CALENDAR

DATES. EVENTS. PEOPLE

On February 3rd, 1927, in Western Belarus, the Polish authorities shot a demonstration of workers in the town of Kossovo, who spoke out in defence of the representatives of the Belarusian Peasant-Working Community, who were threatened with a trial.



On February 3rd, 1966, the Soviet Luna-9 station made the world’s first soft landing on the Moon. After landing, the Luna-9 station worked for 75 hours and performed seven communication sessions. Luna-9 transmitted to Earth a television panorama of the area. These images, taken from a height of about 1 m, showed details up to 1 mm in size.


On February 4th, 1977, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided to build a subway in Minsk. On May 3rd, 1977, the construction of the subway began. On June 29th, 1984, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Minsk from the Nazi invaders during the Great Patriotic War, the regular movement of Minsk subway trains began.


February 4th is World Cancer Day. It is held by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) with the support of the World Health Organisation. The purpose of this Day is to draw public attention to this global problem, to remind people how dangerous and widespread cancer is, and to significantly reduce cancer deaths.



February 4th-11th, 1945, the Crimean or Yalta conference took place. It was the second official meeting (after Tehran) of the heads of the allied states of the anti-Hitler coalition — the USSR, the USA and Great Britain — during the Second World War. Here, plans for the final defeat of Germany and the end of World War II were agreed upon, the basic principles of a common policy regarding the post-war order of the world were outlined, and a number of other issues were discussed.



On February 6th, 1952, after the death of King George VI, 25-year-old Elizabeth II was declared Queen of Great Britain. At that time, she became the Head of the Commonwealth and the reigning queen of seven countries: Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon. She is currently the longest-reigning and oldest monarch in British history, as well as the longest-reigning and oldest head of state in the world.



February 7th, 1812 is the birthday of Charles Dickens (1812-1870), who was an English realist writer, stenographer, reporter, novelist and essayist. A classic of world literature, one of the greatest prose writers of the 19th century, became the most popular English-language writer during his lifetime. Author of such books as Oliver Twist, The Old Curiosity Shop, Bleak House, etc.



February 9th, 1887 is the birthday of Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev (1887-1919), the legendary commander of the Civil War. Since 1918, he commanded a detachment, a brigade and the 25th Infantry Division, which played a significant role in the defeat of Kolchak’s troops in the summer of 1919. He died in battle. The image of Chapaev is captured in the novel Chapaev by Dmitry Furmanov and the film of the same name. In Belarus, streets, collective farms and state farms are named after him. During the Great Patriotic War in Belarus, 7 partisan brigades and dozens of detachments bore his name.



On February 9th, 1852, the opera Idyll (Sielanka) based on the libretto by Wincenty Dunin-Marcinkiewicz was staged for the first time in Minsk. These original operatic and dramatic parts were written in 1842-1844. The music for the text was written by friends of Dunin-Martsinkevich — composer Stanisław Moniuszko and violinist K. Krzyżanowski. The premiere took place on the stage of the Minsk City Theatre.


February 10th, 1636 is the birthday of the iron. Its first documentary mention was found in the book of expenses of the Russian royal court. The mentioned and described iron costing 5 altyns belonged to the simplest heating type. It weighed about 10 kilograms and was monolithic. In general, devices for ironing clothes were invented a very long time ago. Back in the 4th century BC, in Ancient Greece, they used methods to pleat clothes from linen using a hot metal rod that resembled a rolling pin.

Open source photos