The week ending May 5, 2024 is marked by World Workers’ Day. This year, the May 1st holiday falls on Wednesday, a date that commemorates the 30th anniversary of the death of Brazilian Formula 1 driver, Ayrton Senna da Silva. Other weekly highlights are International Jazz Day and the 40 years of operation of the Itaipu hydroelectric plant.
Life-size statue of the pilot Ayrton Senna, installed on the Copacabana promenade – Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil
Three-time Formula 1 champion, Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna collided with the Williams team car, fatally, against a concrete barrier on the old Tamburello curve, at more than 300 km/h, on May 1, 1994. The episode inscribed the Italian circuit of San Marino, in Ímola, in the history of Brazilian motorsport.
Senna became an icon of national sport when he became world champion for the first time at the Adelaide Grand Prix, in Australia, in 1988. História Hoje recalls that the driver arrived at that race with 13 pole positions and eight victories in the season:
Another famous GP in the driver’s history is Monaco. He won this circuit for the first time in 1987. Senna started second, behind Niguel Mansell of the Williams team, who abandoned the race on the 29th lap due to engine problems. Senna would win another five times in the principality, which would give him the title of “King of Monaco”.
Three-time world champion Ayrton Senna – Reproduction Twitter/Formula 1
Senna’s popularity went far beyond Brazil. A year before his death, American singer Tina Turner dedicated the song Best to Ayrton Senna. Check out an excerpt from this report on Brazil Agency:
In 1993, Brazilian Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna (1960-1994) won the Australian Grand Prix. After the victory, he went to the concert of singer Tina Turner, who passed away this Wednesday (24) at the age of 83. During the show, Tina Turner recognized the Brazilian pilot in the audience and called him to the stage. “I’m really a fan of yours,” she said. And she dedicated one of her biggest hits “The Best” to him.
In 2023, Senna was declared Patron of Brazilian Sports through Law 14,559/2023. To justify the title to the driver, the proposer of the law, deputy Filipe Barros (PL-PR), highlighted Senna’s sporting performance and his representativeness for Brazilian sport.
Ephemeris of the week
Sunday opens the week with World Education Day (28). The date symbolizes a commitment by 180 countries to spare no political and financial efforts to bring education to all inhabitants of the planet.
In 2024, the celebration takes place amid the strike of higher education employees and teachers, who demand a salary increase.
Last year, Federal Institutes (IFs) held a symbolic hug around campuses calling for peace and an end to violence in schools.
Education Day: IFB employees, in DF, by Antonio Cruz/Agência Brasil
The 28th is also marked by National Caatinga Day and World Day in Remembrance of Victims of Accidents at Work. adjust the sound volume
The week continues at the rhythm of music, in a double dose, with International Dance Day, April 29th, and Jazz Day, celebrated on April 30th. The dance has been honored since 1982, when UNESCO established the date. In 2011, the UN body would also establish Jazz Day, accepting a proposal from pianist Herbie Hancock.
O EBC radio journalism has already drawn attention, in the recent past, to the honor that the genre gives to black ancestry, with creativity and improvisation. Listen again:
International Jazz Day – In the photo, John Birks Gillespie, the Trumpet Myth, better known as Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993) – The Giants of Jazz.- Photo: JP Roche/Wikimedia Commons
World Workers Day
More than a holiday dedicated to well-deserved rest, World Workers’ Day dates back to May 1, 1886, when North American workers went on strike to reduce the long working hours — from up to 17 hours to eight hours a day. In 2023, Brasil Rural cited this event and interviewed Aristides Santos, president of the National Confederation of Rural Workers Farmers and Farmers (Contag) to talk about work in the field. Listen:
Labor regulation in Brazil is present in the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT), which completed 80 years in 2023. On that occasion, Radioagência Nacional published a series of five reports on work. Check out some highlighted links from these publications:
- “Constitution of work”, CLT turns 80 this Monday (1st)
- The impact that artificial intelligence can have on the world of work
- Experts point to a relationship between flexibility and slave labor
- Change in rule makes retirement of informal workers unfeasible
- Bill wants to review points of labor reform
Itaipu Binacional – Photo: Alexandre Marchetti/Itaipu Binacional
The week ends with the 40th anniversary of the start of operation of the first generating unit at the Itaipu Hydroelectric Plant. The binational hydroelectric plant was born as the result of a partnership between Brazil and Paraguay. In 2014, the Brazil Agency reported that:
Paraguay benefited from a second transmission line connecting the plant to the country’s capital, Asunción, built by the binational with resources from the funds that Brazil gives to Mercosur. “The disagreements between Paraguay and Brazil are mainly related to the amount paid for the surplus [da energia cotada para o país vizinho]. They also complain about the debt, which is still charged in the tariff”, explained one of the experts on the subject interviewed in the report.
Even today, in 2024, the two countries face differences regarding the value of the tariff for the Itaipu hydroelectric plant. In January, President Lula said that the issue would continue to be addressed by teams from both governments so that a solution could be reached. The statement was given after a meeting between the Brazilian president and the Paraguayan president, Santiago Peña, at the Itamaraty Palace, in Brasília on January 15, 2024.
Check out Hoje é Dia’s weekly list, with dates, historical facts and holidays:
04/28 to 05/04
28
Birth of the composer and poet from Rio de Janeiro Paulo César Pinheiro (75 years old)
World Education Day – in Brazil, the celebration is related to the end date of the World Education Summit, held from April 26 to 28, 2000 in the Senegalese city of Dakar with the participation of 180 countries. On this date, a commitment was made to spare no political and financial efforts so that Education reaches everyone on the planet. The date is also associated with the World Action Week for Education, celebrated in the last week of April as part of the Global Campaign for Education
World Day of Remembrance for Victims of Accidents at Work
National Caatinga Day
29
Death of São Paulo singer Hilda Campos Soares da Silva, Leny Eversong (40 years old) – known for her powerful voice, which gave her international fame in the 1950s, she performed several annual seasons in Las Vegas casinos. In 1945, she left Rádio Tupi and worked for two other prominent broadcasters, Excelsior and Nacional.
Birth of the American composer, pianist and orchestra leader Duke Ellington (125 years old) – Duke Ellington’s music was one of the greatest influences on jazz, from the 1920s to the 1960s. His works still have an appreciable influence today, having given him the title of greatest American jazz composer of all time
International Dance Day – UNESCO chose this day because it was the birth date of the French master Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), who went beyond the general principles guiding the dance of his time to face problems related to the execution of the work. His proposal was to give expressiveness to dance through pantomime, simplification in the execution of steps and subtlety in movements.
30
Birth of Rio de Janeiro politician Carlos Lacerda (110 years old)
Birth of Bahian singer and composer Dorival Caymmi (110 years old)
Birth of Alagoas politician and military man Floriano Peixoto (185 years old)
The New York World’s Fair opens (85 years) – with a futuristic nature, the event allowed visitors to look at “the world of tomorrow”. The occasion marked the United States’ first television broadcast and introduction to the public of color photography.
The first railway in Brazil is inaugurated, the Rio-Petrópolis, or Estrada de Ferro Mauá (170 years)
United Nations Security Council creates the Minustah peace mission (20 years)
International Jazz Day – celebration created and promoted by UNESCO, on the initiative of North American pianist Herbie Hancock.
*The dates are selected by the team of researchers from the Efemérides Project, from the Collection Management of Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC), which brings themes related to culture, history, science and personalities, always highlighting national and regional landmarks. The Collection Management also responds to research requests from the external public. Just send an email to [email protected].
