Daily Calendar - August 3
The 215th day of the year, 150 days left until the New Year.
Church Calendar
Commemoration of the Prophet Ezekiel; Venerable Fathers Simeon of Salos and John the Confessor for Christ.
The Holy Prophet Ezekiel lived in the 6th century BC. He was born in Syria. After the invasion of Jerusalem by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, he was taken captive.
In captivity, the prophet lived on the banks of the Chebar River. He saw a bright cloud, in which a chariot and four living creatures moved by supernatural power were visible. At this revelation, the saint fell to the ground in fear, but the voice of God commanded him to get up and told him that he would be sent to the people of Israel to preach. From that day on, Ezekiel's prophetic activity began. The saint announced to the captive people in Babylon what suffering awaited them for rejecting the true God. He prophesied to them the coming of better times, the liberation from Babylonian captivity and the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem.
The holy prophet Ezekiel was also endowed with the gift of miracles. Like Moses, he divided the waters of the Red Sea with his prayer, led the Jews across, and saved them from the sword of the Chaldeans.
During a famine, through his prayer, God increased the people's bread.
When he exposed the paganism of one of the Jewish leaders, the saint was executed.
Born:
1801 _ Joseph Paxton, English architect, who built the ``Crystal Palace'' in London. Died in 1865.
1935 _ Giorgi Shonin, Russian cosmonaut, pilot. In October 1969,
with V. Kubasov flew into space on the ship ``Soyuz 6''.
1932 _ Tengiz Archvadze, People's Artist of Georgia, Rustaveli Prize laureate.
1930 _ Tengiz Maisuradze, actor. Died in 2003.
Died:
1784 _ Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian musician, composer. Author of the first ``History of Music''.
1779 _ Henry Kobel, Dutch painter.
1924 _ Joseph Honrad, English writer.
1948 _ Albert Hollard, English historian.
1965 - Ioseb Grishashvili — Georgian poet (d. 1889)
Events:
456 _ King Gubaz rebelled against the royal court of Constantinople for the independence of Greece.
1492 _ Christopher Columbus, with a group of 90 men, sailed from the Spanish port of Palos on three ships ("Santa Maria", "Pinta", "Niña") and crossed the Atlantic Ocean.
1492 _ Jews were expelled from Spain.
1596 _ German astronomer David Fabliius discovered the first variable star "Cephas".
1678 _ Robert Lasalle built the first ship in America.
1778 _ The La Scala Opera House opened in Milan, Italy.
1795 _ The Paris Conservatory was founded.
1849 _ The Strait connecting the Seas of Japan and Okhotsk was discovered.
1914 _ The first ship passed through the Panama Canal.
1923 _ Herbert Clark Hoover became the thirtieth President of the United States.
1943 _ The guerrilla "Rail War" began.
1949 _ The International Basketball Association "NBA" was founded in the USA.
1957 _ The first Soviet intercontinental rocket P-7 was launched under the leadership of S. Korolev.
1960 _ Nigeria became independent from France.
1988 _ Matthias Rustin was released after landing his helicopter on Red Square.
2023 - A glacial avalanche hit the resort of Shovi, killing 31 people.
Memorable days:
Jamaica - Independence Day.
Equatorial Guinea - Army Day.
Nigeria - Independence Day.
Arizona, Michigan - American Family Day.
Bahamas, Turkey - Emancipation Day.
Colorado - Colorado Day.