
Brazilian Days 001
January 1
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DAY OF:
Dia da Fraternização
(Fraternization). The Day of Fraternization was introduced by Pope Paul VI in 1968. At that time, it was celebrated by Friends of Peace, without notion of race, country, social or economical status. Each year, the Pope issues a message with theme. On December 8, 1967 the Pope issued the following message (complete text):
“Dirigimo-nos a todos os homens de boa vontade, para os exortar a celebrar o Dia da Paz, em todo o mundo, no primeiro dia do ano civil, 1 de Janeiro de 1968. Desejaríamos que depois, cada ano, esta celebração se viesse a repetir, como augúrio e promessa, no início do calendário que mede e traça o caminho da vida humana no tempo que seja a Paz, com o seu justo e benéfico equilíbrio, dominando o processo da história no futuro.”
Freely translated as:
“I propose to celebrate the Day of Peace in the entire world, on January 1, 1968. It is my wish to have this day celebrated as the Day of Peace, with hope and desire for a better future, on this first day of a new calendar year.””
See also: texts from Popes Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Francis.
Because the Day of Peace is celebrated on September 21, since 1981, the day of January 1 is now celebrated as the Day of Fraternization.

Universal Day of Mercosul
Dia Universal da Paz.
(Universal Day of Peace). Until 1981, January 1 was the Universal Day of Peace. In 1981, this day was moved to September 21. (see above).
BRAZILIAN HISTORY:
1502
Discovery of Guanabara Bay.
Portuguese vessels arrived there at New Year’s Day. The Portuguese thought to have reached the mouth of a river. This wrong assumption led to the name of Rio de Janeiro (January River)

1679
Nobleman Francisco Gil de Araújo elevated Aldeia de Guaraparim to the status of Vila.
In 1585, padre José de Anchieta constructed a chapel at the margin of the Guarapari River, in Espírito Santo. This chapel was dedicated to Sant’Ana or Santa Maria. In 1677, Francisco Gil de Araújo gave orders to construct a church, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Conceição. In 1674, Gilverto obtained the rights of the capitania Espírito Santo, after payment of 40000 cruzados. During his reign, until 1687, he founded various fortresses and settlements. At present, Guarapari is a popular beach resort for many tourist, mainly from neighboring state of Minas Gerais.

Guarapari around 1960-1970
1727
Encampment of Bom Jesus de Cuiabá elevated to the status of a village.
On 8 April 1719, a small settlement was founded along the margins of the Prainha River, by the pioneers Pascoal Moreira Cabral and Miguel Sutil, since they found an enormous goldmine. Since this settlement, that bore the name Arraial do Senhor Bom Jesus, was located west of the demarcation line that was agreed in the Treaty of Tordesilhas (that formally shared the American continent in two parts: Spanish and Portuguese), this date is considered as the end of the treaty. On 1 January 1727, this settlement was elevated to Vila Real (village), with the name Vila Real do Senhor Bom Jesus de Cuiabá. In 1818, the Vila gained the status of a city, and in 1835, Cuiabá became capital of the state of Mato Grosso.

Cuiabá as it should have been in the
first half of the 18th century.
1852
Installation of theProvincie of Amazonas, at that time known as Rio Negro.
At that time, this enormous province counted about forty thousand inhabitants. Most of them were slaves, from African origin.

1931
Creation of Esporte Clube Bahia in Salvador.
Using the slogan “Nascido para vencer” (Born to win) soccer club Esporte Clube Bahia was created by (former) members of the tennis- and athletics clubs. Bahia normally plays in white shirts, blue shorts, and red socks. In 1959, Bahia was the winner of the Taça Brasil, the first national championship. In 1988, the club became Brazilian champion. Therefore, there are two golden stars on top of the emblem. Bahia is a 43-time champion of the state of Bahia. The arch rival is Vitória, also from Salvador. Bahia was the first Brazilian club that participated in Copa Libertadores, in 1960. The club had participated two more times, in 1964, and in 1989. Barcelona star Daniel Alves came from Bahia. On this web site various versions of the club hymn may be listened.

emblem / mascotte

Daniel Alves / winning team in 1931 (Bahia)

1959 (Taça Brasil) / 1988 (Brasileiro)
1970
Hijack of a Brazilian airplane in Montevideo (Uruguay).
During the sixties and seventies of the past century, no less than 26 attempts were made to hijack Brazilian planes; some attempts turned out to be successful. Shortly after the start in Montevideo, the Caravelle of airline company Cruzeiro do Sul was hijacked by six militants of the VAR-P (Vanguarda Armada Revolucionária-Palmares), a leftist-oriented resistance movement. One of the militants was Miriam Guimarães Freire, code name Miriam, who sat in the plane with two children of minor age. The hijackers forced the pilot not to fly to Rio de Janeiro, its original destination. The pilot had to fly to Cuba. Thanks to strict censorship by the military dictatorship, the hijack did not appear in news items. Below are some images of the intervention by the FAB (Brazilian Air Force) during the hijack attempt.

1979
AI-5 and related laws and decrees were lifted.
In the final months of the government that was headed by President Geisel, amendment 11 on the constitutional law was accepted, on October 13, 1978. This acceptance led to the restoration of the habeas corpus, among others.

1979
Implementation of the split-up of the state of Mato Grosso.
The law was already accepted in 1977. The Central-Western state of Mato Gross, sharing borders with Bolivia, Paraguay, and eight Brazilian states, was split into Mato Grosso (capital: Cuiabá), and Mato Grosso do Sul (capital: Campo Grande). According to the Treaty of Tordesilhas, Mato Grosso was originally appointed to Spain. However, Portuguese pioneers and gold seekers explored this region, which led to the creation of the capitania of Mato Grosso in 1748. Two years later, Mato Grosso was appointed to Portugal, according to the Treaty of Madrid. The giant state, with a huge natural and economical diversity, was split in order to promote the regional development in the two separate states. Mato Grosso do Sul is more developed and counts more inhabitants.

Mato Grosso (dark green) and Mato Grosso
do Sul (light green)
1995
Installation of Fernando Henrique Cardoso as president of Brazil.

1998
Implementation of the Law on Transplantations.
1999
Start of the second mandate of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso

2003
Installation of Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva as president of Brazil.


2003
The Public Ministry declares Bingos (gambling machines) as illegal.
2004
Inauguration of the headquarters of the church ‘Deus é Amor’ in São Paulo

2004
Installation of Brazil as temporary member of the UN Security Council.
2007
Start of the second mandate of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
“Quatro anos atrás, nesta Casa, em um primeiro de janeiro, vivi a experiência mais importante de minha vida – a de assumir a presidência do meu País. Não era apenas a realização de um sonho individual. O que então ocorreu foi o resultado de um poderoso movimento histórico do qual eu me sentia – e ainda hoje me sinto – parte e humilde instrumento.
Pela primeira vez, um homem nascido na pobreza, que teve que derrotar o risco crônico da morte na infância e vencer, depois, a desesperança na idade adulta, chegava, pela disputa democrática, ao mais alto posto da República. Pela primeira vez, a longa jornada de um retirante, que começara, como a de milhões de nordestinos, em cima de um pau-de-arara, terminava, como expressão de um projeto coletivo, na rampa do Planalto. Hoje estou de volta a esta Casa, no mesmo primeiro de janeiro e quase na mesma hora. Tenho a meu lado, como em 2003, o amigo e companheiro José Alencar, cuja colaboração inteligente e leal tornou menos árduas as tarefas destes quatro anos. E assim o será no Governo que se inicia.
Tudo é muito parecido, mas tudo é profundamente diferente. É igual e diferente o Brasil; é igual e diferente o mundo; e, eu, sou também igual e diferente. Sou igual naquilo que mais prezo: no profundo compromisso com o povo e com meu país. Sou diferente na consciência madura do que posso e do que não posso, no pleno conhecimento dos limites. Sou igual no ímpeto e na coragem de fazer. Sou diferente na experiência acumulada na difícil arte de governar. Sou igual quando volto a conjugar, nas suas formas mais afirmativas, o verbo mudar, como fiz aqui quatro anos atrás. Mas sou diferente, pois, sem renegar a paciência e a persistência que aqui também preguei, quero hoje pedir, com toda ênfase, pressa, ousadia, coragem e criatividade para abrir novos caminhos.”
Fragment of the inauguration speech of Lula (2006)
2007
Governor Sérgio Cabral (Rio de Janeiro) sent the National Army to the City of Rio de Janeiro.
2008
Gasoline stations selling diesel that contain two percent biodiesel.
2010
Landslide in Angra dos Reis (RJ): dozens of deaths.

2011
Installation of Dilma Rousseff as president of Brazil.


1763
Brazil elevated to the category of vice-kingdom.
As a result, the capital of the Brazilian colony was transferred from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro.

1874
Inauguration of the submarine telegraph line between Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Pernambuco, and Pará.
The connection was already established on 23 december 1873. Six months later, on 22 June 1874, the connection was extended to Europe (United Kingdom and Portugal).

1917
Introduction of Código Civil Brasileiro, the Brazilian Civilian Code.

1930
Foundation of samba school Vai-Vai


1946
Extinction of Força Expedicionária Brasileira (FEB; Brazilian Expedition Force)

1954
Foundation of the city of Mauá (SP).

1960
Launch of the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, which substituted Folha da Manhã.

1990
Installation of Palmas as capital of the state of Tocantins.

By Adriano Antoine Robbesom © 2007, 2015
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