site.btaObservances: August 1

The world:

• National Day of Benin: Independence Day (1960);
• National Day of Switzerland: anniversary of founding of Swiss Confederation in 1291.

On this date in Bulgarian history:

• 1870: Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee, whose mission is to work for liberation from Ottoman rule, publishes its first programme in Russian emigrees' newspaper in Geneva.
• 1885: First Bulgarian banknote issue (BGN 20 and 50) is printed in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
• 1912: First airplane unit of Bulgarian armed forces is set up. Bulgarian Air Force marks sate as its birthday.
• 1928: Radio Service established at Press Directorate, of which BTA is part between 1912 and 1944 and then again between 1948 and 1951.
• 1947: Opera and Ballet opens in Varna, on Black Sea (today's Varna Theatre and Music Production Centre).
• 1963: West Germany's Deutsche Welle Radio launches Bulgarian service.
• 1990: 7th Grand National Assembly elects Zhelyu Zhelev President of Bulgaria.