Past
Observances
2015 : “Building a sustainable future:
Coming together to end poverty and discrimination”.
2014 : “Leave no one behind: think, decide
and act together against extreme poverty”.
2013 : “Working together towards a world
without discrimination: Building on the
experience and knowledge of people in
extreme poverty“
2012 : “Ending the Violence of Extreme
Poverty: Promoting Empowerment and Building
Peace”.
2011 : “From Poverty to Sustainability:People
at the Centre of Inclusive Development“.
2010 : “From Poverty to Decent Work: bridging
the gap”
2009: "Children and Families Speak
Out Against Poverty"
2008: "Human Rights and Dignity of
People Living in Poverty"
2007: "People Living in Poverty as
Agents of Change: 20th Anniversary of
the International Day for the Eradication
of Poverty"
2006: Working Together out of Poverty
2005: "Achieving the Millennium Development
Goals: Empowering the poorest of the poor"
2004: How Poverty Separates Parents and
Children
About
International Day for the Eradication
of Poverty
The observance of the International Day
for the Eradication of Poverty can be
traced back to 17 October 1987. On that
day, over a hundred thousand people gathered
at the Trocadéro in Paris , where the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
was signed in 1948, to honour the victims
of extreme poverty, violence and hunger.
They proclaimed that poverty is a violation
of human rights and affirmed the need
to come together to ensure that these
rights are respected. These convictions
are inscribed in a commemorative stone
unveiled on this day. Since then, people
of all backgrounds, beliefs and social
origins have gathered every year on October
17th to renew their commitment and show
their solidarity with the poor. Replicas
of the commemorative stone have been unveiled
around the world and serve as a gathering
place to celebrate the Day. One such replica
is located in the garden of United Nations
Headquarters and is the site of the annual
commemoration organized by the United
Nations Secretariat in New York .
Through
resolution 47/196 adopted on 22 December
1992, the General Assembly declared 17
October as the International Day for the
Eradication of Poverty and invited all
States to devote the Day to presenting
and promoting, as appropriate in the national
context, concrete activities with regard
to the eradication of poverty and destitution.
The resolution further invites intergovernmental
and non-governmental organizations to
assist States, at their request, in organizing
national activities for the observance
of the Day, and requests the Secretary-General
to take, within existing resources, the
measures necessary to ensure the success
of the Day's observance by the United
Nations.
October
17th presents an opportunity to acknowledge
the effort and struggle of people living
in poverty, a chance for them to make
their concerns heard, and a moment to
recognize that poor people are the first
ones to fight against poverty. Participation
of the poor themselves has been at the
center of the Day's celebration since
its very beginning. The commemoration
of October 17th also reflects the willingness
of people living in poverty to use their
expertise to contribute to the eradication
of poverty.
Events
539
BC – Cyrus the Great marches into the
city of Babylon, releasing the Jews from
almost 70 years of exile. Cyrus allows
the Jews to return to Yehud Medinata and
rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
456 – Battle of Placentia: Ricimer, supported
by Majorian (comes domesticorum), defeats
near Piacenza (Northern Italy) the Roman
usurper Avitus.
1091 – London Tornado of 1091: A tornado
thought to be of strength T8/F4 strikes
the heart of London.
1346 – Battle of Neville's Cross: King
David II of Scotland is captured by Edward
III of England near Durham, and imprisoned
in the Tower of London for eleven years.
1448 – Second Battle of Kosovo, where
the mainly Hungarian army led by John
Hunyadi is defeated by an Ottoman army
led by Sultan Murad II.
1456 – The University of Greifswald is
established, making it the second oldest
university in northern Europe (also for
a period the oldest in Sweden, and Prussia)
1604 – Kepler's Star: German astronomer
Johannes Kepler observes a supernova in
the constellation Ophiuchus.
1610 – French king Louis XIII is crowned
in Rheims.
1660 – Nine Regicides, the men who signed
the death warrant of Charles I, are hanged,
drawn and quartered.
1662 – Charles II of England sells Dunkirk
to France for 40,000 pounds.
1771 – Premiere in Milan of the opera
Ascanio in Alba, composed by Wolfgang
Mozart, age 15.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: British
General John Burgoyne surrenders his army
at Saratoga, New York.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: British
General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrenders
at the Siege of Yorktown.
1800 – Britain takes control of the Dutch
colony of Curaçao.
1806 – Former leader of the Haitian Revolution,
Emperor Jacques I of Haiti is assassinated
after an oppressive rule.
1814 – London Beer Flood occurs in London,
killing nine.
1860 – First The Open Championship (referred
to in North America as the British Open).
1888 – Thomas Edison files a patent for
the Optical Phonograph (the first movie).
1905 – The October Manifesto issued by
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
1907 – Guglielmo Marconi's company begins
the first commercial transatlantic wireless
service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia,
Canada and Clifden, Ireland.
1912 – Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia declare
war on the Ottoman Empire, joining Montenegro
in the First Balkan War.
1917 – First British bombing of Germany
in World War I.
1931 – Al Capone convicted of income tax
evasion.
1933 – Albert Einstein flees Nazi Germany
and moves to the United States.
1941 – For the first time in World War
II, a German submarine attacks an American
ship.
1941 – German troops execute the male
population of the villages Kerdyllia in
Serres, Greece.
1943 – Burma Railway (Burma-Thailand Railway)
is completed.
1945 – A massive number of people, headed
by CGT and Evita, gather in the Plaza
de Mayo in Argentina to demand Juan Peron's
release. It calls "el día de la lealtad
peronista" (peronista loyalty day)
1945 – Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens
becomes Prime Minister of Greece between
the pull-out of the German occupation
force in 1944 and the return of King Georgios
II to Greece.
1956 – The first commercial nuclear power
station is officially opened by Queen
Elizabeth II in Sellafield,in Cumbria,
England.
1956 – Donald Byrne Vs. Bobby Fischer
play a famous chess game called The Game
of the Century. Fischer beat Byrne and
wins a Brilliancy prize.
1961 – Scores of Algerian protesters (some
claim up to 400) are massacred by the
Paris police at the instigation of Nazi
collaborator Maurice Papon, then chief
of the Prefecture of Police.
1964 – Prime Minister of Australia Robert
Menzies opens the artificial Lake Burley
Griffin in the middle of the capital Canberra.
1965 – The 1964-1965 New York World's
Fair closes after a two year run. More
than 51 million people had attended the
two-year event.
1966 – A fire at a building in New York,
New York kills 12 firefighters, the New
York City Fire Department's deadliest
day until the September 11, 2001 attacks.
1966 – Botswana and Lesotho join the United
Nations.
1970 – Montreal, Quebec: Quebec Vice-Premier
and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte
murdered by members of the FLQ terrorist
group.
1973 – OPEC starts an oil embargo against
a number of western countries, considered
to have helped Israel in its war against
Syria.
1977 – German Autumn: Four days after
it is hijacked, Lufthansa Flight 181 lands
in Mogadishu, Somalia, where a team of
German GSG 9 commandos later rescues all
remaining hostages on board.
1979 – Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize.
1979 – The Department of Education Organization
Act is signed into law creating the US
Department of Education and US Department
of Health and Human Services.
1980 – As part of the Holy See – United
Kingdom relations a British monarch makes
the first state visit to the Vatican
1989 – 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (7.1
on the Richter scale) hits the San Francisco
Bay Area and causes 57 deaths directly
(and 6 indirectly).
1994 – Russian journalist Dmitry Kholodov
is assassinated while investigating corruption
in the armed forces.
1998 – At Jesse, in the Niger Delta, Nigeria,
a petroleum pipeline explodes killing
about 1200 villagers, some of whom are
scavenging gasoline.
2000 – Train crash at Hatfield, north
of London, leading to collapse of Railtrack.
2001 – Israeli tourism minister Rehavam
Ze'evi became the first Israeli minister
to be assassinated in a terrorist attack.
2003 – The pinnacle is fitted on the roof
of Taipei 101, a 101-floor skyscraper
in Taipei, allowing it to surpass the
Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur by
56 metres (184 ft) and become the World's
tallest highrise.
Holidays
and observances
Christian
Feast Day:
Catervus
Ignatius of Antioch
Marguerite Marie Alacoque (formerly)
Rule of Andrew
Richard Gwyn
October 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Dessalines Day (Haiti)
International Day for the Eradication
of Poverty (International)
Loyalty Day (Argentina)
For details, contact Datacentre
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