site.btaObservances: November 18

The world:

- National day of Oman;

- National holiday of Latvia. Independence Day (1918).

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1955: Diplomatic relations established with Burma (Union of Myanmar as of May 1989).

1989: Informal movements hold first free rally after November 10 fall of communist regime.

2000: The first private national TV channel, bTV, broadcasts its first news programme. The first guest is Simeon Saxe-Coburg- Gotha.

2001: Georgi Parvanov elected President and Angel Marin elected Vice President in second round of voting.

2004: The first liver transplant surgery in Bulgaria is performed at the Lozenets University Hospital in Sofia. The operation is performed on a seven-month-old baby named Pamela, with her father as the donor.