1906 – The Algeciras Conference gives France and Spain control of Morocco. The purpose of the conference was to find a solution to the First Moroccan Crisis of 1905 between France and Germany, which arose as Germany responded to France’s efforts to establish a protectorate over the independent state of Morocco. Germany was not trying to stop the French expansion as it aimed at its own role.
1939 – Vaçe Zela was born in Lushnjë, an iconic singer of the Albanian scene. She started her career at a young age and in 1962 was the first to win the Song Festival. With the song The First Child, she testified that a music idol was being born that evening of December 26, 1962. Her repertoire is very rich; are numbered with dozens of folk songs, light, cantatas, ballads, etc. She also has an important contribution in film music, where she has performed many songs as part of film music. A 12-time winner of the festival, Vaçja gained fame during the communist era and was awarded the title of Merited Artist in 1973 and People’s Artist in 1977. Vaçe Zela finally left the stage in 1992. She was married to Pjetër Rodiqi and together they have daughter Irma. Zela has lived with her husband in Basel, Switzerland, since 2002, to receive better health care. She is the only Albanian woman honored alive with the Order “Honor of the Nation” on December 24, 2002 by President Alfred Moisiu with the reason: “For the rare values as an Outstanding Artist, with extraordinary popularity, for the masterful interpretation of the song of light and popular music, for the valuable wealth he created in the Albanian school of music interpretation. “In honor of the singer, the year 2009 was announced by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports as” Viti Vaçe Zela “. Finally, another street in Tirana bears her name.
1939 – Occupation of Albania by fascist Italy takes place. This invasion was a brief military campaign of the Kingdom of Italy against the Kingdom of Albania. The conflict came as a result of the imperialist policy of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Albania was quickly conquered, while King Zog had already left the country. During this campaign, dozens of Italian soldiers were killed and wounded as a result of the resistance of Albanian patriots.
1947 – 83- year-old Henry Ford dies. Ford, was an industrialist and a business tycoon, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the leading developer of mass production line assembly technique. By creating the first automobile that middle-class Americans could afford, he turned the vehicle from an expensive curiosity into an accessible escort that would profoundly affect the 20th century.
1954 – US President Dwight D. Eisenhower addresses a speech on “dominance theory” at a news conference. Domino theory was a prominent theory from the 1950s to the 1980s that thought that if a country in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow a domino effect. Dominance theory was used as a political term by the US administration.
1964 – Russell Crowe is born in Wellington. Crowe, is an actor, and film producer. Although a New Zealand citizen, he has lived most of his life in Australia. He came to international attention for his role as Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius in the historical film Gladiatori, directed by Ridley Scott, for which Crowe won 11 international awards.
1969 – The symbolic birth date of the Internet. It happens that the publication of RFC 1. Commentary Request (RFC), in information and communication technology, is a kind of text document from the technology community. An RFC document can come from many bodies, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet Search Task Force (IRTF), the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), or independent authors.
1983 – During the STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first spacewalk on the ship, Shuttle. The STS-6 was NASA’s sixth Shuttle Ship mission and the first flight of the Challenger Space Shuttle. Her stay in space lasted 5 days, 23 minutes, and 42 seconds. The STS-6 was the first Shuttle Ship mission, during which a spacewalk took place, and thus, it was the first to use the Extravericular Motor Unit (EMU).
2003 – US troops capture Baghdad. Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein’s regime falls two days later. Three weeks after the invasion of Iraq, elements of the Land Command Coalition Forces, led by the 3rd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, moved to Baghdad. The United States declared victory on April 14, and President George W. Bush delivered his May Day Mission speech.
