March 20th day in history

French Language Day.

Established by the UN at the initiative of the organization’s Department of Public Information in 2010.

French is one of the six official languages ​​of the UN along with Russian, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese and English.

---

International Francophonie Day.

On this day in 1970, an agreement was signed in Niamey (Niger) on the establishment of the first interstate organization of the French-speaking countries – the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (now the International Organization of the Francophonie).

The purpose of the holiday, which has been celebrated since 1988, is to unite all fans of the French language, popularize French culture, as well as the culture of French-speaking countries.

---

International Day of Happiness.

Commemorative date of the UN, established by a resolution of the UN General Assembly in June 2012 at the initiative of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

---

International day of astrology.

An unofficial holiday for all those whose lives are somehow connected with astrology: professional astrologers, teachers and students of astrological schools, and just those people who believe that the location of the planets can affect what happens to them.

Astrology (from the ancient Greek astro – star and logos – thought, teaching) arose in ancient times and was closely connected with astral cults and mythology. The first horoscopes appeared around the 5th century BC in Mesopotamia.

Astrology in different centuries turned out to be in favor, then went into oblivion. Since the middle of the twentieth century, it has regained popularity. The number of fans of astrology is increasing from year to year. According to statistics, over the past twenty years, the number of people turning to astrologers has almost doubled.

---

Earth Day.

The holiday, designed to draw attention to the global problems of our planet, has been held since 1970 at the initiative of American businessman John McConnell.

Traditionally, on this day in many countries of the world, various events are held in the field of protecting and improving the environment – these are environmental exhibitions and festivals, marathons and conferences about nature, as well as cleaning streets and territories in cities.

---

20 years ago (2003) the troops of the international coalition led by the United States launched a military operation against Iraq.

The operation was originally called “Shock and Awe”, later renamed “Iraqi Freedom”

The official reason for the start of hostilities was accusations of Iraq in the development of weapons of mass destruction and cooperation with the international terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. Subsequently, this information was not confirmed.

The operation involved a grouping of US and British troops in the Persian Gulf, numbering about 280,000 people. The coalition troops were armed with over 700 aircraft, about 1000 tanks, more than 700 armored vehicles. They were opposed by about 400,000 Iraqi soldiers and 650,000 reservists. The Iraqi army was armed with about 2.5 thousand tanks, about 1.5 thousand combat vehicles and about 300 aircraft.

During the fighting, the regime of Saddam Hussein fell, the cities of Baghdad, Kirkuk and Mosul, as well as Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, were taken.

On May 1, 2003, US President George W. Bush announced the end of hostilities and the beginning of military occupation. However, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the liquidation of the armed forces of Iraq led to the beginning of an inter-religious conflict in the country that claimed the lives of dozens of people.