Facts

1867 A devastating earthquake, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, hits Kefalonia (January 23 according to the old calendar), with hundreds of dead and great destruction. 224 people are killed and 2,612 houses collapse.

1943: Kostas Perrikos, an air force officer, who developed resistance action in Athens, culminating in the blowing up of the building of the pro-Nazi organization ESPO, is executed by the Germans.

1959: Greek-Turkish talks to find a solution to the Cyprus conflict begin in Zurich.

1996: Acting Prime Minister of Turkey, Tansu Çiler, threatens that the extension of Greek territorial waters to 12 nautical miles will be a cause of war, while declaring that she will bring to international legal bodies the issue of the approximately 1,000 islands, islets and islets that Turkey considers them to belong to its territory.

2004: The social networking platform Facebook goes online.

Births

1815: Alexandros Koumoundouros, leading political figure of the 19th century, who served ten times as prime minister. (D. 26/2/1883)

1902: Charles Lindbergh, American aviator, pioneer in long flights. In 1927, he made the first non-stop flight over the Atlantic in 33.5 hours with his monoplane “The Spirit of Saint Louis”. (D. 26/8/1974)

1990: Katerina Stefanidis, Greek Olympic pole vaulter.

Deaths

1843: Theodoros Kolokotronis, leader of the Greek Revolution. (Born 3/4/1770)

1915: Armand Pezo, French businessman, founder of the eponymous automobile industry. (Born 2/18/1849)

1991: Eleni Skouras, the first Greek MP. (Born 1896)

2010: Kostas Axelos, Greek philosopher and thinker. (Born 6/26/1924)