On this day in Greece

[Prokomenos]

March 10




Events

• 1905: Eleftherios Venizelos declares the Cretan revolution at Therissos
• 1925: Olympiakos Club of Fans of Piraeus is founded
• 1933: Panagis Tsaldaris forms a government after the unsuccessful coup d'etat by Gen. Nikolaos Plastiras.
• 1944: The Political Committee of National Liberation (the "government of the mountains") is formed at Viniani, Evritania prefecture. Evripidis Bakirtzis is sworn in as Prime Minister.
• 1978: Cigarette commercials are outlawed in Greece

Sports

• 1996: Olympiakos win the European Cupwinners' Cup in volleyball, defeating Bayer Wuppertal 3-2 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.

Births

• 1925: Manolis Anagnostakis, poet
• 1928: Yiannis Nembidis, footballer.
• 1953: Angelos Anastasiadis, football player and coach
• 1987: Kostas Douvalidis, athlete (110m hurdles)

Deaths

• 1967: Giorgos Batis, Rebetiko composer.
• 1970: Vasilis Avlonitis, comedy actor
• 1992: Giorgos Zambetas, Laika composer.

[Prokomenos]

March 11




Events

• 1923: The "Alexander Z" sinks in the Saronic Gulf. 150 sailors drown.
• 1981: An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale, strikes Epirus
• 1991: The trial for the Bank of Crete scandal begins with Giorgos Koskotas as the chief defendant.

Sports

• 2008: Olympiacos CFP parts company with head coach Panagiotis Lemonis despite the club lying in second place in the Super League. This was the second time they called it splits, the first was in 2002.

Births

• 1922: Cornelius Castoriadis, Marxist philosopher.

Deaths

• 1949: Anastasios Charalabis, interim Prime Minister of Greece.
• 1978: Sophia Vembo, the "National Singer".

[Prokomenos]

March 12

Events

• 1449: Constantine XI arrives in Constantinople from Mystras, after being named Byzantine Emperor.
• 1910: The Battleship Georgios Averof is launched.
• 1943: Italian occupation troops execute 40 Greeks and burn most houses at Tsaritsani.
• 1947: The Truman Doctrine is announced making aid available to the Greek government.
• 1958: Fotis Pittas, Andreas Karios and two other EOKA members escape from Pyla prison.

Sports

• 1995: Lambros Papakostas, breaks the Greek indoor record in the high jump with 2.35m.
• 2006: Olympiakos sets a new record for most consecutive wins (16) in the A Division of Football with a 2-1 win over Apollon Kalamaria

Births

• 1878: Nikolaos Georgantas, athlete
• 1926: Giorgos Darivas, Olympiakos striker in the 1950s.

Deaths

• 2002: Spyros Kyprianou, Cypriot politician and President.

[Prokomenos]

March 13




Events

• 1922: Kemal Ataturk turns down an offer of a ceasefire during the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) insisting that the Greek Army first vacate Asia Minor and Eastern Thrace.
• 1941: Italian attacks against the Greek positions in Albania end in defeat. The Italians sustain more than 100,000 casualties.
• 1959: EOKA general Georgios Grivas-Digenis declares the cessation of all hostilities against the British.
• 1964: Turkey issues an ultimatum to the Cypriot government threatening to invade the island in 36 hours unless all Turkish Cypriot prisoners of the civil conflict are released and freedom of movement is restored.
• 1991: The Revolutionary Organization 17 November detonate a remote-controlled bomb that kills US Sgt. Ronald Stewart in Glyfada.
• 1995: An earthquake, measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale, strikes the Kozani - Grevena area.
• 1996: Constantine Mitsotakis asks Parliament to free the Junta members that are still imprisoned.

Sports

• 1955: Greece lose to Spain's seconds 7-1 in a Mediterranean Cup game played in Madrid.
• 1987: The Cup-Winners Cup Final is held at OAKA Stadium in Athens with Ajax lifting the trophy after a 1-0 victory over Lokomotiv Leipzig.
• 1989: Thomas Mavros of AEK scores from the penalty spot against Apollon Kalamaria to become the all-time top scorer in the history of the Alpha Ethniki.
• 1994: Kostas Koukodimos breaks the Greek indoor record for the broad jump with a 8.09m performance.
• 1999: Irini Kosta breaks the Greek women's record in the 50m freestyle with 26.45.

Births

• 1913: Lambros Konstantaras, actor.
• 1966: Vana Barba, actress

Deaths

• 1990: Zenon Rossides, Cypriot diplomat.

[Prokomenos]

March 14




Events

• 1489: The last Lusignan queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells the island to the Venetians.
• 1865: Alexandros Koumoundouros forms his first government.
• 1942: The Axis powers impose upon Greece a "loan" for their expenses in occupying the country. The loan was estimated in 1993 to be equivalent to US $9 billion of that time. The Axis powers promised to repay the loan "in the future".
• 1957: Evagoras Pallikaridis is hanged in the Central Jail of Lefkosia.
• 1969: April 21 becomes a national holiday.
• 1998: PM Costas Simitis announces the devaluation of the drachma by 14%.

Sports

• 1986: Dimitris Koutsoukis breaks the Greek shot put indoor record with 20.27 in Oklahoma, USA. The record will stand for 24 years.

Births

• 1772: Georgakis Olympios, revolutionary
• 1939: Stavros Xarchakos, composer
• 1944: Mariza Koch, singer
• 1953: Kleanthis Ierissiotis, athlete (Hammer throw)

Deaths

• 1957: Evagoras Pallikaridis, EOKA fighter, aged 19.