As you know, water is a powerful element that constantly claims human lives. Therefore, humanity throughout its history has taken actions to protect people and their property from the ravages of floods or other water-related disasters. The Water Rescue Society or OSVOD is a mass public organization whose members join on a voluntary basis.

Surely every person has skipped school at least once in his life. Some people think that skipping classes for no reason is unacceptable, others calmly skip them once or twice a week and don’t worry. One way or another, absenteeism is a component of the educational process. Teachers and most parents try to fight them, but not always successfully. Freedom-loving and inventive schoolchildren each time come up with more and more new reasons for not showing up to school. According to the law, it is forbidden to skip without a good reason. Their legal representatives are responsible for malicious fans of skipping classes. In particularly difficult cases, administrative measures are taken against parents, and sometimes the truant is even expelled from the educational institution. However, there is a day when schoolchildren can quite justifiably miss classes. March 7 is the Day of Truancy in Russia. This funny holiday came to us relatively recently, but quickly became a favorite among students and even teachers. In some countries this holiday is also celebrated. For example, in Poland it falls on March 21. Teachers themselves dismiss children from classes, marking this day in the curriculum as a library day. That is, officially students are engaged in extracurricular educational activities. Due to the fact that in Poland the holiday falls on the spring equinox, adults often organize events dedicated to seeing off winter and welcoming the long-awaited spring. It’s a strange situation: but not skipping school on this day is even considered shameful. Therefore, especially diligent students simply imitate absenteeism. In England, similar events are held earlier - on February 1. And in the USA and Canada, each educational institution has its own tradition of celebrating this day. In some places, self-government days are held, in others, field trips or even school parties are organized. Most people think that on this day they can officially skip classes. In fact, the holiday is a joke, and for completely careless students, the day of truancy should become a reminder of the importance of studying. This day is a reason to think about your attitude towards school, learning and teachers. Over the relatively short history of the holiday, its own traditions have already developed. Students, skipping classes, go to parks and enjoy the early spring. Somewhere the guys are preparing for another holiday - International Women's Day. Some zoos, amusement parks, and children's theaters are adapting to this date, offering discounts for schoolchildren and organizing themed events. It is gratifying that school administrations also began (unofficially for now) to hold events in honor of March 7th. This once again proves that teachers understand: children simply need relaxation, rest and positive emotions on the eve of spring exams.

At the beginning of spring, people in many countries around the world celebrate an unusual holiday, paying tribute to a blanket that saves during the winter cold. This bedding gives a feeling of coziness and comfort, ensuring a sound and healthy sleep. On March 7, the funny Day of the Warm Blanket is celebrated, with its embrace protecting you from cold and nightmares. Wool blankets replaced the skins of wild animals. Fleecy fabric for the production of blankets appeared in 1340 in England - it was invented by the artisan Thomas Blunkett. The material for the manufacture was pleasant to the touch six livestock. Long before T. Blunkett, in the III-IV centuries. AD, the Chinese began to weave silk bedspreads. Today, a blanket that keeps you warm on a cold night doesn't have to be made of wool. For sewing textiles, modern materials and insulation are used - synthetic winterizer, holofiber, down, feather, exotic bamboo and eucalyptus. This is interesting: We owe the fashion for wall hangings to blankets. In Rus' until the 17th century. Only wealthy people could afford this bedding. Homemade looms were used to make blankets, after which the products were nailed to the wall, emphasizing the social status of the owner. With the advent of manufactories, this “luxury” became available not only to merchants, but also to peasants. Until the middle of the 17th century. blankets were made by hand in Rus'. And only 100 years later they began to be woven on machines on an industrial scale, using satin, calico and chintz. Today, blankets are produced in 3 main types: quilted with poor fixation of the filling, karostep with a pattern of stitches in the form of crosses or the number “8”, cassette with separate sections connected in one product. Various fabrics are used to sew external covers: silk, satin, jacquard, calico or satin. They protect products from abrasion, increasing their service life. This is interesting: The birthplace of patchwork garments made in the popular patchwork style today is India. It was from there in the 16th century. The British brought the fashion for this unusual bedding design to Europe. Few people in the modern world full of anxiety and stress can boast of sound sleep. You can’t even dream about the silence of the night in the bustle of noisy cities. A wool blanket helps you create your own little cozy world, perfect for providing a restful night's rest. By wrapping yourself in it, you can hide from the outside world for a while in order to get enough sleep and restore strength. Everyone who appreciates this important bedding item celebrates the funny and touching Warm Blanket Day on March 7th.

Flowering plants delight the eye with their natural, pristine beauty. A tree, if a person who is in complete loss of spirit clings to it, saturates him with energy and inner strength. Vegetarianism with a complete rejection of meat products is no less beneficial for the body. March 7th is Plant Energy Day. This holiday is ideal for including a lot of greens, grains, vegetables and fruits in your diet. The tradition of eating only plant foods goes back thousands of years. If Buddha or Pythagoras were our contemporaries, they would happily support the idea of ​​​​celebrating Plant Power Day. Because both the founder of one of the world's oldest religions and the ancient Greek philosopher were convinced vegetarians. Lenten nutrition was supported by representatives of the Enlightenment - humanist writers Percy Shelley, Alexander Pope and Lord Byron. Among the stars of our time, vegetarians include Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, Sting and Richard Gere, Demi Moore and Julia Roberts, Alec Baldwin and Paul McCartney. Plant Energy Day does not call for complete elimination of animal products. We are talking about including as many dishes from vegetables, herbs and fruits in the daily diet as possible. Plant-based foods are rich in nutrients and fiber, making them healthy for both children and adults. Of course, you can compensate for their deficiency with the help of vitamin complexes and dietary supplements. However, all these drugs are synthetic, i.e. the results of artificial combination of components. A balanced plant-based diet will saturate the body with natural vitamins and minerals, which are absorbed well and quickly. How is Plant Power Day celebrated around the world? On this day, in honor of the holiday, of course, dishes from the vegetarian menu are consumed. Those who decide to take a step towards plant-based food are revising the recipes of their favorite dishes, replacing chicken with tofu, regular milk with almond or soy, choosing seitan instead of meat and sherbet instead of ice cream. In honor of Plant Energy Day, lectures and seminars, promotions and flash mobs are held. Vegetarians or those who plan to give up animal foods send postcards to friends and acquaintances congratulating them on Plant Power Day. On March 7, they visit stores that sell products for vegans and create topics to discuss their diet on thematic forums. In honor of the holiday, post on a social network about the benefits of grains, vegetables and fruits - sow the seeds of healthy eating on Plant Energy Day!

On the eve of International Women's Day, Albania hosts a celebration dedicated to teachers. Every year on March 7, teachers accept congratulations from their students, colleagues and everyone who cares about this holiday. Festive concerts, greeting cards and a bouquet of mimosa are mandatory attributes of Teacher's Day in Albania. Albanians understand that the work of a teacher deserves respect and recognition, because it is teachers who educate the future generation. Today's education system in Albania allows one to obtain enough basic knowledge to continue further education. However, the situation did not always look like this. Back in the middle of the 20th century. more than half of Albania's population was illiterate. Being constantly under someone's influence - Turks, Greeks, Serbs - Albanians had no right to choose. The few schools that existed taught in Greek or Turkish. In addition, only boys were accepted there, most of the time was devoted to religious education, and in addition, physical punishment was allowed as educational measures. The very first school that changed its views on the education system was a school in the southeast of the country, in the town of Korça. It became the first educational institution in which lessons were taught in the native Albanian language and girls had the right to study. It was this event that served as the date for choosing the holiday date for Teacher's Day. After this, several more schools were opened in which the Albanian language was allowed. This was not enough to make education accessible. Only starting in 1920, the situation changed: first the Ministry of Education was created, then the right to education was spelled out in the Constitution. But Albanians were able to receive higher education in their country only three decades later, when in 1951 three universities were inaugurated in the country.

"Hello, young lady!" - every telephone conversation with subscribers since the end of the 19th century began with this phrase. until the 20s of the XX century. The first devices did not have a disk with numbers, and in other respects they were very different from modern devices. Now it is impossible to imagine people’s lives without this unique invention. Therefore, the birthday of the telephone, which is celebrated on March 7, may be a funny, but important holiday. The idea of ​​​​converting audio signals to analog belongs to telegraph inspector Charles Bourcel. He was still in the middle of the 19th century. noticed that simultaneously with the arrival of an electrical signal into the telegraph, sound also appears in the apparatus. Almost at the same time, a similar discovery was made by Antonio Meucci, a naturalist from the USA, who in 1860 designed a device called Teletrofono. Boursel's observations about possible long-distance communication were brought to life by the American scientist Alexander Bell. He designed a device “for transmitting vocal sounds by telegraph.” He first demonstrated a telephone set on March 7 at the World Exhibition, which was held in Philadelphia in 1876. On this day, A. Bell registered a patent for his invention, which he called an improved model of the telegraph. In 1881, the scientist brought a device for transmitting sounds over a distance to the International Electrical Exhibition in Paris. The phone caused a stir among the public - there were huge queues of people wanting to try to call the device. THIS IS INTERESTING. The first telephone exchange in Moscow opened in 1882 on Kuznetsky Most. Responsible work at the Swedish-Danish-Russian Telephone JSC was associated with a lot of requirements and restrictions for the employees. The telephone operator was supposed to speak impeccably politely, clearly and clearly. She was forbidden to be distracted by extraneous conversations, eavesdrop on conversations of callers, and leave the table without handing it over to a colleague on duty. The fine for being 3-5 minutes late for work was 13 kopecks with a salary of 25-35 rubles. After the Paris exhibition, the triumphant march of the telephone around the world began. Over the following years, scientists have been improving the apparatus. Thus, T. Edison proposed using carbon powder in microphones, and P. Golubitsky was the first to use a capacitor and permanent magnets. Despite the innovative changes, A. Bell is still considered the author of the invention. THIS IS INTERESTING. In the USSR, the first devices with a disk, and with them the ability to dial a subscriber directly, appeared in the 20s of the twentieth century. The numbers consisted of 2-3 digits, because... Not everyone could afford the luxury of a telephone. The disk and switch were invented by the American E. Strowger. His PBX was jokingly called “a telephone without young ladies and curses.” “Girl, honey, I ask you to extend it!” - bard Vladimir Vysotsky shouted into the phone to the international communications operator. The poet could not stop talking to his love - actress Marina Vladi, who lived in Paris. His conversation, whatever, at that moment his whole life depended on the telephone operator. Switchboards and rotary phones are a thing of the past. Communication has become instantaneous, and the modern smartphone bears little resemblance to its ancestor. But there is some magic in an old telephone with a dial and a spring cord leading to the receiver. For most owners, it was not just a communication device, but a true friend. And it is customary to celebrate the birthdays of loved ones, which is what subscribers in different countries of the world do every year on March 7th. THIS IS INTERESTING. In rotary phones, letters were placed around the numbers. Their use was based on the principle of mnemonics - storing information using artificially created associations. It turned out that most subscribers find it easier to remember a word or abbreviation than a combination of numbers from a phone number.

In every country, it is customary to congratulate workers in various industries, who with their work every day raise the economy and the prestige of the state. Such professions include, among others, transport and communications workers, because a lot depends on their daily work. In Turkmenistan, it is customary to congratulate workers in this sector on March 7th. The holiday appeared quite recently, in 2017, when a new railway and road connection across the Amu Darya River was finally put into operation. The old bridge could not cope with the increased traffic and needed serious reconstruction. The new bridge, 21.6 m wide, has four lanes and pedestrian paths, and a new modern material, matacrylic, was chosen as the road surface. The opening was attended by the presidents of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, who were satisfied with the work done. This bridge has an international connection between these neighboring states, and is also of great economic and social importance for both states. On the same day, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree that annulled the previous date and made March 7 the official Day of the Transport and Communications Complex. This day is not an official holiday, even for workers related to these industries. They celebrate it in a narrow professional circle, congratulate and present certificates to those who have achieved professional success. The Day of Transport and Communications Workers in Turkmenistan is a tribute to those who make their native state better with their work. Roads are the first thing foreigners see when visiting another country, and it is by their quality that the economy and development of a state are often judged. The government of Turkmenistan is trying to develop the transport and communications sector for the better: it is modernizing old and building new road and railway connections, replenishing the railway and aviation fleet.

March 7 (February 22, old style) is marked in the folk calendar as Mauritius Day. It is dedicated to the martyrs of Saint Mauritius and his 70 soldiers, whose memory is honored on this date in the Orthodox calendar. Mauritius served as a general in the early 4th century in Apamea in Syria. He preached Christianity, among whose supporters were his son and 70 subordinate soldiers. The commander was reported to the pagan emperor, after which he ordered the believers to be tortured. The son of Mauritius Photinus was hacked to death with a sword, and Mauritius himself and 70 soldiers died from torture with fire, iron and insect bites. In Mauritius, people noticed the return of the first migratory birds - wagtails, rooks, starlings, swallows, and larks. Swallows were especially revered, because they arrived with real spring, for which they were nicknamed the symbol of spring. You couldn’t kill them, otherwise you would bring trouble to your fate. They also said that happiness would come to the house where the swallow made its nest. The temperature rose higher and higher during the day, and frost dropped at night. Such changes compacted the snow. While the roads were hard and did not completely turn into a swamp, the peasants transported the manure collected during the year to the fields. They thickly covered areas with it, hoping to increase productivity. They tried to fertilize the fields in the fourth phase of the moon so that fewer weeds would grow. In the southern regions, cabbage and pea seeds were sown on Mauritius day. Early sowing ensured that while the cabbage heads were forming, the caterpillars would not have time to colonize them. And during the first digging of the soil, the owners took a lump of earth and carried it into the house, believing that it would scare away bedbugs from entering the home. The traditional dish of the day was black fish soup. It was considered the food of the poor, since it was not cooked from elite varieties of fish - crucian carp, carp, bream, rudd. The remaining roots and pickles were added to it. Pies with fish filling were served as an appetizer for the black fish soup. On the Mauritius day they watched birds: whoever is the first in the household to spot a rook will have greater happiness. The arrival of a swallow meant a good year, and the singing of a lark heralded the coming of spring. Mating courtship of pigeons and nesting titmice promised warm weather. The falling fog predicted a summer with frequent rains, a clear sky - a change in the weather in the coming days, the beginning of snowfall - the coming cold.

Orthodox holidays on March 7:

The Orthodox calendar is filled with dates with unusual stories of the formation of church holidays. March 7 is no exception - the Discovery of the relics of martyrs like those in Eugene. The appearance of this holiday is associated with amazing phenomena that took place in the 7th century near the walls of Constantinople, the capital of the Greek Orthodox Empire. A divine sign appeared near the Eugene Tower - unexpectedly miraculous healings began to occur here. The Tower of St. Eugene, intended to guard the port of Prosfoi, turned out to be a place of increased attention for Christians. Patriarch Thomas of Constantinople blessed the Orthodox to carry out archaeological excavations near the walls of the tower. As a result, the burial of a huge number of bodies was discovered. The pious inhabitants of Constantinople immediately realized that this was nothing more than the holy burial place of the martyrs of the first centuries of Christianity. The purity of the inner spiritual vision of the Orthodox gave them the opportunity to understand that here rest the relics of the holy martyrs who gave their lives for the faith, for Christ. Immediately, in the name of Christian feat, the holiday “Discovery of the relics of the martyrs in Eugene” was established. The bodies were solemnly transferred to the Temple with honors. For several centuries, the remains of Christ’s unknown warriors were reliably hidden from human eyes, but when the time came to glorify the relics of the holy martyrs, they showed their holy power in full force, giving people the joy of divine providence, which was suggested by the name of the apostle, whose body rested in the same grave with the first defenders of Christianity. Tradition says that Nicholas Calligrapher, a very pious cleric, had a vision that among the remains found were the bodies of the holy Apostle Andronicus and Iunia, his assistant and wife. This amazing indicative event, the discovery of the relics of the holy martyrs like Eugene, confirms the faith of the church in the power of holy relics. After all, what does the word “power”, derived from the noun “power”, mean? Literally it means strength. The grace of the holy spirit, the power that is acquired through personal achievement in the earthly life of a Christian, continues to act in his bodily remains, prompting people to treat them as holy relics.

Memorial Day of St. Athanasius of Pavlopetria