site.btaToday's Observances: Feb. 4-5

February 4

The world:

- World Cancer Day;

- National Day of Sri Lanka: Independence Day (1948).

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1923:  Assassination attempt against Prime Minister Alexander Stamboliiski and three of his ministers at National Theatre in Sofia.

1944: British and US aircraft bomb Dupnitsa (Southwestern Bulgaria) during World War II, killing 59 people and injuring another 33.

1952: Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce (now Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) instituted by Council of Ministers decree.

1997: Amid political and financial crisis, Consultative Council on National Security decides on conduct of early parliamentary elections on April 4.

1998: Aircraft of commercial carrier Air Sofia crashes at Azores, killing all seven crew.

2005: National Assembly votes its Chairman Ognyan Gerdjikov out of office on motion by opposition.

February 5

On this date in Bulgarian history: 

1878: Russian historian and public activist, Prince Pyotr Alabin, becomes Sofia's first governor after city's liberation from Ottoman rule on January 4, 1878. He helped create a Public Library. He governed Sofia until the election of the first Bulgarian governor of the city Todor Burmov on 18 May 1879. 

1909: Russia is first great power to recognize Bulgaria's independence, declared on September 22, 1908.

1951: First ballet school, the State School of Choreography, is set up in Sofia by Anastas Petrov with assistance from Russian ballet pedagogue Vladimir Beliy.

1980: Shumen Plateau National Park, covering an area of 3,929.9 hectares, is declared a protected territory.

1990: National Intelligence Service is established.

1992: Diplomatic relations established with Moldova at embassy level.

2006: World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control enters into force in Bulgaria.