January 20th: Discover today's celebrations and significant events.

On Monday, January 20, various holidays are celebrated in Ukraine and around the world. Additionally, several significant events occurred on this day in history.

In Ukraine, January 20 is commemorated as the Day of Remembrance for the Defenders of Donetsk Airport. Today marks ten years since the battles for the airport concluded, which lasted from May 2014.

The order to establish January 20 as the Day of Honor for the defenders of the airport was jointly issued by the Minister of Defense and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2022. Prior to this, Ukrainians honored the memory of the "cyborgs" on January 16.

On January 20, both in Ukraine and worldwide, the International Day of Acceptance is celebrated. This day was created to raise awareness about inclusivity, equality, and the importance of accepting individuals with various physical, mental, or other disabilities. It also serves as a reminder of the need to create a society where every person, despite their differences, can be accepted, understood, and supported. The International Day of Acceptance promotes social cohesion, supports people with disabilities, and fosters the development of inclusive practices in societies globally.

Additionally, January 20 is recognized as Penguin Awareness Day. The aim of this day is to draw attention to penguins and their natural habitats, as well as to raise awareness of the threats posed by climate change, environmental pollution, and other factors affecting their existence.

What is the Church holiday today?

January 20 in the church calendar is the day of remembrance for Saint Euthymius the Great. He was born around 377 AD in the city of Melitene in Lesser Armenia. He was the son of Paul and Dionysia. After his father's death at the age of three, he was raised by the Bishop of Melitene, Otrys. He was baptized and performed church duties, becoming a priest at the age of 28. Saint Euthymius went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where, after visiting the holy sites, he joined the monks at the Pharan Monastery. He then moved to the desert of Koutila, where he lived in seclusion with another hermit, Theoctistus. Their ascetic lifestyle attracted the attention of others who wished to join them, and over time, the Theodosian Monastery was established. Saint Euthymius is known for his spiritual strength and healing abilities. He also founded the Kaparvarikha Monastery near Hebron.

Calendar of important events on January 20

1265 — Simon de Montfort convenes the House of Commons of the English Parliament for the first time;

1320 — The Polish king is crowned for the first time in Wawel;

1633 — 68-year-old Italian physicist Galileo Galilei travels from Florence to Rome to appear before the Inquisition;

1661 — Jan II Casimir grants the Jesuit College in Lviv the "dignity of an academy and the title of a university";

1841 — The British occupy Hong Kong;

1892 — The first official basketball game is played in Albany, New York;

1918 — A nationwide church council opens in Kyiv;

1920 — The Poles abolish the autonomous rights and self-governance of Galicia;

1921 — The Great National Assembly of Turkey adopts the country's first constitution;

1943 — At Hitler's headquarters in Prussia, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Oshima sign a treaty on economic cooperation aimed at "uniting the entire potential of the economic space of Europe and East Asia for total war";

1942 — At the Wannsee Conference, leaders of Nazi Germany outline the ways and means of the "final solution to the Jewish question";

1943 — The first issue of the newspaper "Ukrainian Word" is published in Winnipeg, Canada;

1945 — Franklin Roosevelt is inaugurated in Washington as the President of the United States for a fourth term;

1946 — U.S. President Harry Truman establishes the Central Intelligence Group, which later becomes the CIA;

1958 — The first police officers with radar to catch speeding drivers appear in London;

1969 — Republican Richard Nixon becomes the 37th President of the United States, succeeding former Vice President Lyndon Johnson, a Democrat, who became president after Kennedy's assassination in 1963;

1972 — The second wave of arrests of dissidents begins in Ukraine (the first occurred in 1965);

1996 — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Yasir Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, becomes the first democratically elected leader in the history of the Palestinian people;

2001 — Upon the prosecutor's recommendation, President Kuchma dismisses Yulia Tymoshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of Viktor Yushchenko's government, who was accused of smuggling, founding, and concealing income;

2017 — Donald Trump becomes the 45th President of the United States, the oldest at the time of his first inauguration.