site.btaToday's Observances: March 2-4

March 2

The world:

Belarus: Day of Remembrance of Holocaust Victims.

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1923: Settlement of Bulgarian reparations with Allied Powers gets under way.

1951: State Savings Bank (DSK) is established.

1982: Zhelyu Zhelev publishes his groundbreaking book Fascism: The Totalitarian State. Book withdrawn from sale soon afterwards, brings great credit to Zhelev, who is later President of Bulgaria (1990-1997).

1984: First representative display of National History Museum opens at Sofia's Palace of Justice for 1,300th anniversary of Bulgarian State.

1993: Representative Office of German Economy in Bulgaria opens (succeeded by German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce in March 2004). 

2007: Notariats of Bulgaria and Romania join Brussels-based Council of the Notariats of the European Union. 

2007: Bulgaria's Parliament votes, 163-60 with one abstention, to defeat a motion of no confidence in Sergei Stanishev Cabinet.

March 3

The world:

- World Wildlife Day

- Japan celebrates Hinamatsuri, also called Girls' Day;

- Georgia celebrates Mothers' Day.

On this date in Bulgarian history:

- National Day: Liberation Day (1878).

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1878: Act of the Preliminaries of Peace signed in San Stefano (village on the western outskirts of Constantinople, now Istanbul's neighbourhood of Yesilkoy) by Russian and Ottoman Empires, ending 1877-1879 Russo-Turkish War and constituting Bulgaria "an autonomous tributary Principality" after 482 years of Ottoman rule in Bulgarian lands. March 3 is designated Bulgaria's National Day in 1990.

1952: Han Asparuh Military Repair Works opens in Dobrich (Northeastern Bulgaria).

March 4

On this date in Bulgarian history:

1878: City of Ruse (on Danube) is liberated from Ottoman rule.

1941: Bulgaria severs diplomatic relations with Belgium, Netherlands, Poland and UK during World War II (1939-1945).

2005: Bulgarian soldier is killed by friendly fire about 40 km from Camp Echo, near Diwaniyah (Southern Iraq).