Antarctica Day - December 1

Antarctica is the coldest, driest, most glacial, most turbulent, southernmost and least diverse range of animals on earth.

The site Our Spaces from the Foundation for the Good Governance of International Spaces created Antarctica Day, the special day for the neutral continent that no one lives in but many countries are constantly exploring, on December 1, in honor of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty before 60 years on this date.

Where is Antarctica? View map:

The Antarctic Treaty (or Alliance) opened with the accession of states on December 1, 1959 and officially entered into force on June 23, 1961. The 12 countries that were active in Antarctica in the previous year first joined the Alliance: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, India, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. These countries have established more than 50 research stations in Antarctica during the year. The Convention gave diplomatic expression to the scientific and operational cooperation established between the countries active on the continent. After that, many more countries joined, but Israel was not among them. The Convention is intended to preserve the environment of Antarctica and to establish the legal laws that will apply to the place in accordance with the citizens of the countries that are in it at that given time.

Here are some fascinating details about the southernmost continent on Earth:

Antarctica is the coldest place on earth. The lowest temperature measured was 128 degrees Fahrenheit (89 degrees Celsius).

Antarctica is the driest place in the world - the amount of precipitation on the continent is the lowest in the world - less than 100 mm per year, so it is also the largest desert on the planet. The little precipitation that falls in it is in the form of snow. The place is dry and has almost no moisture.

Antarctica is the stormiest place - the winds reach a speed of 320 km / h.

The Antarctic continent is the place with the largest mass of ice in the world. 99% of the continent is covered in ice.

The average thickness of the glacier in Antarctica is about a kilometer! Most of the fresh water ice (90%) and most of the fresh water (70%) are here.

In Antarctica, humans have never lived permanently, but people have traveled there for various reasons over the years: scientists, whalers and even tourists. People nowadays need to get a research base job to travel to Antarctica. To get around the continent, people use huge snow carriages.

Want to visit Antarctica? You can travel to Isla Rey Jorge, which is about 120 km off the coast of Antarctica. In the summer season it has very limited tourism. On the island you can see the southernmost lighthouse in the world and meet some more animals like elephants, seals , Leopard Seal, Adele penguin, chin-striped penguin and white-eared penguin. Several species of seabirds nest on the island during the summer, including hummingbirds, and giant stormtroopers (Photo source: Instagram)

Most of the creatures that live in Antarctica are in the water that surrounds the continent, and spend little time on the beaches. There are among them 8 species of penguins, 7 species of seals and other marine predators and some invertebrates. Flying birds nest on the lighter shores of the Antarctic Peninsula and the southern Shetland Islands, where some more unique plants grow and live more small invertebrates.

The tiny creatures that live in Antarctica are: terrestrial mollusks, wingless flies, water bears, earthworms, micro-invertebrates such as nematodes and rollerblades, snow algae, resurrected bacteria after long periods (centuries) of freezing, about 1,150 microscopic species of Mushrooms, plankton, mosses and lichens.

There is a law for the protection of Antarctica that restricts American activity on the continent to preserve its unique fauna (animal population) and surrounding areas. Non-native animal or plant species may not be introduced to Antarctica, which may upset the ecological balance and exclude native species from it.

In 1980, the Antarctic Convention on the Conservation of Marine Resources came into force, aimed at maintaining a normal level of fishing in the region and preventing species extinction. Despite this, humans are still harming the Antarctic ecosystem by uncontrolled and illegal fishing.

The Imperial Penguin is one of the species of penguins that live in Antarctica  

The only two civilian settlements on the continent are small towns belonging to Chile and Argentina: Chile has Villa Las Astrales where families of Chilean Air Force and continental explorers live, and Argentina has the Esperanza base, the base of hope where the explorers' families live and there It even has a school and radio broadcasts.

Some countries have Antarctic airports that use ice and snow for their runways.

An American plane lands in Antarctica and is greeted by penguins.  

In honor of the new year, there is an annual concert called Icestock, and it is hosted at McMardo Station. In 2013, the band Metallica performed at a concert, making it the only band in the world to perform on all 7 continents.

Metallica performs in Antarctica (Source: YouTube) 

Every year in November the Antarctic Ice Marathon is held where a marathon in snow and ice runs a 42 km track. Another race that takes place in Antarctica is the Ultra 100K Race.

The north of the earth has the northern lights, Antarctica in the south has the aurora (Aurora Australis).

In 2014 two anonymous researchers found Tinder's first match in Antarctica, but scheduling issues prevented them from dating.

Antarctica is considered one of the best places to find meteorites as the dry and cold climate helps preserve them.

So what do you say? Would you like to travel to Antarctica?

December 1st is also World AIDS Day

Niagara Falls Runs Dry Day - March 29th

Niagara Falls is a huge waterfall located on the US-Canada border. Its height is 51 meters (167 ft ). Throughout the year the water flows in the waterfalls in tremendous quantity and intensity, making the place a site that attracts millions of tourists every year.

But, on March 29, 1848, an extraordinary thing happened.

The water flow of the Niagara River was stopped for a few hours because of ice formed up the Niagara River.

The rushing river that is dangerous to approach and not to mention entering has stopped its flow.

People went into the water to take out objects that had fallen on them there in the past.

The phenomenon that happened is called the "Ice Bridge." Sometimes, during very cold and long winters, ice bridges form under waterfalls. The ice bridges slow down and weaken the flow of water, but a complete halt to the falls has never happened, except on this date in 1848.

Some interesting facts about Niagara Falls

Until 1912 visitors to the waterfalls were allowed to stand on the ice bridge and look at the waterfalls, until in 1912 the ice bridge broke and three tourists died.

Every year about 15 million tourists visit Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls is known as the world capital of honeymooners.

If you want to get close to the Niagara Falls and get wet from them, you can take a boat called the "Maid of the Mist".

If you want to look at Niagara Falls from above you can climb The Skylon Tower, a skyscraper located near Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada. This is the tallest observation tower overlooking the falls.

If you want to sleep near Niagara, you can sleep in the nearby town of Niagara on the Lake in the northern part of Niagara, in the territory of the state of Canada. It is one of the most beautiful towns in Canada.

In 1825, Mordechai Manuel Noah sought to establish on the southern side of the falls, on the island of Grand Island, a state for Jews to be integrated within the United States. He bought a third of the island and was given an option to buy the other two-thirds, laid the cornerstone for a settlement called Ararat, but the Jews did not respond to his call to settle the island. A few years later, Noah came to the conclusion that the Jews should settle in the Land of Israel and nowhere else. In 1837, decades before Herzl, he wrote a letter to Western governments requesting assistance from Israel by the Jews.

Annie Edson Taylor, Link: Wikipedia

On October 24, 1901, on her 63rd birthday, Annie Edson Taylor, an American teacher, set out for Niagara Falls to fall from them in a barrel. She is the first person who managed to survive the fall. She did it to make money to secure her financial future, but did not gain much from it. She fell at the falls in an oak and iron barrel with a heart-shaped pillow inside, and came out alive and well, except for a small wound on her head.

Half of the water in Niagara Falls is used to produce hydroelectric energy (electricity generated by water movement) by the governments of the United States and Canada. The Niagara Falls area is the area where the most hydroelectric energy is produced in the world. (Source: Wikipedia)

 March 29 is also Piano Day and Smoke and Mirrors Day