February 14th is not just Valentine's Day.
February 14th is known as Valentine's Day, but in reality this day is not global and is not celebrated in many countries. In Lusophony, for example, in Brazil, it is celebrated on the 12th of June, so this date does not make sense in this Lusophone country.
In Portugal, in addition to being Valentine's Day, it is also the National Day of the Coronary Disease and the European Day of Sexual Dysfunction is also celebrated. In Angola, in addition to celebrating Valentine's Day, they also celebrate Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.
But then what day is this?
Before talking about the world events of the 14th of February, let's focus on Angola and understand why this date is important in this Lusophone country.
On February 14, 1988, UNITA and South African forces attacked MPLA bases in Cuito Cuanavale, in the province of Cuando Cubango, giving rise to the second largest battle in the history of the African continent, after the Battle of El Alamein, in Egypt during World War II and the largest in sub-Saharan Africa.
This battle was of great importance, not only for Angola, but also for Africa. Ironically, both sides claimed victory and, to this day, narratives and memoirs about the battle are the subject of debate.
Nevertheless, the event became the decisive turning point in the war that dragged on for many years, encouraging an agreement between South Africans and Cubans for the withdrawal of troops, culminating in the signing of the New York Accords, which led to independence. of Namibia and the end of the regime of racial segregation, which was in force in South Africa.
In the rest of the world, February 14th is Valentine's Day, the matchmaker saint, which is why Valentine's Day is celebrated in many countries. But that's not all, this date has other ephemeris and interesting events.
In 1989, the British writer of Indian origin Salman Rushdie is sentenced to death by the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeiny who considers the work “The Satanic Verses” to be blasphemous.
It was also on this day in 1919 that another war began, one that ended up shaping Europe. The Polish-Soviet War.
In 1990, the Voyager 1 space probe took a picture of Earth that would become known as the Pale Blue Dot. It was taken at a distance of six billion kilometers (40,5 AU) from Earth, as part of a series of images of the Solar System called Family Portrait.
In this photograph, the apparent size of Earth is less than a pixel; the planet appears as a small dot in the immensity of space, in the middle of a solar ray captured by the camera lens.
But the most important fact of all, which occurred on February 14th, took place in 2005. That event that few people know the date of, changed the world as we know it. The people behind that date were Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, former employees of the PayPal company, the founders of Youtube, an Internet video sharing service
This event became so important that from that date on, the world began to be called: The time before YouTube and the time after YouTube.
One of the first examples of YouTube's social impact was the successful video “Bus Uncle” in 2006. The video shows a lively conversation between a young man and an older man on a bus in Hong Kong, and was widely discussed in mainstream media.
Among the various impacts of YouTube is the social effect of influence of the various digital celebrities with channels on this social network. Their forms of influence mix old schemes with new sociotechnical systems.
On the one hand, YouTube channels allow voyeurism, the dissemination of works or various information and teachings. On the other hand, Marketing strategies are used with the aim of capturing attention, sharing or even directing consumption (of products, ideas, ideologies or services).
However, studies on social practices on YouTube demonstrate that the consumption of its contents has the capacity to reinforce bonds between generations and peer groups, but also generates a new type of fear: the fear of solitary consumption, revealing alienation and social disintegration.
Conclusion
Of course, there are hundreds of events on the 14th of February, some just important for the respective countries and others of local or regional importance, but the important thing to remember is to realize that this day is much more important than most people know. .
As such, to finish, here is another important fact about the 14th of February. On this day Manuel Fernandes Tomás (1771-1822), Portuguese jurist and constitutionalist, opened the debate on press freedom, something without which we would not be here today writing these words.
On February 14, 1821, in the Constituent Courts, he gave a speech that became famous throughout the world, in defense of Freedom of the Press:
“Press freedom brings with it evils, but those resulting from censorship are more and greater. It is repugnant to be free without having the means to observe Liberty”.
What do you think of this day? Did you know that February 14th was more than Valentine's Day? We want to know your opinion, do not hesitate to comment and if you liked the article, share and give a “like/like”.
See also:
March 19 is Father's Day and World Craftsman's Day
February 14th. Valentine's Day. Why?
February 13th is World Radio Day
11 February is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Picture: © 2022 Francisco Lopes-Santos
