July 29 is the Day of Commemoration of the Fallen Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the International Day of Socio-Cultural Diversity and Combating Discrimination. On this day, in different years, events took place that had consequences for politics, science, culture, war, technology and the lives of individual people – some of them are forgotten, others determined the trajectories of entire eras.
Day of commemoration of the fallen soldiers of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Every year on July 29, Ukraine commemorates the fallen soldiers of the Special Operations Forces (SSO) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — the most closed, most high-tech and riskiest unit in the Ukrainian army. This date was chosen because on this day in 2016 near Novozvanivka, Luhansk region, sergeant Vasyl Slipak – a legendary opera singer and volunteer sniper with the call sign “Myth” – died in battle, who became a symbol of the sacrifice of Ukrainian special forces in the conditions of hybrid warfare.
SSOs are the ones who go in first when the situation is critical and work where others cannot. Their work is mostly classified: deep raids into the enemy’s rear, sabotage, destruction of the enemy’s command, operations in conditions of complete encirclement. Russia’s war against Ukraine changed their status — from an experimental formation of the SSO, they turned into a key tool of modern warfare.
SSO fighters died during well-known, but little-detailed operations, such as the “raid on Severodonetsk” in 2022, where special forces destroyed the headquarters of the Wagnerites, or the July 2023 operation to blow up an enemy BK structure in the Tokmak district. Often, information about their participation can be found out only posthumously, from short messages from the General Staff or comrades.
Until 2022, Ukrainian air defense systems were part of NATO missions in Afghanistan, where they were used for the first time according to Alliance standards. Among the dead was Sergeant Ihor Branovytskyi, who did not belong to the SSO, but his example became a reference point for the soldiers of this unit: he died in captivity, covering his comrades and not giving out any information.
Little known facts
The first SSO officer to die was Captain Yuriy Kozlovskyi, who participated in intelligence operations even before the SSO was officially established in 2016. Died in 2017, in a battle near Donetsk.
In many cases, information about the death of an SSO fighter is not disclosed even to relatives for several days to complete the operation and withdraw the group.
SSO units were included in the lists of the most effective in the direction of Bakhmut for 2022-2023, although none of the operations were officially named.
In 2021, the SSO created a separate unit for underwater combat – combat swimmers who operated in the waters of the Black Sea even before the full-scale invasion. There are losses among this category of soldiers, but the data is classified.
In 2023, in one of the battles near Kreminna, the SSO group held the defense for 12 hours without communication and under continuous artillery fire to allow other units to escape from the attack. Three soldiers died.
International Day of Sociocultural Diversity and Anti-Discrimination
This day is a reminder of the value of human differences, the right to respect for identity and the need to oppose prejudice in all its forms. It aims to break down hierarchies between cultures, languages, social groups, religions, gender identities and ways of life. This is not about slogans of equality, but about daily practice – in the school classroom, hospital ward, work team, online space.
In the modern world, discrimination exists not only in authoritarian states, it manifests itself in the form of denials of access to education, work, medicine, security, freedom of movement. Women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, representatives of the LGBT community, speakers of small languages or those who have survived war or deportation are groups that are constantly exposed to social exclusion. This day is a reminder of them and for them.
Ukraine, which has experienced large-scale resettlement, war and internal mobilization, has also faced the challenges of discrimination. In the peaceful regions, the tension regarding the displaced people increased, in the military – a new gap between the “front” and “rear” appeared.
Interesting facts
In 2022, based on the statistics of mobile operators, it was found that Roma children are less likely to return to school after evacuation — not because of a lack of desire, but because of the refusal to admit them to schools in new communities.
Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the number of requests to the European Court of Human Rights regarding discriminatory treatment of internally displaced persons, especially in the context of housing, has increased dramatically.
In one of the 2023 surveys, more than 40% of respondents in the western regions of Ukraine admitted that they would not like to see people of a different ethnic origin in their community, despite the fact that these communities received the most immigrants.
During the evacuations in 2022-2023, volunteers noted that people with disabilities had the least chance of an organized departure, because the state evacuation programs did not take their needs into account.
In the territories liberated from Russian occupation, it was often the sociocultural identity that became the marker of the “enemy” — accents, language, clothing, even names could decide a person’s fate.
Historical events on this day
1 year – the siege of Constantinople by Avars, Bulgarians, Slavs and Gepids began during the Iranian-Byzantine War. Despite the duration of the ten-day assault, the Byzantines persevered.
1148 year — the failure of the crusade: the four-day siege of Damascus by the crusaders ended, which became a turning point in the collapse of the Second Crusade.
1423 year — the city of Łódź received city rights from Władysław II Jagały, including permission for weekly Wednesday fairs and two annual large trade gatherings.
1565 year — Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, married her cousin Henry Stuart. This political marriage ended in tragedy: he was killed two years later.
1586 year — the city of Tyumen was founded on the Tura River. It was the first Russian fortress in Asia, built after the conquest of Siberia.
1696 year — Muscovite-Cossack troops took the Azov fortress, consolidating control over the access to the Sea of Azov. This was Muscovy’s first serious clash with the Ottoman Empire in the south.
1776 year — the last basket chieftain of Zaporizhzhya Sich, Peter Kalnyshevskyi, was arrested and exiled to Solovki, where he spent 25 years in prison.
1793 year — Fort York is founded, which will eventually turn into the modern city of Toronto in Canada.
1836 year — the Arc de Triomphe was opened in Paris, a symbol of Napoleon’s victories, the construction of which lasted 30 years.
1851 year – Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis discovered asteroid 15 Eunomia – one of the largest in the main belt.
1858 year — Japan signed an agreement with the United States that obliged it to open the ports of Tokyo and Osaka to foreigners. It was the end of the policy of isolationism.
1874 year — Briton Walter Wingfield patented a collapsible tennis court, which became an important step in the development of modern tennis.
1899 year — ended the First Hague Peace Conference, where for the first time they tried to create the rules of warfare at the international level.
1900 year – the Italian king Umberto I was killed by the anarchist Gaetano Breschi in the city of Monza. It became one of the loudest political actions of anarchists in Europe.
1907 year — the World Organization of the Scout Movement was created. She united young people based on the principles of mutual respect, responsibility and self-education.
1913 year — Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire, establishing its statehood against the background of the Balkan conflicts.
1914 year — opened the first trans-American telephone line New York – San Francisco. For the first time, it became possible to make direct intercontinental calls.
1918 year — the Bolsheviks closed Maxim Gorky’s independent newspaper “New Life” — one of the few opposition voices in the early years of Soviet power.
1919 year — Denikin’s troops took Poltava, continuing the offensive of the White Guards in the fight against the Bolsheviks during the civil war.
1921 year — Adolf Hitler became the leader of the NSDAP — an event that determined the trajectory of the political catastrophe of the 20th century.
1938 year — in the area of Lake Hassan, Japanese troops attacked the USSR. The fighting lasted until August 11 and ended with the defeat of the Japanese.
1940 year — Germany began aerial bombing of Great Britain, a campaign known as the Battle of Britain.
1941 year — The Kingdom of Romania announced the return of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, lost in 1940.
1942 year — the orders of Alexander Nevsky, Suvorov, and Kutuzov were established in the USSR to honor the merits of commanders in battles.
1948 year – the XIV Summer Olympic Games began in London – the first after the Second World War.
1957 year — the IAEA was founded, a structure designed to guarantee the safe use of nuclear energy.
1958 year – US President Eisenhower signed the act on the creation of NASA, which was a response to the Soviet launch of “Sputnik”.
1974 year — special unit “A”, later known as “Alpha”, was created in the USSR. His mission is the fight against terrorism and the release of hostages.
1987 year — France and Great Britain have signed an agreement on the construction of the Eurotunnel under the English Channel — an engineering project of decades.
1998 year – American Seth Reed jumped on a motorcycle from the roof of one 14-story building to another, covering a distance of almost 20 meters.
2005 year — the discovered dwarf planet Eris, which called into question Pluto’s status as a “full” planet.
2016 year — in the Clarion-Clipperton zone in the Pacific Ocean, more than 50% of organisms unknown to science were discovered during deep-sea research. This raised questions about the impact of resource extraction on unknown ecosystems.
Opening of the Arc de Triomphe
On July 29, 1836, the Arc de Triomphe was inaugurated in Paris on the Place de la Zirky (now Place Charles de Gaulle). Only 11 people took part in the ceremony, which took place in a discreet format due to the threat of an assassination attempt on King Louis-Philippe: the monarch himself, the Prime Minister of France, the Minister of Finance, six representatives of the National Guard, a bodyguard and two official guests.
The arch is located on the so-called “Path of Triumph” – a straight axis connecting the Louvre and the Square of the Star. It was on this royal highway in December 1806 that Emperor Napoleon I ordered the architect Jean Chalgren to erect a monument in honor of France’s military victories during the Revolution and the First Empire. The arch was supposed to commemorate not only the triumphs of the army, but also to be a symbol of the French nation. The first stone was laid on August 15, 1806 — the emperor’s birthday — at a depth of eight meters between the two southern columns. In total, the arch glorifies 128 battles and more than 600 officers.
Napoleon never saw the Arc de Triomphe in his lifetime. But in 1840, when his ashes were transported from the island of St. Helena, the coffin was solemnly carried under the vault of the arch.
In 1921, the ashes of the Unknown Soldier were buried at its foot – as an eternal tribute to all those who died for the freedom of France. At the same time, they lit the Eternal Flame, which still burns today, reminding of courage and self-sacrifice.
On August 25, 1944, a column of French volunteers passed under the Arc de Triomphe to mark the end of the Normandy Operation and the opening of the Second Front in Europe. Now the Arc de Triomphe is one of the main symbols of Paris.
The history of bottle mail
On July 29, 1864, according to the story of Jules Verne, a bottle with three notes was found in the belly of a shark caught from the yacht “Duncan”. These were messages thrown into the sea by Captain Grant and two sailors after a shipwreck. It is from this moment in the novel “Captain Grant’s Children” that an exciting rescue expedition begins.
A message in a bottle is one of the oldest ways of sending messages. Its effectiveness depended on knowledge of sea currents. If such knowledge was not available, it was left to rely on chance. The sailors believed that the result of the transmission of the message depends on the will of the sea god Neptune.
According to legend, the inventor of this method is considered to be the ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus, who around 310 BC. there are. threw several sealed clay vessels with notes into the sea to investigate the movement of waters between the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas. A few months later, one of the vessels was found on the coast of Sicily. Whether the result satisfied the philosopher himself, history is silent.
There are references that even Christopher Columbus, sailing to India, threw sealed reports to the Spanish Queen Isabella into the ocean – in case he himself did not return. In England, bottle mail was used to transmit spy reports. Already in the 16th century, there was a special state department headed by the so-called “royal bottle opener” – only he had the right to open the found bottles and read their contents. Attempting to do so without permission was punishable by death. The caught bottles were to be immediately returned to the authorities. This order was preserved in Britain until the beginning of the 19th century.
Bottle mail has not disappeared to this day: it is used by residents of certain Indonesian islands, where modern infrastructure is practically absent. July 28 is celebrated in some countries as Message in a Bottle Day, or Peace Bottle Day, as a reminder of hope, chance, and the ancient way of leaving a mark at sea and in history.
Punishment of Daniel Defoe
On July 29, 1703, the author of “Robinson Crusoe” — the English writer, political publicist, and satirist Daniel Defoe — was shackled and chained to the pillory in London for writing pamphlets in which he mocked the aristocracy and the government. Convicted for “obscene and defiant texts”, he had to stand in the city square for three days, exposed to public ridicule.
However, what should have been a humiliation turned into an act of popular solidarity. People showered Defoe with flowers, sang songs in his honor, and street peddlers sold his new text – “Hymn to the Pillar of Shame”, written especially for this occasion. On the final day, the crowd demolished the guard, and a wreath was placed on the head of the shackled writer – instead of shame, he received recognition.
However, despite the moral victory, Defoe found himself on the verge of financial collapse. His business collapsed and eight creditors, including his mother-in-law, sued for a total of £17,000. At that moment, he was approached by one of the influential Tories – Robert Harley – with a proposal: to work as a secret agent of the government, while maintaining the appearance of an independent journalist. Defoe agreed. In November of the same year, he was pardoned, and the fine was paid from the royal treasury.
In 1704, with the support of the authorities, Defoe’s newspaper “Obozrevatel” began to be published. He wrote all the materials in it personally, using numerous pseudonyms. Defoe was a spy for ten years, had a wide network of informants, and several times almost died at the hands of his enemies.
At the end of his life, the writer again found himself in debt. To avoid persecution, he transferred the property to his son – and he kicked him out of the house. Defoe lived in poverty and loneliness.
Daniel Defoe is the author of more than 500 works and is considered not only one of the founders of the English periodical press, but also a key figure in the formation of the British Secret Service.
