Facts

1571:The Christian fleet under Don Juan de Austria destroys Sultan Selim II’s Turkish fleet at Nafpaktos, definitively stopping the Ottoman expansion towards the West. During the naval battle, the admiral of the Turkish forces, Ali Pasha, is killed. (The Naval Battle of Nafpaktos)

1825: The first sheet of the General Gazette of Greece, forerunner of the Government Gazette, is published. Its director is Theoklitos Farmakidis.

1831: The murderer of Ioannis Kapodistrias, George Mavromichalis, is sentenced to death in Nafplio. The president of the court is General Tsokris.

1955: Allen Ginsberg reads his poem “The Scream” at a poetry night in San Francisco. The poem was an instant hit, making the beat movement known to the general public.

1979: A Swissair DC-8 plane, operating the route Zurich – Beijing, goes off the runway during its landing at Ellinikos airport and catches fire. Of the 156 passengers, 14 are killed.

2000: For the first time in 30 years, Greek fighter jets are landing on Turkish soil, at Balikesir Air Base, in order to take part in the NATO exercise “Destined Glory”, which is taking place in the Aegean and southeast Turkey.

2020: Historic decision. “Golden Dawn” is a criminal organization, the Three-member Court of Criminal Appeals ruled. The killer of Pavlos Fyssas, Giorgos Roupakias, is guilty of murder.

Births

1885: Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, who won the Nobel Prize in 1922 for his study of quantum theory. (D. 18/11/1962)

1952: Vladimir Putin, Russian politician. The former KGB agent has been in the international spotlight as either president or prime minister of Russia since 2000 and is credited with restoring his country’s lost glory after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

1959: Nikos Dendias, Greek politician (ND), Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Deaths

1849: Edgar Allan Poe, American writer and poet. (Born 1/19/1809)

2006: Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist, staunch critic of Vladimir Putin, who was murdered. (Born 30/8/1958)

2013: George American, Greek international basketball player, who played in the great AEK team of the 60s. (Born 21/12/1942)