October
1
Independence
Day
China : 1 October 1949
Cyprus : October 1 1960
Nigeria : October 1 1960
Palau : 1 October 1994
Tuvalu : 1 October 1978
October
1 : International Day of Older Persons
UN
Secretary-General's Message for 2010
This Day marks the twentieth anniversary of the International
Day of Older Persons. Older persons play an invaluable role
in all societies -- as leaders, caregivers and volunteers –
yet are also vulnerable to discrimination, abuse, neglect and
violence.
The United
Nations has long fought for the rights and well-being of older
persons, and to make their voices heard. On this year’s observance,
we celebrate hard-won achievements, especially those related
to the Millennium Development Goals. In many countries older
persons have benefited from reduced rates of poverty and hunger,
improved access to medicines and health services, and greater
education and work opportunities.
Yet, progress
has been uneven, as it has been for the MDGs overall in all
countries and regions. For example, in those countries hardest
hit by the AIDS pandemic, it is often grandparents who are left
to care for AIDS orphans. In sub-Saharan Africa, 20 per cent
of rural women aged 60 and older are the sole supporters for
their grandchildren. These caregivers, who take on added and
often unexpected responsibilities, typically with little or
none of the necessary resources, desperately need social services,
especially social pensions, so that they and their families
have a chance for life beyond mere survival.
The number
and proportion of older persons is growing rapidly. In the past
three decades their numbers have doubled. By 2050, the global
population of older persons will total two billion– a significant
shift in the world’s demographic profile, with implications
for us all.
On this
International Day, I call on governments to do more to address
the needs of older persons. The key interventions are well-known:
granting universal access to social services; increasing the
number and worth of pension plans; and creating laws and policies
that prevent age and gender discrimination in the workplace.
With five years left before the 2015 MDG deadline, it is time
for governments everywhere to institute the financial, legal
and social protections that will lift millions of older persons
out of poverty and ensure their rights to dignified, productive
and healthy lives.
Ban Ki-moon
About
International Day of Older Persons.
On 14 December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly (by
resolution 45/106) designated 1 October the International Day
of Older Persons.
This was
preceded by initiatives such as the Vienna International Plan
of Action on Ageing - which was adopted by the 1982 World Assembly
on Ageing - and endorsed later that year by the UN General Assembly.
In 1991,
the General Assembly (by resolution 46/91) adopted the United
Nations Principles for Older Persons.
In 2002,
the Second World Assembly on Ageing adopted the Madrid International
Plan of Action on Ageing, to respond to the opportunities and
challenges of population ageing in the 21st century and to promote
the development of a society for all ages.
The theme
of the year 2010's commemoration is "Older persons and
the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)".
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the UN International
Day of Older Persons.
Past Observances
2009 - Celebrating the 10th Anniversary fo the International
Year of Older Persons: Towards a Society for All Ages
2008 - Rights of Older Persons
2007 - Addressing the Challenges and Opportunities of Ageing
2006 - Improving the Quality of Life for Older Persons: Advancing
UN Global Strategies
2005 - Ageing in the new millennium. Focus on poverty, older
women and development
2004 - Older persons in an intergenerational society
2009 - Celebrating the 10th Anniversary fo the International
Year of Older Persons: Towards a Society for All Ages
2008 - Rights of Older Persons
2007 - Addressing the Challenges and Opportunities of Ageing
2006 - Improving the Quality of Life for Older Persons: Advancing
UN Global Strategies
2005 - Ageing in the new millennium. Focus on poverty, older
women and development
2004 - Older persons in an intergenerational society
Events
331 BC –
Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle
of Gaugamela.
959 – Edgar the Peaceable becomes king of all England.
1189 – Gerard de Ridefort, grandmaster of the Knights Templar
since 1184, is killed in the Siege of Acre.
1553 – Coronation of Queen Mary I of England.
1787 – Russians under Alexander Suvorov defeat the Turks at
Kinburn.
1791 – First session of the French Legislative Assembly.
1795 – Belgium is conquered by France.
1800 – Spain cedes Louisiana to France via the Treaty of San
Ildefonso.
1811 – The first steamboat to sail the Mississippi River arrives
in New Orléans, Louisiana.
1814 – Opening of the Congress of Vienna, intended to redraw
Europe's political map after the defeat of Napoléon the previous
spring.
1827 – Russo-Persian War: The Russian army under Ivan Paskevich
storms Yerevan, ending a millennium of Muslim domination in
Armenia.
1829 – South African College is founded in Cape Town, South
Africa; it will later separate into the University of Cape Town
and the South African College Schools.
1832 – Texian political delegates convened at San Felipe de
Austin to petition for changes in the governance of Mexican
Texas.
1843 – The News of the World tabloid begins publication in London.
1847 – German inventor and industrialist Werner von Siemens
founds Siemens AG & Halske.
1854 – The watch company founded in 1850 in Roxbury by Aaron
Lufkin Dennison relocates to Waltham, Massachusetts, to become
the Waltham Watch Company, a pioneer in the American system
of watch manufacturing.
1880 – John Philip Sousa becomes leader of the United States
Marine Band.
1880 – First electric lamp factory is opened by Thomas Edison.
1887 – Balochistan is conquered by the British Empire.
1890 – Yosemite National Park is established by the U.S. Congress.
1891 – In the U.S. state of California, Stanford University
opens its doors.
1898 – The Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration
is founded under the name k.u.k. Exportakademie.
1903 – Baseball: The Boston Americans play the Pittsburgh Pirates
in the first game of the modern World Series.
1905 – František Pavlík is killed in a demonstration in Prague,
inspiring Leoš Janáček to the piano composition 1. X. 1905.
1908 – Ford puts the Model T car on the market at a price of
US$825.
1910 – Los Angeles Times bombing: A large bomb destroys the
Los Angeles Times building in downtown Los Angeles, California,
killing 21.
1918 – World War I: Arab forces under T. E. Lawrence, also known
as "Lawrence of Arabia" capture Damascus.
1920 – Sir Percy Cox lands in Basra to assume his responsibilities
as high commissioner in Iraq.
1928 – The Soviet Union introduces its First Five-Year Plan.
1931 – The George Washington Bridge linking New Jersey and New
York opens.
1936 – Francisco Franco is named head of the Nationalist government
of Spain.
1937 – The Japanese city Handa is founded in Aichi Prefecture.
1938 – Germany annexes the Sudetenland.
1939 – After a one-month Siege of Warsaw, hostile forces enter
the city.
1940 – The Pennsylvania Turnpike, often considered the first
superhighway in the United States, opens to traffic.
1942 – USS Grouper torpedoes Lisbon Maru not knowing she is
carrying British PoWs from Hong Kong
1942 – First flight of the Bell XP-59 "Aircomet".
1943 – World War II: Naples falls to Allied soldiers.
1946 – Nazi leaders are sentenced at Nuremberg Trials.
1946 – Mensa International is founded in the United Kingdom.
1947 – The F-86 Sabre flies for the first time.
1949 – The People's Republic of China is established and declared
by Mao Zedong.
1957 – First appearance of In God We Trust on U.S. paper currency.
1958 – NASA is created to replace NACA.
1960 – Nigeria gains independence from the United Kingdom.
1961 – East and West Cameroon merge to form the Federal Republic
of Cameroon.
1962 – First broadcast of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
1964 – The Free Speech Movement is launched on the campus of
University of California, Berkeley.
1964 – Japanese Shinkansen ("bullet trains") begin
high-speed rail service from Tokyo to Osaka.
1965 – General Suharto rises to power after a coup that alleged
to the Communist Party of Indonesia. In response, Suharto and
his army massacre over a million Indonesians suspected of being
communists. The killings of 7 army officers happened in the
early hours of 1 October 1965.
1966 – West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashes with eighteen
fatalities and no survivors 5.5 miles south of Wemme, Oregon.
This accident marks the first loss of a DC-9.
1968 – The Guyanese government takes over the British Guiana
Broadcasting Service (BGBS).
1969 – Concorde breaks the sound barrier for the first time.
1971 – Walt Disney World opens near Orlando, Florida, United
States.
1971 – The first brain-scan using x-ray computed tomography
(CT or CAT scan) is performed at Atkinson Morley Hospital in
Wimbledon, London.
1975 – The Seychelles gain internal self-government. The Ellice
Islands split from Gilbert Islands and take the name Tuvalu.
1975 – Thrilla in Manila: Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Frazier in
a boxing match in Manila, Philippines.
1978 – Tuvalu gains independence from the United Kingdom.
1978 – The Voltaic Revolutionary Communist Party is founded.
1979 – The United States returns sovereignty of the Panama canal
to Panama.
1982 – Helmut Kohl replaces Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor of
Germany through a Constructive Vote of No Confidence.
1982 – EPCOT Center opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando,
Florida, United States.
1982 – Sony launches the first consumer compact disc player
(model CDP-101).
1985 – The Israeli air force bombs PLO Headquarters in Tunis.
1987 – The Whittier Narrows earthquake shakes the San Gabriel
Valley, registering as magnitude 5.9.
1989 – Denmark introduces the world's first legal modern same-sex
civil union called "registered partnership".
1991 – New Zealand's Resource Management Act 1991 comes into
force.
1991 – The Siege of Dubrovnik begins.
1994 – Palau gains independence from the United Nations (trusteeship
administered by the United States of America).
1998 – Vladimir Putin becomes a permanent member of the Security
Council of the Russian Federation.
2009 – The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom takes over the
judicial functions of the House of Lords.
Holidays
and observances
Armed Forces
Day (South Korea)
Christian Feast Day:
Abai (Syrian Orthodox Church)
Bavo of Ghent
Blessed Edward James
Nicetius (Roman Catholic Church)
Remigius
Thérèse de Lisieux
Protection/Patronage of the Theotokos (Eastern Catholic Churches)
October 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Children's Day (Singapore)
Earliest day on which World Habitat Day can fall, while October
7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of October.
(International)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Cyprus from
United Kingdom in 1960.
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Nigeria from
United Kingdom in 1960.
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Palau from
the UN Trust Territory status in 1994.
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tuvalu from
United Kingdom in 1978.
International Day of Older Persons
National Day of the People's Republic of China (China)
Pancasila Sanctity Day (Indonesia)
Teacher's Day (Uzbekistan)
Unification Day (Cameroon)
World Vegetarian Day (from North American Vegetarian Society)
For details, contact Datacentre
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