World Elephant Day and Vinyl Record Day: what else is celebrated on August 12
Kyiv • UNN
On August 12, the world celebrates Elephant Day, which draws attention to their conservation, and Vinyl Record Day, which highlights their growing popularity. This year, Ukraine for the first time synchronized the celebration of International Youth Day with the rest of the world.
Today, August 12, animal rights activists and wildlife enthusiasts in various countries around the world celebrate World Elephant Day, while music lovers celebrate Vinyl Record Day, reports UNN.
World Elephant Day
This holiday, which was established in 2012, aims to draw attention to the problems threatening elephants and to promote their conservation, as the number of these animals has significantly decreased. In the early 19th century, approximately 26 million elephants lived in African savannas and tropical forests. However, massive and uncontrolled hunting for ivory led to a catastrophic reduction in their numbers. By the early 20th century, the population of these giants had decreased to 1.5 million individuals, and today less than half a million elephants remain in Africa.
To stop the extermination of animals, international trade in ivory was officially banned in 1989. An exception was made only for stocks accumulated before the restriction was introduced.
Elephants are divided into two main types - African and Asian. African elephants, in turn, have two subspecies: savanna elephants, which inhabit open plains and steppes, and forest elephants, which live in dense tropical jungles. Asian elephants are more compact than their African relatives: they have smaller ears, shorter tusks, a more pronounced back arch, less wrinkled skin, and a thin covering of short hairs.
The average lifespan of elephants reaches 80 years. An adult African elephant consumes about 200 kg of plant food and drinks approximately the same amount of water daily, while an Asian elephant consumes half as much.
International Youth Day and Youth Day in Ukraine
International Youth Day was established by the United Nations and was first celebrated in 2000. In Ukraine, the holiday was celebrated for a long time according to the Soviet tradition - on the last Sunday of June. Only in 2022 was this day first celebrated on August 12, synchronizing the date with the international one.
According to UN classification, youth includes people aged 15 to 24. Today, there are approximately 1.2 billion people in this age group worldwide, which is about 16% of the Earth's population. Forecasts indicate that this number will increase by another 7% by 2030.
At the same time, each country independently determines who is considered youth. In Ukrainian legislation, this category includes citizens aged 14 to 35, although proposals to lower the upper limit to 29 years are discussed from time to time.
As of January 1, 2022, almost 10 million young people aged 14–35 lived in Ukraine – this is 24.3% of the permanent population of the state. Among them, boys accounted for 51.3%, and girls – 48.7%.
Vinyl Record Day
At the end of the 19th century, the first single-sided gramophone records appeared on the market. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were already about three thousand of them with a total circulation of more than 4 million copies.
In 1903, the first double-sided record was released, and in 1948, the first long-playing vinyl was released in the USA. In the late 1950s, serial production of stereophonic recordings began, and in 1962, flexible records debuted in France.
However, in the 1980s, vinyl gave way to more compact formats - audio cassettes and CD-discs. However, about fifteen years ago, it came back into fashion, and its popularity grew steadily. In 2022 alone, 41 million vinyl records were sold in the USA compared to 33 million CDs.
Today, vinyl accounts for about 71% of all revenue from music sales in physical format.