50 interesting facts about Ukraine that you probably didn't know

Ukraine's eighth day of war has been difficult but optimistic, said President Zelensky's adviser Aleksey Arestovich last night. Near Nikolaev, the invaders were bombed from Grads facilities. In Kherson, the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed about 1,000 assailants, 20 helicopters, 200 cars. In Gostomel, two street fights took place, Ukrainian defenders destroyed a concentration of troops.

 

Bemorepanda collected 10 videos that are showing the reality behind the situation in Ukraine.

 

Russian troops arrived in the center of the Ukrainian port of Kherson on Thursday, the first major accomplishment of the invasion launched last Thursday, and in the capital Kyiv and other big cities, the occupation forces continued the destructive bombing, without significant troop movements, probably due to logistical problems. . A Ukrainian delegation has left for a second round of talks with Russian ceasefire officials. A fire broke out on Friday morning at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest of its kind in Europe, after a bombardment by Russian troops, causing concern around the world.

 

 

 

The United Nations says one million people have fled their homes in Ukraine to Poland and other neighboring countries.

 

The United Nations has overwhelmingly voted in favor of a resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and calling for the immediate withdrawal of its forces, in a global expression of outrage that has highlighted Russia's growing isolation.

 

At an emergency session of the UN General Assembly, 141 of the 193 member states voted in favor of the resolution, 35 abstained and five voted against.

 

 

 

The only countries that voted in favor of Moscow were Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria.

 

Russia's longtime allies, Cuba and Venezuela have joined China in refraining.

 

It is the first time in the last 40 years that the Security Council has sent the General Assembly to discuss a crisis and the 11th emergency session since 1950 and so far, writes The Guardian.

 

The General Assembly was convened after the Security Council, due to the lack of unanimity of the permanent members, failed to exercise its main function of acting appropriately for the maintenance of international peace and security.

 

 

 

"It will not stop the Russian forces in their tracks, but it is a big diplomatic victory for the Ukrainians and the United States and for all those who supported them," said Richard Gowan, UN director at the International Crisis Group.

 

The Russians have captured the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, while the International Court of Justice has opened an investigation into the allegations of genocide and will hold public hearings starting next week. Kyiv resists the siege of Russian troops, and the city of Mariupol is surrounded. One million Ukrainians have left the country since the beginning of the invasion, and Russia has changed its military strategy and is pursuing the slow annihilation of the Ukrainian army.

 

 About 150 public radio stations in Europe will broadcast the song "Give Peace a Chance" on Friday at 07:45 GMT, the European Radio and Television Union (EBU) announced.

 

 

The famous song, composed by John Lennon, will be heard in more than 25 countries, including Ukraine, and private radio stations can join the initiative, according to EBU.

 

Ukrainian authorities say Russian bombings in the city of Toretsk (Donetsk region) have hit a gas pipeline, leaving more than 15,000 people without heat. 400 homes, 8 schools, 9 kindergartens and 10 hospitals are affected, according to the Emergency Service

 

 

women, a lot of children, people who want to escape the horror of war. In the city, since 4 in the morning, anti-aircraft sirens sounded, a sound that is heard more and more often in the city. Many people have nowhere to flee and are trying to find a safe place.

 

Inside the Odessa train station, the images are even more dramatic, with thousands of children fleeing the horrors of war. I don't know when they will return and if they will have a place to return.

 

 

 

Many Ukrainians who are at the station on Friday at noon say they want to go to Poland and look for accommodation there.

 

To find their loved ones alive is the greatest wish of the Ukrainians who are now fleeing, hoping that they will escape the war. It is extremely difficult for them, because they leave behind their house, their fortune, their grandparents and they pray to survive until they manage to buy a ticket back, with which to return home, to their relatives, to their homes.

 

 

Images from the Odessa train station are painful and difficult to describe in words. It is an atmosphere of deep pain and emotion. People say that they do not know what is happening to them and why they have to witness this conflict that they do not understand and they wonder when this nightmare that they are living will end.

 

There are a lot of simple people in Odessa who say they can't go to other cities because they don't have enough money to get safely elsewhere.

 

 

They end up playing a lottery, where the price is their own life and they pray to God to survive.

 

In Odessa there are also tourists, but also foreign students who came to study at the Maritime University, a prestigious university, and who want to save their lives, it is very difficult for them to keep in touch with relatives, parents, because the phone signal is very weak and frequently falls in the area.

 

There are a lot of armed soldiers on the streets, ready to open fire if they don't understand clearly who you are and why you are in the area. There are soldiers who want to protect their families. There are a lot of volunteers in the army, defense groups of the city, made up of simple people, who went out on the street at night with hunting weapons and who say they are not ready to give up, do not want to give up and will defend their country and each centimeter of territory.

 

 

They have amazing fortitude, are not afraid to take risks, and are ahead of their time. They delight, fascinate, and turn consciousness and history as a whole. And if suddenly you lack inspiration right now, let their stories become a source of that same charge of energy with which you can achieve no less success.

 

Who are the most famous women in history?

 

In our world, men generally accept that men made all great discoveries. They also invented everything, created innovative technologies, and naturally drove progress. But it's not in our selection of only 30 women who have changed the world. There are, of course, many more of them.

 

Katharine Hepburn

 

American actress Katharine Hepburn (Katharine Houghton Hepburn) was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on May 12, 1907. The Hepburns were an unusual family for their time and surroundings. The father of the future Hollywood star, Thomas Norval, was a well-known urologist in the city, and his mother, Catherine Martha Haughton, whom everyone called 'Keith,' went down in history as a leader of the feminist and suffragist movement; she was orphaned early, managed to get a higher education against the will of her guardian, picketed the White House with calls to improve working conditions for women and allow birth control. 

 

Famous people of that time - the writer Sinclair Lewis, the leader of the suffragist movement Margaret Sanger and others - were frequent guests in the Hepburns' house. Topics that were not customary to talk about then were freely discussed in the living room. The famous actress had five brothers and sisters, who were raised in an atmosphere of free thinking and personal responsibility for their actions, taught to swim in icy water and not be afraid of any work. Katherine Haughton was named after her mother; she was the second child after her brother Tom, whom she loved so much that after his death, she began to consider the date of his birth (November 8) as her own.

 

Marie Curie

 

Maria Curie-Sklodowska was born on November 7, 1867, in Warsaw in the family of a physics teacher. Maria graduated from secondary school in Warsaw with a gold medal, after which she worked as a tutor and governess for eight years. In the laboratory at the Museum of Industry and Agriculture in Warsaw, she passed the preparatory stage in research in chemistry and physics. In 1891-95. studied at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the Paris Sorbonne University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in physical and mathematical sciences. In the house of Professor Kowalski, she met Pierre Curie, whom she married in 1895 and took French citizenship. The first publication of Curie-Sklodowska was published in 1898 and drew the attention of scientists to Becquerel rays.

 

Edith Clarke

 

Edith Clarke was the first woman to earn an electrical engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She became the first female electrical engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Edith was born into a prosperous family in Maryland in the late 19th century and had no idea that she would become a woman who would build a career as a scientist. Like most girls, she dreamed of being a good wife, mother, and gracious hostess. Later, Edith Clark did not let public expectations hinder her professional aspirations and became one of the most famous engineers of her era.

 

After studying mathematics and astronomy at Vassar College, Clark began her career as a teacher. While working in this position, she realized her genuine interest in technology, even though women in the early 20th century rarely dared to think about something like that. Edith briefly studied civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison but did not graduate and went on to earn a degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, becoming the first woman to do so.

 

As a woman, she could not find a job as an engineer but worked hard at it and eventually became an electrical engineer at the Central Station of General Electric's technical department and achieved great success with this company. Later she entered the electrical engineering department of the University of Texas at Austin.

 

Elizabeth Warren

 

In mid-March 2019, US Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren proposed splitting technology companies such as Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Google. The senator's campaign received support from social networks.

 

Warren proposes to introduce a new category of companies - "platforms." These are virtual store companies with more than $25 billion in sales. Warren believes that Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Google need to be broken up by forcing them to split or sell parts of their businesses and forbidding them from using their platforms to promote their products.

 

According to the senator, Google should give up ranking priority when searching for its services. Amazon should stop selling products from the Amazon Basics line and spin off Whole Foods into a separate business, and Facebook should sell Instagram and WhatsApp.

 

Warren is concerned about the power over information and, ultimately, the power over the economy that the tech giants have acquired. In her opinion, such companies suppress the development of small IT businesses and innovative technologies. Without platform separation, a new generation of IT leaders in the United States may never appear.

 

Facebook has already shown a prime example of its power: the platform removed Warren's presidential campaign ads. After rising indignation, advertising was returned. Subsequently, a Facebook spokesperson said that the company removed only four of Warren's advertisements due to Facebook's logo rules violations.

 

Either way, with the 2020 presidential election approaching, the internet giants will likely come under increasing criticism from senators. Facebook, in particular, is facing growing scrutiny from lawmakers over a range of issues, including its market share, the spread of misinformation on the platform, and the resale of user data.

 

Hillary Clinton

 

Hillary has a law degree. From 1965-to 1969, she attended Wellesley Women's Private College in Massachusetts, where she majored in political science and received a bachelor's degree. In 1973 she graduated from Yale University with a doctorate in law - where she met her future husband. In 1973 she worked as a legal adviser for the Children's Defense Fund in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in 1974 - in the office of the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives in Washington.

 

As First Lady of Arkansas, Hillary was active in public life, focusing on children, health, and education.

 

In 1980, she gave birth to a daughter, Chelsea, but the birth of a child did not make her give up her career as a lawyer. By the 1980s, she had established herself as one of the best lawyers in the United States - in 1988 and 1991. The National Law Journal named Clinton among the 100 most influential lawyers in the country.

 

After becoming the first lady of the United States after the election of Bill Clinton as president in the 1992 elections, at her husband's request, she headed the operational committee for the development of health care reform. Hillary went on to turn her attention to protecting the interests of children and women. Her weekly comments entitled "Let's talk" on the White House website were devoted to this issue.

 

After leaving the administration, Clinton began writing her memoirs and giving paid lectures. According to the press, her average fee for one public performance is about $200,000. Forbes magazine estimates Hillary's fortune at $45 million.

 

She is also the author of several books, among them "The whole world and other lessons that children ask us" (1996), "Invitation to the White House" (1999), and memoirs "Living History" (2003). The last book - "A Hard Choice" - was published in 2014.

 

Eleanor Roosevelt

 

First Lady of the United States, public figure, wife of 32 US President Franklin Roosevelt, niece of Theodore Roosevelt. Eleanor Roosevelt is also known as a publicist, writer and human rights activist, took part in the creation of the UN and belonged to the first wave of feminists. She died November 7, 1962.

 

In 1928, Franklin was elected Governor of New York, and in 1933 he became President of the United States. Eleanor Roosevelt's worries increased: she visited schools, hospitals and prisons, traveled around the country, met with voters. She defended the rights of black citizens of the United States, advocated the preservation of prohibition. During her absence from the capital, the duties of the First Lady were performed by her daughter Anne.

 

After the death of Franklin Roosevelt in 1945, Eleanor did not leave public life. She published a lot, dealt with the problems of youth and ethnic minorities. Eleanor Roosevelt became chairman of the Human Rights Committee and traveled to many countries, was part of the US delegation to the UN. President Kennedy appointed her to the Peace Corps and chair of the Women's Rights Commission, and later to the POW Commission.

 

Emmeline Pankhurst

Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was ready to literally do anything to defend the rights of women: she collected thousands of protests, participated in pogroms, went on a hunger strike in prison. The suffragettes faced violence and were arrested en masse, but in the end, under the leadership of Pankhurst, they won the right for women to vote.

 

In August 1914, Great Britain entered the First World War. Pankhurst called on members of the Women's Social and Political Union to temporarily suspend actions and rallies in order to help the motherland in wartime. Emmeline asked women to go to work in factories instead of men who went to the front. Between 1914 and 1918, about 2 million women took on jobs that men who had gone to war were temporarily unable to do. If at the beginning of the war only 24% of British women were employed, by the end of hostilities their share had grown to 37%.

 

Pankhurst opened an orphanage during the war and, at age 57, took care of four orphans herself. At the same time, Emmeline had no property for a long time: she sold her house back in 1907, and all her things were placed in a small suitcase. All of Pankhurst's money went to helping others and activism. She herself lived with friends and supporters of the suffragist movement. When Pankhurst was asked how, in such a difficult financial situation, she decided to take care of the orphans, the activist replied: “You’d better ask why I didn’t take forty children.”

 

Women's contribution to the economy during the First World War, as well as their dedication, convinced the government that suffrage should not be exclusively a male privilege. In 1918, the Representation of the People Act was passed. Women were allowed to vote provided they were over 30 years of age, were not restricted in their rights and occupied "land or premises in the district for business purposes generating at least £5 of income". In 1928, these restrictions were also lifted. English women were equal in voting rights with men. It was an absolute victory for the suffragettes. Emmeline Pankhurst died shortly thereafter on June 14, 1928.

 

Today, several monuments have been erected in her honor, including in Manchester and London. Time magazine included her in the list of 100 most prominent figures of the 20th century, noting that Pankhurst "created the image of a woman of our time, transferring society to a new dimension from which it is no longer possible to return to the past."

 

Ada Lovelace

 

From the beginning of 1841, Lovelace began to study Babbage's machines in earnest. In one of the letters to Babbage, Ada writes: “You must tell me the basic information regarding your car. I have good reason for wanting it." In a letter dated January 12, 1841, she outlines her plans: "...Some time in the future (maybe within 3 or 4, and possibly even many years) my head can serve you for your goals and plans ... Precisely I want to have a serious talk with you on this matter." This proposal was gratefully accepted by Babbage. Since that time, their cooperation has not been interrupted and has given brilliant results.

 

Since 1844, Ada Lovelace has become more and more interested in playing at the races, especially since she herself rode beautifully and loved horses. Both Babbage and William Lovelace played at the races, and Babbage, who was interested in applied problems of probability theory, considered the game at the races from these positions and was looking for the optimal game system. However, both Babbage and Ada's husband withdrew from the game relatively soon. But Ada, reckless and stubborn, continued to play. Moreover, Lady Hell became close to a certain John Cross, who blackmailed her. She used up almost all of her funds and by 1848 had become heavily indebted.

 

Then her mother had to pay off these debts, and at the same time buy incriminating letters from John Cross. In the early 50s, the first signs of the disease that claimed the life of Ada Lovelace appeared. In November 1850, he writes to Babbage: "My health ... is so bad that I want to accept your offer and appear on arrival in London to your medical friends." Despite the measures taken, the disease progressed and was accompanied by severe suffering. On November 27, 1852, Ada Lovelace died at the age of 37. Together with her outstanding intellect, her father passed on to her this terrible heredity - an early death - the poet died at the same age ... She was buried next to her father in the Byron family crypt.

 

Successes were given to her with great effort and not without damage to health. Augusta Ada Lovelace accomplished little in her short life. But the little that came out of her pen inscribed her name in the history of computational mathematics and computer technology as the first programmer. In memory of Ada Lovelace, the ADA language, developed in 1980, is one of the universal programming languages. This language was widely used in the United States, and the US Department of Defense even approved the name "Ada" as the name of a single programming language for the American armed forces, and later for the entire NATO.

 

Also in honor of Ada Lovelace, two small cities are also named in America - in the states of Alabama and Oklahoma. There is also a college named after her in Oklahoma.

 

Jane Austen

 

English writer, satirist, forerunner of realism in British literature. Her books are recognized as masterpieces in all countries of the world and are required to be studied in schools and institutes. Jane Austen is known as the "First Lady" of English literature.

 

Jane Austen was born at the end of the 18th century in Steventon, Hampshire. Father George was a priest from an old family. The Austin family was large: six boys and two girls (Cassandra and Jane).

 

Little is known about the writer Jane Austen. Many of her contemporaries even disagree about her appearance. Someone calls her "prim, capricious and unnatural", someone - "attractive, thin, graceful." All that remained of Jane was a portrait painted by her sister Cassandra.

 

In 1783 Jane studied at Oxford, Southampton and Reading with her sister. They were not lucky with their education. Somewhere met the tyrannical nature of the headmistress, but somewhere too soft. Jane's father took the girls home and began to educate them himself. Jane Austen grew up on the works of Shakespeare, Fielding, Stern, Thompson.

 

At the age of 14, Jane Austen wrote her first parody of the boring 18th century odes Love and Friendship. The little girl had the courage to write a parody pamphlet on the work of the English historian Goldsmith "History of England".

 

Jane Austen spent her whole life in her native estate, but kept an active correspondence with her brothers and their wives, who saw the events of the French Revolution, the war with Napoleon, the Indian War of Independence.

 

According to some testimonies, Jane Austen suffered from cancer and metastasis all her life. She died in Winchester in 1817, where she went to treat Addison's disease. She never finished her last novel, Sanditon.

 

Mother Teresa

 

Mother Teresa (worldly name - Agnes Gonje Boyadzhiu) was born on August 26, 1910 in the city of Uskyub of the Ottoman Empire (now the city of Skopje - the capital of the Republic of Macedonia) in a family of Catholic Albanians. She later called her real birthday August 27, when she was baptized.

 

According to Mother Teresa, from early childhood she wanted to devote herself to serving the church. This desire was strengthened at the age of 12 when she met missionaries from India. From that time on, she dreamed of living in India and caring for the poor there. After graduating from high school, in 1928 she left to study English in Ireland and became a novice in the Irish Sisters of Loreto Catholic monastic order.

 

The girl's parents were wealthy people: her father Nikola, a native of Armenia, owned a large construction company and sold medicines, and her mother, an Albanian Dranafile, devoted herself to prayers and worship. The family strictly followed Catholic traditions. Dranafile often visited the sick and needy with her children and invited the poor to her home for dinners. “My child, never eat a single bite until you share it with others,” she said to Agnese. When she asked who the unknown guests were, the mother replied: "Some of them are our relatives, but they are all our people."

 

It was believed that Mother Teresa helped the sick and the poor, alleviated their suffering by providing them with shelter, treatment and food. However, the nun had a special view of death and torment: she said that they should be glorified, not healed. She compared suffering with the noble torments of Christ and was opposed to painkillers: “There is something beautiful in the way the poor take their share, how they suffer, like Jesus on the cross. The world gains a lot from suffering. Anguish means that Jesus is kissing you."

 

Mother Teresa's main departments were the homes for the dying, where doomed people were to spend their last days. Writer Mary Loudon, a former volunteer, recalled: “The first impression of the footage was ... as if I had a photo from Bergen-Belsen [Nazi concentration camp. — Approx. ed.], because all the patients were shaved bald. There were no chairs, only cots, similar to those from the First World War. There was no garden, no yard, nothing at all. And I thought, “What is this? These are two rooms. One has 50 to 60 men, the other has the same number of women. Everyone is dying. They received virtually no medical care. They did not receive any painkillers other than aspirin.”

 

 

Elephants are the only representatives of the ancient group that have survived to our time. Previously, there were 40 species, most of them bred until the end of the last ice age 12,500 years ago, there were pygmy elephants, mammoths, and dinotherium. Only three have survived to this day - the African savannah elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. We present to you the most interesting historical facts about them.

It is a well-known fact that elephants are the largest land animals on earth. The heart of an elephant can reach a weight of 25-30 kg. In its normal rhythm, it contracts about once every two seconds, driving blood through a huge body. In the wild, elephants spend up to 20 hours a day searching for food.

Troops of the nobility

According to the unwritten Aryan code of honor, the highest aristocracy first fought on chariots and later moved to elephants. The princes were taught the methods of training elephants as much as riding. The elephant was used both on the battlefields and during sieges: elephants scattered palisades and broke through city walls.

According to the Mahabharata epic, the ancient Indian military unit (Patti) included one elephant, one chariot, three horsemen, and five-foot soldiers.

The elephant crew consisted of two or three people, with the foremost warrior sitting on the neck of the animal and the rest on the rump; one of them could carry the badge of an aristocratic fighter or hold an umbrella over the nobleman. The weapons were darts and bows. The warriors sat on a colorful blanket or a special saddle, and the elephant itself was sometimes protected by a leather or metal shell, the design of which is unknown.

In any case, finds from Taxila, where rectangular iron plates 21.6 × 25.4 cm in size were made about 2000 years ago, speak of lamellar armor.

If the body of the elephant was invulnerable, then its legs were guarded by four-foot soldiers assigned to the animal - “guardians of the feet” (Kautilya’s treatise “Arthashastra” recommends strengthening the war elephant with fifteen warriors). In the Mahabharata, the elephant-hero could be accompanied by four chariots instead of infantry.

The classic variant of the correct battle was a battle by type of troops: elephants had to fight with the enemy's elephant, chariots with chariots, horse riders with horse riders, and foot soldiers against footmen. Of course, the rules were often broken in the heat of battle.

Where the elephants fought

As an example of the interaction of elephants with other branches of the military on the battlefield, one can cite the Battle of the Hydaspes in May 326 BC. e. between Alexander the Great and the Punjabi Raja Por.

Ancient historians describe the disposition of Por in sufficient detail: infantry was built in the center, in front of which there were about 130 elephants, and on the flanks - quadriga chariots, followed by cavalry.

Thus, the elephants became the main striking force of the Indian army: during the battle, the elephants of Por even attacked the famous Macedonian phalanx. However, tactical superiority remained on the side of Alexander: the Macedonians killed the Kornak drovers with darts, surrounded the enemy's elephant, and captured elephants as trophies.

The first known use of elephants outside of India is at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. e. The Persian king Darius III was supplied with 15 animals by the Indian allies against the Macedonians.

The Persians, having painted the place of the elephant in their written disposition, were afraid to bring the elephants to the battlefield so as not to scare away their horses and leave them in the camp. The battle was won by Alexander the Great, who captured the Persian base along with the elephants.

After the Battle of the Hydaspes, Alexander formed a guard detachment-agama from captured elephants in the Macedonian way, putting heavily armed hoplite foot soldiers on the backs of animals. Thus, in the first European elephant, the elephant crew consisted of an Indian Kornak and a Macedonian, equipped with their traditional weapons: a large round shield and a pike-sarisa. The hoplite held his lance with both hands and stabbed down.

After the collapse of the power of Alexander, his elephant was also divided: Antipater took half to Macedonia, and the second half went to the Asian strategist Antigonus One-eyed, who used elephants in the battle Orkinia in the spring of 320 BC. e., fighting with another heir of Alexander, Eumenes.

Two years later, Eumenes received from his supporter Eudamus, the strategist of North India, 125 elephants taken by Eudamus from the army of Por, who he killed. Thus, the elephants of Pore fought each other in two major battles: at Paretaken (317 BC) and Gabiene (316 BC).

Elephant of the Hellenistic era

The era of Hellenism is generally the heyday of the Mediterranean elephant. In the III - the middle of the II century BC. e. the armies of the most powerful states - Macedonia, Syria, Egypt - were armed with several dozen elephants.

The Epirus king Pyrrhus, having encountered Sicily in the 270s BC. e. with the Carthaginians, introduced the enemy to his elephant. By the time of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), there were up to 300 elephants in the stalls of the Carthaginian army.

The founder of the dynasty of Syrian kings, Seleucus I, had the most significant number of war elephants - he received five thousand heads from India. Seleucid elephants participated in the major wars of the era: with Egypt, Rome, and the Jews.

Alexander's successors improved the elephant's equipment. The animal was dressed in a purple blanket. The protective armor was replenished with a forehead with a sultan and an entire shell. The tusks were reinforced with sharp tips, and weapons were given to the elephant's trunk.

Among the Greeks, elephants threw darts while brandishing heavy chains and swords in India. On the back of the elephant, they began to install a tower resembling a fortification. On the one hand, she gave the fighters solid support for the combat stance, and on the other hand, she covered them with arrows and spears.

This innovation likely appeared in the army of the already mentioned Diadochus Antigonus One-Eyed at the turn of 320-310 BC. e. 2-3 warriors stood in the tower, turning in different directions. In addition to a hook for controlling the animal, the leader-cork also received a chisel with a hammer to neutralize an enraged elephant: the chisel was driven into the back of the animal's head, causing immediate death. Cruel, but out of obedience, the elephants were no less dangerous for their warriors than for the enemy.

The idea of ​​equipping the Kornak with a chisel is attributed to the younger brother of Hannibal, the Carthaginian commander Hasdrubal (245-207 BC).

Now the forces of elephants were not wasted on the siege of cities but used elephants mainly in field battles. The animals were arranged in a chain at a distance of about 30 m from each other; they usually had to charge the cavalry or fight against the enemy elephant.

The success of the attacks on the cavalry was because the horses, unaccustomed to the sight and smell of elephants, began to rage and got out of control. Elephants were soldered with wine before the fight for courage.

Asian monarchies used giant Indian elephants (height at the withers up to 3.5 m). At the same time, the armies of North Africa - the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Numidians, and Ethiopians - had smaller African forest elephants (height at the withers no more than 3 m).

This forest breed was afraid of its taller Asian counterparts: in the battle of Rafia in South Palestine on June 22, 217 BC. e., when the Indian elephants of the Seleucid king Antiochus III collided with the Egyptian elephant of Ptolemy IV, the Libyan elephants of the Egyptians simply retreated.

Depletion of natural resources

Although the Romans learned to fight the elephant successfully, they also acquired this branch of the army, receiving elephants mainly from Africa. The Elephant of the Eternal City fought with the Macedonians, the Spanish Celtiberians, and the Allobroge Gauls.

The last time elephants appeared in the Roman army was at the Battle of Thapsus (46 BC) between Caesar and the supporters of Pompey, who received animals from the Numidian king. Despite the unsuccessful actions of the elephants in that battle, Caesar wanted to use elephants against the Parthians, but his death in 44 BC. e. thwarted these plans.

Emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) was going to use elephants in a campaign in Britain in 43, and the emperor Caracalla (211-217) even formed a detachment of elephants.

However, the Romans were not destined to use it in battle, as historian Andrei Bannikov suggests, due to the loss of elephant combat training skills. It is also possible that the not too numerous elephants of North Africa had already died on the battlefield before Caesar, and the Romans had nowhere to replenish their elephant.

The elephant in the Middle Ages and after

Gradually, outside of Asia, Elephantery fell into disuse everywhere except in Ethiopia. The Africans also erected towers on animals, in which six archers fired in pairs on three sides.

In the 6th century, the Ethiopian ruler of Yemen, Abraha, sent an army to Mecca, including a white elephant. According to Islamic tradition, this event, described in the Koran in a separate sura "Elephant," took place in 570, when the prophet Muhammad was born.

Perhaps in the battles with the Ethiopians, the Arabs gained the experience that they needed when they conquered Persia. The number of elephants in the Shahinshah's army reached 300 heads. Iranian elephant successfully fought against the Romans and Armenians. According to sources, the Persians used elephants more often during sieges.

In the fatal battle of Qadisiya (637) for Iranian history, three dozen elephants located in front of the center and flanks of the Persian army fought fiercely with the Arabs on the first and third days of the four-day battle.

On the first day, the elephants attacked quite successfully. The Arabs stopped them with difficulty, shooting at the trunks and eyes of the animals and the carriages and cutting off the girths holding the towers. The whole second day, the Persians were repairing the equipment of elephants. Each animal was given an infantry detachment and a horse patrol. On the third day of the battle, the Arabs continued to shoot at the eyes of the elephants and put up special squads of swordsmen who managed to cut off several trunks, which led to a stampede of the animals. On the fourth day, the Persian commander died, and his army fled.

This battle dealt a blow to the reputation of the Elephant in the Middle East. However, elephants continued to serve in Ethiopia (at least until the 16th century), India (until the end of the 18th century), and Indochina (until the end of the 19th century). In the 16th-17th centuries, the Mughal kings of India had up to 12 thousand animals, while the kings of Siam and Burma - had five to six thousand.

Elephants received from India also fought in the armies of the most militant Muslim monarchs of the Middle East: Sultan Mahmud Ghaznevi (998-1030), Khorezmshah Muhammad (1200-1220), and Emir Tamerlane (1370-1405).

Afanasy Nikitin, who lived in Central India from 1471-to 1474, described the war elephants of the Bahmanid state in a story about the sultan's parade:

“300 elephants dressed in damask armor with towns, and the villages are chained. There are six people in armor with cannons and squeakers in the cities and 12 people on the great elephant. On each elephant, there are two large banners. Large swords are tied to the fangs, each center (about 40 kg), and heavy iron weights are tied to the trunks; between the ears sits a man in armor, and in his hands is a large iron hook, which he rules.

Nikitin also observed preparations for a campaign against the neighboring state of Vijayanagar: 100 elephants set out "in armor and with towns, and on each elephant, there are four people with squeakers."

Greek fire against artillery

Since the 14th century, the towers of the elephants of the army of the Delhi Sultanate were wooden, upholstered in metal, and shaped like closed towers. They were mounted on animals, protected by steel armor. The buildings housed archers, crossbowmen, throwers of discs or grenades with Greek fire, and for reinforcement, rockets were assigned to the animals - warriors who launched powder rockets at the enemy.

Detachments of five animals were supported by foot soldiers, whose task in battle was to cover the elephants from unexpectedly attacking horse riders. If at the time of Athanasius Nikitin, elephants armed with heavy arquebuses and bows fired from the towns, then later, under the Great Mughals (XVI-XVIII centuries), elephants usually did not carry towers.

The commander's elephant had a special seat (houdah), sheathed in metal in the combat version, for the commander and his guards or servants. Elephants were grouped into groups of 10, 20, and 30 heads.

Animals were actively used during sieges, where they kicked out gates and destroyed fortifications, and on the battlefield for a frontal attack. But against the artillery of the New Age, they were defenseless. In the pitched battle of Karnal (1739) between the troops of the Mughal Padishah Muhammad (1719–1748) and the Persians of Nadir Shah (1736–1747), the ruler of India fielded 2,000 elephants, which were put to flight by the fire of Iranian field guns transported on camels.

In the 16th-17th centuries, special light guns (gajnals) about 1.8 m long were mounted on some elephants, which served four gunners. Swords or knives tied to elephant tusks were sometimes poisoned, and in the trunk, the animal carried a sword or a heavy chain, sometimes with weights.

The elephant could be unarmored, protected by partially or fully covered armor, non-metallic or steel scaly, or ring-plate. Moreover, in Mughal times, the elephant's headband watched the entire trunk, except for the very tip, and had a pair of high-standing "ears" covering the Karnak in front.

At the Royal Armories in Leeds, England, a large part of Mughal elephant armor dating from around the 17th century has been preserved. The armor consisted of eight regions and covered the entire head with ears, trunk, and torso.

Its complete set was supposed to consist of 8349 large and small steel plates with a total weight of 159 kg. Rectangular plates were connected with chain mail and lined with wool, and each large scale was decorated with images of flowers, elephants, birds, and fish.

The elephant was a significant branch of the army in the states of Indochina. Here the warrior sat on the back of the head of the animal, a servant squire was placed in a high saddle, and the leader controlled the elephant, sitting behind. For one warrior with a pike, halberd, or trident, there were two archers, crossbowmen, or, later, shooters with muskets.

If the head of the elephant was a woman (and this happened often), then the entire crew consisted of the fair sex. The elephant was usually accompanied by four "foot guards" in the Indian manner.

In the first half of the 1540s, the ruler of Cochinchina (South Vietnam) had two hundred elephants equipped with towers and swords on their tusks. The Cambodian war elephant in the 19th century wore an iron shell, an open saddle with a hundred darts, and three helmeted warriors: a corner with a hook and a curved sword around his neck, an arrow or spearman in the saddle, and a javelin thrower behind.

Animals rarely wore a shell. Warriors were placed either directly on a blanket or, more often on a special saddle, sometimes covered with a shield at the back.

Elephant Sunset

The artillery of the 19th century drove the elephants out of the first formation of the attacking armies. The tallest and most beautiful animals became “combat command vehicles,” from which the generals watched the battle's progress and, if necessary, participated in duels famous in the East between the leaders of the opposing armies. Elephants with less imposing appearance were increasingly used as tractors.

Their importance in the military affairs of Indochina is confirmed by the offer made in 1861 by the King of Siam Rama IV (1851-1868) to the American president: the king expressed his readiness to send his elephants to help the army of northerners in the transportation of goods. Abraham Lincoln, however, refused under the pretext that the US climate is not suitable for elephants.

In the 20th century, tractor elephants were replaced by steel equipment, although not everywhere: during the Second World War, animals served in the jungles of Burma as a universal transport. With the advent of helicopters, machines intercepted this function from elephants.

But the all-terrain qualities of animals continued to be used by the partisans of Indochina in their combat operations. Hmong and other Vietnamese Montagnards, participants in the Vietnam War, crossed the impenetrable forests on elephants. In 1997, God's Army's Burmese rebel patrols did the same. The civil war in Burma ended with a compromise in 2012: a peace treaty was concluded between the government of Myanmar and the ethnic separatists of the Karen National Union. Perhaps this document has become the last page in the annals of an elephant.

For centuries, mankind has created a history that has been passed down from generation to generation. The myths or the reality about the leap years that have survived so far make everyone think about this inexplicable fact.

 

What is a leap year?

 

 

The term "jump" in Latin has a numerical meaning - 2/6. It is scientifically the fourth year above the standard number of days (366).

 

The historical period of a leap year

 

 

During the reign of Y. Caesar, there was an additional day repeated in the Roman calendar, with a number (February 24).

 

The Romans counted the days, the years, according to the Julian calendar.

 

In the Julian calendar, every fourth year was considered a leap year, and the last two days of February were below the same number.

 

After the death of the Roman ruler, the priests deliberately began to appoint the third year - a leap year. There was a change in the annual time and people, for this reason, lived up to twelve leap years.

 

Due to the decree of the new emperor of Rome - Augustus Octavian, everything fell into place. It took sixteen years to get the "jump time" right.

 

Sixteen centuries later, the Orthodox Church introduced new changes to the calendar.

 

The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Gregory XIII, proposed to calculate the calendar according to the new rules. He proposed introducing an additional day in February with a different date (February 29). At the general assembly, before the coming Easter, the idea of ​​the head of the Catholic Church was successfully accepted. The Roman calendar had a new chronology. In honor of the leader of the Catholic Church, she began to be called a "Gregorian."

 

The modern concept of a leap year

 

It is known that a year consists of 365 days. The next fourth year is considered a leap year. It's a longer day.

 

In a leap year, February is not twenty-eight days, but twenty-nine, but this phenomenon happens every four years.

 

Assumptions and superstitions for the leap year

 

 

Our Slavic ancestors believed that the leap year was a mystical, superstitious year. Probably the reason lies in the distant history of Saint Kasyan.

 

Saint Kasian served in the Galilean monastery and was its founder. He became famous for his writing career after writing twenty-four essays on "Interview," based on a moral, Christian attitude toward the faith.

 

The main flaw in Saint Kasyan's life was that his date of birth fell on the last day of February and even at the end of the year.

 

According to the Slavic faith, the last day of the year was considered the end of a severe winter. For this reason, the holy monk gained a bad reputation.

 

The superstitious Slavs considered the last day of a leap year to be the most difficult. They believed in evil spirits. Hence the fear of people before a leap year.

 

The signs of a leap year have been associated with Saint Kasyan:

 

• If Kasyan approached people, the disease would attack them.
• Kasyan was next to the animals - their deaths were inevitable.
• Where Kasyan's gaze falls, there will be trouble and devastation.
• The unsuccessful year is approaching Kasyanov - unsuccessful.

 

According to legend, in a leap year, there are many things you should not do, for example:

 

• Play weddings
• Plan a pregnancy, have children
• Create new projects
• Go into the woods for mushrooms
• Haircut
• Divorce file
• Borrow money
• Plant new seeds
• Make interior renovations
• Buying real estate

 

The approach of a leap year in modern society is controversial. One part of society believes in its negative actions, the other does not.

 

Negative side of a leap year:

 

• Natural disasters
• Military conflicts
• Frequent accident

 

 

The positive side of a leap year

 

People born in a leap year are creative and talented people. Endowed with a brilliant charisma, strong character, love of life (Julius Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Gauguin).

 

Today, a leap year is perceived as a year of disasters, wars, catastrophes. After all, the worst events took place during this period.

 

People are prone to believe something and most often evil. A leap year is perceived as a time of loss, disappointment, sadness. Is that right? Just ask yourself.

 

Leap year: where did the extra day come from?

 

 

Do you think that the Earth will make a complete revolution in exactly 365 days? No, it's not like that - the Earth makes a complete circle around the Sun a little longer, that is, 365 days and 6 hours.

 

In other words, an extra quarter is added each year. For 4 years, such quarters come out 24 hours. So, it turned out that a year that is a multiple of 4 (2008, 2012, 2016, the calendar of leap years is based on this principle) is different from the rest.

 

The leap year is intended to eliminate this surplus and to bring the balance into chronology. If it weren't for the leap year, then in a few centuries the new year would have been postponed to the beginning of March, and that's pretty serious!

 

Differences from leap year

 

The differences between a leap year and other years, from a material point of view, are limited only by the number of days. In addition, people need to work harder for a day. Sometimes, however, it turns out and rests once again, but this happens quite rarely.

 

Astrologically, there are a lot of problems around the Earth around the Sun in a leap year:

 

• everyday problems;
• man-made disasters;
• natural cataclysms;
• relatively high mortality.

 

However, one can argue with the latter - there are no comments from ritual service workers about the increase in mortality. Only a few older people die.

 

Year leap: Greetings from Antiquity

 

 

For the first time, the ancient Romans were concerned about the inconsistency of the calendar with the actual course of time. In this country, it was forbidden to transfer significant data in another season. People were guided by the movement of the Sun in the sky.

 

Gaius Julius Caesar solved the problem quickly and radically - from the time of his reign, people began to live according to the Julian calendar, which just added a day in February every 4 years. They gradually started moving to the new calendar, not everyone accepted it, but time took its toll.

 

Over time, the pagan calendar migrated to Christian culture. But in some regions this year he is associated with Kasyan Visokos, one of the saints, the patron saint of monasticism.

 

He is believed to have been drinking without restraint for three years, and at the age of four he gets angry and takes revenge in public for the fact that his birthday is celebrated only once every 4 years.

 

However, there is a discrepancy here - a Christian saint, by definition, cannot be a drunk, plus there is no record in the church that Visokos would like.

 

Signs and beliefs associated with a leap year

 

 

Now the leap year is relatively simple, and earlier some people were afraid to leave home on February 29 in a leap year. For example, there was a sign that if you get a good frost on that day, and the frosts can be severe at the end of February, then a person will certainly catch a cold and die.

 

The same goes for animals. Popular belief says that any mistake in caring for pets on this day can cost animals their lives. For example, malnutrition or overeating.

 

Starting a new business in a leap year, according to popular belief, cannot be very successful.

 

Surely everything will be ruined: even if a man builds a house, he even opens a business. In addition, all major cases should be postponed until at least February 29 - this time is considered the most unfortunate since the beginning of the year.

 

To calm Visokos a little, you need to do the following:

 

• under the bells, throw a glass of vodka from the window (another alcohol is suitable, but it must be strong);
• drink without glasses that shake when it is exactly midnight;
• If you still have glasses, then you should put the glasses on the table before taking a sip.

 

According to popular belief, Visokos' anger will diminish slightly before the completion of the next journey around the Sun.

 

Another interesting sign is associated with the collection of gifts from nature. Picking mushrooms and berries is usually difficult on February 29, but things found on the street, such as money, can cause problems if they enter the house.

 

And if the dog barks at the same time (a dog day on February 29 itself is a bad sign), then trouble is guaranteed. You have to ignore it while saying, "Hold me out."

 

Prohibitions of the leap year

 

 

Because this year is so unlucky, people have come with a lot of bans, noticing that you can remove the troubles from home. By the way, nature "participates" in these prohibitions as well.

 

For example, according to ancient memories, in leap years, usually a poor apple crop.

 

So what not to do in a leap year:

 

• You can't sing carols for baptism. This ritual in itself is relatively associated with evil spirits and once every four years it is especially "attentive" to humans. You better not litter. So, no matter how many sweets people offer, it is better to avoid carols.
• It is not recommended to sell homemade products. It is believed that happiness and wealth leave home with them.
• You can't show the first erupted tooth to a baby to anyone, except maybe your closest relatives. If the ban is violated, the child will have crooked teeth.
• You can't start a big business, including getting married. Everything will break down, as I mentioned above.
• You can't buy "coffin stuff". It sounds weird, but for some people in their old age it is the norm to buy things for their own funeral. Doing so in a leap year will hasten death.
• Women are strictly forbidden to dye their hair. This can lead to the lady becoming bald.
• It is forbidden to change jobs or places of residence. In a new place, a person will simply not take root, you will have to start from scratch (this point is sometimes impractical because there are different circumstances in life).
• Having children joins this forbidden group, but not everyone takes this restriction seriously.

 

Everything may sound archaic, but the fact remains - people often complain to astrologers and psychics about the misfortunes that began even after violating such prohibitions.

 

Conclusion - until the Earth makes a complete revolution around the Sun in a leap year, some activities should be abandoned.

 

The reason for the bad reputation of a leap year

 

 

We must recognize that if we did not have leap years, there would be a regular change of seasons. Therefore, they help to synchronize the Gregorian and astrological calendars and do not allow the seasons to change in other months.

 

But why a leap year is considered bad, you have to figure it out. In Slavic culture, there has long been a negative attitude towards such years. An additional day in February was considered the cause of disasters and landslides.

 

Perhaps the reason for such antipathy was that this time, on February 29, according to Slavic beliefs, Kashchey-Chernobog was subdued, commanding dark forces, sowing evil, death, disease, and madness.

 

Old Russians often associated a day of jumping with Cassian, who was born on February 29th. Based on the legends, where he was assigned the role of guardian of the gates of Hell, the traitorous cherub, the adoptive one of the demons, etc., one can understand why this character was very feared and strongly cursed. The Russians were convinced that Cassian had a negative impact throughout the year. There was a pestilence of cattle and poultry, crops were destroyed in the fields, and famine began.

 

On February 29, people once again tried not to go out into the yard, to keep cattle and birds closed.

 

It is difficult to answer unequivocally why a leap year is considered bad. Some scientists claim that natural and man-made disasters are becoming more common during this period. Many personalities are also in a hurry to cancel their individual problems for more than a year.

 

The following tragic events are historical facts:

 

• the collapse of the Byzantine Empire and the city of Constantinople falls in the leap year 1204;
• the bloody Spanish Inquisition began in 1232;
• the plague of the inhabitants of medieval Europe from the plague, in which 1/3 of the population died in 1400;
• the terrible events of the Night of St. Bartholomew in 1572;
• the terrible tsunami in Japan in 1896 and the earthquake in China in 1556;
• In 1908, everyone became aware of the fall of the Tunguska meteorite, etc.

 

 

List of leap years in the 21st century

 

 

To plan important events in your life, such as marriage, birth, change of profession, place of residence, etc., information about leap years in this century will be helpful.

 

Leap years, list of the twentieth century: 1904, 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988 , 1992, 1996.

 

Leap years in our century: 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028, 2032, 2036, 2040, 2044, 2048, 2052, 2056, 2060, 2064, 2068, 2072, 2076, 2080, 2084, 2088, 2092, 2096, 2100.

 

 

Let's summarize

 

A positive attitude and self-confidence form a strong basis for important achievements in a person's life, and small superstitions should not become an obstacle to achieving goals.

 

Is it the leap year or 2022? 2022 will be an ordinary year. From year to year, the approach of the new year arouses enthusiasm among superstitious people.

 

Interest is based on the popular signs and superstitions associated with the addition to the additional February 29th. One day, February 29, is added to the calendar every four years.

 

If you believe in your own strengths you will be able to do whatever you want in any year! We at Bemorepanda advise you not to be guided by superstitions!

 

Donald Trump is an American billionaire businessman, known in society for his frank communication style and extravagant lifestyle, which do not particularly spoil the image of a successful and purposeful person. Today he is known as the 45th President of the United States, who broke the age record of Ronald Reagan, coming to office at the age of 70 and having previously held no state or military post.

 

Donald Trump, as a student, began to participate in business projects under the patronage of his father. The first deal allowed the future construction tycoon to earn $ 6 million without investments, which strengthened the guy's faith in himself and a brighter future.

 

The first grandiose construction projects that Donald oversaw were the construction of the Grand Hyatt Hotel and a 58-story skyscraper with an 80-foot waterfall called the Trump Tower. The Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino was later rebuilt.

 

In 2015, the American billionaire expressed his intention to run for the presidency of the United States. He paid for the election campaign from his own funds, which distinguished him from other candidates lobbying for the interests of sponsors. Trump made loud statements that he could become the best American president and make every inhabitant of the country rich.

 

The election campaign of Trump, who gained fame in society as an eccentric "truth-seeker", was full of continuous scandalous statements. But the billionaire always showed himself as a true patriot, and many of his judgments about the greatness and determination of Americans became quotations.

 

Donald planned to tighten laws in relation to migrants in the country. Regarding US domestic policy, Trump took a position that was contrary to the current one. This also applied to the notorious medical reform initiated by Barack Obama, and the return of manufacturing bases to the United States.

 

The US Congress, by law, approved the results of the vote on January 6, 2017, and the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, took up his direct duties on January 20. The businessman became the richest head of state, whose fortune at the time of taking office was estimated at $4.1 billion.

 

Bemorepanda collected some interesting facts about Donald Trump career.

 

 

1. Companies owned by Donald Trump have declared bankruptcy several times. In 1991, the Taj Mahal entertainment complex filed for bankruptcy. In 1992, two other Atlantic City casinos filed for bankruptcy. Some of his went through bankruptcy in 2004 and 2008.

 

2. In his 1997 book The Art of Returning, Trump wrote: “One of the curses of American society is the simple act of shaking hands. And the more successful and famous someone becomes, the more terrible, apparently, this tradition becomes. Trump called himself a "clean-hands freak." However, during the presidency, Trump had to reconsider his views, and even the coronavirus pandemic did not stop him from shaking hands.

 

3. In an interview with Forbes, Trump revealed that he and his brother collected soda bottles at their first job. But his father gave him the first million for the business. Now, according to Forbes, his net worth is estimated at $2.5 billion. In addition to real estate, the ex-president owns 17 golf clubs, five of them are located abroad.

 

 

4. At one of the press conferences, Trump said that he never drank alcohol: "I never drank alcohol for various reasons." One of them is the death of his older brother Fred, who suffered from alcoholism. Trump is known for his addiction to Diet Coke. He loves her so much that in the Oval Office of the White House there was a special red button for ordering soda.

 

5. In 1990, long before the presidential term, Trump spoke out about the legalization of drugs in the United States. “You have to legalize drugs to win this war. You have to take income from the drug lords, ”the Chicago Tribune reported him. He also said that taxes collected from drugs should be spent on informing people about the dangers of using illegal substances.

 

6. During the protest movement on the streets of the United States and the demolition of monuments to historical figures who were slave owners and fought on the side of the Confederacy in the Civil War, Trump spoke out in defense of the monuments. On his Twitter account, Trump wrote that he would veto any bill that would attempt to rename military bases named after General Robert E. Lee and other Confederates.

 

 

7. For a long time, Trump was a follower of the Presbyterian doctrine, but he changed his views. “Although I was a member of the Presbyterian church as a child, I consider myself now a non-denominational Christian,” he said. At the same time, the ex-president did not explain the reason for the drastic change. Trump has been ill with coronavirus. He attributes his quick recovery to his faith.

 

8. From 1987 to 2009, Donald Trump was registered as a voter of the Democratic Party, from 2011 to 2012 - as a non-partisan. After that, he registered as a voter of the Republican Party, from which he was elected president in 2016.

 

9. In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles for producing the American reality show The Apprentice. However, the star of the incumbent president has been spoiled by vandals more than once. The last time this happened was during the protests of the Black Lives Matter movement.

 

10. Donald Trump has been married three times. The first wife was an emigrant from Czechoslovakia, model and businesswoman Ivana Trump. The marriage lasted from 1977 to 1992. Two sons (Donald and Eric) and a daughter Ivanka were born in it. Trump entered into a second marriage in 1993 with actress Marla Maples. In this marriage, daughter Ariana Trump was born. The marriage lasted until 1999. The third wife and first lady of the United States was Melania Trump, the marriage was concluded in 2005. An emigrant from Slovenia, a model and actress, gave birth to Trump's fifth child in this marriage - his son Barron. The president has eight grandchildren.

 

 

11. The surname Trump is related to "trump card". Donald likes this circumstance, and he often jokes to himself about this.

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12. Currently, Donald is the owner of a conglomerate of construction companies, as well as an extensive hotel and gambling business. For almost 20 years, Trump was the owner of the most prestigious Miss Universe beauty pageant and only resigned from this position in 2015.

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13. In his youth, Trump wanted to connect his fate with cinema, but chose business. Donald managed to achieve success in show business, on his account a number of performed roles and experience as a TV presenter. 

 

14. For 14 years, Trump was the producer and host of the popular American show The Apprentice. Trump's success is largely due to the fact that a huge number of Americans are very familiar with him as a well-known media personality.

 

 

15. Donald Trump had the opportunity to become President of America back in 1999. He publicly announced his intention to run for high office and received strong public support. But due to conflicts in the Reform Party, from which he was nominated, he refused the elections.

 

16. The famous politician has a rather rare disease - mysophobia. A person suffering from this disease experiences an obsessive fear of pollution or infection with something. Donald Trump hates shaking hands with strangers, because at the moment of contact, microbes can get on his skin.

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17. Donald has two brothers and two sisters, each of whom has achieved great success in life, except for Fred Trump, who drank heavily and died in the early 80s. Trump is a vocal opponent of alcohol, claiming he has never tasted it and demanding sobriety from all members of his family. In addition, the politician claims that he has never smoked and is not going to try tobacco or marijuana.

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18. Trump plays golf and occasionally competes. Donald is a dedicated wrestling fan.

 

19. He can be seen at fights as a spectator, and in the past he often became the host of such sporting events. Among the close friends of the politician is Vince McMahon, who is the founder of the WWE wrestling federation.

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20. Trump has not changed his hairstyle since high school - this is his trick. Now he only trusts his wife to cut his hair.

 

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21. Trump's original and main profession is trading and real estate management. He is a brilliant salesperson. That is why Trump is successful in political debates and speeches. He knows how to control the thoughts of the interlocutor.

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22. For many years, Trump sleeps 4 hours a day, and this is enough for him. At his age, he does not complain about health, weighs 100 kg with a height of 192 cm and is full of energy.

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23. Donald Trump is the author of 17 business books, some of which are co-authored with Robert Kiyosaki.

 

24. Trump's campaign slogan is "Make America Great Again!"

 

25. Donald likes to marry beautiful models much younger than himself. Sin, in general, is understandable and forgivable. Here are his wives in descending order. Tellingly, the first and third wives are Slavic: Czech and Slovene.

 

 

26. Trump is talking to kids. Such a conclusion was made at Carnegie Mellon University during a study that studied the vocabulary and stylistic devices used by the last ten presidents in their campaign speeches. All presidents talked to their voters, so to speak, squatting down. Speechwriters and image makers carefully process texts so that they can be understood by the widest possible audience. 

 

27. To no incomprehensible words, complex logical constructions and other horrors of higher education. But if the Bushes, Obamas and other Clintons usually used a vocabulary corresponding to the norm of a schoolboy in grades 7-8, then Trump addresses a maximum of fifth graders. For example, he tries as little as possible to use words longer than two syllables. The only three-syllable word that often appears in his speeches is "America". But there's nothing to be done, it's quite difficult to avoid this word.

 

28. One of Trump's most noisy statements is his proposal to execute and torture the families of terrorists. Information about this phrase spread all over the world, but the phrase itself, upon closer examination, turned out to be pulled out of context and far from being so unambiguous. The words “execute” and “torture” could also refer to the terrorists themselves, while Trump definitely promised only “prosecute” their relatives. 

 

29. When reminded that such prosecution would be contrary to international law, as it would introduce a prohibited norm of collective responsibility, Trump thought and said that the law, including international law, is above all, and therefore, as president, he will not order the army to persecute relatives terrorists. Unless he achieves a revision of this law in advance.

 

 

30. Under the torture of terrorists, it is not necessary to understand the rack with red-hot tongs for any criminal. Trump's readiness to torture people was expressed by him in a conversation on the topic of whether it is ethical to use force methods if it is highly likely that a terrorist has information that can prevent deaths at the hands of his accomplices. it turned out that half of our liberal free-thinking journalists fully approve of Trump on this issue. And the second one still believes that the state should not be given the right to torture people under any circumstances.

 

31. Trump's success is largely due to the fact that a huge number of Americans are very familiar with him. And it’s not even about Trump’s ubiquitous commercial empire, but about the fact that for many years he has been one of the most popular showmen on American television.

 

 

32. He hosted many popularly beloved programs, and in contemplation of his face on the screen, a great many Americans grew up, to whom he, consider, is a native person.

 

33. One of the biggest scandals of the Trump campaign happened on March 1st in Kentucky. Then the politician's guards - healthy white men in uniform - beat a black Protestant who came to the rally with a poster accusing Trump of racism.

 

34. One should not think that the black citizens of America are all, as one, opponents of Trump. He has his fans among them. This audience believes that the ill-wishers of the beautiful Donald Masa are deliberately inflating the racial theme. And, by the way, most likely, they are not so wrong.

 

35. Trump, disapproving of formal political correctness, has reliable black friends, wrote books about business in collaboration with Japanese-American Robert Kiyosaki, and for vice president during his last election race was going to nominate Oprah Winfrey, who, as we know, is far from being Snow White. In general, the Ku Klux Klan hat does not look very convincing on Trump.

 

 

36. But who can really have a big, big grudge against Trump is the Muslims. Donald, without hesitation, put forward a proposal for the mandatory registration of all Muslim Americans in order to control them more extensively. Well, he also considers it necessary to prohibit persons professing Islam from entering the United States in general.

 

37. Immigrants and Hispanics will also not be a loyal audience for Trump. One of his brilliant plans is to build a giant wall on the border with Mexico and throw out all illegal immigrants with their offspring behind it, regardless of where and when these children were born and whether they have citizenship.

 

38. Trump's original and main profession is trading and real estate management. He is a brilliant salesperson. That is why Trump is so successful in political debates and speeches. He really knows how to control the thoughts of the interlocutor, unless the interlocutor is too smart, critical and independent for this. But this part of the buyers can always be neglected, because they are always and everywhere very few.

 

39. At the moment, Trump's fortune totals $4.1 billion (plus another half a billion distributed among his five children). The lion's share of this money is in a huge amount of real estate around the world. Many of these buildings are proudly referred to as Trump Centers, Trump Hotels, Trump Towers, etc. Trump has long wanted to put one of his towers in Moscow. In 2013, he even came here partly on this occasion, but so far the process has been sluggish.

 

40. Americans value successful people. But even more they appreciate those who know how to fall and rise. Trump fell into a financial hole twice - in the early nineties and at the height of the mortgage crisis of the 2000s. It came to partial bankruptcy, but both times he managed to turn around again and win back the lost positions, even returning some money to the people who suffered from his mistakes.

 

41. Trump is not a formalist, the rules for him are the rules of the game, but when he controls the game, he can easily change them. For example, Trump is the owner of the Miss USA pageant (who would doubt it!). The winner of the competition receives a very decent remuneration under the terms of the contract, during the year she is engaged in promotional and charity events. But in return, it is required to comply with a number of conditions. 

 

42. For example, to be a "real American young lady", that is, to behave extremely decently. In 2006, the actual "Miss USA" Tara Conner was disgraced: the paparazzi photographed her in several bars, where an underage model of American youth, drunk in the trash (and not only alcohol), dishonored his high title in every conceivable way. Trump was demanded to deprive Miss Conner of the crown, to which the billionaire said that young people should always be given a second chance, and retained the title for the beauty.

 

43. Some critics are cautiously hinting that half a century of chronic sleep deprivation has led to some, umm ... problems with Donald's mentality and this explains his extravagance. But in general, Donald, at 69 years old, is as healthy as a bull: he almost never gets sick, weighs 100 kg with a height of 192 cm and simply bursts with energy.

 

44. According to the book, Stilson is a former salesman, an absolutely unscrupulous bastard who uses his talent as a salesman in the election race and is preparing to lead the world to a nuclear catastrophe. Indeed, the similarities are great, especially in the description of what Stilson says, what kind of security he surrounds himself with and how he conducts rallies. But let's not forget that outwardly politics in the US really does look a lot like a good salesman when it comes to public speaking. Nevertheless, the parallel, of course, looks frightening.

 

45. He often hosted wrestling shows and is friends with WWE owner Vince McMahon. However, Trump himself is now, thank God, not participating in battles, preferring to relax with a golf club. For business, this sport is more useful, since it is on the golf courses that the powers that be meet and chirp.

 

 

46. Reducing social benefits, employer obligations, taxes for the middle class, simplifying business, minimizing government intervention in business, eliminating a lot of benefits for minorities of all kinds, especially when it comes to the advantage in access to education, government positions, etc. 

 

47. From Trump's point of view, it is necessary to help the elderly, the disabled and the real poor, and the rest of the population is able to take care of itself if it is not interfered with and not limited in business activity. In addition, Trump believes that it is necessary to put pressure on American entrepreneurs with import duties, forcing them to return jobs to the country and stop giving work to the Chinese, Indians and residents of other Bangladeshis. 

 

48. And enough of this nonsense with help to developing countries and partner countries, except when help is really needed and does not corrupt the population. Then it must be done quickly, decisively and, it is possible, with the help of the army. All these speeches are received very, very well by the middle class and workers. Especially the promise of abolition of taxes on many types of property and a reduction in the maximum income tax rate to 25% makes the voter smile fondly, looking at the politician's face.

 

 

49. Donald Trump is regularly accused and suspected of not being very smart. In fact, the 45th American president has three prestigious diplomas. First, he graduated from the New York Military Academy, where it is difficult to qualify. After graduating from it, Trump planned to continue his journey in the acting field and enroll in film school. 

 

50. However, he changed his mind, because he did not want to be dependent on others, and the acting profession implies this. He ended up studying economics at Fordham University and then enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania Business School.

 

51. Trump loves the beautiful life. He has super-expensive planes and mansions, but the apotheosis of his love of luxury was a three-story apartment in New York's signature skyscraper Trump Tower. All rooms of the apartment are decorated with gold and marble, and it is not surprising that this accommodation is one of the most expensive in the city for its cost.

 

52. The ex-head of the White House is satisfied with four hours of sleep, he does not need more - he himself says so, and his butler confirms this. Surprisingly, despite the chronic lack of sleep, the president is always energetic and has never been ill.

 

 

53. Donald Trump's handshakes are no less famous than his sayings or hairstyle - he shakes hands often, with everyone and very firmly. But it turns out that he does it for the image - in fact, the billionaire does not like to touch strangers because of his extreme disgust. For this reason, his assistants are always ready to provide him with fresh wet wipes.

 

54. Trump, although he chose the business as a youth, has retained his love of acting. He enjoyed acting in episodic roles, and as a result, he has about 100 films in his track record, including Home Alone, Celebrity, Model Male, and even the series Sex and the City.

 

55. The world might have known a new candidate for American leadership under the surname Drumpf if Donald's grandfather, a German immigrant, had not changed his surname to a more sonorous one.

 

56. The Trump (Drumpf) family has been living in the States since 1885. Donald graduated from military school and then from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Then, with a bachelor of science degree in economics and a major in finance, he had some fun with the idea of ​​becoming a Hollywood star, but realized that this was too unreliable a source of income, and went to work for his father's company, which was a leader in real estate.

 

 

47. Donald, who loves to teach people about making money, is often reproached by critics for having a strong starting position that would make it impossible to get rich. Until recently, Trump led all sorts of master classes for those who want to achieve material success. Detractors like to point out that his launchpad was paved with ten million dollars (the value of his father's company in the late 1960s, a lot of money for the time).

 

48. Trump says he is worth $10 billion. However, financial experts have big doubts about this. His companies have filed for bankruptcy four times in the past decade. Donald was especially battered by the global crisis of 2008. Nevertheless, the new presidential candidate uses his wealth as one of the trump cards of his election campaign: “I did it, so you can,” “I am really very rich,” Trump assures the electorate.

 

49. The Grammar Nazis chuckled heartily when Donald used the word bigly instead of the adjective big in his recent fiery foreign relations speech. “Does he really think there is such a word?” snorted the detractors.

 

50. Donald is a big fan of various alternative theories of the world order. For example, he believes that vaccinating children can cause them to develop autism.