April 2 is celebrated in Ukraine as the Day of the Dog Scientist, and in the world – the International Fact-Checking Day and the International Children’s Book Day. On this day, in different eras, events took place that influenced the course of politics, culture, science and technology. From geographical discoveries to the dissolution of parliaments, April 2 witnessed many significant moments.
Day of the cynologist of Ukraine
This is the day of people who have dedicated their lives to a noble cause – cynology, the science of dog training and behavior. This is not just a profession, but a true vocation that requires fortitude, patience, a high level of responsibility and boundless love for animals. Cynologists are not only specialists who work in cynological centers. These include the military, police, rescuers, border guards, volunteers – all those who, next to the dog, perform extremely important work that often involves risk to life.
This holiday is also a tribute not only to the specialists themselves, but also to their four-legged partners – service dogs. Their role is extremely important: they search for explosives, drugs, find missing people, protect objects and help in special operations. In many cases, it is the dog that becomes a savior or protector, sometimes a hero who saves life at the cost of his own.
Every day, Ukrainian dog handlers, together with their faithful dogs, perform their mission on the front lines, in the rear, at railway stations, at borders, in emergency zones. Their work is often invisible to the general public, but it is invaluable. Especially in the conditions of war, when people’s lives are at stake, the search for enemy saboteurs or mined areas. Dogs work with dedication, and dog handlers with a deep understanding of every movement, every signal of their partner.
Interesting facts
Ukraine has one of the most powerful service canine systems in Europe. Dozens of service dog training centers operate in the State Border Guard Service, the National Police, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the State Emergency Service. The most famous are in Velikie Mosty (Lviv Oblast), Cherkasy Oblast, as well as in Kyiv.
The Armed Forces and the police have dozens of dogs that have received state or departmental awards for participation in combat operations, demining or rescuing people. For example, the dog Patron from Chernihiv is known all over the world — he became a symbol of Ukrainian sappers and even received an award from the hands of the President.
With the outbreak of full-scale war in 2022, canine handlers with dogs were among the first to work in the de-occupied territories, searching for mines, bookmarks, ammunition and bodies of the dead. Some dogs died protecting their companions during the war.
There are sniffer dogs, sniffer dogs, patrol dogs, guard dogs, rescue dogs, and even psychological dogs — those that work with people who have experienced trauma, including children.
Service dogs help in peaceful life: they find drugs in airports, search for missing children in forests, help in criminal investigations. In one day, a dog can do what would take a person several days.
A real dog handler and his dog are a team that works as one. Often, after the retirement of a dog, dog handlers keep it with them – after all, it is not just a colleague, but a member of the family.
International Fact-Checking Day
This day symbolizes global solidarity in the fight against fakes, manipulation and information fraud. This day was initiated by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), the leading association of media fact-checking organizations.
The date was not chosen by chance: the day after April 1 is Fool’s Day. This choice has a symbolic meaning: after jokes and pranks, it is important to return to reality, verified facts and reliable information. It is also a kind of reminder: even in times when information spreads instantly, critical thinking must remain at the center of public life.
The purpose of the International Fact-Checking Day is not only to support professional fact-checkers, but also to educate a wide audience: how to check information, how not to fall into the trap of fakes, how to distinguish between sources, how to recognize manipulation. On this day, lectures, workshops, flash mobs, and online campaigns aimed at developing media literacy are held.
This holiday has become especially important in the 21st century — in the era of information oversaturation, when anyone can become a content producer. Social networks, messengers, Telegram channels and video platforms have created conditions in which fakes spread faster than the truth. That is why the role of fact-checking — both professional and public — is growing every year.
Interesting facts
The International Fact Checker Network (IFCN) was founded by the Poynter Institute (USA) in 2015. It sets the standards by which independent fact-checking organizations around the world work.
IFCN brings together fact-checking initiatives from more than 60 countries that have been verified and adhere to the principles of transparency, impartiality and correctness.
In Ukraine, there are several powerful fact-checking platforms, among which the most famous are StopFake, VoxCheck, BezBrekhni, Po toi bik noviny, Media Detector. They check the statements of politicians, publications in the media, content on social networks and television.
Fact-checking is not only politics. In Ukraine, fact-checking is actively developing in the medical, ecological, historical and educational spheres. Projects like the Health Hoax Anthology or initiatives to debunk pseudoscience are having a big impact.
Between 2022 and 2024, the number of war-related hoaxes increased tenfold. That is why Ukrainian fact-checkers have become part of the information front: they expose disinformation, hostile narratives and hybrid influences on the consciousness of Ukrainians.
There are school and university courses on fact-checking. For example, on the basis of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the Ukrainian Catholic University, and the Lviv University, educational programs on media literacy and fact-checking are implemented.
Ukrainian fact-checkers are members of global alliances and participate in global campaigns, for example, in checking information during elections, the COVID-19 pandemic, or large-scale conflicts.
International Children’s Book Day
This holiday is designed to remind about the importance of books in a child’s life. This date was not chosen by chance: it was on this day that the outstanding Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen was born, the author whose works have become classics of children’s literature and influenced the development of millions of children’s imaginations.
Today’s holiday is aimed not only at honoring children’s authors and popularizing reading, but also at a deeper mission: to form a child’s love for books from an early age. After all, the book itself is the first guide to the world of imagination, thinking, culture, language, and emotional intelligence. Through the heroes of fairy tales and adventures, the little reader learns good and evil, empathizes, learns to make choices, dream and think independently.
The initiator of the holiday is the International Board of Books for Children and Young Adults (IBBY), an authoritative organization that, since 1967, prepares a special message for children around the world and creates a holiday poster every year. Each year, one of the IBBY member countries is chosen to be responsible for the celebration. On this day, exhibitions, readings, meetings with writers, quests, dramatizations of favorite stories are held in schools, libraries, kindergartens and cultural centers.
Interesting facts
IBBY awards the International Hans Christian Andersen Award every two years for outstanding contributions to children’s literature. Among the laureates are Astrid Lindgren, Tove Jansson, Christine Nestlinger.
Ukraine is a member of IBBY, and Ukrainian children’s writers and illustrators have repeatedly been included in the honor lists of this organization. For example, artist Kateryna Shtanko and writer Zirka Menzatyuk.
Children’s books are a powerful market in publishing. Even in times of crisis, children’s literature remains one of the most stable and dynamic segments of book publishing in the world.
Fairy tales are a universal tool for development. According to UNESCO, regular reading of fairy tales improves not only a child’s vocabulary, but also their ability to empathize, resolve conflicts, and think creatively.
During the war, the book becomes a psychological shield. In Ukraine, children’s writers and publishers create books that help children overcome anxiety, understand what war is like, and find support. For example, the projects “Nighttime stories during the war”, “To children about the war” and publications with psychological support.
Many parents around the world use Children’s Book Day as an excuse to create a home tradition: reading in the evening instead of watching a screen.
Historical events on this day
1513 year – the Spanish navigator Juan Ponce de Leon, looking for the legendary “source of eternal youth”, set foot on the coast of Florida near modern St. Augustine and declared the open land the property of Spain.
1657 year – after the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, negotiations began regarding the election of a successor to the throne, which became an important milestone in European dynastic politics.
1792 year – The United States Congress passed the National Currency Act, according to which one dollar was defined as 100 cents and contained 24.1 grams of pure silver – the beginning of the history of the modern dollar.
1800 year – the premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven’s First Symphony took place in the Vienna Burgtheater, which marked the emergence of a new sound in European music.
1905 year – the official opening of the Simplon tunnel under the Alps, which connected Switzerland and Italy for 20 km and became one of the longest railway tunnels of its time.
1912 year – the ocean liner “Titanic” went to sea for sea trials, which passed successfully – eight days before its tragic journey.
1918 year – the anti-Bolshevik uprising began in the city of Shostka, one of the numerous armed demonstrations of that period in Ukraine against the Soviet government.
1958 year – the American city of Wichita Falls was hit by a powerful tornado that reached a wind speed of 450 km/h – one of the most destructive phenomena in the meteorological history of the United States.
1967 year – on the birthday of the world-famous storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, the International Children’s Book Day was launched, designed to support the love of reading from childhood.
1968 year – in the Zeytoun district on the outskirts of Cairo, mass evidence of the appearance of the image of the Virgin Mary above the Coptic temple was recorded – an event that received wide resonance among Christians in the Middle East.
1968 year – the premiere of Stanley Kubrick’s film “A Space Odyssey 2001”, which forever changed the idea of science fiction in cinema and became a standard of visual art.
1978 year – the CBS TV channel launches the mini-series “Dallas”, which quickly became wildly popular and grew from a short project into a full-fledged 13-year saga.
1982 year – Argentine troops land on the Falkland Islands, which was the beginning of the conflict with Great Britain, known as the Falklands War.
1989 year – The Central Committee of the Palestinian National Council declared Yasser Arafat the President of the self-proclaimed State of Palestine, a step towards international recognition of Palestinian autonomy.
2007 year – President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko issues a decree on the early termination of the powers of the Verkhovna Rada, referring to Article 90 of the Constitution – one of the turning points in the Ukrainian political history of the beginning of the 21st century.
Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday
On April 2, 1805, in the city of Odense, on the island of Funen in Denmark, in the family of a poor shoemaker and laundress, Hans Christian Andersen, who today is considered the most famous storyteller in the world, was born. His life began with poverty and loneliness, but ended with glory that does not fade even today. Every year, on the day of his birth, the world celebrates International Children’s Book Day.
However, Andersen himself did not consider himself exclusively a children’s author. He directly wrote:
“My fairy tales are intended for adults, and not only for children, who perceive only the external, secondary. It is adults who fully understand them.”
Philosophical undertones, reflections on faith, loneliness, sacrifice, and the power of kindness are often hidden in his tales. They don’t just entertain – they open the heart.
Few people know that in Soviet times these tales were changed. Mentions of God, quotations from the Bible, and what was considered “ideologically harmful” were removed from the texts. And yet some of these translations gave birth to new poetics. For example, in the well-known phrase: “In this house there was everything – both wealth and boastful owners, but there was no master in the house” – the original says: “but there was no in the house of the Lord.” And in our house, it seems, the Lord lingered. And a good host has been gone for a long time.
The real magic of Andersen is that his words never get old. Here are just a few lines that still hit the heart:
“It’s okay to be born in a duck’s nest if you hatched from a swan’s egg.”
“Everyone is good in their own way. Not everyone can be nobles – someone has to do the work!”.
“Benefiting the world is the only way to be happy.”
“But he is naked! — an exclamation that exposes not only the king, but also social hypocrisy.”
“Only when you move away from the mountains, you can see their true image. As with friends.”
“Every person’s life is a fairy tale written by the fingers of God.”
Andersen left us not just stories – he left moral optics through which you can look at the world differently. And whether we read it to our children or turn the pages ourselves, in each line there remains the quiet, warm presence of someone who was once himself a lonely boy in a big cold world. But Andersen managed to turn pain into light.
Foundation of the Museum of Nature in Kharkiv
On April 2, 1807, the Nature Museum of Kharkiv National University was founded in Kharkiv. It was on this day that a train with “natural objects”, as they said then, arrived at the then University Street. The cargo included: 125 stuffed birds, 36 sea urchins, 18 starfish, 100 coral specimens, 2623 mollusk shells, 235 butterflies, 540 beetles, 520 units of minerals, as well as physical devices. This collection was purchased in St. Petersburg from the Italian Chetti on the initiative of the trustee of the Kharkiv educational district, Count Severyn Pototsky.
It is worth mentioning the contribution of Professor Ivan Andriyovych Krinitsky, who headed the museum in 1826–1836. It was under his leadership that the collection increased fourfold and was first systematized according to the scientific principle. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the museum collection was constantly replenished thanks to patrons and scientific expeditions. The contribution of Dmytro Donets-Zakharzhevsky was especially significant.
During the German occupation of Kharkiv (1941–1943), wives of university teachers lived in the museum premises. Thanks to their persistence, it was possible to obtain a protection certificate for the museum from the German commandant’s office, which saved its unique collections from destruction or looting.
Today, the Nature Museum of Kharkiv National University named after V. N. Karazina is located in a building at 8 Trinkler Street, built in 1901 according to the project of architect Viktor Velichka. It is considered one of the oldest natural history museums in Europe and the largest among university museums. The museum exposition covers 23 halls, and the total number of exhibits exceeds 250,000 items.
The first appearance of the word “jazz”
On April 2, 1912, the word “jazz” first appeared in the Los Angeles Times. It wasn’t about the music, though, as baseball pitcher Ben Henderson called his pitch. He assured that the throw was so sudden and unexpected that “it was impossible to do anything about it.” Back then, “jazz” still meant energy, momentum, explosive power.
There is also an alternative version of the origin of the word: they say that it comes from the abbreviation of the name of the jasmine fragrance, which was actively used by prostitutes in New Orleans – the city where this music originated. In a musical context, the term “jazz” was first used in 1915 in Chicago, although exactly how it got there from sunny California is a mystery. Already in 1917, the American magazine “Literary Digest” officially defined it: “jazz is music that makes people tremble, jump and squirm.”
The origins of jazz are inextricably linked with the names of legendary musicians: trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong, trumpeter King Oliver, clarinetist Johnny Dodds, pianist Jelly Roll Morton. Their playing – improvisational, emotional, saturated with African-American rhythms and a new sound – became the foundation of the genre. When Louis Armstrong was asked what jazz was, he simply replied, “If you ask, you’ll never understand.”
Oleg Lundström was born on April 2, 1916 – a prominent composer, conductor, jazzman, the founder of Soviet jazz and the leader of the world’s oldest State Jazz Chamber Orchestra, which now bears his name. Even in his old age, he retained his thirst for creativity and an optimistic outlook. In one of the last interviews, the question “Aren’t you tired of life?” he replied:
“I treat her philosophically. Now I am reading Vernadskyi’s “Noosphere” with enthusiasm. My wife used to say: “You are an incorrigible optimist.” I learned to appreciate the time that goes into creativity. Time! As Utyosov said in his old age: “In front of you is a man who is under 13 hundred.” And I am already “less than 11 hundred”… At sixty, I understood: the purpose of life is life itself. The meaning of existence is that you are given, as the Chinese say, “eternity”, and Europeans – by “God”. “Eternity” is closer to me.
