site.btaToday's Observances: February 3-4

February 3

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1906: Posts, Telegraph and Telephone Act is gazetted.

1926: Diplomatic relations with Egypt established at legation level (severed January 9, 1942, restored March 26, 1947, promoted to embassy level December 18, 1957, severed December 5, 1978, restored December 31, 1984).

1936: Revenue Tax Statutory Ordinance gazetted.

1949: Law reduces gold backing of Bulgarian lev 93.4-fold as compared to 1912.

1967: Bulgarian flag first flown in Antarctica by meteorologist Tsoncho Chapanov, member of international team with 12th Soviet Antarctic expedition.

1990: Andrey Lukanov of Bulgarian Communist Party elected Chairman of Council of Ministers.

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.