Easter is the most important holiday of the year. Easter egg is called pysanka. Pysanka shells have been found in archaeological sites from more than 3000 years ago, and many of those designs are still being used on pysanka today.   Preparation for Easter starts seven weeks ahead of time with the advent of Lent. Believers don’t eat meat and animal products. Palm Sunday, the week before Easter, is known in Ukraine as Willow Sunday. People bring home willow branches which have been blessed in church. The week is dedicated to preparing for Easter. The Thursday before Easter is called Clean Thursday. According to Ukrainian tradition one should bathe before sunrise on this day.

The house must be clean too. Good Friday is the day that the women of the family bake “paska”, Ukrainian Easter bread. On Saturday children dye Easter eggs to add to the Easter basket which will be blessed in church. It also includes pysanka, salt, paska, sausage and ham. In the evening people go to church for the Easter mass, which lasts all night. Easter Sunday is a day of singing songs and eating. Young girls dance and sing about nature and spring. People exchange pysanky.

London Zoo, one of the oldest zoos in the world was established on the 27 of April, 1828.

The Zoological Society of London established the London Zoo in 1828 as what was to become the world's first scientific zoological garden, and one that still manages one of the most comprehensive animal collections.

It is situated in the heart of London, on the north side of Regent's Park.

When the Zoo opened in 1828 it housed a collection of exotic animals that were studied by eminent scientists of the day. Only later, in 1847, did the Zoo open its doors to the public, and, from then on it became the most famous zoo in the world. Among many world firsts, the Zoo opened the first reptile house (1849), the first public aquarium (1853), insect house (1881) and children's zoo (1938). The zoo suffered a lot during World War II, with some animals killed by bombing, and some of the edible fish ending up on dinner tables. 

Today the Zoo crams its relatively modest 36 acres of space with more than 16,000 animals from more than 750 species, of which 112 species are listed as threatened in the Red Data books, and participates in breeding programmes for 146 species. Visiting the Zoo is the perfect idea , because  there's lots to do, plenty to see and so much to learn. 

The Chernobyl Accident

The Chernobyl station is situated at the settlement of Pripyat, Ukraine, 18 km northwest of the city of Chernobyl, 16 km from the border of Ukraine and Belarus, and about 110 km north of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

The station consisted of four reactors, each capable of producing 1 GW of electric power. Construction of the plant began in the 1970s, with reactor number 1 commissioned in 1977, followed by number 2 in 1978, number З in 1981, and number 4 in 1983. Two more reactors number 5 and number 6, also capable of producing 1 Gigawatt each were under construction at the time of the accident.

The Chernobyl accident riveted international attention. Around the world, people read the story and were profoundly affected. As a result, «Chernobyl» has entered the public consciousness in a number of different ways and received worldwide media attention.

The Chernobyl accident was clearly a major disaster in human history. Public awareness of the risks of nuclear power increased significantly. Organizations, both pro- and anti-nuclear, have made great efforts to sway public opinion.

The Chernobyl accident also came to symbolize the crumbling state of the USSR in public perception, in particular a dangerous culture of incompetence and cover-up.

On Saturday, April 26, 1986, at 1:23:58 a.m. local time, the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl power plant known as Chernobyl-4 suffered a catastrophic steam explosion that resulted in a fire, a series of additional explosions, and a nuclear meltdown.

It is regarded as the worst nuclear accident in the history of nuclear power ever happened. It produced a plume of radioactive debris that drifted over parts of the western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, UK, and even eastern USA.

Large areas of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were badly contaminated, resulting in the evacuation and resettlement of more than 300,000 people. About 60% of the radioactive fallout landed in the neighbour republic Belarus.

Even now it is difficult to accurately tally the number of deaths caused by the event at Chernobyl, as most of the expected deaths are from cancer, have not yet actually occurred, and are difficult to attribute specifically to the accident.

The Chernobyl accident was not a unique event. Long before, in 1957 near Chelaybinsk-40, a small top-secret town, the first nuclear accident occurred involved the first serious nuclear contamination of vast territories. It was a nuclear explosion happened in a tank with nuclear wastes. In 30 years such tragedy repeated at Chernobyl.

People hope that it was the last time because the third time might be the last one.

Willow Sunday (Verbna nedilia)  

The last Sunday before Easter (Palm Sunday) is called Willow Sunday (Verbna nedilia). On this day willow branches are blessed in the church. The week before Easter, the Great Week (Holy Week), is called the White or Pure Week. 

The willow branches were blessed by the priest at church on Verbna Nedilya, and people, holding these blessed branches would go around their village touching each other with the branches by way of greeting, and saying, “Be healthy as water and rich as earth!” The blessed willow branches were used to chase the cattle from the barns where they had stayed in winter into the vernal fields for grazing — verba was supposed to be helpful in protecting the domestic animals against disease and conducive to proliferation. Some of the blessed willow branches were kept at home for the whole year until next year’s Verbna Nedilya — they were supposed to protect the house against fire and evil forces.

“Be healthy as water and rich as earth!”

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised ) – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon- Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamlet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, which has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, and religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, and these are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.

Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. In 1623, however, John Heminges and Henry Condell, two friends and fellow actors of Shakespeare, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's. It was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as "not of an age, but for all time". In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been repeatedly adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular, and are constantly studied, performed, and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

In 2016, the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death, celebrations will commence in the United Kingdom and across the world to honour Shakespeare and his work. 

World Earth Day 2016

World Health Day 2016  is celebrated by the people all over the world on 22^nd of April, at Friday.

There is reason behind the title of this celebration as “Earth Day”. It was suggested by number of people in 1969 and the idea came with “birthday” as Earth day (rhyming word of birthday).

World Earth Day Information and History

World Earth Day is celebrated every year as an annual event by the people all across the world on 22^nd of April in order to increase the awareness among people about the environment safety as well as to demonstrate the environmental protection measures. First time, the world earth day was celebrated in the year 1970 and then started celebrating annually on global basis by almost 192 countries.

World Earth Day observance was started to celebrate as an annual event to get national support in order to better take care of the environmental safety by solving its issues. In 1969, there was a peace activist of the San Francisco named John McConnell who actively involved in starting this event and proposed a day to get together for the environmental safety. John McConnell had chosen this event to be celebrated in the spring equinox on 21^st of March in 1970 whereas United States Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson had chosen this event to be celebrated on 22^nd of April in 1970.

They had contacted the people to join this event to get together for solving their environmental issues for better future. During the first time celebration of the earth day millions of people shown their interest and participated to understand the motto of the event. Instead of deciding one date for the celebration of the earth day, it has been started celebrating on both of the dates. Generally, the earth day event celebration starts with the common practice of new trees plantation in the required areas worldwide.

For founding the earth day celebration date on 22^nd of April, United States Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson was honored later with the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award for his participation in great job. Later, the 22^nd of April as an Earth Day was focused globally by the original national coordinator, Denis Hayes in the year 1990 among almost 141 nations. Most of the earth day communities celebrate it for the whole week with the name Earth Week to focus on many environmental issues. In this way, 22^nd of April 1970 has been marked as the anniversary of the modern environmental movement.

Earth Day 1970 was established to raise the public awareness for self consciousness, other living organisms, controlling the anti-war protest movement as well as keeping the environmental issues in front of the people. A big tragedy behind establishing the event of earth day celebration by the founder Gaylord Nelson (a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin) was tragedy of the massive oil spill in the Santa Barbara, California in 1969. This tragedy led the Gaylord Nelson towards enhancing the public consciousness for the air, water and soil pollution as well as implementing the environmental protection measures.

Why April 22 is celebrated as Earth Day?

Our Earth is the only planet in the Universe where life is possible till date. It is very necessary to maintain the natural assets of the earth in order to continue the life on the earth. In the rush of the crowd, the most intelligent creature of the God called human is slowly losing its humanity and forgot to take care of the planet that gave it life and started using its resources very ruthlessly. The 22^nd of April has been marked as an Earth Day to make the human race get aware about the importance of their planet.

A USA senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson had founded the day to make the people aware about day to day increasing rate of the industrialization as well as the careless attitude of the people living on the earth. The step was taken by him to promote the idea of natural balance among people as well as encourage them for respecting the assets of the planet. It is very necessary to take care of the environmental issues to stay healthy and alive as cruel people have mercilessly utilized its resources and depleted its life supporting resources over the centuries.

One of the big examples of it is the depletion of the Ozone layer which prevents us from the ultra violet rays of the sun. Another big problem of the environment is death of rivers by getting mixed with the industrial toxic materials which leads to the global warming. Increasing industrialization on daily basis leads to deforestation which ultimately leads to the rise in Earth temperature. These are the life ending dangers on the earth forever which can be lessens through the small steps such as new trees plantation, inhibiting the deforestation, limiting the vehicles use to reduce air pollution, enhancing the energy conservation through reducing the unnecessary use of electricity. Such small steps become a big step if taken care by the people worldwide together.

Now a day, everything is being packed in the plastic bags or given in it by the shopkeepers. Plastic bags productions are increasing day by day which is very shameful condition for us as these materials are undegradable. The first celebration of the Earth Day was took place in the US on 22^nd of April in 1970 to mark the environmental movement as a big matter of fact. Students group from the US College campuses had participated to protest for the environmental deterioration to increase the public awareness. Another group was protested for the oil spills, toxic dumps, air and water pollution due to industrialization, raw sewage, use and production of pesticides and many more. Since then, 22^nd of April was continued to be celebrated as Earth Day officially.

How World Earth Day is Celebrated

People from all over the world celebrate earth day with great enthusiasm and interest on each 22^nd of April since 1970 to save the natural assets of their earth. More than 20 million Americans took part in the event celebration and make the streets, parks and auditoriums busy in order to display their themes role based on the public health, environmental issues, industrialization, deforestation and so many. Students from thousands of colleges, universities and other educational institutions actively take part in the protest against increasing earth issues such as the day to day environment deterioration, air and water pollution, ozone layer deterioration, industrialization, deforestation and etc to prevent the oil spills, set up of polluting factories, power plants, use and production of pesticides and etc.

Various steps have been taken by the governments of many countries towards the safety of earth by implementing the variety of legal rules. A group of environmental leaders organize various events and campaigns to celebrate the earth day. A big crowd of the people gets together from 141 countries to solve the environmental issues by implementing variety of useful measures. People take part in demonstrating the theme of clean environment in order to build a clean and healthy world to welcome new generations. The aim of celebrating the world earth day is to inspire the public for making better earth environment.

At this day people perform outdoor activities related to the earth safety like new trees plantation planting trees, picking up roadside waste materials, recycling of wastes, energy conservation and so many. Some people request governments to take immediate action to prevent the day by day increasing global warming and other environmental destructions. At this day all the TV channels to show their programs to deal with the real environmental issues to get public aware.

It has not been declared as the public holiday officially by the government. All the schools, colleges, universities and educational institutions are open at this day. April 22 Earth Day, founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson, was first organized in 1970 to promote ecology and respect for life on the planet as well as to encourage awareness of the growing problems of air, water and soil pollution.

People who participate in the event celebration, make an earth planet using green and blue colors to indicate the life of animals, plants and symbolize their natural recycling including the green house effect and global warming. At some places in the United States, people celebrate earth day by taking part in a parade getting dressed up in flowers, plants or bugs clothes to make aware that whole environment is our real home. There are many ways to celebrate the earth day:

·         New trees plantation at required places.

·         Do some outdoor activities with your family such as making the home for a bird on the tree and discuss their role in the ecosystem.

·         Motivate people to reduce the use of plastic bags to avoid the soil and water pollution.

·         Teach your children about the recycling and reuse of the old materials.

·         Take part in picking up the wastes from streets, parks and other places.

·         Take part in the amusement activities like singing a song related to the Earth safety to attract more people to the event celebration.

·         Take part in the educational sessions like seminars, discussions and other competitive activities related to the safety of natural resources of the earth.

·         Motivate people by wearing green, brown or blue clothes for displaying the environmental colors.

·         Promote people for energy conservation by various practical means.

·         Teach people that every day of their life is earth day, so they should take care of the earth on daily basis.

Significance of World Earth Day Celebration

The founder of the Earth Day, Gaylord Nelson, has chosen this day (22^nd of April) to increase the awareness among common public, especially among youngsters to get full effect of the campaign of environmental safety. He had selected this day by keeping things in mind that there would not be any disturbances of the exams for the students or any fairs and festival for the common public, so that everyone could pay their full attention towards this event celebration. According to the Gregorian calendar, it is considered that 22^nd of April 1970 .

World Earth Day Theme

·         The theme of World Earth Day 2015 was “Water Wonderful World” and “Clean Earth – Green Earth”.

·         The theme of World Earth Day 2014 was “Green Cities”.

·         The theme of World Earth Day 2013 was “The Face of Climate Change”.

·         The theme of World Earth Day 2012 was “Mobilize the Earth”.

·         The theme of World Earth Day 2011 was “Clear the Air”.

·         The theme of World Earth Day 2010 was “Reduce”.

·         The theme of World Earth Day 2009 was “How Do You Get Around”.

·         The theme of World Earth Day 2008 was “Trees Please”.

The theme of World Earth Day 2007 was “Be kind to the earth – starting from saving resources

The Queen's 90th Birthday

Queen Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states and the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. She was born on 21 April 1926 but her birthday is celebrated on a separate date. She has been Queen since 1952 and is currently the second-longest reigning British monarch, the longest being Queen Victoria who reigned for 63 years.

The Queen celebrates two birthdays each year: her actual birthday on 21 April and her official birthday on a Saturday in June. Official celebrations to mark Sovereigns' birthday have often been held on a day other than the actual birthday, particularly when the actual birthday has not been in the summer. King Edward VII, for example, was born on 9 November, but his official birthday was marked throughout his reign in May or June when there was a greater likelihood of good weather for the Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour. The Queen usually spends her actual birthday privately, but the occasion is marked publicly by gun salutes in central London at midday: a 41 gun salute in Hyde Park, a 21 gun salute in Windsor Great Park and a 62 gun salute at the Tower of London. On her official birthday, Her Majesty is joined by other members of the Royal Family at the spectacular Trooping the Colour parade which moves between Buckingham Palace, The Mall and Horseguards’ Parade.                                                                

Thursday, April 21, is the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. This year she turns a remarkable 90 years old. Buckingham Palace has released a charming photograph of her majesty and three heirs to the throne. The Queen is joined in the Palace's White Room by her son, Prince Charles, grandson, Prince William and great-grandson, Prince George. The shoot was put together by the Royal Mail for a stamp sheet.

Prince George posed for his very first stamp while perched on a pile of foam blocks - sweetly holding Daddy's hand as reported by The Daily Mail. 

Happy birthday, Your Majesty!

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The first detective story in the history of literature - «Murder in the street Morgue», written by   American writer Edgar Alan Po, was  published on the 20^th of April , 1841.  

 

Edgar Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. That makes him Capricorn, on the cusp of Aquarius. His parents were David and Elizabeth Poe. Edgar grew up in good surroundings and went to good schools. When Poe was 6, he went to school in England for 5 years. He learned Latin and French, as well as math and history. He later returned to school in America and continued his studies. Edgar Allan went to the University of Virginia in 1826. He was 17. Even though John Allan had plenty of money, he only gave Edgar about a third of what he needed. Although Edgar had done well in Latin and French, he started to drink heavily and quickly became in debt. He had to quit school less than a year later. Edgar Allan had no money, no job skills, and had been shunned by John Allan. Edgar went to Boston and joined the U.S. Army in 1827. He was 18. He did reasonably well in the Army and attained the rank of sergeant major. In 1831, Edgar Allan Poe went to New York City where he had some of his poetry published. He submitted stories to a number of magazines and they were all rejected. Poe had no friends, no job, and was in financial trouble. He sent a letter to John Allan begging for help but none came. John Allan died in 1834 and did not mention Edgar in his will. In 1835, Edgar finally got a job as an editor of a newspaper because of a contest he won with his story, "The Manuscript Found in a Bottle".  As the editor for the Southern Literary Messenger, Poe successfully managed the paper and increased its circulation from 500 to 3500 copies. Despite this, Poe left the paper in early 1836, complaining of the poor salary. In 1837, Edgar went to New York. He wrote "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" but he could not find any financial success. He moved to Philadelphia in 1838 where he wrote "Ligeia" and "The Haunted Palace". His first volume of short stories, "Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque" was published in 1839. Poe received the copyright and 20 copies of the book, but no money. Sometime in 1840, Edgar Poe joined George R. Graham as an editor for Graham's Magazine. During the two years that Poe worked for Graham's, he published his first detective story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and challenged readers to send in cryptograms, which he always solved. During the time Poe was editor, the circulation of the magazine rose from 5000 to 35,000 copies. Poe left Graham's in 1842 because he wanted to start his own magazine. Poe found himself without a regular job once again. He tried to start a magazine called The Stylus and failed. In 1843, he published some booklets containing a few of his short stories but they didn't sell well enough. He won a hundred dollars for his story, "The Gold Bug" and sold a few other stories to magazines but he barely had enough money to support his family. Often, Mrs. Clemm had to contribute financially. In 1844, Poe moved back to New York. Even though "The Gold Bug" had a circulation of around 300,000 copies, he could barely make a living. In 1845, Edgar Poe became an editor at The Broadway Journal. A year later, the Journal ran out of money and Poe was out of a job again. He and his family moved to a small cottage near what is now East 192nd Street.  In June of 1849, Poe left New York and went to Philadelphia, where he visited his friend John Sartain. Poe left Philadelphia in July and came to Richmond
On September 27, Poe left Richmond for New York. He went to Philadelphia and stayed with a friend named James P. Moss. On September 30, he meant to go to New York but supposedly took the wrong train to Baltimore. On October 3, Poe was found at Gunner's Hall, a public house at 44 East Lombard Street, and was taken to the hospital. He lapsed in and out of consciousness but was never able to explain exactly what happened to him. Edgar Allan Poe died in the hospital on Sunday, October 7, 1849.