April 8 is full of interesting historical facts and events. This includes:
International Day of Beauty Contest
The holiday was created in 2018 with the aim of honoring and aspiring women who participate in beauty pageants around the world. The first beauty pageant was held at the initiative of Phineas Taylor Barnum in 1854, but the event gained respectable status only in 1921, when the first Miss America pageant was held in the USA.
International Feng Shui Day
This ancient philosophy originated about 3 thousand years ago in China. Feng Shui is a rather complex system of positioning buildings and objects inside them so as to align their position with spiritual forces.
International Day of Beauty Contest
The holiday was created in 2018 with the aim of honoring and aspiring women who participate in beauty pageants around the world. The first beauty pageant was held at the initiative of Phineas Taylor Barnum in 1854, but the event gained respectable status only in 1921, when the first Miss America pageant was held in the USA.
International Feng Shui Day
This ancient philosophy originated about 3 thousand years ago in China. Feng Shui is a rather complex system of positioning buildings and objects inside them so as to align their position with spiritual forces.
Day of employees of military commissariats
It was on this day in 1918 that military commissariats were founded on the territory of modern Ukraine. They were responsible for organizing mobilization, registration and training for service.
Pygmy Hippo Day
The holiday was started in 2013 at the initiative of the Pygmy Hippo Foundation – a non-profit organization that is engaged in the preservation of pygmy hippos. Currently, the event is not a global initiative, but it is quite important among other environmental events.
International Buddhism Day
The date of the celebration was chosen in honor of the birthday of Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of this teaching. In Japan, this holiday is called the “Festival of Flowers”. Buddhism is a religious and philosophical teaching that appeared in ancient India around the 6th century BC.
International Roma Day
On this day in 1971, the first World Congress of Gypsies was held in London, but not for the formation of their state, but rather on the contrary – the people outlined their decision: they want to be without a state. At the same time, the Gypsy anthem and flag were adopted at the congress. The anthem is based on the folk song “Jhelem, Jhelem”. Instead of a coat of arms, Gypsies use a number of well-known symbols: a kibitki wheel, a horseshoe, a deck of cards. Their flag is blue-green with a red kibitka wheel in the center.
It is interesting that it is still not known for sure where the Gypsy people came from. There is a version according to which gypsies appeared on Earth in a magical way.
The number of Gypsies in the world is from 12 to 18 million people. The definition of “Roma” is used as a generalizing name at the political level for all European Gypsies. In 2000, Gypsies were legally recognized as an extraterritorial nation.
Gypsies say that they are the richest people. According to their stories, God allocated only parts of the earth to other tribes, and gave the whole world to the Gypsies. There is another ancient legend: “Roman soldiers were sent to buy nails for the crucifixion of Christ. They drank half of the money, and for half they decided to force some blacksmith to forge nails for them. However, the first blacksmith, who learned that nails would be used to crucify an innocent, refused to make them and was killed by the soldiers. The same thing happened with the other smiths, and only the gypsy smith agreed to forge the nails, but the last of the nails remained red-hot despite the smith’s attempts to cool it down. Terrified, the gypsy fled from Jerusalem, but wherever he went, a red-hot nail loomed over him, forcing him to run again and again. That’s why gypsies wander.”
Events that influenced the course of world history also took place on April 8 in different years:
1093 – the monks of the Kingdom of England, led by Volkelin, move to a new temple – the Winchester Cathedral;
1271 – Mamluk sultan Baybars and captures the fortress of the Hospitallers Krak de Chevalier in Syria;
1513 – navigator Juan Ponce de Leon declares Florida a Spanish possession;
1548 – Peru becomes the territory of Spain;
1766 – in England, a patent for a method of fire evacuation was first obtained: a wicker basket on a pulley and chains;
1830 – Mexico prohibits further colonization of Texas by Americans;
1853 – the first officially registered chess club opens;
1904 – Great Britain and France sign an agreement called the “Entente” (Entente), ending almost a thousand years of conflict between the two nations;
1947 – the largest spot on the Sun is recorded (up to 18 billion square kilometers);
1997 – an 1804 silver dollar is sold in New York for a record $1.815 million;
2005 – the funeral of Pope John Paul II, which became the largest ceremonial event in human history;
2014 – active fighting for the Luhansk airport begins during military operations in eastern Ukraine.
