site.btaObservances: March 8-9

March 8

The world:

- International Women's Day.

On this date in Bulgarian history: 

1864: First issue of the "Budoushtnost" newspaper under the editorship of revolutionary and writer Georgi S. Rakovski comes out in Bucharest. The last issue comes out on May 17, 1864.

1988: A public committee for protecting the environment of the Danubian city of Rousse is set up in Sofia. This green organization was a notable example of open opposition against the communist government eighteen months before the democratic changes of November 10, 1989.

1993: An Association Agreement is signed with the EU.

2001: Four units of Bulgarian-made equipment are flown on the Discovery Space Shuttle to the International Space Station, then under construction.

March 9

Bulgaria:

- The Church marks the Day of the Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste.

The world:

- World DJ Day. 

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1230: Tsar Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and his army defeat Theodore Comnenus Ducas, Ruler of Despotate of Epirus (one of Byzantine successor states), in Battle of Klokotnitsa (near Haskovo). Theodore is captured and later blinded. After Klokotnitsa, Bulgaria becomes the biggest Balkan state, stretching between Black, Aegean and Adriatic Seas.

1933: Georgi Dimitrov is arrested in Berlin on charges of setting Reichstag on fire.

1985: Ethnic Turkish terrorists stage bomb attack on board train near Bunovo Station (Western Bulgaria). Seven people, including two children, are killed.

2004: German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce is inaugurated.