Winter Solstice
December 21 is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The sun above the horizon at true noon is at the minimum altitude.
The height of the midday Sun above the horizon will hardly change for several days — it will seem to “stand still”. Hence the name of this astronomical phenomenon – the winter solstice.
The first issue of Ogonyok magazine
December 21 , 1899 in The first issue of the legendary Ogonek magazine was published in Russia. Initially, it was a weekly illustrated literary and artistic supplement to the newspaper “Birzhevye Vedomosti”. In 1918, the issue of the magazine ceased, but was resumed 5 years later.
Until the mid-1980s, the magazine was a typical Soviet publication with ideological commentary and propaganda. In 1986, Vitaly Korotich was appointed editor-in-chief of Ogonyok, and the editorial policy changed dramatically. Ogonyok began to print facts, documents and analytics on topical issues of economics and social life. It quickly turned into one of the most authoritative publications in the country.
The explosion of the Boeing 747 over Lockerbie
On December 21, 1988, as a result of a terrorist attack, a Boeing 747 plane exploded, which was making an intercontinental flight on the route Frankfurt-am-Main—London—New York-Detroit. 58 minutes after departure from London explosives detonated in the cargo hold, destroying the liner. Its burning wreckage collapsed on the city of Lockerbie in Scotland. 270 people were killed in the crash.
As a result of the investigation, charges were brought against two Libyans, including the head of the security service of the airline Libyan Arab Airlines. The UN Security Council imposed sanctions against Libya.
The first flight of the AN-225 “Mriya”
On December 21, 1988, the largest and heaviest aircraft in the history of world aviation, the AN-225 Mriya, made its first flight. The ultra-large payload transport jet developed by the O. K. Antonov Design Bureau was designed and built in a single copy at the Kiev Mechanical Plant in 1984-88.
“Mriya” was created for the purpose of transporting various components of the launch vehicle and spacecraft from the place of production and assembly to the launch site. Currently, the aircraft is operated by the Ukrainian company Antonov Airlines for the transportation of various cargoes.
An-225 “Mriya” set 240 world records and got into the Guinness Book of Records.
The first ever billion views of a video clip
On December 21, 2012, the video clip of South Korean artist PSY “Gangnam Style” set a record in the history of the Internet — it was viewed more than 1 billion times on YouTube.
The song was released on July 15, 2012 and topped the South Korean Gaon chart. In November, the video clip became the most viewed on YouTube. He held this status for 5 years until July 2017, when he was replaced by a video clip for the song “See You Again” by American singer Wiz Khalifa with the participation of singer Charlie Puth. As of December 2021, PSY’s clip has 4.2 billion views on the video hosting.