Every year on the third Sunday of July, people of the courageous profession – metallurgists celebrate their holiday. Metallurgist Day was established on September 28, 1957 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Thus, the Soviet government noted the important contribution and merits of domestic metallurgy during the Great Patriotic War, as well as during the recovery of the country's economy in the post-war years.
Metallurgist Day confirmed its status in 1980 and in 1988, when the Supreme Council issued repeated decrees on the celebration of a professional holiday. It was preserved in the calendar and after the collapse of the USSR –, not only in Russia, but also in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
Today, this day is celebrated by representatives of different professions, each of which is somehow connected with ferrous or non-ferrous metallurgy: domain workers, steelworkers, distributors, foundryers, blacksmiths and many others. This holiday is also considered by miners who mine ore – the necessary component for the production of metal.
Some of these professions have existed for centuries. Archaeological finds indicate that a person learned to process metal in the fifth to sixth millennium BC. Even in the ancient world, an idea arose of the three centuries of mankind – stone, bronze and iron, – that once again emphasizes the importance of metals for the development of society, and also speaks of the ancient history of metallurgical art.
Today, Metallurgist Day is celebrated by – and this is not an exaggeration – hundreds of thousands of people in Russia and abroad. As a rule, on this day, in cities where metallurgical or mining and processing plants operate, grand holidays are held. Employees of enterprises march along the main streets, participate in various sports and cultural events, attend concerts and ceremonies. By the Day of Metallurgists, the presentation of awards to particularly distinguished employees is often timed.