April 9 is World Antiquities Day. It is also a day when interesting and significant events took place over the centuries, which left a mark in the political, cultural and technological history of mankind.
World Antiquities Day
This day is a reminder of the importance of preserving cultural heritage, the value of antiques and the uniqueness of the past, which lives on through objects created centuries ago. On this day, respect is paid not only to collectors and owners of antique galleries, but also to everyone who preserves and studies things with history: from icons, coins and furniture to watches, jewelry and books.
Antiques are more than just old things. This is a cultural code encoded in form, ornament, and material. Antique objects are evidence of what humanity was like: what we valued, what aesthetic ideals, technological possibilities, religious or political ideas were. Antiques are often silent witnesses of historical cataclysms, personal dramas, and great achievements.
The holiday arose from the initiative of international antiquarian communities, which sought to popularize respect for antiquity, support the legal antiques market, and draw society’s attention to the threat of illegal trade in historical objects. That is why April 8 is also a reminder of ethical standards: the origin of things must be transparent, and their preservation must be responsible.
Antiques today is not only a passion of collectors, but also a serious business. The antiques market is one of the least dependent on economic fluctuations. Many old things do not lose value over time, but on the contrary – increase in value. In countries with a rich history, such as Italy, France, China or Ukraine, antiques become part of the national identity.
And antiques are extraordinary aesthetics. In the world of mass production, an antique item becomes a symbol of uniqueness. It cannot be repeated, copied or improved: in every scratch, line or break there is authenticity and time.
Interesting facts
The word “antique” comes from the Latin antiquarius – one who deals with antiquities.
An antique is officially considered to be over 100 years old, although some items of jewelry or furniture can receive this status even earlier, provided they are rare or unique.
One of the most expensive antiques in the world is a Chinese porcelain vase from the Qing Dynasty, sold at an auction in London for more than 85 million dollars.
A famous example of an antique surprise is Leonardo da Vinci’s Savior of the World, which was kept as a copy and sold for $450 million after attribution.
In Ukraine, icons, old prints, furniture from 19th-century estates, as well as objects from the Cossack era – sabers, pipes, engravings – constitute a large layer of antiques.
Many forgeries on the antique market are so exquisite that they sometimes fool even museum experts. Therefore, certification and scientific attribution play a critical role.
Antiques can be a form of investment: for example, vintage Rolex or Patek Philippe watches increase in value by 7-10% each year.
In many countries, antiques are protected by law as national property. Illegal removal can amount to a crime against culture.
Historical events on this day
193 – Septimius Severus, an outstanding Roman commander and the founder of the new dynasty, was proclaimed emperor. His rise to power marked the end of the instability that had followed the death of Commodus and marked the beginning of an authoritarian, military-oriented rule that changed the face of the Roman Empire.
1553 – Simun VIII Yohannan Sulaka was consecrated as a bishop in Rome, which became a historical turning point for the Assyrian Church of the East. This move, supported by the Pope, led to a schism in the church and the formation of the Chaldean Catholic Church, which entered into union with the Vatican.
1667 — the world’s first public art exhibition opened in Paris. It was held in the premises of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture and became a precedent for further exhibition traditions, starting the institution of an open demonstration of art for the general public.
1860 — the French inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville created the first audio recording in history. He recorded a fragment of a French song on the device he constructed himself, predating Edison’s invention of the phonograph by almost two decades. However, this recording could not be played back then.
1865 — General Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate army, surrendered to the Northern forces led by General Ulysses Grant at Appomattox. This effectively marked the end of the American Civil War, one of the bloodiest conflicts in the country’s history.
1930 — the first demonstration of the operation of the videophone took place in New York. Although it was decades away from mass adoption, the event was a breakthrough in telecommunications and foreshadowed future Zooms and FaceTime.
1940 — Nazi Germany launched a military operation against Denmark and Norway. These aggressive actions had a strategic goal — to ensure control over the Baltic Sea and iron ore supply routes from Sweden.
1963 — Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, became the first foreigner to be awarded the title of honorary citizen by the US Congress. In this way, the Americans honored his contribution to the joint struggle of the Allies in the Second World War.
1966 — The Vatican has officially canceled the Index of Prohibited Books, which has been in effect since the 16th century. This list included works that were considered dangerous to the Catholic faith, and its abolition became a symbol of the modernization of the Church after the Second Vatican Council.
1989 — Soviet troops brutally dispersed a peaceful protest in Tbilisi. This event, called the “Tragedy of April 9”, became a catalyst for anti-establishment sentiments in Georgia and the beginning of its path to independence.
2003 — The European Parliament approved the decision on the accession of ten new countries to the European Union, including Poland, Hungary, the Baltic States, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Cyprus and Malta. It was one of the largest enlargements of the EU in history.
2005 — Britain’s Prince Charles, now King Charles III, married Camilla Parker-Bowles. Their marriage became a symbol of a new, more open monarchy and caused a wide resonance both in British society and in the media.
2021 — Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died in Great Britain. He was 99 years old. His death marked the end of an entire era in the history of the British monarchy and became a cause for national mourning.
April 9, 1626 the man who wanted to make philosophy practical died – 1st Viscount St. Alban, philosopher Francis Bacon. He was also a historian, publicist and statesman.
Bacon believed that knowledge can be gained only through experience. His philosophy was aimed at practice, and science, he believed, should help man master the forces of nature and improve life.
He died after catching a bad cold during one of the experiments: he bought a chicken from a poor woman, stuffed it with snow himself, trying to see if the cold really preserved the meat. Already before his death, he wrote that the experiment was successful. It was Bacon who said: “Knowledge is power!”
Bacon’s method is inductive. He laid it out in the work “New Organon”. Bacon believed that true knowledge comes from experience, and the experimental-inductive method is the best way to know the world. The first stage of induction is the collection of facts and their systematization. The search for truth, in his opinion, is possible in three ways:
- The path of the “ant” is a mechanical collection of facts: what I see is what I take.
- The way of the “spider” is to create facts from oneself, without experience. This is how dogmatists work.
- The way of the “bee” is to process facts with the help of the mind.
The inductive method is a movement from the partial to the general, building a hypothesis according to which in all similar cases everything will happen in the same way as in the observed ones. Induction is perfect—when all cases are considered, and imperfect—when conclusions are drawn on the basis of incomplete research, so they can be refined or refuted in the future.
April 9, 1808 for the first time, the Courts of the Officers’ Association were officially introduced, an institution intended to protect the honor of the military corporation independently of criminal justice.
The progenitor of military courts of honor was Prussia – it was from there that this practice spread to other German states, Austria, and later – to the armies of other European countries. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Prussian army was considered one of the most effective in the world, and the officer corps was a model of military discipline and honor. The foundations of this corporate culture were laid by Frederick II the Great.
The main idea behind the creation of courts of officer honor was not to punish, but to preserve the internal ethical purity of the officer caste. It was a closed mechanism of self-purification: the officers themselves got the right to decide who among them is unworthy to wear epaulettes, and thus to be part of the military family.
The honor court operated completely separately from the criminal court. The same act could become the subject of consideration both in a civil and in an officer’s court, but on the condition that the criminal process took place earlier. The organs of such a court were: the actual court of honor (as a collegial body of decision), as well as the council of honor, which conducted a preliminary investigation. The hearing took place behind closed doors, without the public. The defense officer was only allowed to file a written statement. All convictions were submitted to the highest authorities for approval, and appeals against decisions were not foreseen.
This mechanism was based on the deep conviction that the heart of the army is its officers. The term “officer” appeared as early as the 16th century at the French court as the name of a state position, but already at the end of the same century, officers began to be called exclusively the command staff of the army and navy. It was then that the main principles of officer corporatism were formed, which later grew into a system of moral code.
This code demanded not only the observance of discipline, but also the display of honor in every detail. A person accepted into the officers’ circle became not just a comrade in arms – he became part of the reputation of the entire regiment. The unworthy act of one tainted everyone, because it was they who vouched for him when he was accepted into the corps. Such corporatism created an atmosphere of absolute responsibility — not only for oneself, but also for each fellow man.
The officer’s culture did not allow denunciations, gossip or behind-the-scenes criticism. The main virtues were bravery in battle, endurance, loyalty to the oath, respect for the flag, mutual aid and humanity even to the defeated enemy. Those who died in battle were forever remembered by comrades, and those who earned combat honors were treated with special respect.
The court of officer’s honor is not just a historical phenomenon, but an attempt to maintain moral order within the military community, which is not always within the power of formalized law.
April 9, 1966 The Vatican has officially abolished the Index of Prohibited Books, a list of works that the Catholic Church has deemed dangerous for believers. Among them were the works of theologians, scientists and even fiction.
The first official “Index of Prohibited Books” appeared in Rome in 1559 at the initiative of Pope Paul IV, who headed the Inquisition before being elected pontiff. This list became a tool of control over ideas and thoughts: it was forbidden to read, distribute, and sometimes even keep books that contradicted church teachings.
During almost four centuries, the index was republished 32 times, adding new names, but almost without revising previous decisions. Of these, 12 editions were published already in the 20th century. The last time the Index was updated was in 1948 — at that time it contained about 4,000 books.
The irony is that many of these banned works are now considered classics of world literature and philosophy. Descartes, Spinoza, Voltaire, Diderot, Giordano Bruno, George Sand, Emile Zola were banned. Zola himself believed that the Church was forced to turn a blind eye to part of the book flow only because it was physically unable to pursue absolutely everything that was published.
The abolition of the Index in 1966 did not mean the approval of all previously forbidden ideas, but it became an important symbol – the Church recognized that the time of control over the reading of the faithful had passed. It was part of a wider modernization of the Catholic world after the Second Vatican Council, which opened the Church to a dialogue with modernity.
April 9, 2015 The Verkhovna Rada took a historic step by passing a law that put an end to the possibility of a legitimate return to the legacy of Soviet and Nazi totalitarianism in Ukraine.
This law is not so much about ideologies as it is about limits — the limits of what is allowed in public space, the limits of historical responsibility, the limits of remembering the traumas of the 20th century.
254 people’s deputies voted for the document. The official title is “On the condemnation of the communist and national socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes in Ukraine and the prohibition of propaganda of their symbols.” But behind the dry formula hides a complex attempt to regulate how society treats the past.
The law proposes to recognize the communist and Nazi regimes as criminals at the state level. It is not only a matter of political assessment, but of a specific legal prohibition of public denial of their criminal nature. This includes the use of symbols – red flags, hammers and sickles, slogans, portraits of Soviet leaders or the Hitler swastika. The names of streets or cities associated with Soviet figures, the performance of the anthems of the USSR or Ukrainian SSR are also prohibited.
The definition of “propaganda” within the scope of this law deserves special attention. It includes, in particular, public denial of the crimes of the Soviet regime, attempts to justify the activities of the KGB, support for the establishment of Soviet power, even criticism of participants in the liberation movements of the 20th century — that is, everything that can be interpreted as a return to the Soviet historical narrative.
The law also obliges the state not only to condemn the past in silence, but also to open archives, investigate specific crimes of past totalitarian systems, and publish data. This is an attempt not only to distance oneself from the regimes, but also to tell society what exactly was criminal about them, and why it should not happen again.
The document does not contain loud declarations about the “new Ukraine”, but clearly outlines: in the public space of the 21st century there is no place for the symbols of empires that brought repression, deportation, famine, concentration camps and wars to millions of Ukrainians.
