International Olympic Day/ United Nations Public Services Day

International Olympic Day - June 23

Symbolic Anniversary

Olympic Day was introduced in 1948 to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games on 23 June 1894 at the Sorbonne in Paris.  The goal was to promote participation in sport across the globe regardless of age, gender or athletic ability.

A Growing, Global Gathering

Over the last 20 years Olympic Day has been associated with Olympic Day Runs all over the world. From 45 participating National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in the first edition in 1987, the numbers have grown to nearly 200 participating NOCs. What’s more, many of the participating NOCs are in Africa – proving the event’s worldwide appeal.

The Olympic Day Run owes a debt of gratitude to the support provided by McDonald's, which in 2003 became worldwide partner to the event.

Move, Learn, Discover

Olympic Day is nowadays developing into much more than just a sports event. Based on the three pillars “move”, “learn” and “discover”, National Olympic Committees are deploying sports, cultural and educational activities. Some countries have incorporated the event into the school curriculum and, in recent years, many NOCs have added concerts and exhibitions to the celebration. Recent NOC activities have included meetings for children and young people with top athletes and the development of new web sites directing people to programmes in their neighbourhood.

 

Scientist of the day - Ada Yonath

Ada Yonath is one of the most revered global scientific personalities, who dedicated her life towards the study of the structure of ribosome. Born in an impoverished family, young Yonath showed traits of making it big since an early age. She was a curious child, inquisitive in her approach towards knowing the unknown. Despite being born in an underprivileged family, she did not compromise on her education and attained PhD degree in the field of Chemistry. Subsequently, she committed herself to the study of the structure and function of the ribosome. She made a massive contribution in the field of chemistry by introducing the innovative techniques in cryo bio-crystallography for enabling ribosomal crystallography. For the same, she was bestowed with Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which she shared with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas A. Steitz. With this, she became the first Israeli woman to win the Nobel Prize, the first woman from the Middle East to win a Nobel Prize in the sciences, and the first woman in 45 years to win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. 

Childhood & Early Life

Ada Yonath was born to Hillel and Esther Lifshitz, Zionist Jews, in Geula quarter of Jerusalem, on June 22, 1939. Six years before her birth, her family shifted to Palestine from Poland.

Awards & Achievements

• She currently holds membership of various scientific institutions and academics including United States National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities; the European Academy of Sciences and Art and the European Molecular Biology Organization.
• Along with George Feher, she received the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 2006 for structural discoveries of the ribosomal machinery of peptide-bond formation and the light-driven primary processes in photosynthesis.
• For her pioneering work in recognizing how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, she was awarded with the L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science in 2008. With this, she became the first Israeli woman recipient of the award. Same year, she was bestowed with Albert Einstein World Award of Science for her contribution in the field of ribosomal crystallography.
• In 2009, along with Thomas Steitz and Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, she was conferred with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She became the first Israeli woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize.

   

  Personal Life & Legacy

  Not much is known about her personal life and marriage, except for the fact that she has been blessed with a daughter Hagit Yonath, who is a doctor at the Sheba Medical Center. She has a granddaughter Noa.

   

  Trivia

  • For the study of the structure and functions of ribosome, she became the first Israeli woman to win the Nobel Prize. She is also the first woman from the Middle East to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.