December
10
Human
Rights Day
Human Rights
Day is observed by the international community every year on
10 December. It commemorates the day in 1948 the United Nations
General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
The formal
inception of Human Rights Day dates from 1950, after the Assembly
passed resolution 423 (V) inviting all States and interested
organizations to adopt 10 December of each year as Human Rights
Day.
When the
General Assembly adopted the Declaration, with 48 states in
favor and eight abstentions, it was proclaimed as a "common
standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations",
towards which individuals and societies should "strive
by progressive measures, national and international, to secure
their universal and effective recognition and observance".
Although the Declaration with its broad range of political,
civil, social, cultural and economic rights is not a binding
document, it inspired more than 60 human rights instruments
which together constitute an international standard of human
rights. Today the general consent of all United Nations Member
States on the basic Human Rights laid down in the Declaration
makes it even stronger and emphasizes the relevance of Human
Rights in our daily lives.
The High
Commissioner for Human Rights, as the main United Nations rights
official, and her Office play a major role in coordinating efforts
for the yearly observation of Human Rights Day.
Events
220 – Cao
Pi forces Emperor Xian of Han to abdicated the Han Dynasty throne.
The Cao Wei empire is established. Three Kingdoms period begins.
1041 – The adopted son of Empress Zoe of Byzantium succeeds
to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V.
1508 – The League of Cambrai is formed by Pope Julius II, Louis
XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand
II of Aragon as an alliance against Venice.
1520 – Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge
Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate.
1541 – Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham are executed for
having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife
of Henry VIII.
1665 – The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps is founded by Michiel
de Ruyter
1684 – Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory
of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum,
is read to the Royal Society by Edmund Halley.
1799 – France adopts the metre as its official unit of length.
1817 – Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state.
1861 – American Civil War: the Confederate States of America
accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares
Kentucky to be the 13th state of the Confederacy.
1861 – Forces led by Nguyen Trung Truc, an anti-colonial guerrilla
leader in southern Vietnam, sink the French lorcha L'Esperance.
1864 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea – Major
General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union Army troops reach the
outer Confederate defenses of Savannah, Georgia.
1868 – The first traffic lights are installed, outside the Palace
of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they use
semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green
gas lamps.
1869 – Kappa Sigma Fraternity is founded at the University of
Virginia.
1884 – Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published
for the first time.
1898 – Spanish-American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed,
officially ending the conflict.
1899 – Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity is founded at the City College
of New York.
1901 – The first Nobel Prizes are awarded.
1902 – Women are given the right to vote in Tasmania.
1904 – The Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity is founded at the College
of Charleston.
1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt wins the Nobel Peace
Prize, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize.
1907 – The worst night of the Brown Dog riots in London, when
1,000 medical students clash with 400 police officers over the
existence of a memorial for animals who have been vivisected.
1911 – The first transcontinental flight across the United States
is completed. Calbraith Perry Rodgers began the flight on 17
September 1911, taking off from Sheepshead Bay NY.
1927 – The phrase "Grand Ole Opry" is used for the
first time on-air.
1932 – Thailand adopts a Constitution and becomes a constitutional
monarchy.
1935 – The Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, later renamed the
Heisman Trophy, is awarded to halfback Jay Berwanger of the
University of Chicago.
1936 – Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signs the Instrument of
Abdication.
1941 – World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince
of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy
torpedo bombers near Malaya.
1941 – World War II: Battle of the Philippines – Imperial Japanese
forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on the
Philippine mainland.
1948 – The UN General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights.
1949 – Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army begins
its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland
China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek
and his government to retreat to Taiwan.
1955 – The Mighty Mouse Playhouse premieres on television.
1965 – The Grateful Dead's first concert performance under this
new name.
1968 – Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "300 million
yen robbery", is carried out in Tokyo.
1978 – Arab-Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem
Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize.
1979 – Kaohsiung Incident: Taiwanese pro-democracy demonstrations
are suppressed by the KMT dictatorship, and organizers are arrested.
1983 – Democracy is restored in Argentina with the assumption
of President Raúl Alfonsín.
1989 – Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the establishment of
Mongolia's democratic movement that changes the second oldest
communist country into a democracy.
1993 – The last shift leaves Wearmouth Colliery in Sunderland.
The closure of the 156-year-old pit marks the end of the old
County Durham coalfield, which had been in operation since the
Middle Ages.
1994 – Rwandan Genocide: Military advisor to the United Nations
Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department
of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations Maurice Baril
recommends that the UN multi-national forces in Zaire stand
down.
Holidays
and observances
Alfred Nobel
Day or Nobeldagen, presentation ceremony of the Nobel Prize.
(Sweden)
Christian Feast Day:
Eulalia of Mérida
Miltiades
Translation of the Holy House of Loreto
Constitution Day (Thailand)
Human Rights Day (International)
International Animal Rights Day, founded in 1998 by Uncaged
Campaigns
For details, contact Datacentre
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