On July 26, the world celebrates Esperanto Day, Uncle and Aunt Day, System Administrator Day.
In Ukraine – Paratrooper’s Day.
Day of the parachutist
Paratrooper Day was celebrated for the first time in 1930. Leonardo da Vinci is considered the first discoverer of the parachute, who created sketches of this device back in 1485. In 2000, British parachutist Adrian Nicholas confirmed these drawings by building a parachute based on da Vinci’s drawings and successfully landing on it.
The parachute in its modern form appeared thanks to Louis-Sebastian Lenormand at the end of the 18th century. The longest officially registered parachute jump took place on July 26, 1959. That day, William Rankin, a US Air Force pilot, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, was on a training flight in an F-8U fighter jet. At an altitude of 14,326 meters, he got into a severe thunderstorm, and due to the accident, he was forced to eject. Instead of the expected 11 minutes, his descent took as long as 40, as powerful updrafts lifted him up again and again, preventing him from landing.
Rankin did not have a high-altitude suit, so his descent was an extremely brutal ordeal. He was suffering from frostbite and decompression, with blood coming from his nose, mouth, eyes and ears. The descent took place in a storm cloud, where he was surrounded by lightning and thunder. Thanks to the helmet that protected his eardrums, Rankin was not deafened, but his eyes were temporarily blinded even with his eyelids closed by the lightning bolts. Sometimes he thought he was dead. Rain and hail only worsened the situation.
After landing, doctors determined that Rankin’s skin was discolored from the cold, his body was covered in bruises and scratches from the hail, as well as broken bones and internal bleeding. Doctors considered Rankin’s survival a real miracle. He later learned that the storm he was caught in was one of the strongest ever recorded on the East Coast of the United States. William Rankin became the only person in the world who jumped out of an airplane with a parachute, got into a severe thunderstorm and survived.
Esperanto Day
On this day in 1887, Unua Libro, the first textbook in Esperanto, was published. This artificial language was created by Ludwig Zamengoff, an ophthalmologist and linguist, who dreamed of a language that would promote international understanding and peace.
Esperanto is known for its simple grammar and lack of exceptions to the rules, making it much easier to learn than many other languages. Today, Esperanto has several hundred thousand speakers around the world, among whom are people who learned it as their mother tongue from their parents.
There is a rich culture and literature in Esperanto. Numerous books, magazines, music and even movies are associated with this language. International congresses of Esperantists are held every year, where thousands of people from all over the world gather to communicate and share cultural experiences.
Esperanto is recognized by UNESCO as an international language that promotes peace and international cooperation. Modern technologies contribute to the popularization of Esperanto. There are numerous sites, forums, and even news agencies using this language.
Uncle and Aunt Day
Father’s or mother’s brother and their sister are uncle and aunt for a person. For most people, the relationship between a nephew or niece and their uncles and aunts is not as close as with their parents or grandparents. However, it is worth remembering that for someone, an uncle or aunt can become those with whom it is easier to talk about frank topics, since they are not so strictly connected with the family hierarchy.
In difficult life situations, it is the uncle and aunt who can provide a shoulder and help in a difficult moment, give an answer to a difficult question. If a child or teenager loses a parent and has no grandparents, an uncle and aunt can become guardians, providing comfortable living and learning conditions.
The value of family relationships has been preserved since the time of traditional societies, where every member of the family is ready to help. In many cultures, when addressing older people they know, the prefix “uncle” or “aunt” is added to their name, although there is no question of family ties.
Historical events of this day:
811 – during the battle with the Bulgarians, the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I Phocas died.
1309 – Henry VII was recognized by Pope Clement V as King of the Holy Roman Empire.
1708 – Colonel Vasyl Kochubey was executed near Bila Tserkva by order of Hetman Ivan Mazepa for treason in favor of Peter I.
1709 – After the victory in the Battle of Poltava, Peter I arrived in Kyiv.
1770 – during the Russo-Turkish war, General Repnin’s corps captured the Izmail fortress.
1788 – New York became the 11th US state.
1847 – the Republic of Liberia was proclaimed – the first independent state in black Africa.
1866 – a peace agreement between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia was signed in Nikolsburg.
1914 – Austria-Hungary announced general mobilization and concentrated troops on the border with the Russian Empire.
1919 – the Makhnovists killed Matviy Grigoriev, the chief of the Ukrainian army during the Civil War.
1941– the Ukrainian Society for Aid to the Motherland was founded in Canada, which later became the Society of United Ukrainian Canadians.
1945 – the first blast furnace was restored at the Mariupol plant “Azovstal”.
1948 – Great Britain and the USA signed the conditions for the implementation of the “Marshall Plan” to help European countries.
1971 – the American spaceship “Apollo-15” launched, which landed on the moon on July 30.
1995 – representatives of 15 EU countries signed the Convention on the establishment of Europol, an organization designed to coordinate the actions of the police of EU countries in the fight against crime.
2016 – Hillary Clinton became the first female presidential candidate in the history of the United States.
Creation of the FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was the successor to the Bureau of Investigation established on July 26, 1908 in the US Department of Justice. It got its current name in 1935. The FBI is part of the Department of Justice and the US Intelligence Community, reporting to the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. The main areas of activity of the FBI include the fight against terrorism and organized crime, counterintelligence work, the fight against the drug business and serious crimes against the person, as well as the investigation of violations of civil rights.
US Attorney General Charles Bonaparte (nephew of French Emperor Napoleon) created an unnamed agency whose special agents were to investigate violations of federal laws. Stanley Finch became its first manager. The following year, the name appeared – “United States Bureau of Investigation”, and from July 1, 1935, the department became known as “Federal Bureau of Investigation” (FBI). Edgar Hoover became the first director of the FBI and stayed in this position for 37 years. Several presidents considered firing him, but feared reprisals from Hoover.
It was Hoover who purged the ranks of recruits from acquaintances and set standards for hiring new agents, created the FBI’s crime lab, which now has data on more than 47 million people, and opened a professional training academy. After Hoover’s death, lawmakers changed the law, and now the FBI director is appointed for a ten-year term by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the senate. The headquarters of the FBI is located in the building named after Edgar Hoover in Washington.
In 1983, US President Ronald Reagan declared July 26 “FBI Day” – a professional holiday for specialists of the legendary political police. The FBI is the investigative arm of the US Department of Justice, and its goals and objectives are constantly expanding. The organization currently works to stop terrorism, organized crime, cybercrime and civil rights violations, as well as investigate serious crimes. The FBI also deals with corruption crimes, and has proven its effectiveness over many years – the FBI’s “clients” were even vice presidents and presidents of the country.
Although the FBI is a domestic investigative agency, it has more than 60 offices outside the United States because it also performs counterintelligence functions. Permanent FBI liaisons exist at US embassies in 34 countries. Interestingly, FBI agents must be armed at all times, but are not allowed to carry government-issued weapons, so all of their weapons are personal.
The FBI has a list of the ten most wanted criminals “Most Wanted”, which was created by J. Edgar Hoover himself in 1950. He also laid the foundations of the rules for publishing photos. Journalists call this list “Top Ten”, and its purpose is to help the public. The help isn’t free – from $100,000 to several million dollars is being offered for any information that leads to the arrest of one of the ten people on the list. To get on this list, you need to commit a series of serious crimes and be considered a particularly dangerous threat to society; all FBI, Criminal Investigations and Office of Public Affairs branches must “vote” for the nominees. The FBI director approves the final nomination. The list is usually posted in public places, such as post offices, to attract the public to the arrest of those listed. The FBI is listed as the best counterintelligence agency in the world.
The FBI is a pioneer in the use of criminal investigative analysis or profiling. Specialists in this unit analyze evidence and circumstances related to a crime or series of crimes and create a profile that describes various aspects of the suspect’s personality, increasing the chances of his apprehension.
The movie “Officers”
On July 26, 1971, the legendary film about two officer friends who carried their friendship through years and through many trials – the film saga “Officers” – was released. Only in the year of the film’s release, 50 million viewers watched it.
42 candidates dreamed of playing the officer Trofimov, and Yumatov played the war participant. The scars on Oleksiy’s back, which Lyuba saw after his return from Spain, are real traces of wounds received at the front by Georgy Yumatov. Only Lanova was considered for the role of Varrava’s officer, but he refused three times. Suvorovets Vanya Trofimov is an ordinary boy. Local Chinese residents took part in the crossing scene.
A few timeless quotes from the movie:
“To protect the family! There is such a profession, platoon leader.”
“The first law of military service, platoon, is discipline.”
“The commander is obliged to think. To think, not just wave a saber.”
“You need to fight only for the right cause.”
“I don’t want Ivan to grow up to be a general’s grandson! I don’t want it, do you understand?”.
“Bright memory to all who died for the Motherland!”.
Equality in the US Armed Forces
On July 26, 1948, US President Truman signed Executive Order No. 9981, which defined “equality of treatment and opportunity” in the armed forces. Representatives of different ethnicities, who speak different languages, profess different religions and have different cultures, serve in the American armed forces even today. Until the mid-1950s, separate military units were often formed from them. Then the “ethnic” regiments and battalions disappeared thanks to the adoption of the Executive Order of the US President Harry Truman.
This document not only improved the treatment of ethnic minorities in the military, but also contributed to the gradual increase in the representation of ethnic minorities in the US armed forces in the future. One of the reforms that is still in effect now is that servicemen only need to “understand the English language” and not know it, as it was previously established. Moreover, for the diligence and initiative shown in the performance of combat missions, foreigners who serve in the armed forces of the United States are entitled to receive American citizenship regardless of the previously established terms of naturalization.
