Holidays and commemorative dates:
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought – founded by the UN General Assembly in 1994 in honor of the adoption of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. Desertification is one of the most acute environmental problems. Today, up to 40% of land in the world has undergone degradation, which threatens the health and living conditions of more than a billion people.
Droughts, worsened by climate change and land degradation, are becoming more frequent and more intense. They cause enormous damage, causing crop failures, forest fires and water shortages. About 55 million people are affected by drought each year, and it is predicted that by 2050, the phenomenon will affect approximately three-quarters of the world’s population.
World Garbage Workers’ Day – this professional holiday is celebrated by those who collect and recycle garbage. Their work is extremely important as it ensures cleanliness and safety in cities. Waste collection workers include everyone who collects household waste and recyclable materials.
World Tesselation Day – the holiday is dedicated to the art of creating mosaic patterns from geometric shapes that are perfectly combined without gaps or overlays. Tessellations are widely used in nature, architecture and art, and have a long history in many cultures around the world.
World Karate Day – is celebrated on June 17 in honor of the inclusion of this sport in the program of the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020. This day was established by the World Karate Federation in 2017. In 2016, it was announced that karate would become one of the new sports at the Olympics. However, karate was not included in the program of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Breakdancing and surfing will be featured at the 2024 Games, as these sports are more popular in France.
Events on this day:
1882 – Ihor Stravinsky, Ukrainian composer, was born
1885 – The Statue of Liberty, a gift of the French people to the United States of America, arrived in New York harbor aboard the steamship Isere.
A copper statue (copper oxidized, and the monument acquired a greenish-blue hue) of the goddess of Liberty was presented by France in honor of the centenary of the independence of the United States and as a sign of friendship between the two states. It was created by the sculptor Frederic Bartholdi, and the internal structure was designed by Gustave Eiffel. For transportation, the monument was disassembled into 350 parts and packed in 214 boxes.
The prototype of the statue is the mother of Frederico Bartholdi. Bartholdi called his work “Freedom that illuminates the world.” But the famous statue has many different names: Liberty of America, White Woman of America, Aunt Liberty, Daughter of Bartody, Giant Goddess, Grand Dame, Green Goddess, Lady in the Harbor, Lady with Torch, Patron Saint of Emigrants, Mother Liberty, Saint Liberty, Spirit of American Independence .
The Goddess of Liberty holds a torch in her right hand and something like a book (tablet) in her left. The inscription on the plaque reads: “July 4, 1776” – the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. One leg of the statue rests on broken shackles. The seven prongs in her crown symbolize the seven seas or seven continents. The height from the ground to the tip of the torch is 93 meters, the height of the statue itself, from the top of the pedestal to the torch is 46 meters.
Since 1984, the monument is protected by UNESCO. It is interesting that the government has changed many times in the country, and in New York the mayor has changed hundreds of times, but no one thought of moving or demolishing the Statue of Liberty.
1917 — the II All-Ukrainian Military Congress opened in Kyiv (lasted until June 23), during which the autonomy of Ukraine was proclaimed.
1939 – Krzysztof Zanussi, a Polish film director, was born.
1943 – James Elliot was born, an American astronomer who discovered the ring system of Uranus and the atmosphere of Pluto.
1950 – Chicago doctor Richard Lawler performed the first human kidney transplant in 45 minutes.
1953 — An uprising against the Stalinist regime took place in the GDR. It was brutally suppressed with the use of tanks.
1993 — Ukraine and the Russian Federation split the Black Sea Fleet.
2008 – The Mozilla Foundation held Download Day 2008, setting a record for the most downloaded program in one day – the Mozilla Firefox 3 browser.
2022 — The European Commission recommended granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership
