What holiday is celebrated on January 20: all about this day

January 20 is the Day of Honoring the Defenders of Donetsk Airport in Ukraine and the Day of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Also today is the second inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States. On January 20, Orthodox believers honor the memory of St. Eutymius the Great. Name days are celebrated by Yukhim, Zakhar, Lev, Lavrentiy, Myroslava, Inna, and Rymma.

The world celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day, International Day of Acceptance, Outdoor Walking Day, Sad (Blue) Monday, and Penguin Awareness Day. OBOZ.UA tells about the holidays and significant events of this day.

What holidays are celebrated on January 20

On January 20, Ukraine celebrates the Day of Honoring the Defenders of Donetsk Airport. This date has become a symbol of the invincibility of the Ukrainian spirit, courage and self-sacrifice of our defenders. It was at the Donetsk airport that Ukrainian soldiers were nicknamed "cyborgs" during fierce battles with Russian occupiers and separatists supported by them. This term has become synonymous with superhuman strength, endurance and courage. During the 242 days of defense, from May to January 2015, they held the defense of a strategically important facility, withstanding heavy fire and despite the enemy's considerable superiority.

January 20 is also the Day of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. This holiday is associated with the historic decision of Crimeans to restore the peninsula's autonomy as part of Ukraine. In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Crimea voted to restore its autonomy as part of an independent Ukraine. This decision was confirmed by an all-Ukrainian referendum on December 1, 1991. Thus, Crimea became an autonomous republic within Ukraine. After Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, this day has taken on a special significance as a symbol of Ukraine's struggle to restore its territorial integrity.

On January 20, Orthodox believers honor the memory of St. Eutymius the Great. Eutyches was born around 377 in the Armenian city of Melitin. From a young age, he sought self-improvement and spiritual growth. Leaving the secular life, Eutyches traveled to the Holy Land and settled in a cell near Jerusalem. After several years of seclusion, he withdrew even deeper into the desert, where he spent many years in severe ascetic exploits. Over time, other hermits began to gather near his cave, and Euthymius founded a monastery.

Every year, on the third Monday of January, the world celebrates the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a prominent American preacher, leader of the civil rights movement and Nobel Peace Prize winner. His ideas about non-violence, equality and brotherhood have inspired millions of people around the world.

January 20 is unofficially called "Sad Monday" or "Blue Monday". This is an informal term used to describe the feeling of sadness, fatigue or apathy that often occurs at the beginning of the work week, especially after the weekend. The festive period is over, Christmas decorations are hidden, and cold winter mornings and workdays are ahead, so for some people, Blue Monday may be associated with seasonal post-New Year's mood swings.

Many countries around the world celebrate January 20:

• Great Energy Saving Week in the UK;

• St. Sebastian's Day in Rio de Janeiro;
• Video Camera Day (on this day in 1982, Sony Electronics first introduced a video camera on the open market);
• US Presidential Oath Day;
• National Disc Jockey Day in the United States.

Notable historical events on January 20

• 1320 - A Polish king was crowned in Wawel for the first time. It was Władysław I Lokietek, who united the state to fight the Teutonic Order.
• 1841 - the British occupied the island of Hong Kong.
• 1915 - The Winter Battle of the Carpathians on the Eastern Front of the First World War began.
• 1921 - The Grand National Assembly of Turkey adopted the country's first constitution.
• 1943 - German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Oshima signed an agreement on economic cooperation at Hitler's headquarters in Prussia, which aimed to "unite the full potential of the economic space of Europe and East Asia for total war."

• 1943 - The first issue of the Ukrainian Word newspaper is published in Winnipeg, Canada.
• 1946 - U.S. President Harry Truman establishes the Central Intelligence Agency, which later became the CIA.
• 1954 - The CIA completes the construction of a secret tunnel from West Berlin to East Berlin to connect to Soviet and East German telephone communications.
• 1958 - The first police officers with radar to detect speeders on the roads appeared in London.
• 1961 - 44-year-old Democrat John Fitzgerald Kennedy, elected on November 8, 1960, became the 35th President of the United States, the youngest among his predecessors and the first Catholic to hold the office.
• 1972 - The second wave of arrests of dissidents in Ukraine began (the first was in 1965).
• 1980 - US President Jimmy Carter announced a boycott of the Olympic Games in Moscow.

• 1986 - French President François Mitterrand and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher meet and sign an agreement on the construction of a tunnel under the English Channel.
• 1990 - "Black January": on the night of January 19-20, on the orders of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet army attacked unarmed oppositionists in Baku from land and sea, killing more than 150 people and injuring 100.
• 1991 - the All-Crimean referendum on the restoration of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was held in the Crimean region of the Ukrainian SSR, the results of which were recognized by Ukraine.
• 1996 - Nobel Peace Prize laureate, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization Yasser Arafat became the first democratically elected leader in the history of the Palestinian people.
• 1998 - Vaclav Havel wins the Czech presidential election in the second round of elections with a narrow margin.
• 2009 - Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States, became the 44th president of the United States.

Who was born on January 20

• 1775 - André-Marie Ampère, French physicist and mathematician, creator of the foundations of electrodynamics.
• 1865 - Mykhailo Tugan-Baranovsky, Ukrainian economist, statesman and public figure.
• 1891 - Mykhailo Elman, world-famous Ukrainian and American violin virtuoso.
• 1897 - Yevhen Malaniuk, Ukrainian writer, cultural encyclopedist, publicist, literary critic, centurion of the UPR Army.
• 1920 - Federico Fellini, prominent Italian film director.
• 1930 - Buzz Aldrin, American astronaut, the world's second man to set foot on the moon.
• 1931 - David Lee, American physicist, Nobel Prize winner in physics.
• 1946 - David Lynch, American film director.
• 1950 - Paul Stanley, guitarist and vocalist of KISS.
• 1958 - Lorenzo Lamas, American film actor.

Died on this day:

• 1875 - Jean-François Millet, French artist of the XIX century.
• 1895 - Omelian Partytskyi, Ukrainian linguist, ethnographer, historian, teacher and public figure.
• 1900 - John Ruskin, English writer, philosopher, art theorist, whose works had a decisive influence on the cultural life of Britain in the second half of the nineteenth century.
• 1993 - Audrey Hepburn, American actress.
• 2016 - Edmonde Charles-Roux, French writer, journalist, former president of the Academy of Goncourt.

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