Wars have accompanied the entire history of mankind. Some were protracted and lasted for decades. Others walked only a few days, some even less than an hour.
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Yom Kippur War (18 days)
The war between the coalition of Arab countries and Israel was the fourth in a series of military conflicts in the Middle East involving the young Jewish state. The goal of the invaders was to return the territories occupied by Israel in 1967. The invasion was carefully prepared and began with an attack by the combined forces of Syria and Egypt during the Jewish religious holiday of Yom Kippur, that is, Judgment Day. On this day in Israel, Jewish believers pray and abstain from food for almost a day.
The military invasion came as a complete surprise to Israel, and for the first two days the advantage was on the side of the Arab coalition. A few days later, the pendulum swung towards Israel, and the country managed to stop the invaders.
The USSR declared support for the coalition and warned Israel of the most dire consequences that would await the country if the war continued. At this time, IDF troops were already standing next to Damascus and 100 km from Cairo. Israel was forced to withdraw its troops.
All hostilities took 18 days. Losses on the part of the Israeli IDF army amounted to about 3,000 dead, on the part of the coalition of Arab countries - about 20,000.
Serbo-Bulgarian War (14 days)
In November 1885, the King of Serbia declared war on Bulgaria. The cause of the conflict was disputed territories - Bulgaria annexed the small Turkish province of Eastern Rumelia. The strengthening of Bulgaria threatened the influence of Austria-Hungary in the Balkans, and the empire made the Serbs a puppet to neutralize Bulgaria. 
During two weeks of fighting, two and a half thousand people died on both sides of the conflict, and about nine thousand were wounded. Peace was signed in Bucharest on December 7, 1885. As a result of this peace, Bulgaria was declared the formal winner. There was no redistribution of borders, but the de facto unification of Bulgaria with Eastern Rumelia was recognized.
Third Indo-Pakistani War (13 days)
In 1971, India intervened in the civil war that was going on in Pakistan. Then Pakistan was divided into two parts, western and eastern. Residents of East Pakistan claimed independence, the situation there was difficult. Many refugees flooded India. 
India was interested in weakening its longtime enemy, Pakistan, and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the deployment of troops. In less than two weeks of fighting, Indian troops achieved their planned goals, East Pakistan received the status of an independent state (now called Bangladesh).
Six Day War
On June 6, 1967, one of the many Arab-Israeli conflicts in the Middle East began. It was called the Six-Day War and became the most dramatic in the recent history of the Middle East. Formally, Israel began the fighting, as it was the first to launch an air strike on Egypt.However, even a month before this, the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser publicly called for the destruction of the Jews as a nation, and in total 7 states united against the small country.
Israel launched a powerful pre-emptive strike on Egyptian airfields and went on the offensive. In six days of confident attack, Israel occupied the entire Sinai Peninsula, Judea and Samaria, the Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip. In addition, the territory of East Jerusalem with its shrines, including the Western Wall, was captured.
Israel lost 679 people killed, 61 tanks, 48 aircraft. The Arab side of the conflict lost about 70,000 people killed and a huge amount of military equipment.
Football war (6 days)
El Salvador and Honduras went to war after a qualifying match for the right to qualify for the World Cup. Neighbors and longtime rivals, residents of both countries were fueled by complex territorial relations. In the city of Tegucigalpa in Honduras, where the matches took place, there were riots and violent fights between fans of the two countries. 
As a result, on July 14, 1969, the first military conflict occurred on the border of the two countries. In addition, countries shot down each other's planes, there were several bombings of both El Salvador and Honduras, and there were fierce ground battles. On July 18, the parties agreed to negotiations. By July 20, hostilities ceased.
Most of the victims in the Football War are civilians
Both sides suffered greatly in the war, and the economies of El Salvador and Honduras suffered enormous damage. People died, the majority being civilians. Losses in this war have not been calculated; figures range from 2,000 to 6,000 total deaths on both sides.
Agasher War (6 days)
This conflict is also known as the “Christmas War”. The war broke out over a piece of border territory between two states, Mali and Burkina Faso. The Agasher strip, rich in natural gas and minerals, was needed by both states. 
The dispute became acute when
At the end of 1974, the new leader of Burkina Faso decided to end the division of important resources. On December 25, the Mali army launched an attack on Agasher. Burkina Faso troops began to counterattack, but suffered heavy losses.
It was possible to reach negotiations and stop the fire only on December 30th. The parties exchanged prisoners, counted the dead (in total there were about 300 people), but could not divide Agasher. A year later, the UN court decided to divide the disputed territory exactly in half.
Egyptian-Libyan War (4 days)
The conflict between Egypt and Libya in 1977 lasted only a few days and did not bring any changes - after the end of hostilities, both states remained “at their own”.Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi initiated protest marches against Egypt's partnership with the United States and an attempt to establish dialogue with Israel. The action ended with the arrest of several Libyans in neighboring territories. The conflict quickly escalated into hostilities.
Over the course of four days, Libya and Egypt fought several tank and air battles, and two Egyptian divisions occupied the Libyan city of Musaid. Eventually the fighting ended and peace was established through the mediation of third parties. The borders of the states did not change and no fundamental agreements were reached.
Portuguese-Indian War (36 hours)
In historiography, this conflict is called the Indian annexation of Goa. The war was an action initiated by the Indian side. In mid-December, India carried out a massive military invasion of the Portuguese colony in the south of the Hindustan Peninsula. 
The fighting lasted 2 days and was carried out from three sides - the territory was bombed from the air, in Mormugan Bay three Indian frigates defeated the small Portuguese fleet, and several divisions invaded Goa on the ground.
Portugal still believes that India's actions were an attack; the other side of the conflict calls this operation a liberation operation. Portugal officially surrendered on December 19, 1961, one and a half days after the start of the war.
Anglo-Zanzibar War (38 minutes)
The invasion of imperial troops into the territory of the Zanzibar Sultanate was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the shortest war in the history of mankind. Great Britain did not like the country's new ruler, who seized power after the death of his cousin. 
The Empire demanded that powers be transferred to the English protégé Hamud bin Muhammad. There was a refusal, and early in the morning of August 27, 1896, the British squadron approached the shore of the island and began to wait. At 9.00 the ultimatum put forward by Britain expired: either the authorities surrender their powers, or the ships will begin to fire at the palace. The usurper, who captured the Sultan's residence with a small army, refused.
Two cruisers and three gunboats opened fire minute by minute after the deadline. The only ship of the Zanzibar fleet was sunk, the Sultan's palace turned into flaming ruins. The newly-minted Sultan of Zanzibar fled, and the country’s flag remained flying on the dilapidated palace. In the end, he was shot down by a British admiral. According to international standards, the fall of the flag means surrender.
The entire conflict lasted 38 minutes - from the first shot to the overturned flag. For African history, this episode is considered not so much comical as deeply tragic - 570 people died in this micro-war, all of them were citizens of Zanzibar.
Unfortunately, the duration of the war has nothing to do with its bloodshed or how it will affect life within the country and around the world. War is always a tragedy that leaves an unhealed scar in the national culture.
The custom of celebrating the New Year first appeared in Mesopotamia. According to scientists, the first new year was celebrated in the third millennium BC. The tradition was due to the fact that all agricultural work began at the end of March, after the water in the Tigris and Euphrates arrived.
For 12 days, this event was celebrated with processions, carnivals, and masquerades. During the holiday it was forbidden to work and hold court. Gradually, the custom of celebrating the New Year acquired more and more scope - the Jews who were in Babylonian captivity borrowed this tradition, from them it passed to the Greeks, and from the Greeks to the peoples of Western Europe.
When Julius Caesar introduced a new calendar (now called the Julian), the first day of the new year began to be considered the first day of January. On this day, the Romans made sacrifices to the two-faced god Janus and began major events on this day, considering the first day of the year favorable for any endeavors.
316 years ago on this day, the Julian calendar was introduced in Russia.
From the moment of the Baptism of Rus' by the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir the Saint, for almost 500 years, March 1 was considered the beginning of the year in Rus', as in Byzantium.
In 1492, on the initiative of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III, the beginning of the year was officially moved to September 1 and was celebrated this way for more than two hundred years.
On September 1, 7208, Russia celebrated another New Year. And on December 20, 7208, a personal decree of Peter I was signed and promulgated, according to which a new beginning of the year was introduced - from January 1, and a new era - reckoning from the Nativity of Christ.
The Tsar ordered that instead of January 1, 7209, “from the Creation of the world,” January 1, 1700, should be considered “from the Nativity of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” The year 1699, therefore, turned out to be the shortest for Russia, since it lasted only four months - from September to December.
48 years ago, the USSR Central Television first broadcast the “Time” program.
The founder of the program is the outstanding Soviet radio journalist Yuri Letunov. The first presenters were Nonna Bodrova, Aza Likhitchenko, Igor Kirillov, Anna Shatilova.
The “Time” program, in the vector of state policy, covered events that took place both on the territory of the USSR and in other countries, cultural news, sports, and weather. Until 1991, it had correspondent bureaus in more than 40 countries. During the years of stagnation, the Vremya program was the main propaganda program of the USSR. In August 1991, for political reasons, it was closed. Airing resumed on December 17, 1994.
On this day in 1893, Soviet military leader, Major General, Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Panfilov was born.
In 1915, he was drafted into the Tsarist army and participated in the First World War. Panfilov accepted the October Revolution positively and in 1918 voluntarily went to serve in the Red Army.
After the war in 1923, Panfilov graduated from a two-year Kyiv military school and soon received an appointment to the Central Asian Military District, where he served for almost eighteen years.
From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, Panfilov was part of the active army. He was personally involved in the formation of the 316th Infantry Division, which he then commanded. It was his division in October-November 1941 near Moscow, in the Volokolamsk direction, that fought heavy defensive battles with superior enemy forces.
In continuous battles on the approaches to Moscow, units of General Panfilov’s division not only held their positions, but also managed to stop the advance of two tank and one infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht, destroying many enemy forces and weapons. In 2016, a film dedicated to the feat of General Panfilov’s division, “Panfilov’s 28 Men,” was released in Russia. People raised money for the film.
For successful actions during these battles and for the massive heroism of its personnel, the 316th Division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on November 17, 1941, and the next day it was reorganized into the 8th Guards Rifle Division. Later she received the honorary title of Panfilovskaya in honor of the commander, but this happened after the death of Ivan Vasilyevich.
Major General Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov died in battle on November 19, 1941 near the village of Gusenevo, Volokolamsk district, Moscow region. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow. In April 1942, Panfilov was posthumously awarded the Title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In the folk calendar today is Ilya Muromets Day.
On this day in Rus' they honored the memory of Ilya Muromets, an epic hero who was considered the deliverer of Kyiv from the Tatar Tsar Kalin. Ilya Muromets, together with Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich, are the guardians of Rus', symbols of the power of our Fatherland. On this day, people were supposed to bow to their native land and remember the glorious exploits of national heroes.
On January 1, peasants wondered whether the coming year would be fruitful. To do this, they went to the crossroads, drew a cross on the ground with a stick and put their ear to it: if they heard that a sleigh with a load was traveling, this promised a rich harvest. It was believed that a strong wind on this day promised a harvest of nuts, and a month-long starry night - peas, lentils and berries. If the weather was warm, they expected rye to grow.
Name day is celebrated on this day Gregory, Ilya, Timofey.
WITH February 1, 1918 In Soviet Russia, the Gregorian calendar (“new style”) is introduced. After January 31, February 14 comes immediately. The duration of 1918 was 352 days. In the territories of White Russia, the old style continued to operate.
Ahead is Jesus Christ
March 3, 1918 The poem “The Twelve” was published in the newspaper of the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party “Znamya Truda”. The first work about the revolution, which became a textbook, was written in January, and in May it was published as a separate book. A. Blok accepted both the revolution and the new government. It's a pity I didn't live long.
With coat of arms and chervonets
25 February units of the 11th Army entered Tbilisi without a fight, Soviet power was established in Georgia. On March 4, the Abkhaz SSR was proclaimed. At the end of the year, on December 16, it will become part of the GSSR on the basis of the Union Treaty concluded between the republics. March 16 A Soviet-Turkish treaty of friendship and brotherhood was concluded. 18th of March After fierce street fighting, the Kronstadt uprising was suppressed. Its result was thousands of casualties on both sides and subsequent repressions against the participants in the rebellion, but also the refusal of the Soviet government from military communism. The All-Russian Central Executive Committee issues a decree “On replacing food and raw materials allocation with a tax in kind.” In fact, this is the beginning of the NEP, which, contrary to the stereotype, will very quickly disappoint Lenin. On the same day, a peace treaty was signed in Riga between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR, on the one hand, and Poland. Western Ukraine and Western Belarus went to the latter. April 7 In development of the new economic policy, the Council of People's Commissars adopted the decree “On Consumer Cooperation.” April 21 The Communist University of the Toilers of the East was established in Moscow. 3 July The International Congress of Revolutionary Trade Unions and Industrial Unions opens, the Red Profintern is created. In two and a half years, the group of Internationals created by the Soviet government will be replenished by the Peasant - Krestyantern.
October 18 The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is created, two months later Lenin signs a decree on the use of autonomy to treat workers. November 5 A Soviet-Mongolian agreement is concluded to establish friendly relations. It was preceded by joint military operations and the extradition of Baron Ungern. His show trial took place in Novonikolaevsk on September 15. The baron was sentenced to death and executed on the same day. November 28 The Communist University of National Minorities of the West was established in Moscow. Meanwhile, Pyotr Kapitsa went to work at the Cavendish Laboratory, and Natalya Sats founded the Moscow Theater for Children.
1922 Jan. 7 The Italian government sends an official invitation to the RSFSR to take part in the Genoa Conference being prepared (opening on April 10) and receives consent the next day. In essence, this is the beginning of international recognition of Soviet Russia. February 5–14– Volochaev days, immortalized by Pyotr Parfenov in the March of the Far Eastern Partisans. February 6 The GPU was created under the NKVD, the Cheka was abolished. March 27 – April 2 The XI Congress of the RCP(b) takes place. The personnel decisions made at it are confirmed by the plenum of the Central Committee, held on April 3. Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin becomes General Secretary . April 16 The Treaty of Rapallo is concluded between the RSFSR and Germany, restoring diplomatic relations and fixing the settlement of controversial issues. There, at the Genoa Conference, 20 April The Soviet delegation declares its readiness to recognize war debts and renew concessions in exchange for legal recognition of the RSFSR, financial assistance and cancellation of war debts.
April 18th the football club “Moscow Sports Club of the Krasnopresnensky District” is being created, later renamed Spartak . Smooth Dynamo will appear in a year. These two teams create the main intrigue of the pre-war USSR football championships. May 19 The All-Union Pioneer Organization was founded. June 1st The first Criminal Code of the RSFSR comes into force.
29th of October The OKB of A. N. Tupolev was formed. A year later, on October 21, ANT-1 will take to the skies for the first time, designed by a future classic of domestic aircraft construction. October 30 The IX Congress of Soviets of the RSFSR adopted the Land Code, which assigned the land allocated to the peasants for their use. The GOELRO plan is approved. October 31 The first Civil Code of the RSFSR was adopted. 15th of November The Far Eastern Republic joins the RSFSR. December 30th The Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is signed.
1923 May 11 The USSR government rejects Curzon's ultimatum - a note from the British government accused the Soviet government of excessive activity in Afghanistan and Iran. July 6 By decision of the Central Executive Committee, the first coat of arms of the USSR was adopted. August 19 The All-Russian Agricultural and Handicraft Exhibition, the predecessor of the All-Russian Agricultural Exhibition-VDNKh, opens. It took place on the territory of the Neskuchny Garden and the Park of Culture and Recreation, founded five years later. Gorky. More than 600 foreign companies participated in the exhibition. The number of visitors exceeded 1.5 million. 29th of October A census of the urban population of the USSR is being conducted, the first in the new Russia. December 19th The autonomous region of the Volga Germans is transformed into the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Volga Germans, which is destined to exist until August 28, 1941.
1924 1st of January The publication of the newspaper "Red Star" began. January 21 Lenin died. January 26 Petrograd was renamed Leningrad. The Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR opens in Moscow. January 27 The leader of the world revolution is buried in a specially built tomb - the Mausoleum. January 29 a plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) is held, a decision has been made on Lenin’s conscription to the party, which will begin February, 15 . January 31 The Second Congress of Soviets approves the Constitution of the USSR. On February 1, the Soviet Union was recognized by Great Britain. 1st of May The first Soviet-made tractor was produced at the Krasny Putilovets plant. May 31 Diplomatic relations are established between the USSR and China, the CER is recognized as a joint commercial enterprise. November 7 10 first Soviet AMO-F-15 trucks take part in the demonstration on Red Square.
18th of March A law on compulsory military service was adopted. July 27 The Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopt a resolution “On recognizing the Russian Academy of Sciences as the highest scientific institution of the USSR.” In November The first Soviet motor ship is launched. The Institute of Maternity and Infancy Protection is founded in Leningrad.
December 18–31 The XIV Congress of the CPSU(b) takes place. It proclaims a course towards industrialization of the country.
“A Word of Praise for Stupidity” - this is what the famous scientist Erasmus of Rotterdam called his comic essay, published in 1509. And it was not his many-volume works, but this small book that glorified the name of the scientist throughout the world.
Under the guise of sermons read by the daughter of wealth, Stupidity, Erasmus ridiculed the entire medieval way of life.
He exposed to general shame the “stinking swamp” of theologians and their absurd disputes about “whether God can turn into a donkey or a pumpkin and in this form work miracles.”
Erasmus did not spare either monks and saints, or icons and those simpletons “who believe in witchcraft signs and slander, invented by some pious deceiver for his own benefit.”
Not only priests and bishops, kings and court nobles, the Pope himself and his associates - the cardinals, but also religion itself got what they deserved in the "Eulogy". “The Christian faith,” wrote Erasmus, “apparently is akin to stupidity.”
Simultaneously with this caustic satire, many witty sheets and caricatures were published. One of them, depicting a two-legged donkey, had a malicious caption: “Just as a donkey’s head has no place on a human body, so it is not appropriate for a pope to be the head of the church.”
In addition to printed cartoons and satirical sheets, metal medals and tokens appeared in the 16th century, which wittily and intelligibly ridiculed the higher clergy. One of the medals depicted the pope on top and a line on the bottom, and the signature in Latin read: “The upside-down church shows the face of the devil”; on the other side of the same medal, the inscription around the images of the cardinal and the jester explained: “Fools sometimes seem wise.”
Amusing and seemingly harmless jokes foreshadowed terrible events for the Catholic Church, which had long since earned the irreconcilable hatred of the people.
At the beginning of the 15th century, Czech peasants and artisans rebelled against the oppression of feudal lords, the Catholic Church, and monasteries. Their glorious inspirer, professor at the University of Prague Jan Hus, ended his heroic life in 1415 at the stake as a heretic. The people severely took revenge for his death, expelling many Catholic priests and princes from their country.
Little more than a hundred years passed, and Germany was engulfed in the flames of peasant warfare. Many rich monasteries and estates were then destroyed by the rebels. Their brave commander, the great German revolutionary Thomas Münzer, like Huss, was captured by his enemies and, after painful torture, executed in 1525.
The peasants fought against the oppression of the feudal serfs and the Catholic Church. The urban poor also took part in the powerful popular movement, hoping to improve their situation, as well as wealthy people, even big bourgeoisie and princes. These rich people sought to take over the lands that belonged to the Catholic Church, and had no intention of abandoning the exploitation of the working people. The uprisings dealt a serious blow to Catholicism, but this did not alleviate the situation of the poor in the countryside and city.
In many countries of Western Europe, a new religious movement arose - Protestantism; it was called that because its basis was a protest against the doctrine and rituals of the Catholic Church. Catholicism was the religious support and powerful weapon of feudalism - was it possible at that time to fight against this system without storming its main fortress? And the bourgeoisie, striving for power, used Protestantism to their advantage.
Her first victory on this “front” was the establishment of the Lutheran religion in part of Germany. A former monk, Martin Luther demanded the abolition of the privileges of the clergy, the renunciation of the cult of saints and the Mother of God, and the veneration of icons, relics and other trash. He introduced the German language in church services instead of Latin, which was understandable to the people and facilitated the spread of new beliefs. He called on peasants and artisans to work diligently and diligently for the benefit of their masters and masters - in a word, he preached what was beneficial to princes and merchants.
Although Luther was a doctor of theology, he remained ignorant of the sciences. He mocked the Copernican teaching, but Luther had no time for jokes: he recognized the danger of the new teaching for religion earlier than the Catholic Church. And Luther’s associate and successor Melanchthon called for merciless reprisals against the followers of the Slav, who “made the Earth move and stopped the Sun.”
In Switzerland, the religious reformers Zwingli and especially Calvin, with the skill of magicians, adapted the new creed to the interests of the bourgeoisie: God himself predetermined who will be rich, although he is not noble, who is poor, but the poor need not despair - the all-merciful God will not deprive them of his favors in the kingdom other Calvin justified usury, robbery of the colonies, enslavement of the local “savages” - all means are good for enrichment, for this is what the heavenly father ordained.
The cruel and vindictive Calvin, for all his hatred of Catholicism, willingly used inquisitorial methods to combat his opponents and science: at his insistence, the famous scientist-doctor Miguel Servetus was burned at the stake in Geneva simply because he did not recognize the divine Trinity.
Calvinism also influenced the Protestant Church in England. At first, the king was proclaimed the head of the church instead of the pope. He closed Catholic monasteries and appropriated their lands, which he gave or sold for next to nothing to the nobles. Such predatory squandering of land worsened the already difficult situation of the peasants. The great English humanist Thomas More spoke out in their defense, but he was accused of lèse-majesté and beheaded by the verdict of the church.
The monastery lands were gradually bought up by merchants, industrialists and other, not at all noble gentlemen. And in the 17th century, after the bourgeois revolution, the Anglican Church adopted many of the tenets of Calvinism that were beneficial to the bourgeoisie.
The Reformation and renewal of religion did not change its essence - faith in the divine Christ and protection of the interests of earthly masters. But everything that came from the pope was considered almost a devilish obsession, and the reform of the church interfered with the calendar reform.
The Gregorian calendar, or new style, was introduced in Catholic countries - Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, then in Holland, Austria, Poland, Hungary. But contrary to the will of the pope, in many countries the old style, the Julian calendar, remained for a long time, and replacing it turned out to be no easy task.
Lutheran preachers argued that the pope had no right to introduce a new calendar, and in general there was no need for this, because the end of the world was just around the corner: frightening rumors about the imminent doomsday again spread.
In addition, according to the new calendar, unripe fruits will have to be removed, and the poor birds will be completely confused in counting the days: they will not know when it is time to build nests, when to finish their songs and fly to distant lands... All this nonsense was presented with the most serious look.
Even in that part of Germany where the majority of the population still adhered to the Catholic faith, the new style was not immediately introduced. And in “Lutheran” Germany, Denmark, and Norway it was adopted only in 1700.
In England, attempts to introduce a new style caused general indignation and dangerous unrest; the clergy brutally persecuted astronomers who advised correcting the calendar. It was not for nothing that the famous French writer Voltaire made fun of English churchmen: “In their opinion, it is better to be at odds with the Sun than at peace with the Pope!”
Although in England there was a Julian calendar, they still celebrated the New Year in the old fashioned way not on January 1, as in all European countries, but at the beginning of spring - on March 25. This date was considered the day of either the creation of the world or the death of Christ.
Finally, in 1752, after long and heated debate, Parliament decided to move the start of the year to January 1 and at the same time adopt a new style. We had to shorten this year: it began, as usual, on March 25, and ended on December 31, that is, it decreased by eighty-three days. In addition, it was necessary to exclude another eleven days, by which by that time the Julian calendar was behind the Gregorian calendar.
When Julius Caesar introduced a new calendar in Rome, the “embarrassing” year of 46 BC had to be extended to 445 days. In England, 1752 was an embarrassingly short year: it consisted of only 271 days.
It is difficult to imagine what was happening throughout the country in this shortest year. The people did not understand why the usual tradition was being broken. In the streets and squares, in front of the Houses of Parliament in London, indignant people gathered in crowds and persistently demanded: “Give us our three months!” *.
* (This comical claim is reminiscent of the old Estonian belief that there used to be thirteen months in the year, but “the gentlemen stole one month in order to pay the farm laborers less.”)
No amount of sensible speech could dispel the naive belief that this time was irretrievably lost. The noble ladies were especially worried, as they decided that they had immediately aged three whole months. But one cunning man came up with a way to calm down the saddened Englishwomen.
In the new calendar for 1752, the following message was printed: “It has long been noticed that cats usually fall with their noses to the ground at the moment when the new year comes. Now they began to do the same, as many have seen, on the night of January 1.” .
The New Year's joke made the British laugh for a long time: well, if cats have adapted to the new calendar, we will also have to come to terms with it.
Pope Gregory XIII proposed introducing a new style to the Orthodox Church, but its leaders, the patriarchs, decisively rejected this reform as “a harmful innovation, heresy and an invention of the Roman astrologers.” It, they say, will violate the prohibition of the Council of Nicea to celebrate Easter at the same time as the Jews.
