Thanksgiving Day

There is one day a year when all Americans stay home with their families and eat a big dinner. This is Thanksgiving Day.The pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day in the fall of 1621. The pilgrims sailed to America on board the "Mayflower" ship for religious freedom. They were among the first European settlers in America. There were people living in America before the pilgrims arrived. These people were the Native American Indians.The pilgrims first winter in the New World was very difficult. They had arrived too late to grow many crops. Without fresh food half of the pilgrims died. The following spring the Indians taught the pilgrims how to hunt, fish, plant and survive in America. The crops did well and in the fall of 1621 pilgrims had a great harvest. They were thankful and decided to celebrate with a Thanksgiving feast. They prepared a dinner of turkey, corn, beans and pumpkins. They invited their Indian friends to share this feast. The Indians brought food for the feast too (they even brought popcorn!)Americans still celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the fall. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. Turkey is still the main dish and pumpkin pie is the most popular dessert.

ПЕН-клуб

 «ПЕН-клуб»(International PEN, PEN Club) — міжнародна неурядова організація, яка об'єднує професійних письменників, редакторів і перекладачів. Був створений з метою сприяння дружбі й інтелектуальній співпраці письменників всього світу; акцентує увагу на ролі літератури в розвитку взаєморозуміння і світової культури; бореться за свободу слова; діє як потужна сила в захисті прав письменників, яких садять до в'язниці, а деколи і вбивають за їх погляди. Це одна з найстаріших організацій, яка бореться за права людини, і одна з найстаріших міжнародних письменницьких організацій. Назва клубу — ПЕН — це абревіатура від англійських слів «Poets, Playwrights, Essayists and Novelists» — «поети, драматурги, есеїсти, романісти», які складаються в слово «пен» (pen) — ручка для писання. Тепер охоплює також представників інших жанрів — таких, як журналісти й історики .

ПЕН-клуб є неполітичною, недержавною організацією, яка перебуває в формальних консультаційних зв'язках з ЮНЕСКО і має спеціальний консультативний статус в Економічній і Соціальній Раді ООН.

ПЕН-клуб засновано 5 жовтня 1921 в Лондоні з ініціативи англійських письменників Кетрін Емі Доусон-Скотт і Джон Голсуорсі (останній став першим президентом клубу). Першими членами ПЕН-клубу стали письменники Джозеф Конрад,Бернард Шоу та Герберт Уеллс.

Наступними президентами ПЕН-клуба були Моравіа Альберто, Генріх Белль, Міллер Артур, Маріо Варгас Льйоса, Їржі Груша. Теперішнім президентом є Дженіфер Клемент (англ. Jennifer Clement).

З 1994 року у ПЕН-клубі існує есперантська секція, єдина секція штучної мови . 

 Міжнародний Пен-клуб складається зі 144 автономних національних Пен-центрів в 101 країні. Членство в ПЕН-клубі відкрито для всіх професійних письменників, незалежно від національності, мови,раси чи віросповідання.

Україна

13 вересня 2010 року українське відділення міжнародного ПЕН-клубу очолив один із засновниківУкраїнської Гельсінської Групи український правозахисник, публіцист, релігієзнавець, філософМирослав Маринович. Таке рішення одностайно було прийнято на засіданні українського ПЕН-клубу в Києві .

 (Матеріал з Вікіпедії — вільної енциклопедії).

Teacher’s Day in Ukraine is celebrated on the first Sunday in October each year. This observance is held in appreciation of teachers and other workers in the education sector across the country.

Many Ukrainians celebrate Teacher’s Day with a range of activities, such as concerts, presentation of flower bouquets, and public speeches addressed in recognition of teachers and educational workers.

Teacher’s Day is an observance and not a national public holiday in Ukraine.

 In 1994, the Ukrainian president declared Teachers’ Day as a professional holiday to thank workers in Ukraine’s education sector. The day had been set to be annually celebrated on the first Sunday in October. Many other countries celebrate World Teachers’ Day, which is also held in early October.

Many teachers receive flowers as a symbol of appreciation for their achievements.

The First of September

The first of September is the first day of school. It is a happy day for all schoolchildren and their parents. It is especially a great holiday for those boys and girls who are beginning to go to school.

Let’s go out and see what people are doing in the streets this morning. There are a lot of schoolchildren in the streets. They are going to school. Boys and girls are carrying schoolbags, many of them have flowers in their hands. Senior pupils are going to school by themselves, but small children are going with their parents at their side.

There are pupils in the schoolyard. They are not playing games this morning. They are speaking about the summer holidays, about their new teachers and what is new at school. Music is playing and soon a meeting begins. The pupils, their parents and other people who are present listen to the director’s speech. Then a small girl with flowers is ringing the bell. The pupils are going to their classrooms and school year is beginning.

Games of the XXXI Olympiad

Summer Olympics  officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad and commonly known as Rio 2016, is a major international multi-sport event in the tradition of the Olympic Games as governed by the International Olympic Committee, being held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Opening rounds in certain events began on 3 August 2016 — two days before the opening ceremony — and the Games is formally running from 5 August to 21 August 2016.

More than 11,000 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), including first time entrants Kosovo and South Sudan, are taking part.With 306 sets of medals, the games features 28 Olympic sports, including   golf, which were added by the International Olympic Committee in 2009. These sporting events are taking place at 33 venues in the host city as well as at five venues in the cities of São Paulo (Brazil's largest city), Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília (Brazil's capital), and Manaus.

These are the first Summer Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Thomas Bach. The host city of Rio de Janeiro was announced at the 121st IOC Session held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 2 October 2009. Rio became the first South American city to host the Summer Olympics. These are the first games to be held in a Portuguese-speaking country, the first to be held entirely during the winter (the 2000 games began on 15 September but continued past the spring equinox), the first since1968 to be held in Latin America, and the first since2000 (and third overall) to be held in the Southern Hemisphere.

Good luck to our Ukrainian sportsmen! 

Civic/Provincial Day in Canada

The first Monday of August is a holiday for people in many parts of Canada. It is a statutory holiday in some provinces and territories but in others it has another legal status. It is often called the "August Holiday", "Civic Holiday", "Provincial Day" or other local names, such as Terry Fox Day in Manitoba.

Provinces and territories across Canada have a civic or provincial holiday in the first Monday in August

Celebrate Civic/Provincial Day

On the first Monday in August and, in some places, throughout the first week of August, various events are held to celebrate aspects of local culture, history and achievement. Many celebrations are low-key and are organized by community members. These include: making and distributing birthday cakes for the province; sports events; and communal meals, such as breakfasts, barbecues, lunches and suppers. Larger events include professional displays of fireworks, road races and cultural festivals.

Public Life

The legal status of the first Monday in August varies between provinces and territories. The first Monday in August is a statutory holiday in: British Columbia (British Columbia Day); New Brunswick (New Brunswick Day); Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan Day or Civic Holiday), and Nunavut (Civic Holiday) and the Northwest Territories (Civic Holiday).

It is a holiday of some form in Alberta (Heritage Day), Manitoba (Terry Fox Day), Newfoundland and Labrador (Civic Holiday, although the date is fixed by municipal council orders), Nova Scotia (Natal Day), Ontario (Civic Holiday, Simcoe Day or Colonel By Day), Prince Edward Island (Natal Day). It is important to note that while some employers in Ontario give their employees a holiday on the first Monday in August, the employer is not required to do so under Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA).

Schools, post offices, as well as many businesses and organizations are closed, while many workers have a day off in these areas. People are advised to check with the local authorities, transport services and businesses as to when services and stores are available on this day. Large scale parades, road races and other public events may cause some local disruption to traffic in some towns and cities. The first Monday of August is not a public holiday in Quebec and Yukon.

About Civic/Provincial Day

In many parts of Canada, the holiday on the first Monday in August is simply known as Civic Day or the August Holiday. However, a wide range of local names are also used. Some of these include the names of provinces, such as British Columbia Day, New Brunswick Day and Saskatchewan Day. Others use a name to highlight a particular aspect of the celebrations, such as Natal Day in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, which marks the "birthdays" of these provinces. Another example is Heritage Day in Alberta, which is an occasion to celebrate the heritage of the peoples of the province. The origins of the holiday on the first Monday in August seem to stem back to a “day of recreation” first organized by Toronto City Council in 1869.

In Ontario, a range of local names are used, which often honor significant people in the history of the province. In Toronto, the first Monday in August is known as Simcoe Day after John Graves Simcoe, who founded the town of York, Upper Canada, which became Toronto. He was also the first lieutenant governor of the province. In Ottawa, it is called Colonel By Day in honor of John By, who led the construction of the Rideau Canal, or Waterway, and founded Bytown, which became the city of Ottawa.

In the provinces of Quebec and Yukon, celebrations of local history and culture are held on different dates. Quebec's National Holiday is held on St Jean Baptiste Day, which is June 24. Discovery Day in Yukon is on the third Monday in August and commemorates the discovery of gold in the province in 1896, which lead to the Klondike gold rush.

Symbols

There are no symbols of the Civic Holiday that are used throughout Canada. However, each province and territory has its own flag and coat of arms. Many also have a provincial tartan and flowers, trees, birds and minerals or gemstones, which are used as symbols of the provinces.

23rd of July – World Whale and Dolphin Day

No violence or killing of whales and dolphins by humans!

 World Whale and Dolphin Day is a yearly international holiday of protecting ocean and sea mammals and protesting against whale and dolphin killers. It is held on the 23^rd of June and is celebrated in all corners of the globe. World Whale and Dolphin Day was established by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. After 200 years of extermination of whales there was adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling and it has been extended to the present. Whale hunting and selling whale’s meat is forbidden. On the World Whale and Dolphin Day numerous environment-oriented groups organize various campaigns in defense of the world’s largest creatures. This holiday is especially important forUkraine, because its seas are inhabited by dolphins and many of them are on the verge on extinction and are included in Red Data Book.

 No one can be indifferent to this problem. You should also take part in campaigns that are held by environment protectors on this day.