Top 10 Facts about International Day of Happiness

The International Day of Happiness is celebrated worldwide every March 20, and was conceptualized and founded by philanthropist, activist, statesman, and prominent United Nations special advisor Jayme Illien to inspire, mobilize, and advance the global happiness movement.

In 2011, Illien brought the idea and concept of creating a new global day of awareness, the International Day of Happiness, to senior United Nations Officials.

Illien authored UN resolution 66/281 ”International Day of Happiness”, which was ultimately adopted by the unanimous consensus of all 193 UN member states of the United Nations General Assembly on June 28, 2012

On September 17, 2012, Secretary General Ban Ki moon emphasized the importance of the new international day of happiness in his closing remarks to the 66th session of the UN General Assembly, “Mr. President, during your tenure, the General Assembly also instituted a new observance on the UN calendar: the International Day of Happiness.  Let us hope that through our work, including in the new session that begins tomorrow, we can turn that aspiration into reality.

The first ever international day of happiness was celebrated on March 20, 2013.

Every March 20 since 2013, the International Day of Happiness is celebrated in 193 UN Member states, 2 observer states, and 11 territories.

On the 3rd every international day of happiness, UN Secretary Ban Ki moon said "Happiness for the entire human family is one of the main goals of the United Nations," and called upon all human beings to "dedicate our efforts to filling our world with happiness."

The second International Day of Happiness was promoted by Pharrell Williams and the United Nations Foundation with the world's first 24-hour music video to the song "Happy". Global citizens around the world were called upon to make their own music video to the song to make the first ever globally crowdsourced 24 hour global music video

2015 The third International Day of Happiness was promoted by Pharrell Williams, the United Nations and the United Nations Foundation among other global campaigns. Pharrell Williams made a speech at the United Nations General Assembly where he proclaimed "Happiness is your birthright" and asked for action on climate change. Google created a home page takeover which received more than 3.5 billion impressions. Google also initiated a campaign where Pharrell would pop up at random and dance in their google hangouts feature.

Jayme Illien, founder of the International Day of Happiness, and Illien Global Public Benefit Corporation, gained the support for the idea of the new International Day of Happiness from the President of the UN General Assembly and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, as well as all 193 UN member states to draft and adopt a new UN resolution to create the new international day, the International Day of Happiness. Jayme Illien authored UN resolution 66/281 and campaigned for its adoption by consensus of all 193 member states.

Top 10 Facts about International Tiger Day

Global Tiger Day, often called International Tiger Day, is an annual celebration to raise awareness for tiger conservation, held annually on 29 July.

It was created in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit.

The goal of the day is to promote a global system for protecting the natural habitats of tigers and to raise public awareness and support for tiger conservation issues.

The seventh annual Global Tiger Day was celebrated in various ways around the world. 

Local events have been organized in Bangladesh, Nepal, and India as well as non-tiger-range countries such as England and the United States.

The tiger is the largest of the world’s big cats and this magnificent creature, with its distinctive orange and black stripes and beautifully marked face, has a day that is dedicated to it.

This was first celebrated in 2010 and was founded at an international summit that had been called in response to the shocking news that 97% of all wild tigers had disappeared in the last century, with only around 3,000 left alive.

Tigers are on the brink of extinction and International World Tiger Day aims to bring attention to this fact and try to halt their decline. 

Many international organisations are involved in the day, including the WWF, the IFAW and the Smithsonian Institute.

Many factors have caused their numbers to fall, including habitat loss, climate change, hunting and poaching and Tiger Day aims to protect and expand their habitats and raise awareness of the need for conservation. 

Top 10 Facts about Victor Hugo

Victor Marie Hugo  was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement.Victor Marie Hugo  was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement.

His brothers were Abel Joseph Hugo (1798–1855) and Eugène Hugo (1800–1837). He is considered to be one of the greatest and best-known French writers of all time.

In France, Hugo is known primarily for his poetry collections, such as Les Contemplations (The Contemplations) and La Légende des siècles (The Legend of the Ages). He produced more than 4,000 drawings in his lifetime, and campaigned for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment.

He is buried in the Panthéon in Paris. His legacy has been honoured in many ways, including his portrait being placed on French currency. Hugo's childhood was a period of national political turmoil.

In 1848, Hugo was elected to the National Assembly of the Second Republic as a conservative. Hugo's advocacy to abolish the death penalty was renowned internationally.

Hugo published his famous political pamphlets against Napoleon III, Napoléon le Petit and Histoire d'un crime. Victor Hugo fought a lifelong battle for the abolition of the death penalty as a novelist, diarist, and member of Parliament.

He had also pleaded for Benito Juárez to spare the recently captured emperor Maximilian I of Mexico but to no avail.  He was in Paris during the siege by the Prussian army in 1870, famously eating animals given to him by the Paris zoo.

On 9 April, he wrote in his diary, "In short, this Commune is as idiotic as the National Assembly is ferocious.  Victor Hugo, who said, "A war between Europeans is a civil war" was an enthusiastic advocate for the creation of the United States of Europe.

He expounded his views on the subject in a speech he delivered during the International Peace Congress which took place in Paris in 1849.  On July 14, 1870 he planted the "oak of the United States of Europe" in the garden of Hauteville House where he stayed during his exile on Guernsey from 1856 to 1870.

Hugo suffered a mild stroke on 27 June 1878. Two days before dying, he left a note with these last words: "To love is to act". Hugo's death from pneumonia on 22 May 1885, at the age of 83, generated intense national mourning.

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Oskar Fischinger

Oskar Wilhelm Fischinger (22 June 1900 – 31 January 1967) was a German-American abstract animator, filmmaker, and painter.

He made over 50 short films, and painted around 800 canvases, many of which are in museums, galleries and collections worldwide.

Among his film works is Motion Painting No. 1 (1947), which is now listed on the National Film Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress.

He invented a "Wax Slicing Machine", which synchronized a vertical slicer with a movie camera's shutter, enabling the efficient imaging of progressive cross-sections through a length of molded wax and clay.

Fischinger apprenticed at an organ-building firm after he finished school until the owners were drafted into the war.  Fischinger attended a trade school and worked as an apprentice, eventually obtaining an engineer's diploma.

In Frankfurt, Fischinger met the theatre critic Bernhard Diebold, who in 1921 introduced Fischinger to the work and personage of Walter Ruttmann, a pioneer in abstract film. Inspired by Ruttmann's work, Fischinger began experimenting with colored liquids and three-dimensional modelling materials such as wax and clay.

Upon arriving in Hollywood in February 1936, Fischinger was given an office at Paramount, German-speaking secretaries, an English tutor, and a weekly salary of $250.

He prepared a film which was originally named Radio Dynamics, tightly synchronized to Ralph Rainger's tune "Radio Dynamics". This short film was planned for inclusion in the feature film The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936).

In 1924, Fischinger was hired by American entrepreneur Louis Seel to produce satirical cartoons that tended toward mature audiences. "In 1926 and 1927, Fischinger performed his own multiple projector film shows with various musical accompaniments.

Fischinger died in Los Angeles in 1967. A great deal of inaccurate information continues to be published about Fischinger, largely taken from decades-old sources, often repeated online.

Top 10 Interesting Facts about International Yoga Day

It is commonly and unofficially referred to as Yoga Day, is celebrated annually on 21 June since its inception in 2015.

An international day for yoga was declared unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 11 December 2014

It is also called Yoga Day, World Yoga Day, UN International Yoga Day.

The word "yoga" is said to come from the Sanskrit root "yuj," meaning "to join."

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his UN address suggested the date of 21 June, as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares special significance in many parts of the world.

It was the Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, who first supported Mr. Modi for his unique proposal.

More than 100 cities in United States of America will host a ‘Yogathon’ on International Yoga Day

The idea of an International Day of Yoga was the first proposed by the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi during his speech at the UNGA, on 27 September 2014

INDIA POST released commemorative Stamps, First Day Covers and Minisheet on the occasion of the International Day of Yoga on 21 June, 2015.

The Reserve Bank of India released two commemorative coins of denominations ₹ 10/- and ₹ 100/- on the International Day of Yoga.

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Go Skateboarding Day

Go Skateboarding Day (GSD) is an official annual holiday conceived by the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC) to promote skateboarding.

The holiday was started in California for Rob Dyrdek's work done for the community's skateboarders.

 It is usually marked on June 21. The holiday was conceived in 2004

This holiday is celebrated by millions of skaters around the world.

On July 14, 2002 when New Yorkers Kerel "Srikala" Roach and Bryan Chin organized the first All City Skate Jam and circulated flyers for a day-long gathering of skaters from all walks for life

 The day was a celebration that gained attention from other pros and larger businesses, including the International Association of Skateboard Companies, which, a year later, christened June 21 Go Skateboarding Day by 5boro Skateboards founder/owner, Steve Rodriguez.

Celebrate Go Skateborading Day in São Paulo, Brazil. In 2014 we let the streets to demand ours rights, after all, many of us skaters from Brazil are workers, students, or people looking for a job in the labor market.

North Florida's Hemming Plaza hosts an annual Go Skate Day celebration

Nike sponsored a large Go Skateboarding Day event in Cologne. Hundreds of skateboarders joined in to celebrate Go Skateboarding Day in Lima, Peru

Vans hold an annual celebration of Go Skate Day in Singapore. In 2014, hundreds of skaters showed up at Sommerset Skate Park for the event.

Top 10 Interesting Facts World Hydrography Day

Hydrography is the science of surveying and charting bodies of water, such as oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers.

World Hydrography Day, 21 June, was adopted by the International Hydrographic Organization as an annual celebration to publicise the work of hydrographers and the importance of hydrography

The date chosen for World Hydrography Day is the anniversary of the founding of the International Hydrographic Organization

The observance of the day emphasizes importance of hydrography particularly in protection of marine reserves and also promotion of safe navigation in international waters and ports.

IHO  was established as the International Hydrographic Bureau in 1921.

In 2005 the IHO adopted the concept of a World Hydrography Day, which was "welcomed" by the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution A/RES/60/30 Oceans and the law of the sea

World Hydrography Day was adopted, in the words of the UN, with the aim of: ... giving suitable publicity to its [IHO's] work at all levels and of increasing the coverage of hydrographic information on a global basis ...

Once a theme is agreed, the IHO Member States, international and national hydrographic organisations and services develop activity programs and events that highlight the annual theme.

It  is determined by the member states of the International Hydrographic Organization and is intended to promote the importance of hydrography internationally, multilateral cooperation and effective collaboration in data exchange, charting and standards development.

The theme for 2017 is "Mapping our seas, oceans and waterways - more important than ever"


Themes of World Hydrography Day
2017: Mapping our seas, oceans and waterways - more important than ever
2016: Hydrography - the key to well-managed seas and waterways
2015: Our seas and waterways - yet to be fully charted and explored
2014: Hydrography - much more than just nautical charts
2013: Hydrography - underpinning the Blue Economy
2012: International Hydrographic Cooperation - supporting safe navigation
2011: Human Resources - The important element to the success of hydrography
2010: Hydrographic Services - the essential element for maritime trade
2009: Hydrography - Protecting the marine environment
2008: Capacity Building, a vital tool to assist the IHO in achieving its mission and objectives
2007: Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs); an essential element of safety at sea and efficient maritime operations