Autumn is famous for its rainy days. But even such days are beautiful in their own way! The day of October 26th is especially amazing. Why is this day so good? The answer is quite simple! On this day, one very interesting and bright holiday is celebrated, which is called the holiday of pleasant surprises. On this wonderful day, people give each other happiness, smiles and good mood. This is a great chance to give all your attention to your loved ones and friends. The history of this celebration is quite intriguing. No one knows the time and place of this holiday. The author is also unknown. However, the complete lack of information does not in the least prevent us from celebrating this festival on October 26th. It is also worth noting that this event is not very common, and therefore is known only to some people. However, people who know about the holiday of pleasant surprises celebrate it with pleasure. After all, this is a great reason to make your loved ones, friends and acquaintances happy. Informed people celebrate this significant day in their own way and according to their capabilities. Some give their loved ones small memorable gifts, others arrange sudden gatherings at the table. Pleasant comic surprises are also very popular. Some even manage to hold small protests on the streets. The purpose of such promotions is to distribute free symbolic gifts and good wishes. It is always nice to receive gifts, even if they are not big ones. In general, everything depends on the imagination and desire of the person. For some, this holiday even becomes a kind of tradition. Such a custom can have a beneficial effect on relationships with other people. Thanks to this tradition, the family will unite even more, and friends will become even closer. In addition, showing kindness shows a positive side of a person. Good deeds tend to return to the initiator. In addition, spontaneous gifts are positive emotions. Even scientists recognize the fact that a good mood has a beneficial effect on human health. The holiday of pleasant surprises is a great occasion to give yourself and others positive emotions. In the modern world, this holiday is more relevant than ever. Everyday bustle with its tasks and various troubles overloads a person so much that he can simply get tired. The festival can paint the world in bright colors.

Russian paperless day

Dramatic films "Dances with Wolves" with Kevin Costner and "Heat" with Liam Neesan tell about human survival in the harsh nature of North America. On the one hand, predators of the canine family pose a danger to the indigenous people of Canada and the United States. On the other hand, the result of human activities to develop the environment is a catastrophic reduction in the number of wolves. Worldwide Howl at the Moon Night is called upon to draw attention to the preservation of the predator population. World Night of Howling at the Moon in support of wolves is celebrated on October 26th. The funny holiday appeared on the calendar in 2009 thanks to animator Johnny DePalma. When wolves howl at the moon, it seems that the predators are complaining about something, lamenting their fate. Loud screams, according to psychologists, help people get rid of negative emotions and suffering. Therefore, according to tradition in honor of Worldwide Howl at the Moon Night, people begin to howl at the moon at 10 pm in order to get rid of depression, melancholy and resentment. In fact, the bloodthirsty predator makes long and drawn-out sounds to exchange information with other members of the pack. With the help of howls, nocturnal wolves talk about their location, report the start of a hunt, the birth or death of a cub, and other events. People living in the wild perceive the howling of animals as a warning about danger and a possible encounter with wild animals. The moon influences many earthly processes and has a unique effect on human biorhythms and psyche. Why wolves and dogs react to the bright light of the Earth's satellite by howling is not completely clear. According to one version, during the full moon the nights become especially bright, which means they are very suitable for hunting. Therefore, predators actively howl to invite the flock to hunt. According to Scandinavian legends and the myth of Ragnarok, one of the descendants of Grodvitnir, the eschatological wolf Hati, chases the moon every night, trying to swallow it. Apparently, this is why his brothers from the canine family have developed a special relationship with the night luminary. On October 26, people not only howl at the moon, but also support foundations that preserve the wolf population. These predators have lived on Earth for more than 1.5 million years. They coexist side by side with humans, who are actively exterminating wildlife, posing a threat to their population. World Howl at the Moon Night encourages people to take part in actions to protect wolves - join the ranks of volunteers who save predators, donate to the Wolf Haven Foundation and other organizations.

Primitive people sat by the fire on animal skins and covered themselves with them while sleeping. The Highlanders living in the mountains of Scotland used plaids, i.e. warm shawls and scarves to make it easier to endure harsh weather conditions. Each checkered or striped tartan (TaurTan) had its own unique design, symbolizing a specific family or class. Scottish kilts, which were made from sheep's wool, became part of the national costume. In 1746, after the battle on the Culloden plateau near Inverness, the English authorities banned the highlanders from wearing them. But the Scots could not give up kilts, which became a symbol of freedom and independence of the nation. They continued to be worn, despite the threat of heavy fines and imprisonment, and were also used as bedspreads. Today, tartan is an indispensable interior detail in a classic style. October 26th is Blanket Day. Autumn coolness, cloudy and rainy weather is conducive to thinking about life and solitude. The poetess M. Tsvetaeva asked these questions in one of her early poems. Blankets made from llama and sheep wool have long been used to protect against the cold in the Andes by the Aztecs. The Greeks claim that checkered bedspreads, flokati, were invented by them back in the days of Ancient Hellas. Thanks to the conquerors, plaids came to the north of Great Britain to the Gauls and became part of the national costume. The highlanders sewed them from 2 pieces of fabric from 4 to 8 meters long, after which they wrapped them around the waist and threw one end over the shoulder. Today, the Scots, Welsh and Irish wear small kilts - the lower part of the ram in the form of a skirt. Wrapping yourself in a blanket or blanket helps to create additional coziness and comfort, to find yourself in a protective cocoon and experience true relaxation. It's nice to read your favorite book or watch a movie, drink a cup of tea or a glass of wine in the warmth. A soft checkered bedspread, a symbol of comfort and stability, after some oblivion, experienced a rebirth in the twentieth century. The plaid plaid, which appeared in almost every home, has become an indicator of good taste and an example of a high-quality product. In honor of the holiday, which is celebrated on December 26, it is customary to give soft and cozy rips, a symbol of warmth and care, to loved ones. You can wrap yourself in a blanket alone, but it’s better - together, coloring the funny celebration with a romantic mood. The holiday can be celebrated anywhere: in the silence of the house, at a picnic in the company of friends, or on the noisy veranda of a cafe. The main thing is not to forget to comply with the obligatory condition - to wrap yourself in a blanket like a butterfly in a cocoon, relax and experience true bliss.

National Day of the Austrian Republic

Pomegranate festival in Azerbaijan (Nar bayrami)

Saint Demetrius Day in Greece, Romania, Bulgaria

According to the popular calendar, on October 26 (or October 13 according to the old style), Orthodox Christians celebrate a holiday in honor of the Iveron Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is also called the Gatekeeper or Goalkeeper. It is customary for people to pray to her to get rid of everyday troubles and find consolation. The holy face helped protect against fire and improve soil fertility. The original of the miraculous icon is now kept on Mount Athos in the Iveron Monastery. It was written by the evangelist Luke and has miraculous properties. The legend about its discovery says that in the 9th century, one of the residents of Nicaea decided to protect the face of the Mother of God from the iconoclasts and threw the icon into the sea, where it lay for two centuries. In the 21st century, monks from the Iversky Monastery saw the face of the Mother of God on the surface of the water, which was supported by a pillar of fire. The Virgin Mary instructed St. Gabriel the Holy Mountain to walk on the water and transfer the icon to the temple. The next morning, the face miraculously appeared above the gates of the monastery. The icon was moved to the church several times, but every morning it again appeared above the gate. Then they finally decided to leave her in the place that was chosen by her. Since then, the icon began to be called the Goalkeeper or Gatekeeper. It is customary for people to organize baths on Iverskaya. On holiday, the bathhouse was heated hotly, and containers with infusions of various medicinal herbs were placed on the shelves. It was believed that on October 26, a person suffering from epilepsy could be cured by taking a steam bath. People believed that the spirit could drive out the disease and the patient would recover. The people believed that the bath spirit is a special creature that always hides from people, but can indicate its presence with noise. He drove away those visitors who were objectionable to him, began knocking and throwing stones. They also said that the bath spirit could turn into a cat, dog, hare, frog or broom. They dubbed him Bannik and said that he really loves to swim and does it after 2-3 changes of people who have been in the bathhouse, since he prefers the third, fourth and fifth couples. So that Bannik could calmly take a steam bath at night, soap, water and a broom were left for him in the bathhouse. But the peasants themselves did not go to the bathhouse after sunset. It was also believed that there should be no icons in the bathhouse, and one must wash after first removing the cross. According to signs, the weather for October 26 was usually predicted. The most common of them were considered: • if at dawn the sun appears from behind the clouds, then the weather is expected to be changeable; • if there are many gray tones and no red shades in the morning sky, then the weather will be good, windless; • clouds floating quickly from the south, do not indicate impending bad weather;• if the temperature at night remains the same as during the day, then the sky will be cloudy for a long time;• the early crow of roosters foreshadows warm days;• if the roosters crow at an unusual time for them, then the weather will soon change;• sparrows are splashing in the water – to precipitation; • if a cat hides its head and licks its tail, the weather will worsen. People who celebrate their birthday on October 26th are distinguished by their perseverance and desire to achieve their goals. They constantly defend both their own and public interests. They try to achieve everything in life on their own. People around them value them for their talent and ability to realize themselves. Emerald can bring them joy and peace of mind.

Internet, interclub, interval, intersputnik and intersex have similar roots, but mean different concepts. The meaning of all words from the list is clear, except for the last one. Intersex is the English term for a condition that for centuries doctors called hermaphroditism. A person with this diagnosis has DNA faults, which results in a combination of characteristics of both sexes in the body. Intersex People's Day is celebrated annually on October 26th. The holiday and events held in its honor are aimed against concealing information about hermaphrodites and operations on the genitals of children with this genetic anomaly. Gender self-determination is a popular trend in recent decades. Less than 0.5% of the world's total population are intersex people, that is, those who have male and female genitalia. However, hermaphrodites, like gays and transvestites, believe that in modern society their rights are regularly violated. Intersex Awareness Day is celebrated on October 26 - the date of the celebration is tied to the demonstration of intersex people that took place in Boston in 1996. Many countries and their governments heeded the calls of movement activists. Thus, in Germany since 2013, and a little later in Austria, children with hermaphroditism began to be registered as “citizens of undetermined gender.” In Russia, a child’s gender identity is determined on a case-by-case basis by doctors after analyzing the anomaly. The name of the disease comes from the name of the son of the ancient Greek gods Hermes and Aphrodite - Hermaphrodite. According to the myth, a young man in love with a nymph asked his father and mother to unite them together in one body. Hermaphrodites, in addition to the special physiological structure of the genitals, are often in internal discord with themselves, cannot have children, and suffer from a lack of personal life. Therefore, in Russia, doctors faced with this anomaly - pediatric endocrinologists, surgeons, radiologists, geneticists, urologists - hold consultations and make decisions in the first days of the baby’s life about surgical intervention. In this case, the patient, due to his young age, does not have psychological problems associated with gender realization, which complicates operations in adulthood. Some hermaphrodites, as a result of timely surgical intervention performed in infancy, manage to regain reproductive function. Therefore, intersex activists' claims about "harmful cosmetic surgery for children" are highly controversial. There are true and false heromaphroditicism. In the first case, signs of pathology are visible from birth, in the second - not. A person produces only one type of hormone, and this becomes obvious during puberty. For example, girls do not start menstruation, breasts do not grow, while the voice becomes rough, and male-type body hair is observed. Modern medicine is able to help such patients if they decide which gender they belong to. Many intersex people, if the chromosomal abnormality is not accompanied by mental disorders, adapt to life in society even better than a person with conspicuous defects - for example, lameness or strabismus. The topic of hermaphrodite living organisms is discussed in the school biology course for the 7th grade, and people - in anatomy for the 8th grade. It cannot be said that information about the presence of people with this pathology is hidden, and the chromosomal malfunction is poorly studied by science. Intersex People's Day, like other holidays related to the definition of a person, what gender he belongs to, are aimed at replacing the concepts of “norm” and “anomaly”. With any disease, a person experiences moral and physical suffering, and hermaphroditism is no exception. Intersex people need medical and psychological help, not the popularization of DNA failure, PR of hermaphroditism during Intersex Awareness Day and the recognition of pathology as the norm.

Orthodox holidays on October 26:

The Holy Orthodox Church celebrates several holiday dates in honor of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. On April 22, they celebrate the second discovery of the ancient Moscow list, which occurred in 2012 when the Russian Museum donated the icon to the Orthodox Church. There is no exact information about the origin of the Iveron image; according to one of the legends, the author was the Evangelist Luke, who painted the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus from life. Another legend mentions the times of iconoclasm in the Byzantine Empire, when many holy relics were mercilessly destroyed. The owner of the miraculous icon was a pious widow from the city of Nicaea. One day, warriors burst into her place demanding that she give them the shrine. For a long time the widow begged her husbands not to take the wonderful image, but no one listened to her words. One of the warriors jabbed a spear into the icon, causing blood to appear on the boards. In memory of this phenomenon, two types of painting of the image of the Virgin Mary were subsequently established, with a bleeding wound on the right cheek and without traces of injury. The inexplicable phenomenon frightened the husbands, and they left, leaving the image to its owner. The woman immediately hastened to hide the shrine and placed it in the waters of the sea. The icon, having stood on the water, floated like a ship, and many years later the monks of Athos saw it, placed in a pillar of fire walking on the sea. The monks did not know how to deal with the miraculous phenomenon until the Mother of God appeared to Elder Gabriel in a dream with a request to deliver her image to the monastery. The monk stepped into the waters of the sea and realized that he was not drowning, when he walked across land to a pillar of fire, took an icon from it and returned to the shore without even getting his clothes wet. The monastic brethren, happy with the discovery of the holy image, intended to place it in the most honorable place in the church, but the icon itself chose its place. Every night she moved to the gates of the monastery, and none of the monks could explain how this happened. The monks returned it back, believing that the relic should have a proper place, but soon the Mother of God again appeared to the sleeping Gabriel and reassured the monks, saying that she herself wanted to be their protector. And today, a small chapel at the gates of the Iverskaya monastery preserves the miraculous image of the “Goalkeeper,” which has protected the monastery for many centuries. The glory of the holy image was also known in Rus'; during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, a copy of the Iveron Mother of God was made. The priest Iamblichus Romanov was blessed for the great work, the work was accompanied by the prayers of the monks, the new cypress boards were soaked in water, imbued with the holiness of the Iveron image of the “Goalkeeper”. During the patriarchate of Nikon, other copies of the Iveron Icon were brought to Russia, made by the monks of the Athos monastery, who later became famous for their miraculous deeds.

Feast of the Icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria” Sedmiezernaya

Memorial Day of the Hieromartyr Carp of Thyatira