On July 1, the Day of Investigation, Day of Architecture and Day of the State Registrar are celebrated in Ukraine, and in the world – the International Day of Jokes and Jokes and the Day of the Invention of Sunglasses. Also, on this day, in different eras, significant events took place that influenced the course of the history of Ukraine, Europe and the world.
Investigation Day in Ukraine
This is a professional holiday of investigators who work in the structure of law enforcement agencies, in particular in the National Police, the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Economic Security. These officers conduct pretrial investigations, document crimes, collect evidence, interview witnesses, and prepare cases for trial.
The professional holiday was established by the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2011. It is not a public holiday, but is celebrated within the system as a day of honoring the professional work of investigators. These specialists work with a large number of procedural documents, conduct investigative actions, participate in detentions, searches, examinations and cooperate with other services.
Interesting facts
More than 80% of all criminal proceedings in the state at the stage of pre-trial investigation are processed by National Police investigators.
In 2019, the then head of the Main Investigative Department of the National Police, Maksym Tsutskiridze, publicly stated that in some district departments, in particular, in the Kharkiv region, one investigator conducts more than 500 proceedings at the same time, including robbery, fraud, murder and drug trafficking.
The average size of a case in serious crimes can contain from 15 to 30 volumes of documents. These are hundreds of hours of processing and analysis.
In the case of the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet, National Police investigators conducted more than 30 examinations, interviewed more than 1,000 people and spent more than three years before taking the case to court. This is one of the longest and most resonant cases of modern Ukrainian investigation.
In 2023, SBI investigators investigated more than 200 cases involving high-ranking officials, including judges, prosecutors, and military commanders. One investigator conducted an average of 50–60 cases at the same time.
During the investigation of the “Avakov’s backpacks” case, NABU investigators searched the apartment of the son of the Minister of Internal Affairs directly under the supervision of television operators. It was one of the first public investigations where surveillance video became part of public discourse.
In 2022, police investigators documented the crimes of the Russian military in Buch: more than 400 civilian bodies, hundreds of testimonies, dozens of burials. All actions were carried out to the sounds of distant battles and without guarantees of safety. This became one of the largest forensic operations in the history of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
More than 70 volumes of materials have been collected in the case of the Maidan shooting in 2014. Some investigators have continued to pursue this case for more than 10 years.
The longest operational investigative action — “controlled supply of drugs” — lasted 11 months in Mykolaiv. Two investigators worked undercover, recording crimes and preparing arrests at the same time. As a result, international traffic was detected.
Day of Architecture of Ukraine
This is an official professional holiday, introduced by Presidential Decree in 1995. It is dedicated to architects, urban planners, restorers and everyone who works on the formation of the country’s architectural space. It is not a public holiday, but every year on this day there are exhibitions, conferences and award ceremonies in the architectural environment.
The holiday emphasizes the importance of preserving the historical heritage, rational planning of cities and villages, as well as the role of architects in the reconstruction of the country after the war.
Interesting facts
Over 2,500 architectural monuments are concentrated in Lviv — this is the largest number per unit area among all Ukrainian cities. The city center is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv (built in 1037) is one of the oldest surviving churches in Europe. This is the only building of Kyivan Rus that has preserved mosaics of the 11th century.
The geographical point of the center of Europe is located in the city of Rakhiv (Transcarpathian region). In the Soviet period, a monumental architectural complex in the constructivist style was planned to be built here, but the project was never implemented.
Kharkiv Derzhprom is the first high-rise reinforced concrete building in Europe, built in the 1920s. This is one of the symbols of Soviet constructivism, which was ahead of its time and had no analogues at that time.
The tallest religious building in Ukraine is the Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Kyiv — its height is 120 meters. For comparison: Hagia Sophia is only 29 meters high.
In Chernivtsi there is a unique example of eclecticism with elements of Byzantine, Romanesque and Moorish styles — the Residence of the Metropolitans of Bukovina and Dalmatia (now — Chernivtsi University). It is also included in the UNESCO heritage.
During Russia’s war against Ukraine, more than 300 objects of cultural heritage were destroyed, including historical buildings, churches, synagogues and wooden churches of the Carpathians.
Day of the state registrar in Ukraine
This is a professional holiday of specialists who are engaged in the registration of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, public organizations, real estate and property rights. The work of the state registrar is considered an important component of administrative services and provides legal certainty and security for businesses, citizens and authorities.
The holiday was introduced by order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and is not a public holiday. It is designed to recognize professionals who ensure the efficient operation of the registration system, resist raiding attempts, implement electronic services and reduce bureaucracy.
Interesting facts
In 2021, for the first time in history, more than 500 decisions of state registrars were canceled in Ukraine for mass violations — as part of “anti-raider” checks. This revealed a whole shady system of fake registrations that had been operating for years.
One state registrar in the Kyiv region “re-registered” almost 40 enterprises to new owners in one day – in violation of the law. This was exposed after one of the businesses lost control of its share capital literally overnight.
In some cases of abuse, the sale of the same real estate object was recorded several times within a few hours – thanks to the participation of “their” registrars who did not check the documents or acted in collusion.
In the system of the Unified State Register, with which registrars work, more than 10 million records of real estate objects are stored, and every year this number grows by about 1 million.
Most changes in state registers today are made online, but more than 20% of registrars in communities still work due to outdated technical support and do not have stable access to the electronic system without failures.
Some communities appoint people without legal education to the position of state registrar. This creates potential risks for registration actions that may later be challenged in the courts.
In 2023, the largest number of complaints against state registrars came from the Dnipropetrovsk region. The main reasons were the delay of registration actions, refusal without explanation and illegal corrections in documents.
International Day of Jokes and Jokes
July 1st is unofficially celebrated as the International Day of Jokes and Jokes — a humorous date that is not officially recognized by the UN or UNESCO, but is popular on social networks and among fans of good humor. On this day, classic jokes are recalled, new jokes are invented, stand-up performances are held, humor contests are held, and funny stories are simply shared.
It’s not a “laughter’s day” like April 1st, but rather a symbolic occasion to share oral folklore, memes, and folk wit that is often passed down through the generations.
Interesting facts
The word “joke” comes from the Greek anecdote – “unpublished”. In the Byzantine context, it meant spicy or hushed-up stories from the lives of the powerful. In the modern sense, a short funny story began to be called an anecdote only in the 19th century.
In Soviet times, there was an article of the Criminal Code for “slanderous anecdote”. People were actually condemned for making jokes about the party, politicians or the Soviet army. In the 1970s, there were known cases when up to 5 years in prison were given for one political joke.
According to Soviet KGB studies, the most political jokes in the 1980s were invented by the residents of Kyiv, Riga, and Tbilisi — with the highest level of everyday cynicism and wit.
In 2005, scientists from the University of Wolverhampton (Great Britain) tried to determine the “funniest joke in the world” based on the reactions of 2 million people. A joke about hunters won, which is based on absurd dialogue – psychologists explain that unexpectedness is the key element of humor.
In German, the word Joke (joke) has a common root with the word “wisdom”. In Jewish folklore, wit has always been equated with intelligence, which is why jokes are often a way not only to entertain, but also to ridicule injustice or absurdity.
Day of the invention of sunglasses
July 1 is unofficially considered the Day of the Invention of Sunglasses – there is no official celebration date, but the very beginning of July is symbolically associated with the peak of solar activity and the spread of fashion for glasses as a means of protection and style.
Sunglasses perform not only an aesthetic function, but also protect the eyes from harmful ultraviolet radiation (UVA/UVB), prevent the development of cataracts, retinal burns, photokeratitis, and even reduce fatigue during prolonged exposure to the sun.
Interesting facts
The first “anti-sun” glasses appeared long before the 17th century: the Eskimos several thousand years ago cut narrow slits in bones or wood to reduce glare in the snow. Such primitive means protected the eyes from snow blindness.
In China as early as the 12th century, judges used translucent dark glass (made of smoky quartz) – not to protect from the sun, but to hide the expression of their eyes during interrogations.
In 1929, Sam Foster started the mass production of sunglasses in the USA under the Foster Grant brand – from that moment on, glasses became a fashion accessory available to the general public.
In the 1930s, the U.S. military commissioned Bausch & Lomb to create goggles for pilots that would protect against bright light at high altitudes. This is how the first “Aviator” model appeared – now a cult type of sunglasses.
Polarized glasses that reduce glare from water, snow and asphalt were first developed for fishermen and pilots. Today, this technology is widely used in the urban environment.
In glasses without UV protection with regular tinting, the pupil dilates because of the darkness — and lets in even more harmful radiation. This is more dangerous than being without glasses at all.
In 2023, scientists from Australia proved that high-quality sunglasses can reduce the risk of eye melanoma by 50%.
Historical events on this day
1569 — in the city of Lublin, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland signed the union, which legally united them into a federal state — the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This act became a turning point in the political history of Central and Eastern Europe, defining it for centuries to come.
1661 — a peace treaty was concluded in Kardys (now the territory of Sweden), which ended another Russian-Swedish war. Russia gave up all the territories captured in the war and temporarily lost access to the Baltic Sea.
1751 — the first volume of the “Encyclopedia, or Interpretive Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts” compiled under the leadership of Denis Diderot and Jean d’Alembert was published in France. This large-scale project became a symbol of the Age of Enlightenment and an instrument of intellectual rebellion against religious dogmatism.
1858 — in London, naturalist Charles Darwin officially presented his theory of evolution. His report, made together with Alfred Russell Wallace, initiated radical changes in the life sciences.
1899 – founded The Gideons International in the USA, a religious organization that became famous for distributing free Bibles in hotels around the world. The first copies appeared in numbers already in 1908.
1911 — biochemist of Polish origin Kazimyr Funk introduced the word “vitamin” into scientific circulation for the first time, putting forward the idea of the existence of specific substances necessary for life support. His discovery became the basis of modern nutrition science.
1936 – Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone with the Wind” was published in the USA – one of the most successful debuts of the 20th century. Already in the first year, the book sold more than a million copies, and its adaptation became a movie masterpiece.
1946 — The USA conducted the first post-war test of nuclear weapons on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The tests were called “Operation Crossroads” and became a symbol of the beginning of the nuclear age.
1979 — Sony introduced the Walkman portable cassette player, which changed the way music was consumed and ushered in the era of personal audio. The device became an icon of the 1980s.
1980 – the song “O, Canada”, which existed for more than a century, officially became the national anthem of Canada. Before that, the British anthem “God Save the Queen” was used.
1982 — The USA, the USSR and France jointly launched the Cosmos-1383 satellite, which became part of the international search and rescue system in case of aviation and maritime disasters.
1997 — Great Britain officially handed over Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China. The 156-year British colonial rule has ended. Hong Kong received the status of a “special administrative region” with its own laws.
2000 — a law came into force in the USA, which gave the electronic signature legal force when concluding financial documents. This became the basis for the global transition to digital document circulation.
2022 — Ukraine introduced a visa regime with the Russian Federation, for the first time canceling the visa-free regime, which had been in effect since the declaration of independence. The decision was a direct reaction to full-scale aggression.
