site.btaToday's Observances: September 16

The world:

- International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer;

- International Coastal Cleanup Day;

- National Day of Mexico: Declaration of Independence (from Spain, 1810);

- National Day of Papua New Guinea: Independence Day (from Australia, 1975).

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1872: Ecumenical Patriarchate declares Bulgarian Exarchate schismatic. 

1907: St George the Victorious Chapel Mausoleum is unveiled in Pleven (North Central Bulgaria) in memory of the Russian and Romanian soldiers fallen in Siege of Pleven during Russo-Turkish War of Liberation (1877-1878).

1913: Treaty of Constantinople signed with Turkey after Bulgaria's defeat in Second Balkan War (1913).

1937: Area near Village of Vrazhdebna (northeast of city centre) chosen as construction site for Sofia Airport.

1946: Queen Mother Ioanna and her children, King Simeon II and Princess Marie-Louise, are exiled from Bulgaria after abolition of monarchy and proclamation of People's Republic. 

1947: Navigation Maritime Bulgare established with head office in Varna.

2003: Protection against Discrimination Act adopted.