site.btaToday's Observances: February 24-25

February 24

The world:

- National Day of Estonia. Independence Day (1918, from Russian and German Empires).

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1942: Soviet Shch-213 submarine sinks Bulgarian ship Struma near Bosphorus with 778 Jews and 13 Bulgarian crew members on board.

1949: Grand National Assembly adopts Religious Denominations Act.

1984: Diplomatic relations established with Cameroon.

1992: Mt Rila National Park is designated.

2013: Metropolitan Neophyte of Rousse is elected Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia.

February 25

The world:

- National day of Kuwait: National Day (anniversary of coronation of Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah in 1950).

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1947: Bulgarian Government decrees promulgation of State Tobacco Monopoly Act in State Gazette on April 28, 1947. Sixty-one private and cooperative enterprises are nationalized under this law, including 38 cigarette factories with total annual output of 7,367 tonnes of tobacco.

1965: Diplomatic relations with Chile are restored and upgraded to embassy level after being severed on May 18, 1943. First established in 1935 at legation level.

1991: Ousted communist leader Todor Zhivkov goes on trial on charges of embezzling USD 24 million of public funds on Western cars, entertainment and luxury apartments for relatives and favoured aides between 1962 and 1989. Zhivkov sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment, September 4, 1992. Sentence reversed by Supreme Court, 9 February 9, 1996.

2007: National award in name of writer and journalist Marko Semov is established.

2008: Belgian company EPIQ N.V. opens its third Bulgarian plant in Botevgrad (Northwestern Bulgaria). EUR 5.5 million is invested in project for manufacture of high-tech devices for electronic household, automotive and telecom appliances.