December 1st: Romanian Great Union Day

La multi ani! Happy Great Union Day, Romania!

The National Day of Romania is celebrated on December 1st. It is known as Great Union Day or 1918 Union Day. The day marks the Union of Transylvania with Romania in 1918.

Let's take a look at the history of this holiday.

Romania had declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, with the country comprised of the principalities of Moldova and Wallachia.

At the end of World War I, Romania almost doubled in size when Transylvania and the provinces of Bessarabia and Bukovina unified with Romania.

The declaration of unification happened in Alba Iulia on December 1st 1918.

The declaration was read by Vasile Goldis, during a public event which was attended by over 100,000 Romanians.

During World War II, Romania lost Basarabia (present-day Moldova) and Bucovina in 1940. Both regions were annexed by the Soviet Republic.

Romania's national day has moved around a few times over the years.

Before 1918, the national day was observed on May 10th.

which marked both Carol I's entrance into Romania in 1866 and his declaration of Independence from the Ottomans in 1877.

During communist rule, the national day was August 23rd, which marked the overthrow of the fascist government in 1944.

Following the end of communist rule in 1990, December 1st was made the national day.

Great Union Day is marked by a large military parade in the capital, Bucharest.

Speeches are made in Bucharest and Alba Iulia, where the declaration of the union was first read out.

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To mark this national Day, let's look at a few interesting FACTS about Romania.

Oaia aia e a ei is a Romanian sentence made only of vowels. It means ‘That sheep is hers.’

The first Olympic gymnast to ever score a perfect 10 was the 14-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci.

The tallest wooden church in Europe is in Sapanta Peri, Maramures.

Scrabble was banned in Romania until the 1980s for being “overly intellectual.”

Romanian soprano, Alma Gluck was the first lyrical artist in the world to sell a million records.

The Izvorul Bigar is considered to be the most beautiful waterfall in the world. It's nicknamed the Mermaid Shower.

In 1889, Timisoara became the first European city to have electric street lighting.

Peles Castle was the first European castle to be entirely lit by electrical current.

Guinness Book has ranked the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest as the most expensive administrative building and the world’s heaviest one.

Romanian scientist, Nicolar Paulescu, discovered insulin in 1922.

In 2018, to mark the centenary of Great Union Day, 4807 people gathered in Alba Iulia, to recreate the outline of Romania, making it the largest human image of a country/continent ever.

Read more at https://www.officeholidays.com/holida...

Music: Where to Walk by Aaron Lieberman