Facts

1884: The Peloponnese railway station is inaugurated in Athens, designed by Ernestos Ziller. It is a miniature of the Sikftsi railway station in Istanbul.

1908: A strange explosion occurs near the Tanguska River in Siberia, later estimated to be 10 to 15 megatons. The size of the eruption is so great that 60,000,000 trees are destroyed in an area of ​​2,150 km. The first investigations will begin in 1920, but the causes of the explosion are still unknown. Some say it’s a meteorite, some a nuclear test, some an alien attack.

1913: The Bulgarians, retreating, loot and set fire to the Doxato of Drama, while massacring more than 650 inhabitants, especially women and children.

1934: Turmoil prevails in the Nazi party of Germany, with the questioning of Adolf Hitler. In the end, the Führer prevails, killing 77 party members or another 400. This episode will go down in history as “The Night of the Big Knives”.

1957: The first atomic reactor (Demokritos) is installed in Greece.

2015: Fitch Ratings has downgraded four Greek banks to Restricted Default (RD) after capital controls were imposed.

Births

1892: Stratis Myrivilis, philological pseudonym of Michael Stamatopoulos, Greek novelist and short story writer. (D. 19/7/1969)

1939: Georgios Gennimatas, Greek MP and minister, one of the founding members of PASOK. (D. 25/4/1994)

1985: Michael Phelps, American swimmer, with great Olympic distinctions.

Deaths

1984: Henri Fabre, French aviator, inventor of the seaplane. (Born 29/11/1882)

2009: Pina Baus, internationally renowned German choreographer and dancer. (Born 27/7/1940)

2012: Thymios Karakatsanis, Greek actor and theater director, who distinguished himself mainly in Aristophanic roles. (Born 8/12/1940)