Perfect Family Day and Tetris Birthday: What is celebrated on July 18

July 18th marks Ideal Family Day, World Listening Day, Tetris Birthday, International Nelson Mandela Day, and according to the church calendar, the memory of the holy martyrs Hyacinth and Emilian is honored.

UNN prepared the details of the holidays and explained their importance.

Church calendar

On July 18, believers honor the memory of the holy martyrs Hyacinth and Emilian. Hyacinth was a young man from the eastern province of the Roman Empire. He served at the court of Emperor Trajan. During a pagan holiday, he refused to offer sacrifices to idols. For this, he was thrown into prison, subjected to cruel torture, where he died at the age of 20.

And the martyr Emilian was burned alive. He was a servant of a Roman official in the city of Dorostol (Moesia). During the reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate, Christians were severely persecuted. Emilian destroyed pagan idols and shrines, for which he was captured and tortured for a long time.

World Listening Day

This is an unofficial holiday dedicated not only to the ability to hear sounds, but also to the art of listening. This is a skill that is very useful for personal communication.

This day emphasizes the importance of:

Active listening — when we truly not only listen to the interlocutor, but also hear what they are trying to convey;

Emotional presence — being present with your soul, not just physically;

Communication without gadgets — turn off your phone and dedicate time to live dialogues;

Listening to silence and nature — feeling the peace and harmony that we often ignore.

Ideal Family Day

Ideal Family Day is also an unofficial holiday that does not have a fixed date at the international or state level, but on social networks it is actively mentioned on July 18, with posts spreading words of love and care for loved ones.

This day is an occasion to remind about important family values, talk to relatives, and spend time together. Also, despite the loud name "ideal family", it should be remembered that ideals do not exist, such an atmosphere is created through acceptance, dialogues, and work on relationships.

Tetris Birthday

Although the official birth date of the game is considered to be June 6, 1984,

July 18 is usually associated with "Tetris", as on this day the game officially left the USSR for the first time and began its international "life", although the official birth date of the game is considered to be June 6, 1984.

What does it mean that the game began its international "life"?

On July 18, 1985, one of the first licenses for "Tetris" was granted to a Hungarian company, which made a version for IBM PC computers. This allowed it to fall into the hands of Western publishers, in particular, the British company Andromeda Software.

This moment is often considered the beginning of Tetris's international history, because after this the game came to the USA, Japan and the rest of the world, became a hit on Game Boy, and later — one of the most famous games in history.

In the history of video games, this is considered a key turning point, as it is one of the few games that united East and West during the Cold War.

International Nelson Mandela Day

Celebrated annually on July 18, Nelson Mandela's birthday (1918–2013).

Nelson Mandela is a human rights activist, opponent of apartheid in South Africa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1993) and President of South Africa (1994–1999).

He spent 27 years in prison for his political convictions, but upon his release he did not call for revenge, but for peaceful reconciliation and national unity.

This date was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 2009 to honor Mandela's legacy, who dedicated his entire life to promoting human rights, fighting racism, and building a just society.

Usually on this day, 67 minutes are symbolically dedicated to good deeds, as Mandela spent 67 years of his life serving people.

Recall

On July 17, Ukraine celebrated World Day for International Justice, Tattoo Day, Ethnographer's Day, World Emoji Day, and the Day of the Holy Great Martyr Marina (Margaret of Antioch).