A glimpse of history LATE 5TH CENTURY: An ancient legend has it that three brothers, namely Kiy, Schek and Khoriv along with their sister Lebed founded a settlement on the slopes of the Dnepr River and called it Kiev after the eldest brother. It did not take long for this settlement to become the political center for Eastern Slavic tribes. THRESHOLD OF 8-9TH CENTURY: The formation of Kiev Rus, powerful medieval state unifying Eastern Slavic nations in the expanse from the Baltics to the Black Sea, from the Volga to Tisza rivers. JULY 28, 988: Grand Prince Vladimir adopts Christianity as the official religion of Kiev Rus. This act has a positive impact on the development of political and cultural relations with Byzantium and other European and Middle East countries. Kiev becomes one of the most famous centers of Christian civilization. BEGINNING OF 16TH CENTURY: The formation of Zaporozhskaya Sech, sociopolitical and military-administrative organization of Cossacks. The Cossacks provided resistance to the invasions of the Turks, the Tatars and the domination of Polish nobility. OCTOBER 23, 1545: Cossacks took the Turkish fortress Achi-kali (Ochakov, Nikolaev region). 1648-1654: The Liberation War of the Ukrainian people led by Hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky against Poland. OCTOBER 6, 1648: Troops under command of Bogdan Khmelnitsky laid siege to the city of Lvov. AUGUST 16, 1649: The Cossack army led by Bogdan Khmelnitsky won a battle against Polish troops near the town of Zborov, Ternopol region. JANUARY 8, 1654: Fighting against Polish oppression, Bogdan Khmelnitsky turns to Russian Tsar Alexei for help and enters into an alliance with Russia in the Ukrainian town of Pereyaslav; Ukraine becomes a protectorate of Russia. Kiev keeps its role as the economic and cultural center of Ukrainian lands. In the 18th century Kiev becomes an Orthodox symbol for the entire Russian Empire. NOVEMBER 23, 1708: The Russian Orthodox Church declared an anathema on Ukrainian hetman Ivan Mazepa who betrayed Czar Peter the Great. FEBRUARY 13, 1784: In accordance with a decree issued by Russian Empress Catherine the Great, the Tavria oblast (region) was formed. The oblast included the Crimean peninsula, Taman and the modern Kherson region. FEBRUARY 21, 1784: In accordance with a decree issued by Russian Empress Catherine the Great, the fortress Akhtiar in the Crimea was renamed Sevastopol. APRIL 11, 1857: Czar Alexander II approved the National Emblem of the Russian Empire, namely the double-headed eagle. NOVEMBER 30, 1867: The Vorontsov lighthouse was put into operation in Odessa. It became the first signal tower in the Russian Empire, which was equipped with electric lamps. OCTOBER 25, 1897: The first football match took place in the Russian Empire. JANUARY 12, 1906: The first number of the Russian-language newspaper Kievskaya Mysl was published in Kiev. FEBRUARY 12, 1914: The first bomber Ilya Muromets with 16 passengers took to the air for the first time. The airplane was designed by Kiev engineer Igor Sikorsky and manufactured by the Russian-Baltic railroad car building plant. MARCH 14, 1914: Russian pilot Peotr Nesterov made the first flight from Kiev to Odessa. NOVEMBER 3, 1918: A public assembly (veche) in the city of Chernovtsy passed a decision to make Northern Bukovina a part of the Soviet Ukraine. NOVEMBER 14, 1918: Vladimir Vernadsky was elected first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. APRIL 6, 1919: Soviet troops won back Odessa from Entente forces that included British and French invaders. APRIL 9, 1921: The country-house museum of Russian dramatist and short-story writer Anton Chekhov opened in the Crimean port city of Yalta. DECEMBER 1922: The formation of the U.S.S.R. incorporating the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic as part of the Soviet Union. DECEMBER 28, 1922: The Workers-Inventors Society was set up in Odessa. FEBRUARY 28, 1924: A new telephone line with Nizhniy Novgorod entered service in the city of Kharkov. NOVEMBER 17, 1933: The Academic Russian Drama Theater named after Alexander Pushkin was established in the city of Kharkov. APRIL 20, 1938: A decision about the compulsory learning of the Russian language in all schools was passed in Ukraine. DECEMBER 20, 1938: Work-record books were introduced in the Soviet Union. They are still valid in Ukraine. OCTOBER 12, 1939: The People’s Assembly of Western Ukraine issued declarations aimed to join the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. 1941-1944: The Nazi German occupation of Ukraine, including the capital of Kiev from 1941-1943, during the Great Patriotic War. OCTOBER 26, 1941: A municipal committee on a defense was formed in the port city of Sevastopol. The committee played an important role in the organization of the defense against German fascist invaders. OCTOBER 17, 1943: The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. conferred, by its decree, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on 306 generals, officers, sergeants and soldiers of the Red Army for the successful forcing of the Dnepr River during the Great Patriotic War against German fascist invaders. 1944: Victorious Soviet forces drive last German fascist invaders from the Ukrainian territory. 1945: Ukraine, together with 50 other states, becomes a U.N. Charter member. JULY 6, 1952: A monument to Pavel Nakhimov, gifted Russian naval commander, was founded in the port city of Sevastopol on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth. Today Sevastopol is the home of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. MAY 25, 1957: The largest Soviet hotel Ukraina opened in Moscow. NOVEMBER 6, 1957: The Eternal Glory Park in honor of the Victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and the Soviet heroes, who defeated German fascism, with a well-proportioned obelisk at the grave of the Unknown Soldier opened in Kiev. JANUARY 23, 1959: The world largest whale factory ship Soviet Ukraine was launched in the city of Nikolaev. MAY 8, 1965: Kiev, Moscow and the Byelorussian city of Brest were given the title of “Hero-City”. JULY 9, 1970: The literary-memorial museum of Russian writer Alexander Green opened in the Crimean resort town of Feodosiya. It must be noted that Green is the assumed name of Alexander Stepanovich Grinevsky (1880-1932). DECEMBER 21, 1988: The world largest transport airplane Antonov-225 Mria took to the air for the first time. The Ukrainian-built airplane has a carrying capacity of 250 tons. AUGUST 1991: Visiting Kiev, then U.S. president George Bush lectured Ukrainian parliamentarians on the virtues of remaining in the U.S.S.R. and warned them not to be tempted by dangerous nationalism into the ridiculous project of trying to form their own state. AUGUST 24, 1991: The Supreme Council adopts the Act on the Declaration of State Independence of Ukraine. Today, however, most citizens of Ukraine are wishing for a reunion with Russia, Byelorussia and other former Soviet republics. OCTOBER 24, 1991: The Supreme Council proclaimed nuclear [weapon]-free status of Ukraine. MAY 30, 1998: The reconstructed bell tower of the St. Michael Golden Domed Cathedral was inaugurated and consecrated in Kiev. Since the 12th century, majestic domes of the Cathedral have inspired warriors to defend Kiev Rus from foreign invaders.
Posted on: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 10:51:34 +0000
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