Facts

1825: Ibrahim, at the head of 4,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry, disembarks at Methoni and the next day moves towards Pylos. Great danger for the Greek Revolution.

1934: In a climate of political acidity, the municipal elections are being held in Greece, with an intense confrontation between the candidates of the governing faction and the opposition. The winner in Athens is the government and anti-Venezuelan candidate, Konstantinos Kotzias. Sotirios Stratigis is elected Mayor of Piraeus. In Kavala, the first communist mayor, 29-year-old Dimitrios Partsalides, is elected. These are also the first elections in Greece in which women take part.

[1945: US President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Communist leader Joseph Stalin divide the world into spheres of influence by signing the Yalta Treaty.

1959: The Cyprus agreement is signed in Zurich by Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis and his Turkish counterpart Adnan Menderes. On February 19, 1959 the agreement will be signed by all interested parties in London (Britain, Greece, Turkey and the two communities of Cyprus).

1959: The trial of the German war criminal Max Merten begins in Athens. (Merten case)

1978: China’s government lifts ban on books by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Dickens.

Births

1776: Ioannis Kapodistrias, first governor of Greece. (D. 27/9/1831)

1847: Thomas Edison, American entrepreneur and inventor, with 1,093 patents to his credit. Among other things, he invented the electric light bulb, the gramophone and the telegraph. (D. 18/10/1931)

1969:Jennifer Aniston, American actress, of Greek origin on her father’s side. She gained worldwide fame from her starring role in the popular TV sitcom Friends (1994–2004), but also from her first marriage to Brad Pitt.

Deaths

641: Heraclius, emperor of Byzantium. (Gen. 575)

1650: René Descartes, better known in Greece as Descartes, French philosopher and mathematician. He also went down in history for saying “I think, therefore I am”. (Born 31/3/1596)

1948: Sergei Eisenstein, Russian film director. (“Battleship Potemkin”) (Born 1/23/1898)