World Braille Day
Next: January 4, 2027
Six dots that opened every book.
The story
Where it comes from
In November 2018 the UN General Assembly, in resolution 73/161, proclaimed 4 January World Braille Day, observed each year from 2019. The date is the birthday of Louis Braille, born in Coupvray, near Paris, on 4 January 1809. Blinded at three by an accident with a tool in his father's harness workshop, he won a place at the National Institute for Blind Children in Paris. At 15 he adapted a system of embossed dots shown at the school into the raised-dot alphabet that now carries his name.
How it's celebrated
The UN, governments and organisations of blind people use the day to raise awareness of braille as a means of communication, essential for education, freedom of expression and access to information. Schools and libraries hold braille workshops and readings. It is a good day to learn the braille letters of your own name, or to ask whether the signs and menus around you can be read by touch.
Did you know
- France officially approved Braille's raised-dot system in 1854, two years after his death.
- In 1952 his remains were moved to the Panthéon in Paris, but his hands were kept in a marble box at his grave in Coupvray.
- The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 2006, treats braille as a means of communication essential to education and inclusion.
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