Every Day Is Special: Army Day

Showing posts with label Army Day. Show all posts

January 28 - Army Day in Armenia

Posted on January 28, 2019

This public holiday in Armenia celebrates the anniversary of the establishment of its national army in 1992.

Location of Armenia, above and below in red.
Note that it's so small that, on the world map above,
it is also encircled.

Like so many other nations that had been swallowed up by the USSR (Soviet Russia), Armenia became independent again in 1991. I say "again" because Armenia had had centuries of cycling between independence and absorption into an empire or larger nation. And some of this "absorption" was terribly violent; during and after World War I, the Ottoman Empire carried out a genocide on Armenians, and many Armenian people fled to other nations to escape the killing. The surprising result is that there are supposed to be a lot more Armenians living all over the world than there are Armenians living in Armenia!

Even though it is located in West Asia, not Europe, Armenia is part of the Council of Europe; it's also a member of the United Nations and of several Eurasian economic and security organizations. Hopefully these international structures will keep it secure and independent!

Here are some surprising things about Armenia:

There is a monument to the Armenian alphabet, located near the grave of Mesrop Mashtots, who invented it around 405 C.E.

I love Armenian bread - yum! - but I never knew that the traditional Armenian bread oven was a cylinder, and that bread dough was squashed onto one of the sides (and then, after it's baked, retrieved in some mysterious way??? I mean, how???)!

There are a lot of public water fountains in Armenia. These spots are popular for the normal reason - to get a drink or to refill a water bottle - but also as a meeting place or even dating location! The water often comes from a mountain spring and is said to be really delicious.

And here are some just plain old flat-out gorgeous things in Armenia:

Also on this date:

Birthday of scientist Dame Kathleen Lonsdale

Artist Jackson Pollock's birthday

Democracy Day in Rwanda

National Kazoo Day

Anniversary of first ski tow in the U.S.

Anniversary of the coining of the word serendipity

Anniversary of the appointment of the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice

Anniversary of the Warsaw Confederation declaring freedom of religion in Poland

Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day

(Last Monday in January)

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest pages on:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

February holidays
February birthdays
Historical anniversaries in February

August 1 – People's Liberation Army Day in China

Posted on August 1, 2018

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, it was called back then.

China was in the throes of a civil war: the Communist Party struggling with the Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek, for control. On this date in 1927 the people's army formed...and revolt was in the air.

The two sides of China's civil war pulled together to fight against Imperial Japan during World War II, but when the Japanese threat was ended, the two sides were at each other's throats again. It ended with the Communists winning control over the nation and Chiang Kai-shek fleeing to Taiwan.

Even in exile, Chiang presented himself to the world as the head of the REAL China, the legitimate China.

But eventually the world had to grapple with the reality of mainland China:

Mainland China has 1.4 billion people, as of 2016, and Taiwan has only 23 million people.

Mainland China is 9.5 million square kilometers (3.7 million square miles), and Taiwan is only 36 thousand square kilometers (almost 14 thousand square miles).

Mainland China has the largest economy in the world, with about 25 trillion in Gross Domestic Product, and Taiwan has only one trillion in GDP.

The victorious Communist leaders decided to change the name of the army to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and declared the anniversary of its creation a national holiday.

Check out some spectacular Chinese sights:

Also on this date:

Guadalcanal Province Day

Benin's National Day

Switzerland's National Day

Spider-Man Day

Laa Luanys in the Isle of Man

Astronomer Maria Mitchell's birthday

Lammas Day in Scotland

Colorado's statehood anniversary

Africa from A to Z

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

September holidays
September birthdays
Historical anniversaries in September

June 30 – Army Day in Guatemala

Posted on June 30, 2018

The history of Central American countries, including Guatemala, has been quite difficult. Since its independence from Spain, Guatemala was ruled by a series of dictators and military generals, with outbreaks of democratically elected officials here and there. Shamefully, the United States and U.S. companies meddled - and NOT on the side of free and fair democracy!

One of the many military-type take-overs of the government occurred on this date in 1871, when a revolutionary army marched into Guatemala City. A few days later, the revolutionaries declared victory over a ruthless Conservadora administration and installed a military general as president.

Guatemala traditionally celebrated everyone who has ever served in its military - and especially those who died in service - with a military parade. But in the 2000s, many Guatemalans have protested holding military parades, or even celebrating the military with a holiday. They pointed out that thousands of civilians were killed by their own military during the country's civil war, and they held counter-events.

One tactic protesters use is to present photos of the thousands
of dead or missing citizens likely killed by the military during the
multiple-decades long war!

It looks like, in the face of all that protest, and in an effort to save money, recent Army Days have not featured parades. I cannot seem to find out for sure whether or not a parade will be held this year...

...Instead of dealing with the all-too-often ugliness of human history, let's check out the most glorious bits of natural beauty in Guatemala:

Laguna Lechua

Where there are butterfly colonies!

Lake Atitlán

This has been considered one of the most beautiful lakes in the world - but there are huge problems with pollution, mostly because people thought it would be smart to bring a non-native fish into the lake, and major food chains were destroyed, and some bacteria have since been growing like crazy.

Volcanos erupting!

There are many volcanoes in Guatemala. Three are so active that tourists who stay near them are told that they will likely see at least one explosion. There are also five or more that are considered semi-active, letting off some smelly gases and smoke.

Monterrico Beach