There are more than 100 thousand nature reserves in the world. These territories, from the smallest Galichya Mountain in the Lipetsk region to the huge coral coast of Papahanaumokuakea on the Hawaiian archipelago, must be patrolled and protected. Rangers are the caretakers and guardians of the planet's natural resources. Associations with the word “ranger” probably lead to the hero of Chuck Norris, who for 8 seasons in a row dispensed justice the Texas way, defeating criminals with well-trained fighting techniques. But in real life, this work is fraught with risks. Rangers often work in national parks in developing countries or conflict zones - from Kenya to Tanzania, from Costa Rica to Guatemala, from Thailand to Indonesia. For example, game wardens in South Africa daily have to disarm gangs of knackers during the illegal hunting of animals from rhinoceros to abalone and the theft of plants such as cycads and proteas. Dangers come from wild animals, bad weather in difficult terrain. But the statistics are horrifying: every year about 120 rangers die, and in more than 50% of cases, poachers and bandits are to blame. To attract public attention to the work of conservation border guards, as well as to honor those who died in the line of duty, International Ranger Day was established in 2007. This holiday is the brainchild of 63 member associations of the International Federation of Rangers, the Thin Green Line Foundation and everyone who contributes to the environmental movement. World Ranger Day is celebrated annually on July 31st and everyone is welcome to join. The easiest option is to connect to online promotions launched by the Thin Green Line. For example, post a selfie or photo of friends holding a poster with the message “I stand with the world’s Rangers” on social networks. On Facebook and Twitter, such publications are marked with the tags #WorldRangerDay, #StandWithRangers, #NaturesProtectors. The Thin Green Line website offers print-ready layouts in English, French, and Spanish. On the same resource you can donate any acceptable amount to various fund projects. And the profile date is an occasion to ask for support for the brave souls who engage in battles with poachers, remove thousands of traps, take care of local biodiversity together with scientists, block fires along with firefighters, repair supports, bridges, fences, and pedestrian paths. And often they become guides or help visitors with advice on where to go, what to see. In addition to collecting through fund accounts, many environmental activists organize fun runs, candy sales, and auctions, the profits from which are donated to ranger organizations in their region. The last day of July brings together caring people for memorable meetings near the memorials of the fallen rangers from the Sayano-Shushensky Nature Reserve in Russia to the Brasilia National Park in Brazil. Eco-parks and reserves host thematic lectures, conversations with guides, and film screenings on environmental protection topics. All to show the incredible burden that rangers carry in protecting wildlife.

Fans of literary heroes celebrate the birthdays of Sherlock Holmes and d'Artagnan, the cat Matroskin and Cheburashka, Baron Munchausen and Ostap Bender. The birth dates of favorite characters are determined by both inquisitive readers and literary scholars during a thorough analysis of works. On July 31, fans of JK Rowling's novels celebrate Harry Potter's birthday. The appearance of a boy, whose father and mother challenged the dark wizard Voldemort three times, was announced by the seer Sibyl Trelawney. 3 months after Harry was born, his parents were killed, and the orphan was given to Aunt Petunia to be raised. At the age of 11, a young man with a scar on his forehead, a mark that connects him with the magician Voldemort, went to study at a school for wizards. The famous Hogwarts student was born in 1980 on the same day, 15 years apart, from his creator, writer JK Rowling. No less autobiographical are the lines of the book about the passing of the boy’s parents. In December 1990, as Joan began writing the novel, her mother died. That's why the story about the death of Lilly and James Potter turned out to be so touching and very personal. Every year Harry Potter's Birthday is celebrated by fans of the literary hero. Illustrators are participating in an art challenge - throughout July they post drawings depicting Potter characters on social networks. Congratulations are posted to the wizard on Twitter, and fans post photos of birthday cakes on Instagram. Harry is congratulated on his birthday on the Pottermore.com platform - the official website of the writer JK Rowling. In honor of the hero's 20th anniversary in 2018, employees of the Open Book store in Canyon Country, USA, donned wizard's robes to teach young readers how to make magical talismans and brooms. The library in Lancaster, Ohio, hosts a costume contest and varsity Quidditch competition each year during Harry Potter's Birthday. In India, fans of the young wizard gather on July 31 at a bookstore in Delhi. In one of the restaurants in Mumbai, on the occasion of the special date, a competition is being held to make a magic potion. As a souvenir, guests of the evening receive a ticket to platform 9 3/4 and a letter from Hogwarts. In the early 90s. JK Rowling worked at the Livraria Lello store in the city of Porto in northern Portugal. Residents of this country consider themselves fellow countrymen of Harry Potter, celebrating his birthday magnificently. Russian fans also hold various events in honor of the birth of the legendary boy. By July 31, meetings are organized in libraries, films with Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter in all the film adaptations of D. Rowling’s books, are reviewed at parties, and themed sweets and snacks are prepared. The books of the English writer tell about friendship, love, courage and inner strength, the mandatory victory of good over evil. The holiday helps to believe in miracles, making people better people, because it is no coincidence that 61% of Potter readers said the novels had a positive influence on the formation of their worldview. Harry Potter's Birthday is a date that unites the young magician's forfeits in a single sincere impulse - to celebrate the wizard's birthday on July 31.

Literary works are a source of inspiration for many people. Favorite novels and stories, memoirs and scientific treatises bring pleasure and provide food for the mind. Books educate and shape a person as an individual, instill good taste, and open up new horizons for understanding the world.

Throughout human history, people have used various instruments to convey moods and feelings. Among them there are some very interesting ones, such as a clavichord, a chitarron and a recorder, and some absolutely amazing ones - a cat piano, a hydralophone, a glass harmonica and a Picasso guitar.

Black beauties dressed in bright outfits with fancy headdresses, bracelets, and jewelry in the nose and ears received equal rights with men relatively recently - in the middle of the twentieth century. After years of slavery and gender-based oppression, African women were able to participate in the social, political and economic life of their countries. Representatives of the most ancient continent on the planet today continue to fight for their rights at the state and global level. In 1962, the Pan African Women's Organization PAWO was founded in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Its first meeting was attended by delegates from 18 states. PAWO was created in support of the national liberation movement, the struggle of blacks against colonialism, gender discrimination and all forms of racial oppression. At the initiative of one of the organization’s members, politician and social activist from Mali Aua Kate, a holiday was established. July 31, the founding date of PAWO, is the International Day of African Women. In addition to this celebration and March 8, residents of some countries of the continent celebrate their national holidays. Thus, in Tunisia, Women's Day falls on August 13, in South Africa - on August 9. Their festive events help promote the theme of gender equality and the integration of African women into the economic and political life of the country. Thanks to the active position of women, the attention of the government and the world community is drawn to the high neonatal and maternal mortality on the continent and other health problems. Striking examples of the fact that African women can achieve recognition at the world level are singers Bee Kidude and Cesaria Evora, who became a Grammy winner in 2004, and models Iman and Liya Kebede from Somalia. One of the sisters, after finishing her career on the podium, became a philanthropist - the founder of the Liya Kebede Foundation to help young mothers. Iman Kebede is involved in charity work by participating in the “Save a Child’s Life” program. The UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador is jazz singer Angelique Kidjo, originally from Benin; the first African Miss World to win this title in 2001 was Agbani Darego from Nigeria. Each International Day of African Women is dedicated to a specific theme. In 2021, the celebrations were held under the theme “Women in Art and Cultural Heritage”, in 2023 - “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. Today, African women occupy key positions in the management of companies and states, such as Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who became the President of Liberia in 2006. They carry out human rights activities like Tawakel Karman from Yemen, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. They owe the emergence of broad opportunities for social fulfillment to PAWO and the International Day of African Women.

US Holidays - Hawaiian Flag Day (Ka Hae Hawaii Day)

Catholic holidays - Feast Day of Ignatius of Loyola

Omelyanov day according to the folk calendar is celebrated on July 31 (July 18 according to the old style). The holiday received this name from the name of St. Emilian of Dorostol, revered by the Orthodox Church on this day. Emilian lived in the 4th century in the city of Dorostol (the territory of modern Bulgaria), was a slave and secretly professed Christianity. When the pagan ruler issued a decree on the brutal extermination of Christians, Emilian managed to destroy the pagan temple and escape unnoticed. Out of anger, the outraged idolaters grabbed the first inhabitant they came across and began to beat him, believing that he was responsible for the destruction. Then Emilian came out and announced that he himself had broken the statues of the gods and the altar, after which the crowd attacked him and beat him half to death. Emilian was burned, but the flames did not touch him, but only burned the surrounding idolaters. When the fire went out, the martyr read a prayer to the Lord and his soul went to heaven. Emilian was popularly called Emelyan or Omelyan. By this date, peasants tried to finish harvesting grain crops and harvesting hay. After hard work, the sickles were cleaned of dirt and placed on the harvested field, symbolically forming a solar circle. Then they invited the priest to read a prayer service over them and bless them with holy water. Only then were the sickles hidden in storerooms until the next harvest. On Omelyanov Day there was a tradition of going to the bathhouse. In this way, the peasants were cleared of fatigue after hard work. For the bath they used brooms woven from the stems of field crops. Meadow flowers were woven into them for aroma. Residents believed that a mystical spirit, Bannik, lived in the bathhouse. In order not to anger him during bath procedures, people entered the bathhouse with a bow. It was also necessary to remove the pectoral cross from the chest and leave everything metal outside. For Bannik they brought a separate herbal broom, soap, a bucket of water and a cloth for wiping. Failure to comply with such conditions could lead to Bannik’s pranks: he could either pour boiling water on him, or throw a stone, or knock dully on the wall. But the housewives on Omelyanov’s day were busy preparing food for the winter. So they made preserves and jams from berries, dried mushrooms and fruits in the attic. Tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini were pickled in huge barrels with herbs. Prepared supplies were stored in cellars where the temperature was relatively cool. If you noticed heat on Omelyanov Day, you prepared for severe frosts in December. What a day it was on Omelyan, such was the wait for the autumn season. The yellowed foliage on the top of the birch tree announced early autumn. Frequent rumbles of thunder foreshadowed an impending thunderstorm, quiet and rare ones - on the contrary, dry weather.

Orthodox holidays on July 31:

For Orthodox parishioners, this day is a significant date and is considered a great holiday according to the church calendar. It is always celebrated on July 31 (18th according to the old style), since it was on this date that the saint accepted death, becoming a spiritual associate of God. On this day, a festive church service is held with hymns in which Saint John himself and the entire family of the Pecherskys are glorified. A decree on this was adopted back in the 17th century by Metropolitan Peter of Kyiv and a prayer canon was created by Hieromonk Meletius Sirig. He was a monk and became a righteous man after a long imprisonment. He chose this path on his own in order to get rid of the carnal lust that had overwhelmed his thoughts since adolescence. Not wanting to succumb to this sin, at first Saint John tormented himself with hunger, thirst and body constriction, but this did not help him. Then the monk went to the burial place of Saint Anthony and began to call upon his relics. After a long prayer, John heard a voice that told him the way to get rid of temptations. After this, the future righteous man adopted an ascetic lifestyle by renouncing all human goods and settled in the Near Cave. After 30 years of seclusion, carnal passion was finally defeated, and this was not easy for him. Many times the monk almost succumbed to the idea of ​​quitting his seclusion and returning to worldly life. The temptation was so great that he had to take extreme measures, burying himself in a hole up to his shoulders and spending the entire fast there. The great spirit and strong character of this man helped him endure this feat stoically and not succumb to fear of the snake that appeared. This mythical animal, spewing flames and sparks, tried to swallow the saint for many days. The struggle continued until the Resurrection of Christ, and only an appeal to God in prayer helped save him from this beast struck by lightning. After this, the voice of the Savior told the monk that he could finally get rid of passions by reading a prayer to Saint Moses and applying his relics to his body. Having listened to God and done everything as he was told, healing came to him and the understanding that the desire for carnal pleasures would never again cloud his mind. Having accepted the Divine gift, the monk began to help other people, overcome sinful desires and accept morality. Realizing that he would soon die, the righteous man returned to the place of his imprisonment and left the mortal world, looking to the east, having previously buried himself in the same hole again. This happened around 1160. They say that the relics are still in this cave, remaining buried. There are documents written by Archdeacon Paul of Aleppo and engineer Boplan testifying to this. Many travelers visit the caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, which is located in the Kyiv region, wanting to personally see the last refuge of the righteous man and pray to his great relics. Many more monks were buried in these caves, nicknamed Anthony's in honor of St. Anthony of Pechersk.

Feast of the miraculous Kaluga Icon of the Mother of God

Memorial Day of the Martyr Jacinthos of Amastrida

Memorial Day of the Martyr Emilian Dorostolsky