World Whale Day, Pluto Day. What else can be celebrated on February 18

Today, on the third Sunday of February, many countries around the world are holding events to mark World Whale Day, UNN reports.

The event was launched in 1980 in Hawaii. Its organizers tried to draw the attention of society and governments to the need to implement measures to restore the whale population on the planet, which has been significantly affected by whaling.

Whaling, which originated in Scandinavia in the ninth and tenth centuries, began to develop rapidly in the  eighteenth century. Whales were killed for their whiskers, liver, brain, glands, and meat.

According to animal rights activists, in the twentieth century, whale hunters killed up to three million mammals.

Since the mid-twentieth century, the global community has begun to implement measures to limit whaling, which was eventually almost completely banned. Only Norway, Iceland and Japan, as well as some aboriginal peoples, carry out limited fishing as a traditional occupation.

According to scientists, at that time the population of the Atlantic whale had dropped to a critical 400 individuals, and the humpback whale to 500 individuals.

At present, scientists cannot name the exact number of whales in the world's oceans. It is believed that their population fluctuates between 25 thousand individuals.

Today you can also join the celebration of Pluto Day.

Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Justin Tombaugh, and this celestial body was immediately given the status of a planet. In the early 1990s, some scientists questioned this status.

After much scientific debate and discussion, in 2006, the International Astronomical Union designated Pluto as a dwarf planet.

Today is also Battery Day. The event was established in honor of the birthday of Italian scientist Alessandro Volta, who designed the world's first electric battery, the Voltaic pole.

He also created the first simple chemical source of current, the galvanic cell.

It is known that Oxford University has a battery-powered bell that has been in operation for more than 175 years. No one knows what the battery is made of and no one wants to take the device apart to find out.

According to the church calendar, today is the Day of Remembrance of St. Agapius, who lived in the sixth century.

Agapius was engaged in church reform, contributed to the construction of a large number of churches, and supported Christian missions among the Goths and Franks, who were pagans.

In 535-536, Agapius was Pope of Rome.

Agapiy, Andriy, and Oleksandr celebrate their name days on February 18.