February 9 is celebrated as International Dentist Day, International Pizza Day, and Volleyball Birthday. The events of this day in different centuries reflect turning points in politics, culture, science, and military history that had consequences far beyond their time.
International Dentist Day
International Dentist Day is a professional holiday for doctors, which is associated with the day of memory of Saint Apollonia. She is considered the patron saint of dentists and people suffering from toothache. According to legend, in the 3rd century, during the persecution of Christians, her teeth were knocked out, and later this image became entrenched in European culture as a symbol of endurance in the face of physical pain.
The holiday does not have official status in the UN system, but is widely used by professional communities in many countries. It has become a date with which the history of the development of dentistry, the evolution of dental treatment methods, and the change in attitude towards oral cavity prevention from a craft to a separate branch of medicine are associated.
Interesting facts
In ancient Egypt, toothache was treated with a mixture of crushed herbs, honey and minerals, and traces of dental procedures dating back more than four thousand years have been found in mummies.
In medieval Europe, teeth were often removed by barbers or blacksmiths, since there was no specialized dentistry, and the tools for removal were almost the same as household ones.
The first toothbrush with natural bristles began to be widely used in China in the 15th century, and in Europe it became widespread only a few centuries later.
In the 19th century, dental treatment without anesthesia was the norm, and the advent of ether and nitrous oxide changed dentistry faster than most other medical fields.
There are dentures in the world made from the teeth of fallen soldiers of the Napoleonic Wars, which were collected after battles and sold to wealthy patients.
In Ukraine, archaeologists found traces of attempts to treat caries in the burials of Kyivan Rus, in particular, mechanical cleaning of the affected areas of the tooth with sharp instruments.
In Lviv, at the end of the 19th century, private dental offices operated, where fillings and prostheses made individually for patients were already used.
In traditional Ukrainian medicine, toothache was tried to be relieved with decoctions of oak bark, sage and wormwood, and some of these remedies are still used today as auxiliary ones.
Tooth enamel is the hardest tissue in the human body, but it is not capable of self-repair, which became a key factor in the development of preventive dentistry.
In different cultures, amulets in the form of teeth have been preserved, which were worn as a symbol of health and protection, which indicates an ancient awareness of the importance of dental health.
International Pizza Day
This is an informal date dedicated to one of the most famous dishes in the world. The origin of pizza is associated with Italy, where it was formed as a simple food for townspeople, affordable and convenient for quick consumption. Over time, pizza has gone beyond regional cuisine and become part of the gastronomic culture of dozens of countries.
The modern celebration of this day does not have official status, but is actively supported by restaurants, bakers and consumers. The date is used as an opportunity to remember the history of the dish, its transformation from street food to a restaurant product and the role of migration and globalization in the spread of culinary traditions.
Interesting facts
Pizza in its modern form was formed in Naples in the 18th–19th centuries, and the classic pizza “Margherita” was named after Queen Margherita of Savoy and symbolizes the colors of the Italian flag.
Before the advent of refrigerators, pizza was often eaten for breakfast, as it was well preserved overnight and did not require re-cooking.
In 2017, the art of making Neapolitan pizza was inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List as an element of traditional culture.
In the United States, pizza became massively popular after World War II, when soldiers serving in Italy returned home with a taste for the dish.
The oldest prototypes of pizza existed in ancient times, when the Greeks and Romans baked flatbreads with olive oil and spices without tomatoes, which appeared in Europe much later.
In Ukraine, pizza began to spread actively in the 1990s with the opening of the first private pizzerias, and later became a familiar dish in both large cities and small towns.
Ukrainian catering establishments often combine the classic Italian base with local ingredients, in particular lard, brynza or pickled mushrooms.
The largest pizza in the world was made in the United States and was larger than a tennis court, and was officially divided into thousands of servings.
Different countries have their own versions of pizza dough, from very thin and crispy to thick and soft, reflecting local culinary preferences.
Volleyball Birthday
This day is celebrated in memory of the appearance of the game, created in 1895 by William G. Morgan in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Initially, the new game was conceived as a less contact alternative to basketball for indoor classes, combining elements of tennis, handball and baseball. The first name of the game was formulated as “mintonette”, which reflected the nature of throwing the ball over the net.
Over time, the rules of volleyball have undergone significant changes, and the game itself quickly spread beyond the borders of the United States. In the first half of the 20th century, volleyball became an international sport, received clearly regulated rules and became a fixture in major sporting events. Its development was due to the simplicity of the equipment, the versatility of the court and the possibility of team play without hard physical contact.
Interesting facts
The first volleyball matches could last without restrictions on time and the number of points, and the number of players in the teams was not fixed.
Morgan borrowed the net for the game from tennis, setting it at a height of about two meters, which is significantly different from modern standards.
The word “volleyball” became established after a demonstration match, where observers drew attention to the constant bouncing of the ball in the air.
Volleyball became an Olympic sport in 1964 at the Tokyo Games, which significantly accelerated its popularization in the world.
Beach volleyball originated as an informal pastime on the California coast, and later turned into a separate discipline with its own rules.
In Ukraine, volleyball has been actively developing since the 1920s, and the first competitions were held in large industrial cities and educational institutions.
Ukrainian volleyball players have repeatedly been part of the USSR national teams that won Olympic medals and won world championships.
In the Ukrainian school system, volleyball has long remained one of the main team sports in physical education classes.
Modern rules limit the ball to three hits, although at the beginning of the game there were no such restrictions.
Volleyball is among the most popular team sports in the world in terms of the number of countries where official competitions are held.
Historical events on this day
1234 ‒ Mongol troops captured Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin state, which was a key stage in the conquest of Northern China and the beginning of the conquest of one of the leading states in the region.
1263 ‒ Near Daugavgrīva, the Lithuanian army led by Prince Treneta defeated the Livonian Crusaders, stopping their advance and strengthening Lithuania’s position in the Baltic region.
1667 ‒ In the village of Andrusovi near Smolensk, a truce was concluded between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Muscovite Kingdom, under the terms of which the Ukrainian lands were divided along the Dnieper, which consolidated the long-term division of Ukraine.
1722 ‒ In St. Petersburg, a royal decree was issued on the forced deportation of tens of thousands of Ukrainian Cossacks for the construction of the Ladoga and Don canals, which was accompanied by great human losses.
1849 ‒ In the territory of the Papal States, revolutionary forces proclaimed the Italian Republic, challenging the papal secular authority and the old political system.
1863 ‒ American Alanson Craig received a patent for a fire extinguisher, which was an important step in the development of fire safety systems.
1893 ‒ Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Falstaff premiered in Milan, which became the composer’s last opera and an important event in the history of musical theater.
1893 ‒ The first documented public striptease session took place at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, the arrest of the performer caused mass riots and a wide resonance in the city.
1897 ‒ The first general census of the population was launched in the Russian Empire, which recorded 126.4 million inhabitants, among whom more than 22 million were Ukrainians.
1900 ‒ Dwight F. Davis founded the international tennis tournament for the Davis Cup, which later became one of the main team events in world tennis.
1904 ‒ Japan attacked Port Arthur, starting the Russo-Japanese War, and in the Chemulpo area, the battle of the cruiser “Varyag” and the gunboat “Koreets” with the Japanese squadron took place.
1909 ‒ The United States passed the first law aimed at prohibiting the circulation of narcotics, initiating a state anti-narcotics policy.
1918 ‒ Units of the Red Army under the command of Mikhail Muravyov captured Kyiv after artillery shelling, which was accompanied by mass killings of civilians and political opponents.
1918 ‒ A peace treaty was signed in Brest, according to which Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria officially recognized the Ukrainian People’s Republic as an independent state.
1920 ‒ The Spitsbergen Treaty determined the international legal status of the Svalbard archipelago, consolidating its demilitarized regime.
1923 ‒ In the Lukyanivska prison in Kyiv, an uprising of the atamans of Kholodny Yar, sentenced to execution, broke out, which became a symbol of resistance to the Soviet repressive system.
1929 ‒ The first week of Ukrainian literature began in Moscow, which became a notable event in the cultural life of Ukrainians within the USSR.
1934 ‒ The Balkan Entente, a military-political alliance of the countries of Southeast Europe with the aim of deterring external threats, was formed.
1942 ‒ In Kyiv, the Nazi authorities arrested Olena Teliga and other representatives of the Ukrainian intelligentsia, most of whom were later shot.
1943 ‒ Winston Churchill informed Joseph Stalin about the preparation of the opening of a second front in Europe in the second half of 1943.
1955 ‒ The Rome Metro opened, becoming an important part of the city’s infrastructure and transportation system.
1961 ‒ The Beatles performed for the first time under this name at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, marking the beginning of their meteoric rise.
1964 ‒ The Beatles made their live American television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was watched by an estimated 74 million viewers.
1969 ‒ The Boeing 747 wide-body passenger plane made its first flight, changing the standards of long-haul air travel.
1991 ‒ Lithuanian citizens voted in a referendum to restore the country’s independence after decades of Soviet rule.
2015 ‒ Near Logvynove, Russian soldiers shot captured fighters of the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
2018 ‒ Near the Syrian city of Hisham, forces of the international coalition led by the US defeated a column of Russian mercenaries, which led to significant losses among the attackers.
