World Productivity Day

World Productivity Day is celebrated on 20 June every year. The day is dedicated to honouring and celebrating productivity, and it's an opportunity to reflect on how we can improve our daily lives to be more productive.

Do you find it hard to stay productive and efficient in your daily life and work? If so, you're not alone. With so much constant demands, it can be tough to strike a balance between work and leisure time.

World Productivity Day is a reminder to individuals and organizations to reflect on their efficiency, effectiveness, and overall productivity. It is a crucial day to take stock of your progress and identify areas where you can improve.

World Productivity Day: History & Significance

The word productivity has a long history of being associated with economics and the corporate world. It's now a boxed-up understanding of the term, with many people defining it as "efficiency, purely in dictionary terms." However, productivity has a broader and more holistic meaning. It's about making informed choices, the art of balancing professional and personal goals, and finding ways to live a more fulfilling and productive life.

No matter how you choose to celebrate, World Productivity Day is a reminder of the importance of productivity in our daily lives. It's a day to reflect on our progress and to renew our commitment to creating a more productive and fulfilling life for ourselves, our families, and our communities.

International Tennis Day

 

International Tennis Day is an annual celebration on 20 June to raise the profile and catalyze interest in the game of tennis—real tennis, court tennis, jeu de paume. Founded in 2014, International Tennis Day is funded by the U.S. Court Tennis Preservation Foundation, directed by the U.S. Court Tennis Association and supported by all the other national tennis governing bodies and associations in the world. The aim is to motivate current players and to mobilize new ones who have not played tennis before.

June 20 was chosen for the celebration of International Tennis Day as it falls on the anniversary of the Tennis Court Oath, taken on 20 June 1789 by nearly 600 people at a tennis court near the Palace of Versailles. The Tennis Oath was a pivotal event at the start of the French Revolution. Jacques-Louis David’s iconic 1791 painting “Le Serment du Jeu de Paume” is perhaps the most famous image of a tennis court. To celebrate the painting and its communal message of hope and change, International Tennis Day was started on 20 June in 2014.

World Sauntering Day

 

World Sauntering Day is celebrated on June 19th each year. This day encourages people to slow down and enjoy life at a leisurely pace, rather than rushing through their daily routines. The purpose is to promote relaxation, appreciation of surroundings, and well-being by embracing a slower, more mindful approach to walking and life in general. 

The day was created in 1970 by W.T. Rabe, who wanted to offer an alternative to the growing popularity of jogging. He encouraged people to take a break, relax, and saunter, which means to walk slowly and in a relaxed manner. World Sauntering Day serves as a reminder to slow down, appreciate the simple things, and find joy in the present moment. 

National Go Fishing Day (United States)

National Go Fishing Day (United States) on June 18 encourages us to drop a line - in the nearest stream, pond, lake, or river. It's' time to take a break from our daily routine, bait a hook and catch some fish while enjoying the outdoors on your relaxing endeavour.

This day has been celebrated since the 1950s, when it was created as an opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to come together and enjoy a peaceful day on the water. It's also a great way to learn about conservation, sustainability, ecology, wildlife management and our aquatic ecosystems.

Mahatma Gandhi relocates the Satyagraha Ashram in 1917

On June 17, 1917, Mahatma Gandhi relocated the Satyagraha Ashram to a 36-acre site on the banks of the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. This new location, known as Sabarmati Ashram, became a significant centre for India's freedom struggle and Gandhi's various experiments in living, including farming and animal husbandry.

Here's a more detailed look:

Initial Location

Gandhi's first ashram in India was established in May 1915 at the Kocharab Bungalow in Ahmedabad. 

Relocation

Gandhi sought a larger space for activities like farming and animal husbandry, leading to the move to the Sabarmati River location on June 17, 1917. 

Significance

The Sabarmati Ashram served as Gandhi's home from 1917 to 1930 and was a key location for the Indian independence movement. 

Dandi March

It was from here, on March 12, 1930, that Gandhi launched the famous Dandi March to protest the British Salt Law. 

Legacy

The Ashram now houses a museum and serves as a reminder of Gandhi's philosophy of truth, non-violence, and self-sufficiency.

 

Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space, in 1963

 

On June 16, 1963, aboard Vostok 6, Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to travel into space. After 48 orbits and 71 hours, she returned to earth, having spent more time in space than all U.S. astronauts combined to that date.

Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova was born to a peasant family in Maslennikovo, Russia, in 1937. She began work at a textile factory when she was 18, and at age 22 she made her first parachute jump under the auspices of a local aviation club. Her enthusiasm for skydiving brought her to the attention of the Soviet space program, which sought to put a woman in space in the early 1960s as a means of achieving another “space first” before the United States. As an accomplished parachutist, Tereshkova was well equipped to handle one of the most challenging procedures of a Vostok space flight: the mandatory ejection from the capsule at about 20,000 feet during re-entry. In February 1962, she was selected along with three other woman parachutists and a female pilot to begin intensive training to become a cosmonaut.

In 1963, Tereshkova was chosen to take part in the second dual flight in the Vostok program, involving spacecrafts Vostok 5 and Vostok 6. On June 14, 1963, Vostok 5 was launched into space with cosmonaut Valeri Bykovsky aboard. With Bykovsky still orbiting the earth, Tereshkova was launched into space on June 16 aboard Vostok 6. The two spacecrafts had different orbits but at one point came within three miles of each other, allowing the two cosmonauts to exchange brief communications. Tereshkova’s spacecraft was guided by an automatic control system, and she never took manual control. On June 19, after just under three days in space, Vostok 6 reentered the atmosphere, and Tereshkova successfully parachuted to earth after ejecting at 20,000 feet. Bykovsky and Vostok 5 landed safely a few hours later.

After her historic space flight, Valentina Tereshkova received the Order of Lenin and Hero of the Soviet Union awards.

 

Fall of Danish Flag from the sky in 1219

 

The national flag of Denmark is called the Dannebrog. Legend has it that the Dannebrog fell from the sky in Estonia on 15 June 1219.

Dannebrog means "Danish cloth" or "well made material".

The national flag of Denmark is red with a white Nordic cross, which means that the cross extends to the edges of the flag and the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side.

A banner with a white-on-red cross is attested as having been used by the kings of Denmark since the 14th century. An origin legend with considerable impact on Danish national historiography connects the introduction of the flag to the Battle of Lyndanisse (now Tallinn) of 1219. The elongated Nordic cross, which represents Christianity, reflects its use as a maritime flag in the 18th century. The flag became popular as a national flag in the early 16th century. Its private use was outlawed in 1834 but again permitted by a regulation of 1854. The flag holds the world record of being the oldest continuously used flag, that is since 1625.

A commemorative postage stamp of Denmark from the Anniversaries and Events 1969 series depicts the Fall of Danish Flag. The postage stamp issued on 12 June 1969 is 24 x 31 mm in size and at 60 øre - Danish øre face value. It had a print run of 22,675, 000. The designers are Czeslaw Slania (E) and Povl Christensen.