International Day of Human Space Flight, Day of Workers of the Rocket and Space Industry of Ukraine, Hamster Day, Rock and Roll Day. What else can be celebrated on April 12

Today, on April 12, the inhabitants of our planet join the celebration of an event that marks an important stage in the development of humanity and its scientific and technological progress - the first human space flight, UNN reports.

This historic event took place on April 12, 1961. The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin flew to the stars in the Vostok 1 spacecraft. The flight lasted 108 minutes.

The first cosmonaut of independent Ukraine was Leonid Kadeniuk, who flew into space on November 19, 1997, as part of an international crew on the US space shuttle Columbia.

Since 1997, employees of the Ukrainian rocket and space industry have been celebrating their professional holiday on April 12.

Despite a chronic lack of funding, Ukraine's space program can still boast some achievements.

On August 31, the first national satellite, Sich-1, was launched. In 1998, Ukrainian enterprises joined the work on the International Space Station.

On March 28, 1999, the first launch of the Zenit-3SL rocket took place as part of the Sea Launch international space project  .

In 2003, for example, a Ukrainian-Brazilian space project was launched to build a launch pad for Ukraine's new Cyclone-4 rocket at the Alcantara Cosmodrome, near the equator, which was supposed to provide Ukraine with an independent entry into space.

In 2008, a new international project, Land Launch, was launched with the launch of the Zenit-3SLB rocket. In 2011, the national remote sensing satellite Sich-2 was launched into orbit.

In 2014, the Dnipro launch vehicle launched 33 spacecraft from 17 countries into orbit, as well as the first Ukrainian nanosatellite, Politan-1, manufactured at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.

On January 13, 2022, the Ukrainian satellite Sich-2-30 was launched.

On April 12, a rather controversial event is celebrated - World Military Expenditure Day.

The event was organized by the Institute of International Studies in cooperation with the International Peace Bureau. Its goal was to call on countries to reduce the costs of developing, producing and purchasing various types of weapons.

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the event loses its relevance. In particular, European countries are already increasing their military budgets.

Rock and roll fans celebrate their holiday today.

It was on April 12, 1954  that Bill Haley and The Comets recorded the iconic song "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock" in a New York studio.

Those who keep hamsters at home can celebrate a day dedicated to these animals.

On April 12, 1930, Israel Aharoni, a zoologist and professor at the University of Jerusalem, went on an expedition in search of Syrian hamsters in a cornfield.

It is believed that this expedition served as a good start for the first successful domestication of hamsters.

World Hamster Day is a great opportunity to feed your pet something tasty and spend this day with them.

Ukraine also celebrates Plast (Scout) Day today.

The founder of the Scouting movement, which quickly became incredibly popular in many countries around the world, was British Colonel Robert Baden-Powell.

In 1908, Baden-Powell began organizing the first scouting camps and published the book Scouting for Boys. He was assisted in all his endeavors by his wife, Olav Baden-Powell. She, like her husband, was born on February 22, so it is not surprising that this date was chosen for the celebration.

Scouting began to gain popularity in Ukraine in 1911. Ukrainian scouts were called Plast members, just like the Cossacks of the Zaporizhzhia Sich, who were once involved in scouting.

It was on April 12, 1912, that the Lviv Plast members first took the oath of allegiance, and in 1913 the Plast Organizing Committee was established. During the liberation struggle of 1917-22, Ukrainian Scout-Plast members took an active part in establishing and maintaining the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic and the Western Ukrainian People's Republic.

The scouting movement was banned in the USSR and began to revive in the early 1990s.

According to the church calendar, today is the Day of Remembrance of St. Basil the Confessor, Bishop of Pariah.

During the Ecumenical Council of 754, he was one of the few who spoke out against the iconoclasts. For this, he was thrown into prison and constantly tortured.

Vasyl the Confessor was released only after the death of Emperor Leo, who supported the iconoclasts.

On April 12, Vasyl, Ivan, Serhii, and Mariia celebrate their name days.