On December 30, the world celebrates Global Planning Day and hosts the annual Festival of Huge Last-Minute Changes.
December 30, 1922 is the day of the formation of the USSR, a state that became one of the most significant and controversial entities of the 20th century.
Global Planning Day
This day is a great opportunity to stop for a moment in the vortex of everyday life and think about the future. This day symbolizes the time for reflection, analysis of achievements and planning of next steps. The special feature of the holiday is its focus on conscious planning – personal, professional and even global. His idea is that people not only dream, but also create clear steps to realize their ideas.
The date of December 30 is symbolic, because it is on the eve of the New Year that people traditionally take stock and set new goals. Planning helps focus, increases efficiency and promotes harmony in various areas of life. In a global context, Planning Day is a reminder that achieving sustainable world development requires coordinated cooperation at all levels, from the personal to the international.
Interesting facts
Planning is a skill that is considered one of the keys to success. It is known that people who write down their goals are much more likely to achieve them than those who only keep them in their head.
The concept of this day is closely related to the so-called “smart goals” (SMART-methodology), which involve specificity, measurability, attainability, relevance and time constraints.
For the first time, the Day of Global Planning was proposed as a way to unite people around the idea of solving problems together – from personal challenges to environmental and social ones.
Research shows that creative planning in the form of creating “dream maps” or graphic images of your goals stimulates the brain to work toward those outcomes.
A festival of huge changes at the last minute
The penultimate day of the year, December 30, in the calendar of world extraordinary holidays, was marked by the last-minute Festival of Huge Changes. This unusual day is filled with chaotic but exciting energy, which prompts people to make unexpected decisions and actions just before the New Year.
The idea of the holiday is to use the last chance of the year to make changes that seemed impossible or were postponed due to doubt or fear. For many, this is a great opportunity to suddenly revise their goals, try something new, or take a bold step into the unknown.
The symbolism of the Festival of Great Changes is related to the belief that even the smallest changes at the last minute can be the beginning of great transformations in the future. This day encourages people to be spontaneous, creative and make bold decisions.
Interesting facts
Psychologists claim that sudden changes often become the most effective, because they activate a person’s internal resources for quick adaptation.
On this day, many people decide to carry out long-planned, but postponed actions, for example, make an important call, change their hair or even write an application for a job change.
Traditions of this festival in different countries may include symbolic actions, such as burning old records of unfulfilled promises or creating new lists of achievements for the coming year.
Although the idea of spontaneity seems risky, many successful people say that the best decisions of their lives were made at the last moment.
Historical events on this day
1616 – The first book called “Chronicle” was published in Kyiv. It became a landmark event in the history of book printing, laying the foundation for the development of printing in Ukraine.
1699 – By decree of the Russian Tsar Peter I, the celebration of the New Year was moved from September 1 to January 1 (according to the old style – December 20). This change marked Russia’s transition to European calendar traditions.
1853 – The USA acquired from Mexico the territory that later became the southern part of the states of Arizona and New Mexico. This agreement went down in history as the “Gadsden Purchase”.
1903 – In Chicago, a catastrophic fire occurred in the “Iroquois” theater, as a result of which more than 600 people died and another 250 were injured. This tragedy was the impetus for changes in fire safety regulations.
1905 – French driver Victor Emery set a new speed record in a Darracq gasoline-powered car, reaching 177.5 km/h near Arles-Salon.
1922 – The creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was officially announced.
1927 – In Tokyo, the first subway in Asia started operating, which connected the districts of Ueno and Asakusa, which was an important step in the development of Japan’s infrastructure.
1947 – King Mihai I of Romania abdicated under pressure from the communists, which became a landmark event in the country’s history.
1964 – The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), an organization aimed at promoting economic development in the world, was founded.
1965 – Ferdinand Marcos became the president of the Philippines, whose rule later became one of the most controversial pages in the history of the country.
1978 – The first high-speed tram line in the USSR was opened in Kyiv, built thanks to the efforts of Volodymyr Veklych and Vasyl Dyakonov.
1981 – US President Ronald Reagan accused the USSR of involvement in the political crisis in Poland and introduced economic sanctions, ending negotiations on the sale of grain and implementing an embargo on the supply of equipment for the Trans-Siberian gas pipeline.
1992 – In Simferopol, the newspaper “Krymska svetlytsia” began to be published, which became an important cultural and informational source for Ukrainian-speaking readers.
1993 – Israel and the Vatican established diplomatic relations, which became an important step in religious and political relations between the countries.
1999 – The Supreme Court of Ukraine recognized as unconstitutional the articles of the Criminal Code that provided for the death penalty, taking a significant step in the direction of humanizing the legal system.
2006 – Former Iraqi President (1979-2003) Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging in Baghdad, which became one of the most discussed events of that year.
Birthday of the author of “Mowgli”
On December 30, 1865, Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born – an outstanding English writer, the author of the famous character Mowgli, as well as the first Englishman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1907, Kipling was awarded this award “for observation, vivid imagination, maturity of ideas and outstanding talent as a storyteller.” It is important to note that Kipling became the youngest recipient of this award – he was only 42 years old at the time of the award, and this record has not been broken to this day.
Kipling was born in India, which at that time was a British colony, in the family of a professor at a local art school. His name, Rudyard, means “red fence” – that was the name of the lake where his parents met. In the Victorian era, such pagan traditions were a fashionable manifestation of romanticism, and naming a child after a natural object was considered a tribute to this fashion.
Joseph received his education in England, but spent a significant part of his life in the USA and England. However, India remained a real home for him, and many of his works reflect the cultural and natural features of this country.
Kipling was a staunch anti-communist, but this did not prevent his works from being actively published in the USSR, where his literary talent was highly valued.
Kipling’s most famous work is The Jungle Book, written with deep symbolism. It has become a favorite book for both children and adults. Each character in The Jungle Book embodies a certain character trait:
- Mowgli, a human child, is a symbol of love.
- Bagheera, the leopard, is the personification of a warrior and fortitude (in the book, this is a male character, unlike the female image in many adaptations).
- Baloo, the bear, is a symbol of strength and patience.
- Kaa, a boa constrictor, is the embodiment of wisdom.
- Sher-Khan, the tiger, is an allegory of evil.
- Tabaki, the jackal, is an image of cowardice, intrigue and gossip.
The fairy tale is filled with life wisdom, subtle humor, as well as deep lessons that remain relevant in any era.
Kipling’s Jungle Book has inspired numerous cinematic and multimedia adaptations, including popular cartoons that retain the charm and essence of his works. His works, including The Jungle Book, continue to inspire generations of readers and filmmakers.
Formation of the USSR
December 30, 1922 is the day of the formation of the USSR – a state that became one of the most significant and controversial entities of the 20th century. The prerequisite for this was the signing of the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR on December 29, 1922 at the conference of delegations of the Congresses of the RSFSR, USSR, BSRR and ZSFRR. This treaty was officially approved the next day, December 30, at the First All-Union Congress of Soviets, and this date is considered the beginning of the existence of the Soviet Union.
The USSR was a huge state, occupying almost a sixth of the entire habitable land area of the Earth – 22,400,000 square kilometers. At the time of its collapse, its population was 294 million people. The Soviet Union was a powerful industrial power, ranking second in the world in terms of industrial production (16.5% of world volume) and seventh in terms of national income (3.4%).
The number of republics that were part of the USSR varied from 4 to 16, but for most of its existence the Union consisted of 15 republics. It was a state of great victories and deep contradictions. On the one hand, the Soviet Union did not lose a single foreign war, except for the internal one – against itself, which led to its collapse. On the other hand, his rigid political system limited the rights of citizens, which became a reason for criticism, in particular due to the party’s repressive policies.
The USSR made a huge contribution to the development of science and technology. In 1946, the world’s first nuclear power plant was created, in 1957, the world’s first artificial Earth satellite was put into orbit, and in 1961, Yuri Gagarin made the first flight into space with a person on board.
During the existence of the Union, Soviet athletes participated in 18 Olympics (9 summer and 9 winter), winning 1,204 medals, of which 473 were gold, 376 were silver, and 355 were bronze. The Soviet Union is still second only to the United States in the total number of awards.
However, the state policy had another side. The Soviet Union was called the “prison of nations” because it imposed severe restrictions on freedom of speech, religion and lifestyle. Religion was persecuted, for “tuneyadstvo” (unemployment) you could be imprisoned, and comprehensive employment was ensured by the forced distribution of university graduates. People who lived on “unearned income” were also punished with prison terms.
The final collapse of the USSR took place on December 8, 1991, when the three founding states signed the Bialowieza Agreements on the termination of the Soviet Union and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). On December 26, 1991, the Council of Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR officially adopted a declaration on the termination of the existence of the USSR, ending its 69-year history.
