. Arizona – Jun 13
- 60th of the Black Power Movement – Jun 16
- 100th of the first SAT – Jun 23
- 150th of Little Big Horn – Jun 25-26
- July
- 60th of Medicare’s operation – Jul 1
- 200th of Adams and Jefferson deaths – Jul 4
- 250th of America – Jul 4
- 50th of US Naval Academy admitting women – Jul 6
- 80th of The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care by Benjamin Spock – Jul 14
- 30th of the Centennial Olympic Park Bombing – Jul 27
- August
- 150th of Colorado as a state – Aug 1
- 90th of Jesse Owens & the Berlin Games – Aug 1-16
- 180th of Smithsonian Institute – Aug 10
- 175th of Isaac Singer’s sewing machine patent – Aug 12
- 100th birthday of Fidel Castro – Aug 13
- 40th of Pixar’s first film Luxo Jr. – Aug 17
- 65th of The Marvelettes’s Please Mr. Postman (first Motown #1 Hit) – Aug 21
- 30th of President Clinton signing Welfare Reform Act – Aug 21
- 20th of Pluto being downgraded to a dwarf planet (RIP) – Aug 24
- September
- 60th of Star Trek – Sep 8
- 25th of September 11th
- 125th of President William McKinley’s fatal shooting and death – Sep 6-14
- 50th of NASA’s first Space Shuttle, Enterprise – Sep 17
- 150th of Melville Reuben Bissell’s carpet sweeper patent – Sep 19
- 80th of Cannes Film Festival – Sep 20-Oct 5
- October
- 200th of first US commercial railway – Oct 7
- 125th of President Theodore Roosevelt renaming The White House – Oct 12
- 100th of Winnie-the-Pooh – Oct 14
- 75th of I Love Lucy premiere – Oct 15
- 95th of Al Capone conviction – Oct 17
- 25th of Apple’s first iPod – Oct 23
- 125th of Annie Edson Taylor going over Niagara Falls – Oct 24
- 100th of Harry Houdini’s death – Oct 31
- November
- 50th of President Jimmy Carter’s election – Nov 2
- 10th of Trump’s first election – Nov 8
- 60th of Edward Brooke (R-MA) elected first African American US Senator – Nov 8
- 100th of US Numbered Highway System (including Route 66) – Nov 11
- 100th of NBC Radio – Nov 15
- 90th of Life Magazine – Nov 23
- December
- 85th of Pearl Harbor – Dec 7
- 85th of US declaring war on Japan – Dec 8
- 235th of Bill of Rights ratification – Dec 15
- 85th of song “White Christmas” – Dec 25
- 250th of Washington crossing the Delaware – Dec 25-26
Heritage, History, and Awareness Months (US)
- January
- Muslim American Heritage Month
- Poverty in America Awareness Month
- February
- Black History Month
- March
- Women’s History Month
- April
- Arab American Heritage Month
- May
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
- Jewish American Heritage Month
- Military Appreciation Month
- Mental Health Awareness Month
- June
- LGBTQ+ Pride Month
- Caribbean American Heritage Month
- Immigrant Heritage Month
- July
- National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month
- August
- National Black Business Month
- September
- Hispanic Heritage Month (Sep 15 – Oct 15)
- October
- Filipino American Heritage Month
- LGBTQ+ History Month
- Breast Cancer Awareness Month
- November
- National Veterans and Military Families Month
- Native American Heritage Month
- December
- Universal Human Rights Month
- AIDS Awareness Month
Notable Days and Observances
Here is a list of select federal, international, and religious observances. For more international, see the UN’s list.
- January
- New Year’s Day – Jan 1
- MLK Day – Third Monday
- Inauguration Day – Jan 20
- International Holocaust Remembrance Day – Jan 27
- February
- **Chinese New Year 2027 – Feb 6
- **Ramadan 2027 – Feb 7-Mar 8
- **Mardi Gras 2027 – Feb 9
- Valentine’s Day – Feb 14
- Presidents Day – Third Monday
- March
- International Women’s Day – Mar 8
- St. Patrick’s Day – Mar 17
- **Easter 2027 – Mar 28
- Transgender Day of Visibility – Mar 31
- Farmworkers Day – Mar 31
- April
- Earth Day – Apr 22
- May
- International Workers Day – May 1
- Cinco de Mayo – May 5
- Memorial Day – Last Monday
- June
- Loving Day – June 12
- Juneteenth – June 19
- World Refugee Day – Jun 20
- July
- Independence Day – July 4
- August
- International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples – Aug 9
- World Humanitarian Day – Aug 19
- International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition – Aug 23
- Women’s Equality Day – Aug 26
- September
- Labor Day – First Monday
- International Day of Democracy – Sep 15
- International Day of Peace – Sep 21
- October
- World Mental Health Day – Oct 10
- Indigenous Peoples Day – Second Monday
- November
- **Diwali 2026 – Nov 7-10
- Veterans Day – Nov 11
- Transgender Day of Remembrance – Nov 20
- Thanksgiving – Fourth Thursday
- December
- World AIDS Day – Dec 1
- Human Rights Day – Dec 10
- **Hanukkah 2026 – Dec 4-12
- Christmas – Dec 25
- Kwanzaa – Dec 26-Jan 1
** Denote holidays that are variable each year with the dates for the next observance listed