Thanks to origami, a sheet of paper without glue or scissors turns into a flower, frog, envelope, whale, swan and other animals This type of decorative and applied art arose in the 1st century AD Butterflies made from strips of paper were part of a Shinto wedding ceremony In the 20th century Sadako Sakashi's cranes have become a symbol of peace and friendship between people This Japanese girl suffered from leukemia after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but fought the disease until her last breath Sadako believed in the legend that throwing a thousand cranes she made into the sky would help her recover from a terrible disease
Researchers believe that origami has its roots in Ancient China, where paper figurines were first used to perform religious rituals But this art developed mostly in Japan Paper airplanes began to be made in China more than 2,000 years ago, and in the 30s of the twentieth century began to be used when testing aircraft models The initiative to use the aerodynamic properties of the figures belonged to John Northrop, the head of the Lockheed company founded in 1926
Due to the ease of assembly, creating paper airplanes has become a popular pastime among children and adults in many countries around the world In honor of the toy, festivals are organized and various events are held at which launch records are set In the United States, National Paper Airplane Day, which falls on May 26, is considered a national holiday In Europe, Paper Airplane Day is celebrated on April 25th
The holiday did not immediately receive international status In 1989, the Paper Aircraft Industry Association was created Under her auspices, 17 years later, the world's first championship in launching paper airplanes into the sky was held Competitions are held in two main categories of flights: “time in the air” and “distance” Since 2012, the American Takuo Toda has held the championship in terms of the duration of an aircraft's flight - 279 seconds This figure became a world record, as did the largest model of a paper balloon with a wingspan of 18 m
In honor of Paper Airplane Day, not only competitions are held, but also master classes on assembling figures Model aircraft are painted and decorated, and then launched into the sky, assessing the flight range In this competition category, the record belongs to the American Joe Ayub - a paper plane designed for him by John Collins covered a distance of 70 m in February 2012 The holiday celebrated on April 25 is a great way to return to childhood, feel like a child, have fun with your family, neighbors and friends