site.btaToday's Observances: November 4-5

November 4

The World:

- World Day of Man: declared on initiative of Gorbachev Foundation, Vienna Mayor's Office and UN organizations headquartered in Vienna.

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1881: First Bulgarian metal barge, Bot-1, completed in Rousse (on Danube); beginning of Bulgarian shipbuilding.

1912: Battle of Chatalja starts, one of worst during First Balkan War (1912-1913).

1912: Supreme Administrative Court established, with Filip Filchev as President.

1945: Communist leader Georgi Dimitrov returns to Bulgaria after 22 years in exile.

1999: In Strasbourg, Bulgaria signs Council of Europe Civil Law Convention on Corruption.

2007: Second round of elections for municipality, borough and mayoralty mayors, after local elections first round on October 28.

November 5

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1885: Battle of Slivnitsa starts during Serbo-Bulgarian War.

1886: Russia severs diplomatic relations with Bulgaria (restored on February 2, 1896).

1925: Diplomatic relations established with Egypt at legation level (severed on January 9, 1942, restored on March 26, 1947, promoted to embassy level on December 18, 1957, severed again on December 5, 1978, restored on December 31, 1984).

1951: Marica 3 Thermal Power Plant inaugurated in Dimitrovgrad (Southeastern Bulgaria).

1953: Lenin Steel Mill (now Stomana Industry S.A.) in Pernik (Southwestern Bulgaria) goes into operation.

1963: Kremikovtzi Iron and Steel Works near Sofia go into operation (privatized in 1990, went bankrupt in 2008, cease operation in 2009).

1985: National Gallery for Foreign Art opens in Sofia (merged with National Art Gallery into National Museum Complex by Council of Ministers Decree on December 22, 2014).

1998: National Assembly adopts Bulgarian Citizenship Act.

2005: Bulgaria's third GSM mobile phone operator, Vivatel (now Vivacom), activates its network.