July 28 is World Conservation Day and World Hepatitis Day. This day in history is marked by events of various scales, from geopolitical shifts and wars to cultural changes, scientific discoveries and social restrictions.
World Conservation Day
This day does not have an official status in the UN system, but in many countries and among environmental initiatives it is used as a date to draw attention to the state of the environment, the depletion of resources and the increasing damage caused by human activities.
The focus of this day is the disappearance of biodiversity, air, water and soil pollution, uncontrolled deforestation, climate change. A key impetus for the recognition of the need for a separate environmental date came from the events of the 1970s, when chemical pollution, oil spills, and industrial expansion made it clear that technological progress without environmental responsibility had catastrophic consequences. It was during this period that basic approaches to sustainable development were formed.
Ukraine also has its own challenges: mass destruction of Carpathian forests, salinization and depletion of soils, reduction of the area of the natural reserve fund under the pressure of construction and war. The full-scale invasion of Russia added another layer of environmental disaster — the destruction of infrastructure, millions of tons of scrap metal, petroleum products, and explosives on the ground, in the air, and in the rivers.
Interesting facts
Around 150-200 species of animals, plants or fungi disappear every day in the world. This is more than at any time in human history.
Milashka in Montenegro is considered the most polluted river in Europe — it carries heavy metals, fecal bacteria and oil residues to the Adriatic Sea.
In Venezuela, there is officially a National Tree Day, when it is forbidden to even break a branch.
Rain was recorded for the first time in Antarctica in 2021. This became proof of rapid warming even in the coldest zones of the planet.
The average temperature of the Earth’s surface has already exceeded the pre-industrial level by 1.3 °C. Crossing the threshold of 1.5 °C is considered the point of no return.
In a number of countries, such as Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia, nature has legal rights. She can be represented in court as an injured party.
In China, from 2020, it is officially forbidden to cut down old trees over 100 years old, even on private properties.
In Ukraine, the majority of sources of drinking water do not meet the safety criteria without additional treatment. And after the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP, the situation in the south became critical.
World Hepatitis Day
This day was established by the World Health Organization in 2011, on this day in 1925, Baruch Blumberg, an American doctor and scientist who discovered the hepatitis B virus and received the Nobel Prize, was born.
There are five main types of viral hepatitis in the world today: A, B, C, D and E. B and C are considered the most dangerous because they can cause chronic liver damage, cirrhosis and cancer. According to WHO, more than 350 million people in the world live with chronic hepatitis. The disease causes about 1.3 million deaths each year—almost as many as tuberculosis or HIV. At the same time, most infected people do not even know about their diagnosis.
Most often, infection occurs through blood or other biological fluids, especially during medical manipulations, tattoos, injections, unprotected sexual contact. The child can also become infected from the mother during childbirth. The hepatitis B virus is much more contagious than HIV and can survive outside the body for up to seven days. The hepatitis C virus is transmitted mostly through contaminated blood. Until recently, treatment was long and difficult, but today modern antiviral drugs can completely cure a patient in 8-12 weeks.
In Ukraine, the problem is complicated by a low level of awareness, limited access to free testing, and the high cost of treatment. According to official estimates, about 1.3 million Ukrainians live with hepatitis, and the vast majority are undiagnosed. Among the main obstacles are the lack of routine screening, underfunding of state programs, and stigmatization.
Interesting facts
Baruch Bloomberg discovered the hepatitis B virus and developed the first vaccine against it.
Vaccination against hepatitis B is included in the list of mandatory in more than 180 countries of the world. Its efficiency exceeds 95%.
The hepatitis B virus was found in samples of mummies that are more than 4,500 years old.
In the 1980s, hepatitis C and B infection often occurred through blood transfusions. Since then, many countries have introduced mandatory testing of donor blood.
WHO has announced an ambitious goal to completely eradicate hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
In 2022, the transmission of hepatitis C was officially recorded in Europe for the first time due to the use of a common eyebrow tool in a beauty salon.
There is a form of hepatitis E that is transmitted through the consumption of wild animal meat, particularly wild boar or deer. In some Asian countries, this is the main form of infection.
In Japan, after the introduction of a national program of testing and treatment, the rate of new cases of hepatitis C decreased 10 times in 15 years.
Historical events on this day
1497 — in the military camp near Izyaslav, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander issued a certificate on the transition of Lutsk from Volyn to Magdeburg law. This gave the city self-government, its own court and trade privileges.
1588 – the “Invincible Armada” appeared near the shores of England – a Spanish fleet of 130 ships that set out from Lisbon to invade England. The campaign ended in defeat for Spain due to storms, tactical errors and English resistance.
1656 — the Battle of Warsaw began (July 28–30). The army of the Commonwealth of Nations in alliance with the Crimean Khanate opposed the Swedish-Brandenburg troops. The battle became a phase of the war known as the “Swedish Flood”.
1697 — the Cossack expedition of Volodymyr Atlasov landed in Kamchatka. This was the beginning of the annexation of the peninsula to the Moscow State and the first detailed study of this remote territory.
1821 — Peru declared independence from Spain. This act became part of the great movement of the Latin American liberation wars against colonial rule.
1834 — Kyiv University was opened. The institution became one of the main centers of science and education in Ukraine during the next two centuries.
1858 — in British India, for the first time in human history, fingerprints were used for personal identification. This was the beginning of the development of dactyloscopy.
1862 — the gold rush began in Montana (USA). The influx of gold seekers changed the demography of the region and accelerated the colonization of the West.
1896 — the city of Miami (Florida) was founded. Initially, it was a small settlement, which later turned into a metropolis with a specific cultural and climatic atmosphere.
1900 — in the state of Connecticut, Louis Lassing prepared the first hamburger by placing a meat patty between two pieces of bread. The dish became a symbol of fast food in the 20th century.
1914 — the beginning of the First World War: Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This move caused a chain reaction of declarations of war in Europe.
1914 — on the same day, a military press headquarters was established in Austria. Its task was the centralized production of information for the press — one of the first examples of institutionalized propaganda.
1916 — Great Britain banned the import of opium and cocaine. The ban was introduced due to the increase in drug addiction among the military.
1942 — signed order No. 227 of the People’s Commissariat of Defense of the USSR — “Not a step back!”. He forbade retreat without permission, introduced penalty battalions, show executions and total coercion as a method of combat management.
1959 — postal codes and sorting machines were introduced in Great Britain. This started the automation of the postal service.
1992 — in the Islamic State of Afghanistan, women were banned from appearing on television. This norm was one of the first steps towards the total restriction of women’s rights during the Mujahideen era.
1994 — the Constitution was adopted in Moldova, which established the foundations of independent statehood, a democratic structure of power and civil rights.
2000 — the Day of System Administrator was celebrated for the first time. The holiday was started in the USA, and later it began to be celebrated around the world as a recognition of the role of specialists who ensure the operation of digital infrastructure.
2017 — on Saturn’s moon Titans discovered acrylonitrile — an organic compound capable of forming structures similar to cell membranes. This discovery gave rise to hypotheses about the possibility of primitive life in a methane environment.
July 28, 1858 there are the date of two significant events that marked the beginning of separate trends in forensics and military intelligence
On July 28, 1858, William Herschel, an employee of the British administration in India, asked a local contractor, Rudyard Konai, who supplied him with materials for the construction of the road, to confirm the contract with his fingerprint. Subsequently, Herschel conducted a series of studies and approached the Chief Inspector of Prisons in Bengal with the idea of using fingerprints for personal identification. He emphasized that a person changes with age — his face and body shape change, his health may falter, but the pattern of his fingertips remains unchanged. This is how a unique, individual and permanent sign of a person was discovered, and forensics received fingerprints. It is worth noting that modern criminologists admit that the accuracy of fingerprint identification is about 98%. This means that on average one in 50 convictions based on fingerprints could be a miscarriage of justice. However, the problem is usually not in the method, but in the unprofessionalism of the investigation.
On the same day, the French photographer and cartoonist Felix Nadar made the first aerial photography in history, rising in a balloon. He patented the idea of using aerial photographs to create maps and for intelligence purposes. Aerial photography later became a key tool in both peaceful mapping and military intelligence. In 1861, Nadar created a giant balloon called “Giant” and repeatedly rose over Paris. During the siege of the French capital by Prussian troops in 1870, he organized surveillance of enemy movements from the air. And the first aerial photographs from an airplane were taken already at the beginning of the 20th century by the Frenchmen Wright and Bonvillan.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on the Kingdom of Serbia
On July 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Empire officially declared war on the Kingdom of Serbia. This was a response to the incident that happened exactly one month earlier – on June 28 in Sarajevo, student Gavrilo Princip, a Serb by nationality, but a subject of Austria-Hungary, shot the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofia. The murder became a formal pretext for an ultimatum from Vienna.
The Serbian government accepted all the conditions of the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum, except one – the requirement to allow Austrian officials into Serbian territory to participate in the investigation. This clause would effectively mean a loss of sovereignty. Austria-Hungary declared Serbia’s insincerity and decided to resort to force. The note dated July 28 stated:
“The Royal Government of Serbia did not respond properly to the July 23 note. Therefore, our government is forced to rely on the force of arms to preserve its rights and interests. From this moment on, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is at war with Serbia… The Empire is forced to draw its sword from its sheath in order to protect the honor, reputation and title of a great power, as well as to stand up for its territorial integrity.”
On the same evening, at 11:00 p.m., an artillery attack was launched on Belgrade, which lasted more than an hour. The first documented victim of the war was 16-year-old Dusan Jonovych, a student of the Trade Academy, who was killed by shrapnel.
Serbia and Montenegro announced mobilization. The Serbian government addressed the nation with the following words:
“We wanted peace, but war was imposed on us. Our heroes will follow in the footsteps of ancient Serbian kings and shed their blood for freedom and unity.”
Active hostilities began. Despite the smaller forces, the Serbian army dealt a number of blows to the Austro-Hungarian troops and tried to surround them. However, on December 2, 1914, a well-armed 200,000-strong Austro-Hungarian army entered Belgrade.
Within days, the war spread across Europe and turned into World War I, one of the largest and most brutal armed conflicts in human history. The war lasted more than four years. It was attended by 33 countries out of 59 that had state sovereignty at that time. The population of the warring countries amounted to more than 1.5 billion people – about 87% of all inhabitants of the planet. Approximately 73.5 million soldiers were put under the gun.
