Every year on December 15th tea day is celebrated all over the world. Without a doubt, this delicious, invigorating and incredibly healthy drink deserves its holiday date. In some countries, in particular Japan, Great Britain, China and Uzbekistan, the tea drinking procedure has been considered a rather difficult ceremony for many years, and the preparation of this drink is a separate art, whose secret is known only to a few. In addition, today there are several hundred tea schools open all over the planet, the main goal of which is to teach how to properly brew and serve tea, depending on the specific variety. The creators of tea are officially considered to be residents of China. According to legends, back in 2737 BC, the ruler of the country, Shen Hung, first prepared this unique drink for himself. However, even a few years before this event, the residents of India and Tibet were fluent in the art of brewing tea. In addition, historians were able to prove that many thousands of years ago there were tea plantations on the territory of the Japanese and Korean states. Therefore, it is impossible to say with confidence that it was the Chinese who discovered this wonderful drink. Most likely, residents of the East and Asia began to use it almost simultaneously. There are many interesting and surprising facts about tea: - European countries did not immediately realize that tea leaves needed to be brewed; at first, some people prepared salads from them; - The British drink tea exclusively with milk, only the Russians began to add lemon to it; - For many years, the people of Poland considered this drink a cure for many diseases and used it only for medicinal purposes; - Every day, approximately 3 billion cups of the invigorating drink are brewed around the world; - Contrary to misconception, black and green tea are prepared from the leaves of the same bush; - Tea contains a higher amount of caffeine compared to coffee; - 1904 – the year of creation of packaged bags for express brewing; - At one time, instead of sugar cubes, salt was put into a mug with a drink; - Tea promotes excellent absorption of odors; just rub the tea leaves with your hands and put them in the right place; - According to statistical studies, this drink helps prolong life, as it contains many vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants. World Tea Day is a holiday for many people. For some, this date will remain an ordinary day, but for true fans of the priceless drink it will be an excellent occasion to enjoy the unique taste and divine aroma. At this time, tea fairs, exhibitions of new varieties and tastings are organized in many European countries. Residents of Russia also celebrate this holiday. A traditional tea party with treats at the samovar is a good reason to meet friends and relatives, chat and just have a good time in warm company!

December 15 is the Day of Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto (Zamenhofa Tago), which is widely celebrated not only in Eastern Europe, but throughout the world. Initially, the idea of ​​celebrating this date arose in the 20s of the last century, when the poet Gyul Bagi, an admirer of the talent of the creator of Esperanto, proposed organizing a holiday in his honor. It is December 15th that is the birthday of Ludwig (Lazar) Zamenhof, who came up with the idea of ​​uniting all peoples and ethnic groups in order to simplify interethnic communication. At that time, the English language, which later became international, was not yet so popular, and therefore the issue of interethnic communication remained relevant. The creator himself rightly believed that it would be wrong to give preference to any one language, making it the main one among others. He considered it more reasonable to create an artificial analogue containing norms and rules from most languages ​​spoken in the world. In addition, artificial linguistics allows you to create in the way that a person needs. Therefore, in Esperanto there are only rules without exceptions. This greatly simplifies the learning process. Once you remember the rule, you don’t have to waste time separately studying exceptions that do not fit into the general linguistic outline. Yes, unfortunately, Esperanto still did not become international, eventually giving way to English, but there are still a large number of people in the world who are sincerely interested in Esperanto. It is believed that more than 10 million people have learned it. They mainly live in Europe. Although there are other estimates that say that the number of Esperanto fans is smaller, amounting to about two million people. And also, the famous linguist thought of everything in such a way that you could master the basics in just a few months, and start speaking fluently in about a year. This is facilitated by the fact that there are many international words that came into European languages ​​from Latin. Accordingly, they are understandable to many people even without translation. Unfortunately, the fate of the creator Zamenhof, born in 1859, was very difficult. He died in 1917 in Poland, when the territory was occupied by German troops. And he was born in the city of Bialystok, Russian Empire. Today this is also the territory of Poland. The fate of the inventor's children was even more tragic. It is known that two of his daughters died in a gas chamber during World War II, and his son was shot, since Poland was occupied by the Nazis at that time. Such a tragic fate forced admirers of the famous linguist’s talent to establish a holiday on his birthday so that the world would learn more about the wonderful language Esperanto, created to unite people. By the way, Ludwig himself was an ophthalmologist by training, but at the same time he was very successfully engaged in linguistics. This day is usually celebrated in different ways. Thus, Esperanto lovers hold meetings, including in the city of Bialystok, the homeland of the inventor, where a special educational center has now been opened, named after the great scientist. Many organizations, including historical societies, use this day to once again remind humanity how many scientists and brilliant inventors died during the war, and the world only appreciated their services decades later. The study of Esperanto was not very encouraged in the USSR either. At one time, Leon Trotsky popularized this trend, but with Joseph Stalin coming to power, a ban on such activities was imposed. Interest began to revive only in the 90s of the last century.

Among the holidays revered by military professionals, there is the day of perhaps the least advertised troops - the radio technical troops of the air force (RTV). In stories about ongoing exercises, in cheerful reports, you rarely see a mention of them. The eyes and ears of the country's air defense protect no worse than strategic nuclear forces. Few people know that the RTV separated from the air force several decades ago. It is believed that the main direction of action of this type of troops is to conduct reconnaissance operations on the distant approaches to the country’s borders. Radar data constantly arrives at Air Force control centers, reporting the presence of an enemy on the borders of our airspace. In wartime, such data allows for a pre-emptive strike. But even in peacetime, RTV does not remain idle, potential opponents do not give up attempts to discover our secrets. Despite its youth, which is due to technological progress, the radio engineering troops have a rich history. Observation posts formed to protect Petrograd from air raids were the prototype of modern RTV units. Despite the lack of experience and technical means, the posts coped with their task and informed about air raids in a timely manner. A military formation based on them appeared a few years later. VNOS monitored the airspace and warned of the approach of enemy aircraft. A year before the war, the first radars (radar stations) were put into service with VNOS. RUS-2 underwent constant modernization. During the war, using these stations, radio technicians detected German aircraft 40 kilometers before their approach point. The enemy command understood the danger of detection stations and gave their pilots the primary goal of destroying them. The experience of the Great Patriotic War showed that both the country’s defense capability and the integrity of the detection system itself depended on the timely detection of enemy aircraft. On December 15, 1951, a decision was made to create a new branch of troops that would engage in early detection of the enemy and alert the military and civilians. In the same year, the date of creation of RTV was approved as a holiday. The first decade saw rapid growth in services and connections. Massive supplies of radar equipment, the formation of units, and the training of specialists contributed to the rapid and high-quality development of this type of troops. It was at this time that RTV specialists showed the whole world their capabilities. On May 1, 1960, they promptly discovered, captured and destroyed the American Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. In the 80s, another breakthrough occurred in the development of the service: the supply of the latest radars, the development and implementation of automated detection and control systems. The automation of the process could be the envy of any other troops. The service ensured the normal landing of Yuri Gagarin. RTV specialists took part in military conflicts around the world, from Vietnam, North Korea to Afghanistan, Egypt and Cuba. The created radar defense field is still the basis for the defense of Russia, despite the fact that several decades have passed since the collapse of the Union. The absence of combat operations is not a reason to terminate combat duty. All RTV units guard our airspace every day. Daily training, retraining in training centers, and the latest detection equipment allow us to carry out a combat watch with honor.

December 15 is the Day of Remembrance for Journalists Who Died in the Performance of Their Professional Duties. In 1991, this date was established by the Union of Journalists after the tragedy with Russian reporters in Yugoslavia. Russian television correspondent Viktor Nogin and cameraman Gennady Kurennoy disappeared in the whirlpool of the civil war of their brotherly state on a September day in 1991. In May 2011, 20 years after the bloody events, the world's first monument to Russian journalists who died in the line of professional duty was erected in Croatia. The 21st century has already arrived, but even now people who carry news about events taking place in the world cannot consider their profession safe. Every year, 10 - 20 Russian journalists pay with their lives for their desire to honestly and honorably fulfill their professional duties and tell the truth about human existence. The depressing statistics concern not only Russian correspondents; reporters all over the world are keeping count of their dead colleagues. According to the UN, every five days one correspondent loses his life for bringing the latest news and breaking news to the public. Journalists do not only die in war. Dmitry Kholodov passed away due to a booby trap explosion in the editorial office. Vladislav Listyev and Anna Politkovskaya were killed in the entrance of their house. Artem Borovik died in a plane crash. Near the editorial office, Paul Khlebnikov, Khadzhimurat Kamalov, and Kazbek Gekkiev were shot dead. Akhmednabi Akhmednabiev was shot in a car. The sad list does not end with the names of the listed journalists. Many talented reporters, television cameramen, and photographers who compiled an honest chronicle of the events and facts of modern Russian and world history are on the lists of the dead. Anatoly Klyan, Andrey Stenin, Anton Valoshin, Igor Kornelyuk are victims of military actions. They risked their lives so that the people knew the truth about the events taking place in Ukraine, and remained faithful to their profession until the last minute. Eternal memory to you guys. On Remembrance Day, candles are lit, the names of those journalists whose lives were tragically cut short in the past year are listed, each is remembered by name, and everyone is mourned. In memory of them, awards are established for those who perform their work with dignity. In 2001, the Artem Borovik Foundation established the “Honour. Courage. Mastery" for the best investigative journalism. At one time, Anna Politkovskaya, Valery Gergiev, and TV presenter Marianna Maksimovskaya became laureates of the award. Since the time of Peter the Great, Russian “Vedomosti” served to explain the essence of government policy, shape public opinion, and talk about various events and phenomena. Journalism is a creative profession. But everyone who decides to devote themselves to creativity is required to be responsible for every word, for every line. A society that wants to be free and informed is required to take responsibility for the safety of those who bring information to the masses. On the Day of Remembrance of Journalists, we wish all of us that the mournful list will never be replenished with new names.

In 1937-1938 In the USSR, repressions were carried out both against individuals and entire nations. Deportations of Kalmyks, Ossetians, Crimean Tatars, Germans, Kurds, Ingush and representatives of other ethnic groups were extrajudicial and forced. Forced relocation to an unusual, geographically remote and often life-threatening habitat led to massive deaths. In total, more than 6 million Soviet citizens were deported. The repressions of the Great Terror also affected people of Greek nationality. In the early 1930s, they were arrested en masse and sent to camps. A few years later, a second round of repression began, which was designed to combat those suspected of sabotage, espionage and rebel anti-Soviet work. The thirteenth of the “national” operations of the NKVD, led by N. Yezhov, began on December 15, 1937 and ended in March 1938. During this time, more than 15,000 Greeks living in the Donbass, in the Stavropol Territory, were arrested. Zaporozhye and Odessa regions, Abkhazia and Adjara. The result of ethnic cleansing was mass executions and transfers to places of imprisonment in Kolyma, Arkhangelsk and Kazakh camps. Of these, only half of the convicts returned; the rest died between 1938 and 1941. During the repressions, the Greek intelligentsia and clergy, veterans of cultural movements were shot, schools, theaters, publishing houses and newspapers were closed. The years that have passed since the tragedy have not been able to drown out the pain caused by the loss of the best representatives of the nation. Since 2015, every year on December 15, events are held in honor of the Day of Remembrance of the victims of the Greek NKVD operation. Today, those repressed have been posthumously rehabilitated. However, this procedure was not carried out for the entire Greek nation. In 1991, the Russian Federation adopted the law “Rehabilitation of Repressed Peoples.” According to it, in different years, unfounded accusations were canceled and the rights of Germans, Koreans, Finns, Kalmyks, Balkars and Karachais were restored. In 2005, entrepreneur Ivan Savvidi submitted a draft law “On the rehabilitation of Soviet Greeks” to the State Duma for consideration. Its adoption would not only allow the charges against an entire nation to be dropped, but also help the descendants of people deported to other republics of the USSR obtain Russian citizenship. In memory of the victims of repression in 2016, a memorial in the form of a white marble cross was erected in Krasnodar. Every year on December 15, descendants of the Hellenes living in different countries of the world light candles at home and in Greek Orthodox churches in memory of their innocent ancestors. The burial sites of victims of one of Stalin's many ethnic cleansings are still unknown. The Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Greek Operation of the NKVD encourages us not to forget about this tragedy, which should never be repeated.

Fortune, as you know, is a capricious and fickle lady. This partly explains the alternation of black and white stripes in the life of every person. However, there are people who are haunted by failures throughout their lives. Outsiders' plans, big and small, don't come true. These unfortunates can't do anything, no matter how hard they fight for their place in the sun. In the USA such people are called losers, in Japan - hihikomori. Scientists see the reason for such a fiasco in life in the psychological mindset of failure. In order to understand this phenomenon, Loser Day is celebrated every third Friday in December. An unusual holiday, Underdog Day, was established with the goal of forcing losers to overcome the internal barrier, a complex that is usually formed in childhood. A person’s confidence that nothing will come of his plans, and that it is better to surrender to the mercy of circumstances, intensifies during his school years and grows stronger during college studies and work. Losers are no different in appearance from other people. The reason for their failures lies in the initially incorrect attitude - the expectation of a fiasco in any field of activity: from personal life to professional. Psychologists, having analyzed the behavior of losers, came to the conclusion that they are distinguished by the following features: • outsiders are too proud to accept help; • they like to discuss problems rather than their solutions; • they try to avoid mistakes, although, as is known, those who do not make mistakes does nothing; • do not know how to leave their comfort zone - they are afraid to take risks; • do not consider it necessary to wait, dreaming of a universal formula that will lead to instant success; • are not prone to introspection and critical thinking - they are overly focused on the opinions of others regarding their personality. Despite all of the above, the “loser syndrome”, which looks at life with pessimism, can and should be fought. In honor of Underdog Day, psychologists recommend starting to develop useful skills. To do this, you should reconsider your life and find positive moments in it, and then put all these events on paper. Next, you should thank your friends, thanks to whom positive circumstances have developed, God, relatives, and even yourself. You should start the day by smiling at the new day while still lying in bed, with the joy of being alive, and try to spend the holiday without looking for negativity. A loser needs to try to cultivate a sense of happiness within himself and try to share this optimistic attitude with others. You should not draw parallels between yourself and other people who seem to have achieved more. Compare yourself yesterday with today, pay attention to the skills and abilities, qualities of character that you have developed in yourself, despite difficult life circumstances. Failures and falls happen in the life of every person. Self-confident and success-oriented people find the strength to rise from their knees and move on. This is an example of the triumph of the human spirit and willpower. Losers should develop fighting qualities and begin to look at life with optimism, with a dose of humor and self-irony. A problem that arises on the way to a goal can be ridiculed, reducing its importance and reducing the blow that any defeat or loss inflicts on the psyche. If you consider yourself an outsider, then take into account the recommendations of psychologists and start life from scratch. There should be no room for despondency, self-doubt, pessimism and the expectation of inevitable failure. Don't be like the Japanese hihikomori, who voluntarily isolated themselves from society due to problems with socialization. Open your heart to life with all its joys and sorrows! And then next year the funny Underdog Day will have nothing to do with you.

The judicial system of Ukraine consists of the court (formerly the arbitration court), the Constitutional Court, as well as courts of general jurisdiction, and there are also appellate courts. All these judicial bodies work on a territorial basis, regulating administrative and criminal issues of individual citizens or organizations. The main court of the country is the Supreme Court of Ukraine. The bulk of the work falls on local courts; they resolve the majority of judicial administrative, economic and criminal cases locally. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is a body that ensures compliance with the laws of the country, thereby ensuring the protection of individual rights and freedoms. But still, the main goal of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is to comply with and correctly interpret the Laws of Ukraine and protect the Constitution of the country. Since 2000, by Decree of the President of Ukraine, on December 15, Ukraine celebrates the Day of Court Workers of Ukraine. Court employees are people with special human and professional qualities. What is important here is honesty, the skills to remain impartial in decision making, strength of spirit and at the same time calmness and restraint. The work of these people is very responsible, because without exaggeration they decide the fate of people, and sometimes entire groups. Not everyone can combine moderate rigidity, cynicism with good-heartedness for the benefit of justice, which is why appointing a judge to this position is always a very labor-intensive process. Court workers celebrate their professional holiday collectively. On this day, conferences and forums are often held where the main common problems in work are discussed. On December 15, the servants of Themis especially feel the importance of their work especially carefully. After all, on this day they receive congratulations from various professional publications and colleagues. All residents of Ukraine want to believe that the authority of the Court of any state rests on honest and fair people, because the Judicial branch is the executive branch of the state.

On December 15 (December 2, old style), according to the folk calendar, the day of Habakkuk is celebrated. Its origins are connected with the prophet Habakkuk. Living in the 7-6 centuries BC. e., he became one of the 12 minor prophets. There is a well-known story of how Habakkuk carried food to the prophet Daniel, who was thrown into a pit of wild lions. During his life, Habakkuk wrote a book of prophecies consisting of three parts. The book describes events prophesying the advance of the Chaldeans into Judea, the destruction of Babylon and the return of the Jews to their homeland. It also glorifies respect and love for God, some passages are even used in the Orthodox religion for chants. Among the people, Saint Habakkuk was the patron saint of restful sleep. People prayed to him for sound sleep and performed rites of exorcism. Young children often suffered from poor sleep. People believed that they were frightened by the crixa, an evil spirit that caused fear and crying. Healers and healers first determined the cause of insomnia, and then secretly performed rituals and conspiracies to help them achieve healthy sleep. The day of Habakkuk was not particularly different from other winter days. Therefore, people spent it doing ordinary household chores. The girls got together and embroidered, preparing for the New Year holidays. And the children frolicked in the street, sledding. Various signs helped people find out the weather for future days. A lot of snow in December foreshadowed a large harvest from crops and summer grasses. A clear month and an abundance of stars in the sky meant that the next day would be frosty. Birds landing on the top of a tree predicted windy weather, and warming on the ground.

Orthodox holidays on December 15:

Memorial Day of the Prophet Habakkuk

Memorial Day of St. Athanasius of Pechersk

Memorial Day of the Holy Martyr Myropia of Chios