Facts

1936: The first lighting ceremony of the Olympic Flame takes place in Ancient Olympia. The protheria Kula Pratsika lights the torch of the first torchbearer Kostas Kondyli. The flame will reach Berlin 11 days later, by 3,840 torchbearers.

1944: A failed assassination attempt against him is noted Adolf Hitler. The primitives – general Ludwig Beckgeneral Rudolf Smutcolonel Klaus Schenk von Stauffenbergcolonel Merge and lieutenant Werner von Heffen– they either kill themselves or are executed.

1969: The American Astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to set foot on the Moon.

1974: Turkish troops invade Cyprus. General conscription is declared in Greece. The UN Security Council issues Resolution 353 for a ceasefire in Cyprus.

2007: The German Chancellor is visiting Athens Angela Merkel to promote weapons systems in our country (Eurofighter). Addressing the Greek Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis, she says: “I will stress, once again, how important our economic relations are. You have a growth rate of 4%. This is just a dream for us!”

2016: A total of 49,321 people were removed from their positions in the Turkish State, excluding the armed forces and the judiciary, after the July 15 coup attempt.

Births

356 BC : Alexander the Great, king of the Macedonians. (D. 10/6/323 BC)

1776: Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, Scottish nobleman and diplomat, known for removing the Parthenon sculptures. (D. 14/11/1841)

1785: Mahmud II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, during the Greek Revolution (1808-1839). (D. 1/7/1839)

Deaths

1937: Guglielmo Marconi, Italian engineer, inventor of wireless radio transmission. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909. (Born 4/25/1874)

1973: Bruce Lee, stage name of Liu Yuen Kam, a Chinese-born American actor who excelled in karate films. (Born 27/11/1940)

1989: Yannis Tsarouhis, Greek painter. (Born 31/12/1909)