Austria

Republic of Austria
Flag
Location  Europe
Capital  Vienna
Area  83,871 sq km
Population  8,793,370

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"
(Proverb/Quote of the Week)

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January

January 1 Austria joined the European Union (EU), an economic and political union of European countries, on 1 January 1995. Kurt Waldheim, an Austrian diplomat and the 9th President of Austria, served as the fourth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1st January 1972 to 31st December 1981. January 2 January 3 January 4 January 5 January 6 Red squirrels living in a low-stress environment harbor healthier communities of micro-organisms, a result that might hold implications for human health, according to a study by Austrian and Canadian researchers published in the journal Biology Letters on 6 January 2016. January 7 January 8 Austria was named as the most welcoming country in the world by popular travel booking platform Booking.com on 8 January 2019. Researchers from Austria and their international colleagues have found aggressive intestinal bacteria Helicobacter pylori in a 5300-year-old mummy, famously known as Ötzi - the Copper Age man, discovered frozen in a European glacier in 1991, shedding new light on the history of human migration. Their study was published in the journal Science on 8 January 2016. January 9 January 10 January 11 January 12 January 13 Austrian director Michael Haneke's Amour (Love) won the best foreign language Golden Globe award on 13 January 2013. January 14 January 15 January 16 January 17 January 18 Austrian skier Hannes Reichelt won the men's World Cup downhill title on 18 January 2015. The 34-year-old Austrian took victory ahead of three Swiss former winners in 2 minutes, 36.14 seconds. January 19 January 20 January 21 January 22 January 23 Austrian researchers and an international team of scientists have produced the first research findings to suggest that pre-Homo human ancestral species used human-like hand postures much earlier than was previously thought. Their findings, based on fossils analysis, were presented in the journal Science on 23 January 2015. January 24 January 25 Two-time Olympic champion Austrian World Cup alpine ski racer Mayer thrills on 25 January 2020 became the first Austrian to win the famous Kitzbühel downhill since 2014 and thrilled the home crowds. January 26 Based on a new dating of a jawbone fossils, Austrian researchers and their international colleagues indicated that our species (Homo sapiens) lived outside Africa around 185,000 years ago, some 80,000 years earlier than the previous evidence suggested. Their findings were detailed in the journal Science on 26 January 2018. January 27 Austrian Oliver Marach and Croatian Mate Pavic won men’s doubles Australian Open Grand Slam title defeating Colombian duo Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-4 6-4 on 27 January 2018. January 28 January 29 The 1964 Winter Olympics Games were held in Innsbruck, Austria from January 29 to February 9, 1964.The Innsbruck Games were threatened by a lack of snow. The Austrian army rushed to the rescue, carving out 20,000 blocks of ice from the mountain side and transporting them down to the tracks and skiing slopes. January 30 January 31

February

February 1 February 2 February 3 February 4 The 1976 Winter Olympic Games were held in Innsbruck, Austria from 4 to 15 February. Innsbruck hosted the Winter Games for the second time. February 5 February 6 February 7 February 8 February 9 Matthias Mayer of Austria won gold in Men's Downhill at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. February 10 Austria claimed gold in team event at the World Alpine Ski Championships with a 3-1 victory over Canada on 10 February 2015. February 11 February 12 February 13 February 14 February 15 Anna Fenninger of Austria won gold in Women's Super-G at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. February 16 February 17 Austrian skier Marcel Hirscher won the men’s slalom World Ski Championships on 17 February 2013 in front of a home audience in Schladming, Austria. February 18 Austrian actor Georg Friedrich won the Silver Bear for Best Actor for his role in Bright Nights at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival on 18 February 2017. February 19 Austrian ski star Marcel Hirscher captured a sixth World Cup slalom crown on 19 February 2019 in Stockholm. February 20 February 21 February 22 Austrian researchers have developed a photo-electrochemical cell which can chemically store the energy of ultraviolet light even at high temperatures. The photo- electrochemical cell was described in the journal Advanced Functional Materials on 22 February 2016. February 23 February 24 Austrian film Amour won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards on 24 February 2013. It is the second time an Austrian film has won the best foreign language film award, following The Counterfeiters in 2008. Austrian film director Stefan Ruzowitzky's film The Counterfeiters won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 80th Academy Awards on February 24, 2008. February 25 Archaeologists from Austria, Belgium and Germany have discovered a large, well-preserved school for Roman gladiators in Carnuntum, Austria. The discovery was reported on 25 February 2014 in the journal Antiquity, reveals intricate details about the daily routine of these famous warriors. Two Austrian satellites, BRITE-AUSTRIA and UniBRITE, were successfully launched into orbit on 25 February 2013 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India. They are equipped with the smallest astronomical telescope ever built, which is designed to study some of the brightest stars in the sky. February 26 February 27 February 28 February 29

March

March 1 March 2 Austria ranked sixth in the list of the Global Energy Index 2016 published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), showcasing the country's ability to deliver secure, affordable and sustainable energy. March 3 March 4 Austria's Marcel Hirscher won record sixth successive men's Alpine skiing World Cup overall title on 4 March 2017 after winning the penultimate giant slalom of the season in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. March 5 Austrian singer Udo Jürgens won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for the song Merci Chérie. The final took place on March 5, 1966 in Luxembourg. March 6 March 7 March 8 March 9 Markus Salcher of Austria won gold at the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympics in the Men's Super-G - Standing. March 10 March 11 March 12 Austrian scientists were awarded 6 research grants by the European Research Council (ERC) on 12 March 2015 as part of the European Union Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020. A team of international scientists, including researchers from Austria, has discovered a vast reservoir of water under the Earth's mantle, 400-600 kilometers (250-375 miles) beneath the Earth’s surface. Their study, confirmed the finding based on the discovery of a rare mineral ringwoodite, was published in the journal Nature on 12 March 2014. March 13 March 14 March 15 March 16 March 17 March 18 March 19 March 20 March 21 March 22 March 23 March 24 March 25 Austria ranked sixth at the 2019 Energy Transition Index (ETI) published by World Economic Forum (WEF) on 25 March 2019, which indicates how well countries around the world are able to balance energy security and environmental sustainability and affordability. March 26 On March 26, 2011 Austria along with Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia signed a historic declaration to launch a cross-border nature reserve to protect their shared nature and wildlife along the Mura, Drava and Danube rivers, known as 'Europe’s Amazon'. March 27 March 28 March 29 March 30 March 31

April

April 1 A 300-year-old skeleton of a camel used by the Ottomans to invade Vienna has been discovered by Austrian researchers from an abandoned pit in Tulln. Their findings were published in the journal PLOS One on 1 April 2015. April 2 April 3 April 4 April 5 Steirereck in Austria was named as the World’s Tenth Best Restaurant for 2017. April 6 April 7 April 8 April 9 April 10 April 11 April 12 April 13 April 14 April 15 April 16 April 17 April 18 Three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda of Austria received the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award on 18 April 2016. April 19 Researchers from Austria, Brunei and Thailand have discovered a new species of ant, dubbed Colobopsis explodens, in the rainforests of Borneo and their findings were published on 19 April 2018 in the journal ZooKeys. April 20 April 21 Austrian documentary Okavango - River of Dreams won the gold award in Nature and Wildlife category at the 2020 New York Festivals TV & Film Awards. April 22 April 23 April 24 April 25 April 26 April 27 Austrian and Russian scientists have created glowing plants using mushroom genes, as revealed in the journal Nature Biotechnology on 27 April 2020. April 28 April 29 April 30

May

May 1 May 2 May 3 May 4 May 5 May 6 Austria ranked as the twelfth most tourism-friendly country in the world in the 2015 World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. May 7 May 8 May 9 A study of the dromedary camel by researchers from Austria and their international colleagues has shown how long-distance and back-and-forth movements in ancient caravan routes shaped the species’ genetic diversity. Their findings, based on a global sample set and ancient mitochondrial DNA analyses, were revealed on 9 May 2016 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke was bestowed with the 2013 Spain's Prince of Asturias Award for the Art for his leading roles in European contemporary cinema. May 10 Austria's Conchita Wurst won the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest on 10 May 2014. Conchita won the title for Austria for the first time in 49 years. May 11 Thomas Hollerer of Austria was elected as a member of Fifa's Disciplinary Committee from Europe on 11 May 2017. May 12 May 13 Alexander Peya of Austria and Nikola Mektic of Croatia won the men’s doubles tennis title at the 2018 Madrid Open. May 14 May 15 May 16 May 17 May 18 May 19 May 20 May 21 May 22 May 23 May 24 Austrian director Michael Haneke's sombre drama The White Ribbon claimed the Palme d'Or, the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival, on 24 May 2009. May 25 May 26 May 27 Austrian director Michael Haneke won the top prize, Palme d'Or, at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival for his film about love and death, "Amour". It was his second Palme d'Or win. May 28 May 29 May 30 Austrian veteran jurist Brigitte Bierlein was appointed as Austria's first female chancellor on 30 May 2019 to lead an interim government until elections later in the year. May 31

June

June 1 Austria ranked as the fourth most peaceful country in the world, according to a report published by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) on 1 June 2017. June 2 June 3 June 4 June 5 June 6 Austria was ranked as the third most peaceful country in the world according to the 2018 Global Peace Index (GPI) produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). June 7 June 8 In a world first, Austrian researchers have successfully fitted a human being with an artificial leg capable of simulating the feelings of a real limb. This marks a revolution in prosthesis research and was unveiled on 8 June 2015. June 9 June 10 June 11 June 12 June 13 June 14 June 15 June 16 June 17 Austria ranked as the third most peaceful country in the world at the 2015 Global Peace Index published by Institute for Economics & Peace. June 18 June 19 June 20 June 21 June 22 June 23 Austria successfully launched a satellite on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C38 powered by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 23 June 2017. June 24 June 25 June 26 June 27 June 28 June 29 June 30

July

July 1 July 2 Austria’s lower house of parliament passed a bill on 2 July 2019 banning all uses of glyphosate, the controversial pesticide used in weedkiller suspected of causing cancer. July 3 July 4 A collaborative effort by cancer researchers from Austria, Japan and the USA has identified a new drug target in leukemia and creation of a candidate drug that hits the target. The newly identified target is a binding pocket on a protein called BRD9. The drug to bind at that pocket, called a bromodomain, is provisionally called BI-7273, as revealed on 4 July 2016 in Nature Chemical Biology. July 5 July 6 The UNESCO World Heritage Committee on 6 July 2017 inscribed the Historic Centre of Vienna in Austria as the World Heritage site. July 7 July 8 July 9 July 10 July 11 July 12 July 13 July 14 July 15 Austrian Alexander Peya and American Nicole Melichar became the Grand Slam tennis champions for the first time by winning the 2018 Wimbledon mixed doubles title beating Jamie Murray and Victoria Azarenka 6-7(1), 3-6. July 16 July 17 July 18 On 18 July 2012 archeologists from the University of Innsbruck revealed that they found four 600-year-old linen bras in an Austrian castle. July 19 July 20 July 21 July 22 July 23 July 24 July 25 July 26 July 27 July 28 July 29 Researchers from Austria, France and the USA have for the first time separated a particle from one of its physical properties. The study, published in Nature Communications on 29 July 2014, showed that in an interferometer a neutron's magnetic moment could be measured independently of the neutron itself - a technique could be used to remove disturbance and improve the resolution of high precision measurements. Austrian researchers, in collaboration with a team of international scientists, have shown that artificial blue light can synchronize the body clock under conditions in which natural light is scarce or unavailable. They performed their experiment under real conditions in Antarctica and published the study on 29 July 2014 which can be appreciated with the knowledge that disturbance to this biological clock causes problems with sleep, alertness, cardiovascular problems and even depression. July 30 July 31

August

August 1 August 2 August 3 August 4 August 5 August 6 August 7 August 8 August 9 August 10 August 11 August 12 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 12 August 2016 announced the appointment of Werner Faymann of Austria, as his Special Envoy on Youth Employment. August 13 Austria's capital Vienna was named world's most liveable city according to the 2018 Global Liveability Index published by the Economist Intelligence Unit on 13 August 2018. August 14 A baby panda was born at the Schönbrunn zoo in the Austrian capital Vienna on 14 August 2013. At Schönbrunn zoo this is the third time that a young panda has been born and is the only zoo in Europe where pandas -- notoriously picky partners -- have reproduced naturally, without artificial insemination. August 15 August 16 August 17 August 18 August 19 August 20 August 21 August 22 August 23 August 24 August 25 August 26 August 27 August 28 August 29 August 30 August 31

September

September 1 September 2 September 3 Fritz Pregl from Austria won the 1923 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his invention of the method of micro-analysis of organic substances. Pregl was born on September 3, 1869. September 4 Vienna, the capital of Austria, retained the top spot of the most liveable cities among the 140 cities around the world, according to the annual Global Liveability Index researched by The Economist Intelligence Unit. September 5 Archaeologists discovered remains of a Roman gladiator school on the outskirts of the Austrian capital Vienna. The find, which has been described as 'one in a million' and ‘sensational’, was presented on 5 September 2011. September 6 September 7 September 8 September 9 September 10 September 11 September 12 September 13 September 14 Pepo Puch of Austria won Individual Championship Test - Grade Ib - Equestrian gold at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in Brazil. September 15 September 16 September 17 September 18 September 19 September 20 September 21 September 22 September 23 September 24 September 25 September 26 September 27 September 28 September 29 September 30 Austria ranked as the 23rd most competitive country in the world, according to a World Economic Forum report released on 30 September 2015. This report, provides insight into the drivers of a country’s productivity and prosperity, suggests Austria has been nurturing innovation and talent.

October

October 1 October 2 October 3 October 4 October 5 October 6 October 7 Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for her musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that with extraordinary linguistic zeal reveal the absurdity of society's clichés and their subjugating power. October 8 October 9 Austrian born scientist Eric R. Kandel jointly won The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2000 for his contributions in the discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system. October 10 The Nobel Prize in Literature 2019 was awarded to Peter Handke of Austria for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience. October 11 October 12 Austria was elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United Nations body responsible for promoting and protecting all human rights around the globe, on 12 October 2018. October 13 October 14 Austrian Felix Baumgartner broken the record for the highest ever skydive by jumping out of a balloon 128,100ft (39km) above New Mexico on 14 October 2012. The 43-year-old also became the first person to fall faster than the speed of sound, reaching a top speed of 833.9mph. October 15 October 16 October 17 October 18 October 19 October 20 October 21 October 22 Dr. Gunther Bonn of Austria won the prestigious 2015 Gusi Peace Prize in the Scientific Research (Separation Science) category. October 23 October 24 October 25 October 26 October 27 October 28 October 29 October 30 October 31

November

November 1 November 2 The first cooperation agreement between Austria and Cuba in the spheres of art and culture was signed on 2 November 2012 in order to enrich cooperation between the two countries. November 3 November 4 November 5 November 6 November 7 November 8 Austrian, Italian and German scientists have, for the first time ever, successfully treated a child suffering from extensive skin damage using genetically modified skin transplants from its own stem cells. Scientists have used stem cells and gene therapy to replace about 80 percent of the child’s skin, as revealed on 8 November 2017. November 9 November 10 November 11 November 12 Ulla Weigerstorfer, an Austrian TV personality, won the 37th Miss World contest at the age of 20. The event was held on November 12, 1987 in the Royal Albert Hall, London. Ulla became the second titleholder from Austia. November 13 November 14 November 15 November 16 November 17 November 18 November 19 November 20 November 21 November 22 Eva Rueber-Staier from Austria won the Miss World contest on November 22, 1969. She was the first Austrian to win the title. November 23 November 24 November 25 November 26 November 27 November 28 November 29 November 30

December

December 1 December 2 Classical horsemanship and the High School of the Spanish Riding School Vienna, Austria was added to the 2015 UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Classical horsemanship at the Spanish Riding School Vienna is the traditional art and practice of breeding, raising, training and riding Lipizzaner horses. December 3 December 4 December 5 December 6 December 7 December 8 Austrian filmmaker Sudabeh Mortezai's Joy, an unflinching look at migrant sex workers in Europe, won the top prize at the 2018 Marrakesh film festival in Morocco. December 9 December 10 Austrian journalist Alfred Fried jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1911 for his work on the establishments of influential peace publications. The Nobel Peace Prize 1905 was awarded to Bertha von Suttner from Austria for her promotion of world peace. She was the first woman to be a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. December 11 December 12 Marcel Hirscher of Austria took 1st place during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Men's Giant Slalom on 12 December 2014 in Are, Sweden. In the process, he became only the fifth Austrian skier to reach 25 World Cup wins. December 13 December 14 Austria was admitted as a member of the United Nations (UN) on 14 December 1955. December 15 December 16 December 17 December 18 December 19 December 20 December 21 December 22 December 23 December 24 December 25 December 26 December 27 December 28 Austrian ski racer Anna Fenninger had two near-perfect runs to win the women's World Cup giant slalom on 28 December 2012. December 29 Austria’s Marlies Schild broke the record for World Cup slalom victories by securing her 35th success on home snow in Lienz on 29 December 2013. December 30 December 31

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