April 15, 1929: Old age retirement is instituted in the USSR. April 15, 1994: Ukraine accedes to the CIS Economic Union Treaty as an associate member. April 16, 1710: Pylyp Orlyk, author of one of Europe's earliest constitutions, is elected Hetman of Ukraine. April 16, 1995: Direct international telephone code 380, received by Ukraine as the first post-Soviet country, becomes operational. April 17, 1970: The Ukraine Palace of Culture, one of the largest Soviet cultural facilities, is opened in Kyiv. April 17, 1991: Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR passes the law rehabilitating victims of political purges in Ukraine. April 18: International Day of Memorials and Historic Sites. April 18, 1936: the first exhibition of Soviet Ukrainian architecture opens. April 18, 1961: believers rally against the closure of St. Andrew's Church in Kyiv. April 19, 1775: Russian Empress Catherine II legalizes serfdom in Ukraine. April 19, 1943: Warsaw Jewish Ghetto uprising begins. Currently the date is marked as Holocaust Day. April 20, 1933: On Maxim Gorky's initiative Molodaya Gvardiya [Young Guard] Publishers launches the Lives of Prominent Persons documentary series. April 20, 1993: The First International Bandura-Players Contest is held in Kyiv. April 21, 1947: Deportation of Ukrainians from the Lemkivshchyna (Poland) begin. April 31, 1979: The Drama and Comedy Theater opens in Kyiv.






