site.btaObservances: August 3-4

August 3

The world:

1492: Christopher Columbus sails from Spain on mission to find shortest route to Indies and reaches Americas;

1778: La Scala opera theatre designed by architect Giuseppe Piermarini opens in Milan.

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1903: Krushevo Republic proclaimed (Old Style July 21) during Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising against Ottoman rule, organized and led by Internal Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Revolutionary Organization.

1904: General Workers' Trade Union holds its constituent congress in Plovdiv (South Central Bulgaria).

1996: Five are killed in fire and explosion at Neftochim oil refinery in Bourgas (on Black Sea).

2001: Bulgaria's first frozen embryo test-tube baby (girl weighing 2.850 kg) is born.

2006: National Assembly ratifies United Nations Convention against Corruption, signed by Bulgaria on December 10, 2003.

August 4

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1889: Princely Natural History Museum is established in Sofia (stand-alone National Museum of Natural History with Bulgarian Academy of Sciences since 1974).

1903: Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party (BWSDP) splits into BWSDP (Right-Wing Socialists) and BWSDP (Left-Wing Socialists). In 1919 BSWDP (Left-Wing Socialists) renames itself Bulgarian Communist Party (Left-Wing Socialists).

1945: Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv (South Central Bulgaria) established by Statutory Ordinance (adopted by Council of Ministers Decree No. 3 of July 31, 1945, endorsed by Regency Council Decree No. 180 of August 4, 1945).

1966: Order of the Balkan Range, Order of the Madara Horseman and Order of the Rose instituted by National Assembly Presidium Decree No. 606 on Orders, Medals and Honorary Titles.

1992: In Sofia, Presidents Zhelyu Zhelev of Bulgaria and Boris Yeltsin of Russia sign bilateral Treaty of Friendly Relations and Cooperation.