23 January: International Handwriting Day

January 23 marks International Handwriting Day, chosen to remind us of the beauty and uniqueness of this art form called calligraphy and the need for handwriting.

World Handwriting Day is celebrated on January 23 because it is the birthday of John Hancock, who became famous for his particularly legible and interesting signature on the United States Declaration of Independence.

The initiator of this day is the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA).

The history of the evolution of handwriting goes back thousands of years, during which time people have tried to determine a person's character by their handwriting. In 1875, the French priest Jean-Hippolyte Michon first used the term "graphology", which today is considered a field of handwriting analysis. The German philosopher and psychologist Ludwig Klages (10 December 1872 - 29 July 1956) also made an important contribution to the theory of graphology.

Modern scientists have established seven main characteristics of handwriting by which a human profile can be created. These are: the size of the letters, their shape and slant, the direction of handwriting, the pressure and speed of writing, and the shape of the base line of the lines.