JOHNSTOWN, PA – [Diocesan Carpatho-Rusyn Heritage Working Group ] Carpatho-Rusyn Day in North America is October 26. It commemorates an event in 1918 when Carpatho-Rusyns, along with representatives of twenty-one stateless peoples, gathered in Independence Hall in Philadelphia and signed a Declaration of Common Aims. This was the first occasion in modern times when Carpatho-Rusyns were recognized as a distinct nationality by neighboring peoples and by the United States government.