On the night of January 13-14, the Old New Year comes to us. This is a unique holiday, resulting from the change of calendars, Gregorian and Julian, a rare historical phenomenon. The tradition of celebrating the Old New Year in Russia appeared in 1918, during the Bolsheviks’ attempts to abolish the 13 days of the old style. However, the Russian Orthodox Church opposed this and refused to switch to the new calendar of revolutionaries who deny the faith. At first it was a holiday of Christian believers, but now it has become the favorite holiday of most Russians. Statistics say that this night is already celebrated by more than 60% of compatriots. The Old New Year carries a special harmony and peace, in contrast to the noisy and bright, splashing with fun, the usual New Year's Eve. The holiday traditions are quieter and more family-based. Most people prefer to stay at home this night and pay attention to their household, especially since the special customs of this evening are gradually returning to our lives. So earlier this day was Vasilyev's day and was celebrated on January 1, and then it shifted. And on Vasily’s day they always prepared a rich meal of pork, since Vasily was the patron saint of the owners of pig farms. It was believed that on this day it was necessary to treat as many people as possible to a pig dish, then life would be full for the next year. One of the recently returned traditions is the preparation of morning porridge, most often buckwheat. To do this, the husband went to fetch water in the morning, and the wife began sorting and preparing the cereal for porridge. Then the water and cereal were left untouched until the oven (in our time - the oven) was hot, and only then the hostess sent the dish behind the damper. During the cooking process, it was forbidden to touch the dish. Then the whole family gathered at the table and looked at the prepared porridge. If the dish became fragrant and the grain crumbly, it was a good sign that promised well-being for the whole year. Then the porridge was put on plates and eaten immediately. But when the cereal burned or crawled out of the pot, or the dishes themselves burst in the oven, then they threw the porridge away and prepared for big troubles. On the Old New Year, in some regions of Russia they caroled, chanting each family member individually in their verses. In some places, fortune telling was especially believed for this night. The Church has never encouraged fortune-telling, but the Old New Year falls on Christmastide (holy nights from Christmas), and traditional Yuletide fortune-telling has come down to us from time immemorial. On the night of January 13-14, many gardeners pay especially close attention to the weather. Frost - for a good honey harvest, stars - for a harvest of berries, the east wind promised an abundance of fruits. The Old New Year is not a day off, but most Russians are waiting for this holiday and preparing for it.

Despite the non-combat name, servicemen of this unique branch of the military often perform combat missions under enemy fire. The history of the Pipeline Troops (TrV) has many glorious pages. Officially, the holiday was established by decree of the President of the Russian Federation in December 2021, although specialists of this branch of the military celebrated it earlier. On January 14, 1952, Marshal Vasilevsky signs an order to create a separate battalion that will specialize in pumping fuel and lubricants. This order marked the beginning of a new branch of troops - the pipeline troops of the USSR. Pipeline troops are special rear troops whose tasks include creating pipelines and pumping hot water for units of various branches of the military. In fact, the range of tasks of the units is much wider. TrV fighters often have to lay alternative pipelines. One of these problems was successfully solved quite recently. In the spring of 2014, units of the pipeline troops removed the threat from Crimea of ​​being left without fresh water and thwarted the plans of the Ukrainian military. First, an uninterrupted supply of fresh water to Old Crimea was ensured, and then other pipeline branches began to be created. As a result, the actions of the military personnel made it possible to avoid drought and save the harvest. One hundred and thirty kilometers of the pipeline became a kind of “road of life” for the peninsula. The geography of TRV's combat operations is impressive: Afghanistan, Laos, Somalia, Cuba, the North Caucasus. The activities of fighters in Afghanistan cannot be called anything other than combat operations. Under the threat of enemy fire, not only new highways were laid, but also existing branches were repaired and protected. The difficult terrain of the country did not allow the use of technology, so many tens of kilometers of pipes were installed virtually by hand. The work of TRV units made it possible to conduct combat operations in Afghanistan. The actions of the military personnel were highly appreciated by the government: • two were awarded the Order of the Red Banner; • two hundred fifty-nine received the Order of the Red Star; • fifty-five – Order “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR”; • three hundred twenty – medal “For Courage”; • four hundred ninety-seven – medal “For military merits." In the seventies, the Soviet Union helped overcome a catastrophic drought in Somalia. Similar assistance was provided by TrV units in other countries in Africa and Asia. The most complex pipeline-laying operations were carried out by TrV fighters in the Northern Caucasus. Carrying out combat orders under enemy fire, people successfully carried out their task. Also, many purely civilian operations were carried out in the region. Another type of civil operation is the installation of pipelines into forest fire zones, to burning peat bogs. Such operations are carried out quite often in the Moscow region, Siberia, and the Far East. The actions of TrV make it possible to extinguish fires in the absence of bodies of water within a radius of tens of kilometers. The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant became a glorious and tragic page of TrV. The fighters, despite the radiation, laid out pipeline branches to pump water and fuel. The created water supply allowed the cement plant to operate and, as a result, to erect a sarcophagus over the emergency reactor. The actions of the TRV military personnel made it possible to avoid the terrible consequences of this disaster. On this day we express our gratitude to everyone who served and is serving in these special rear troops, for their courage and bravery, for their work, unnoticed, but no less necessary.

This is an unofficial holiday, the origins of which go deep into antiquity. In Rus', they believed that healers possessed some secret knowledge and were endowed with supernatural abilities that helped them save people and animals from various kinds of diseases.

The birthday of the Moscow region is one of the regional local holidays associated with the decisions of the Soviet government. It falls on January 14th. It was then, in 1929, at a meeting of the presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee that the specified region was formed as an independent regional entity.

The Donkey Festival, celebrated on January 14, has been known since the 11th century. And it is dedicated not to a pet known for its stubbornness, but to one of the gospel events. This day is interpreted as a reminder of the flight to Egypt of the Holy Family. After all, an ordinary donkey helped them in this, without which Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus would not have been able to overcome the difficult path. Flight was a necessary measure in order to escape the massacre of infants, which was carried out on the orders of King Herod. According to legend, in little Jesus, every unreasonable creature of God, unlike people, recognized the Creator in human form. The Holy Family was even accompanied by lions, who became meek and completely harmless. But the donkey helped him directly get to a safe place. It is not known for certain when the Donkey Festival began to be celebrated. But the first mention of such a celebration dates back to 1162 and is contained in one of the works of the French theologian John Belet. Information about him can also be found in the novels of the writer Victor Hugo. In particular, the Feast of the Donkey is mentioned in the famous novel “Notre Dame de Paris.” It is on this occasion (as well as on the feast of Epiphany) that folk festivities take place on the streets of Paris, during which the ugly bell-ringer Quasimodo is jokingly crowned as a false pope (the pope of fools). The beautiful street dancer Esmeralda performs at the same event. This is exactly how the beginning of the novel happens, the beautiful Esmeralda, the hunchback Quasimodo and other characters meet. In general, echoes of traditional religious celebrations can be found throughout European cultural history. There is also data about him in Nietzsche’s philosophical treatise, which is called “Beyond Good and Evil.” Historians often do not consider the celebration in itself, but include it in the context of the larger Feast of Fools as a by-product. The Donkey Festival was widely celebrated only in the Middle Ages, mainly in France. In the second half of the 15th century, it was practically forgotten. Interestingly, during the celebration, not only the animal on which the baby Jesus was brought to Egypt was glorified, but also all the biblical donkeys in general. Among them is the one on which Jesus Christ later entered Jerusalem. Traditional celebrations included folk festivals, performances by street musicians, dancers and other artists. There was also a theatrical performance in the form of a re-enactment of gospel events. A beautiful girl with a baby in her arms sat on a donkey and rode along the main city streets, accompanied by musicians. The procession ended near the church, where a special mass was celebrated to mark the solemn day. Choristers and junior church officials of the local church necessarily took part in the celebration. The procession was accompanied by Latin paraliturgical songs. The most famous of them is the “Orientis partibus” conductor. It celebrates the arrival from the distant eastern lands of a donkey who is able to separate the wheat from the chaff.

The ability to reason logically and solve complex problems is called logike - the science of correct thinking. Puzzles, riddles, chess, checkers, and crosswords contribute to its development. It is believed that logic has phenomenal benefits - it “teaches how to learn”, because how cement holds other knowledge together. The discipline exists at the intersection of sciences, but most of all it comes into contact with mathematics. Since 2019, on January 14, according to the decision of the General Conference of UNESCO, World Logic Day is celebrated. The establishment of World Logic Day is associated with two great scientists of the twentieth century. - mathematicians Kurt Gödel and Alfred Tarski. Each of these two luminaries made a great contribution to the development of exact sciences and logic. Austrian Kurt Week, born in 1906 and died on January 14, 1978, is the author of the theory of recursive functions, which was used in the design of early computers. The scientist, known for his works on differential geometry and theoretical physics, is rightfully considered a philosopher of science. American Alfred Tarski, born in Poland on January 14, 1901, is known for his contributions to the development of model and multiplicity theory, abstract algebra, topology and other sciences. The date of World Logic Day was not chosen by chance - it falls on the birthday of one scientist and the death of another. The holiday is celebrated annually by residents in 35 countries around the world. In 2020, more than 60 educational events were dedicated to World Logic Day. The popularization of World Logic Day is due to Jean-Yves Bezo, a professor from the University of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro and president of the Academy of Philosophy. The scientist works in the field of square of opposition, paraconsistent and universal logic. Bezo was the first to propose including January 14 in the UNESCO Calendar of International Days. Logic in pre-revolutionary Russia was included in the list of compulsory subjects that were studied in lyceums. In the USSR, school students did not take this discipline; science was taught at universities and colleges. Today, logic is being returned to the list of general education subjects, because its relevance in the modern world is very great. Information and communication technologies, analysis of social processes and economic modeling are based on the algorithmic reasoning of science. Celebrating World Logic Day strengthens international collaboration between scientists from different countries, promoting progress in scientific research and increasing people's understanding of the discipline. Without logic and algorithms, the digital environment and computer technology cannot exist. The development of thinking in the form of the ability to think, reason and draw conclusions helps a person to find patterns in various processes and solve life problems. Paying tribute to ancient science, known since the times of Ancient Greece, January 14 marks another young, but very important holiday - World Logic Day.

The proverb is well known: “It is clean not where they clean, but where they do not litter.” Be that as it may, it is customary to clean up the house on weekends and holidays, to generalize after repairs, to polish the windows to a shine with the onset of spring. Despite the fact that the main holidays are left behind, you should still prepare for January 14th. Until 1918, this date fell on the New Year according to the old style. Therefore, the American Clean Your House Day fits well into Russian reality. Organize Your Home Day is ideal for bringing order and cleanliness to both residential and commercial premises. Psychologists say that cleaning helps fight the blues and depression that come over people after the New Year. Putting things in the right order, getting rid of unnecessary things and taking out the trash helps organize thoughts and drive away sadness. Physical activity is good for health - it trains muscles and provokes the release of domafin, known as the hormone of joy. And then, a clean apartment or house gives aesthetic pleasure to both the owners and their guests. In Rus', it was customary to celebrate the New Year, which fell on January 14 according to the Julian calendar, with the eldest in the family. According to the signs for the holiday, our ancestors not only put things in order in their homes and set the tables, but also pleased themselves with new clothes and tried not to swear or use foul language. On New Year's Day, it was customary to feed the birds and make wishes on the night of January 13-14. On this day you did not borrow money: it was believed that because of this, you would spend the whole year in debt, as if in silk. Despite the transition to the Gregorian calendar in post-revolutionary Russia, the old holiday remained in the memory of the people. In his honor, champagne is uncorked and the table is set for the second round. The celebration of the holiday beloved by all Soviet people formed the basis of playwright M. Roshchin’s play “Old New Year,” which was made into a film in 1980. According to the Julian calendar, his arrival is also celebrated in the countries of the former USSR: Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan. January 14 is also celebrated in Romania, Macedonia and Serbia. Residents of these countries traditionally clean up their homes - cleaning is one of the important pre-New Year rituals. Even if the owners generalized by January 1, it won’t hurt to repeat the procedure. It is believed that celebrating the New Year in a clean house is a good omen. For Organize Your Home Day, a lot of life hacks are published on where to start putting things in order and how to do it quickly and without problems. January 14th is well suited for those people who want to start life from scratch. That's why they celebrate Clean Your House Day.

According to the folk calendar, Vasiliev Day is celebrated on January 14th. Before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in our area, this date fell on January 1 according to the old style, and the holiday was considered the New Year. Popularly, the day received its name from the church date of veneration of St. Basil the Great, a Christian preacher in the 4th century. On Vasily’s Day, people visited each other for gatherings and congratulated them on the New Year. They set a generous table so that the New Year would pass in abundance. Among the dishes were baked pork, sausages, dumplings, kutya, cabbage rolls, pies, beer and wine. There were no poultry or fish dishes so that luck would not fly away and float away from the house. Young people gathered in groups in the evenings, boys and girls joked, played and looked for a mate. The girls were engaged in fortune-telling in the name of the betrothed, the guys were telling fortunes about the character and appearance of the betrothed. Children ran around neighbors' yards and sang carols. The songs wished good health to the household and a rich life. The owners thanked the children with goodies. Christmastide consisted of 12 days, symbolizing 12 months, and was divided into two periods. The first is the week of holy evenings after Christmas, the second is the week of terrible evenings from St. Basil's Day to Epiphany. They believed that on terrible evenings all the evil spirits came out to the earth to harm people. Therefore, they tried to deceive her in every possible way, dressing up as mummers. Mummering was another fun pastime for young people. Usually they dressed up as a goat, a bear, or a wolf: they put an inverted sheep's coat on their back, smeared their faces with soot, attached horns or ears to their heads, glued a mustache under their nose, and walked hunched over. The point of dressing up is to become unrecognizable. They ran into the house, shouted, scared the children, and the owners had to guess who was hidden under the mask, then the exposed mummer took off the suit. On Vasiliev’s Day there was a ritual called “oats”. The children ran home, scattered oats from their pockets around the room, singing the sowing song to the owners, and blessed them for a good harvest. Housewives collected the scattered grain and stored it until sowing. The faster the grain was harvested, the better the field will produce. According to the signs on Vasiliev's Day, people judged the future. If a man entered the house first, then happiness will happen, if a woman - there will be trouble. If there were large bills in the wallet, then the year should have passed in wealth. If fog was noticed, they believed that the summer harvest would be excellent. Snow covering the fields meant an abundance of grain in storage, and a snowstorm foreshadowed a large harvest of nuts.

In many cultures around the world, white symbolizes divinity, innocence, sophistication and beauty. In India, it is considered the color of the Brahmins - a caste of priests striving for spiritual improvement. Jesus Christ and the righteous are depicted in white robes on the icons. The symbol of the Virgin Mary is white lilies, which, like graceful chrysanthemums, lilies of the valley and snowdrops, are considered the embodiment of purity and beauty. People admire albino animals and birds with white plumage - storks, peacocks, seagulls, robins, etc. It has been noticed that birds with colors different from other representatives of their species are not always accepted into the flock by their relatives. This observation formed the basis of the “white crow” metaphor. Pigeons, cranes and swans have long been associated with unconditional love and fidelity, for which there are no barriers such as time and distance, snowstorms and frosts. It is no coincidence that in winter, which is famous for snowstorms and blizzards, an unusual holiday is celebrated - the Day of Snow-White Birds. Albino birds are not uncommon in the wild. The most famous are the American robin and the common house martin. Due to the lack of melanin pigment, they have a white beak and plumage of the same color, colorless skin, white claws, and red or pink eyes. In nature, albinos are found among penguins, mandarin ducks and parrots. But people especially admire birds with white fluff and plumage - cranes, pigeons and swans. They become a source of inspiration when creating legends, poems and songs. Images of noble birds are found in the famous song “Cranes”, first performed by M. Bernes, in the novel by the Russian writer B. Vasiliev “Don’t shoot the white swans”. Birds personify harmony and family happiness in the film "Love and Doves." They have been considered a symbol of peace since the time of the Olympics in Ancient Greece. White carrier pigeons were used to convey messages to cities about the results of the Games. During the period of their holding in Hellas, wars ceased according to the Ekeheiria (Olympic truce) - a tradition that appeared in the 8th century. BC. The ballet "Swan Lake" made the snow-white bird a symbol of beauty, goodness and love. Thanks to the spread of Christianity, the dove became associated with purity, forgiveness and deliverance from sins. It is believed that the Holy Spirit took the form of a bird during Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River. Almost 2 thousand years later, in 1949, Pablo Picasso created a graphic image of a dove for the poster of the First World Peace Congress. The drawing of a white bird with a green olive branch in its beak has become very famous. The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda solemnly declared: “Picasso’s dove flies around the world, and not a single criminal bird catcher can stop its flight...” The holiday, celebrated on January 14, is a good reason to let pigeons and other pets fly. Birds soaring in the sky give a lot of positive emotions. In honor of the holiday, it is customary to treat the birds, which outshine their relatives in beauty, with delicacies, symbolically congratulating them on an unusual celebration - the Day of Snow-White Birds.

The first court brass band appeared in Rus' in 1547 under Ivan the Terrible. In it, the musicians played pity pipes, bagpipes, pipe flutes and shortened trumpets of the “Vladimir Horn” type. Army orchestras, consisting of European-style wind and percussion instruments, appeared in Russia in 1711 by decree of Peter I. The Tsar approved a staff of military musicians, who were taught in schools by teachers from Germany. The classes were recruited from among soldiers' children. Bands performed gallant marches during drill training for soldiers, and played during ceremonies and military rituals. Since the 19th century. Army musicians and conductors began performing concerts, donating the proceeds to the needs of disabled soldiers. The first regiments in which orchestras appeared were Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky. During the reign of Catherine II, the number of employees in regular military units performing music reached 100 people. Under Paul I, the number of orchestra players was greatly reduced. In 1873-1884, N.A. made a great contribution to the development of music for the navy. Rimsky-Korsakov. Thanks to him, the repertoire of the Admiralty and other orchestras of the Kronstadt port expanded: overtures, polkas, mazurkas, medleys, waltzes and fantasies appeared. This innovation was adopted by field musicians. A diverse repertoire makes military bands a welcome guest at city festivals and other public events today. Military units consisting of musicians received a new round of development after the October Revolution. In 1921, the Red Army established the Bureau of Military Bands of the Red Army and Navy. In connection with Order No. 194 of the Revolutionary Military Council, the Regulations and staffing of the unit were approved. The main task of the Bureau was to organize musical support for all areas of combat and political training of the Red Army. January 14, the date of its formation according to the new style, became the Day of the Creation of the Military Band Service of the RF Armed Forces. The role of music in raising the morale of the army is difficult to overestimate. The Scottish band, consisting of drummers and pipers, led the attack ahead of the regiment until the First World War. Napoleon Bonaparte admitted that the reason for his unsuccessful campaign against Moscow in 1812 was severe frosts and military music. Choral polonaises, triumphal marches and hussar songs contributed to the rise of patriotism and national consciousness of Russian society. The first military brass bands appeared in the Middle Ages. The main musical instruments were bugles, bagpipes, horns, flutes and drums. The performed marches and fanfares were used to control the army, boost morale on the battlefield, and entertain the soldiers after the battle. Horse bands served artillery and cavalry formations. Musicians played national anthems, marches and patriotic songs. The third type of military bands uses keyboard trumpets, brass and woodwind instruments. They traditionally staff units of musicians serving in the RF Armed Forces. Performers of military melodies play drums, timpani and cymbals, saxophones and bassoons, horns, trumpets and trombones, sousaphones and euphoniums, glockenspiels and other instruments. All professional musicians who continue the glorious traditions of the past are annually congratulated on January 14 on the Day of the Creation of the Military Band Service.

Indian Holidays - International Kite Festival

Holidays of Uzbekistan - Day of Defenders of the Motherland

Tunisia Holidays - Revolution and Youth Day

Indian Holidays - Pongal - Harvest Festival (Pongal)

Orthodox holidays January 14:

The Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord is one of the New Year holidays revered by Christians all over the world. And although it is not as significant as Easter, Christmas or the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is still one of the Lord’s important holidays, i.e. those in which events from the life of the Lord Jesus Christ are remembered. Born in Bethlehem, the Infant of God was circumcised on the eighth day, as required by the Old Testament law. This law was preserved in memory of the conclusion of the Covenant between God and the Forefather Abraham. It was preserved and strictly followed for many centuries. The significance of this event is great in that it especially emphasizes not only the incarnation of the Son of God into human flesh, but also the fact that he took on the image of a sinful man, i.e. suffered circumcision as a sinful man. Although, of course, Christ did not need any cleansing. So he humbled himself to the sinful state of man. On the same day, he was given the name Jesus, which was given by the Archangel Gabriel during the Annunciation. The importance of the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord for Christians, both Catholics and Orthodox, is that this event shows that every person can achieve holiness. But for this you need to cut off spiritual and physical passions from your heart. And this cannot be done without living faith in Christ. After the Resurrection of Christ, Christians are circumcised spiritually in the Sacrament of Baptism. Usually on the same day the person being baptized is given a name as evidence of dedication and service to God. The Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord is celebrated on January 14. In pre-revolutionary Russia, this was the beginning of the new year - January 1, old style. And now, in order to ask for God’s blessing for the New Year, prayer services are held in Orthodox churches. This day is also the day of remembrance of St. Basil the Great. Both of these holidays are combined in Church services. On January 14th, the tradition of “sowing” is still observed in many villages. Young people go to the houses of neighbors and acquaintances, sprinkle (sow) the house with oats, sing holiday songs and wish the owner God's blessing on his home, household, and work.

Basil the Great was born in 330 AD. and lived for 49 years. Almost his entire life was devoted to worship, for which he was canonized after his death. The literary works he wrote are still in the authority of modern Christians; the Liturgy of Basil the Great is celebrated in his honor several times a year. But everything could have been different! Vasily was born into a wealthy family of a lawyer, a master of rhetoric, and was the eldest child in the family. At the age of 14, he became an orphan, left in the care of his grandmother Macrina. When Vasily was 17 years old, he left his father’s house and went first to Caesarea, then to Constantinople, and from there to Athens. There, in one of the Athens schools, he continued his studies, intending to later become a lawyer. Vasily found it easy to study; by those standards, he was a more than educated person: he studied several languages, had knowledge in the fields of medicine, mathematics, and natural science. At the age of twenty, Vasily returned to Caesarea, taking up legal practice there. Around the same age, Vasily was baptized and became a reader in church, and then completely abandoned the legal profession and went on a trip. During his pilgrimage, he visited many monastic monasteries, where he acquired knowledge. Returning back, he donated part of his father’s inheritance, distributing it to the poor, and founded a monastic monastery on the Iris River. During his monastic seclusion, he created many theological works, some of which have survived to this day. In 362, Vasily was offered to head the post of presbyter of the local diocese, and in 370, after the death of the head of the diocese, he became a bishop. He remained in this place until the end of his days. On January 14, a service is held in the church in honor of St. Basil the Great.

Memorial Day of the Holy Martyr Basil of Ancyra of Caesarea