Greece

Hellenic Republic
Flag
Location  Europe
Capital  Athens
Area  131,957 sq km
Population  10,761,523

"All things come to those that wait"
(Proverb/Quote of the Week)

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January

January 1 Greece became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), an organization commenced to deal with the rules of trade between nations, on 1 January 1995. Greece joined the European Union (EU), an economic and political union of European countries, on 1 January 1981. Greece was the tenth member country to join EU. January 2 Greece, Cyprus and Israel on 2 January 2020 signed a deal to build a 1,900 km (1,180 mile) undersea pipeline, EastMed, to carry natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean’s rapidly developing gas fields to Europe. January 3 January 4 January 5 January 6 January 7 January 8 January 9 January 10 January 11 January 12 January 13 January 14 January 15 January 16 January 17 January 18 January 19 January 20 January 21 January 22 January 23 January 24 January 25 January 26 January 27 Greek scientists have discovered a rare fossilized tree whose branches and roots are still intact after 20 million years at the volcanic island of Lesbos, as reported on 27 January 2021. January 28 January 29 January 30 January 31

February

February 1 February 2 February 3 February 4 February 5 February 6 February 7 February 8 February 9 February 10 February 11 February 12 February 13 February 14 February 15 February 16 February 17 The bottlenose dolphin only colonized the Mediterranean after the last Ice Age - about 18,000 years ago – according to new research published on 17 February 2015 by Greek scientists and their international colleagues. February 18 Greece became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance, on February 18, 1952. February 19 February 20 February 21 February 22 February 23 Greek photojournalist Yannis Behrakis won the first prize at the 2016 Days Japan photo contest for his image series named In Search of a New Life. February 24 February 25 February 26 February 27 February 28 February 29

March

March 1 March 2 March 3 March 4 Greece and Turkey signed 25 agreements to boost bilateral relations on 4 March 2013. Under these agreements, the two neighbors will strengthen their cooperation in the fields of transport, information, media, sports, healthcare, agriculture, education and tourism, among others. March 5 March 6 March 7 March 8 March 9 March 10 March 11 March 12 Greek scientists were awarded a research grant by the European Research Council (ERC) on 12 March 2015 as part of the European Union Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020. 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 March 26 March 27 March 28 March 29 March 30 March 31

April

April 1 April 2 April 3 April 4 April 5 April 6 The first modern Summer Olympic Games, also known as International Olympic Committee (IOC) Olympic Games, were held in Athens, Greece in 1896. Athens saw the birth of the modern Olympic Games from April 6 to April 15, 1896. April 7 The 1969 Algerian-French movie Z, directed by Greek filmmaker Costa-Gavras, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970. April 8 April 9 April 10 April 11 April 12 April 13 Archaeologists have discovered two mass graves near the Greek capital in the area of the Faliron Delta containing the skeletons of 80 men, placed side by side and some of whom are shackled, as announced by the Greek Central Archaeological Council on 13 April 2016. These men may have been followers of ancient would-be tyrant Cylon of Athens. April 14 April 15 April 16 April 17 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece captured his second straight Monte Carlo Masters tennis crown with a 6-3 7-6(3) win over first-time ATP Tour finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on 17 April 2022, claiming his first title of the 2022 season. April 18 April 19 April 20 April 21 April 22 April 23 April 24 April 25 April 26 April 27 April 28 April 29 April 30

May

May 1 May 2 May 3 May 4 May 5 Greek youngster Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed his first claycourt tennis title with a 6-3 7-6(4) victory over Pablo Cuevas at the Estoril Open on 5 May 2019. May 6 May 7 May 8 May 9 May 10 Petros Giannakouris of Greece won the 3rd prize in the Single News category for his image “Fleeing a Burning Refugee Camp” at the 7th Istanbul Photo Awards on 10 May 2021. May 11 May 12 May 13 May 14 Greece and Australia on 14 May 2014 signed a reciprocal work and holiday visa arrangement, when brought into effect, will enable the youth of Greece and Australia visit and work in each others' countries. May 15 May 16 May 17 May 18 May 19 May 20 May 21 May 22 May 23 May 24 Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos won the Jury Prize at the 68th Cannes Film Festival on 24 May 2015 for his film The Lobster. May 25 Greek filmmaker Vasilis Kekatos won the Palme d’Or for Short Films at the Cannes film festival on 25 May 2019 for his film The Distance Between Heaven and Us. Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria on 25 May 2015 signed a trilateral agreement on police and customs co-operation that is expected to support a real-time information-sharing framework between the officials of the three countries. May 26 May 27 May 28 Greek screenwriters Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou won the Best Screenplay Prize for the film The Killing Of a Sacred Deer at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. May 29 May 30 May 31

June

June 1 Researchers from Greece and their international colleagues have manufactured a chip on which fast electronic signals can be converted directly into ultrafast light signals—with practically no loss of signal quality. The discovery was published in the journal Nature Electronics on 1 June 2020. June 2 June 3 June 4 June 5 June 6 June 7 June 8 June 9 June 10 June 11 June 12 June 13 June 14 June 15 June 16 Amid the current gloom of a political and economic crisis gripping their nation, Greece's 1-0 win over Russia to reach Euro 2012 Football Championship quarter-finals gave austerity-weary citizens something to cheers about. June 17 Greece and Macedonia signed an historic preliminary agreement on 17 June 2018 to rename the latter the Republic of North Macedonia, in order to put an end to a dispute that has soured relations between the two countries since 1991. June 18 June 19 June 20 June 21 June 22 June 23 June 24 Greece qualified for the second round of a FIFA World Cup in 2014 for the first time with a 2-1 victory against Ivory Coast. June 25 Archaeologists in the Greek port city of Thessaloniki, on 25 June 2012, uncovered a 70-meter (230-foot) section of an ancient road built by the Romans that was city's main travel artery nearly 2,000 years ago. June 26 June 27 June 28 June 29 June 30

July

July 1 July 2 July 3 July 4 July 5 July 6 July 7 July 8 July 9 July 10 A team of Greek and international researchers has identified a 210,000-year-old skull in Greece as the earliest modern human remains found outside Africa, putting the clock back on mankind's arrival in Europe by more than 150,000 years, as published in the journal Nature on 10 July 2019. July 11 July 12 July 13 July 14 Scientists from Greece and an international team have successfully sequenced the genomes of 201 microbes to find out more about the role these tiny, single-celled organisms play in our environment. This insight into the genetic code has also helped the team to draw up a more detailed version of the microbial family tree. Their findings were published on 14 July 2013 in the journal Nature. July 15 Archaeological Site of Philippi in Greece was inscribed on UNESCO’s prestigious World Heritage List on 15 July 2016 at the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Istanbul, Turkey. July 16 Greek scientists and their international colleagues have located an interconnected series of meandering, iridescent white subsea pools in the Southern Aegean Sea containing high concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), as reported on 16 July 2015 in the journal Scientific Reports. The pools, which get their distinctive color from opal particles, may hold answers to questions related to deep-sea carbon storage as well as provide a means of monitoring the volcano for future eruptions. July 17 July 18 July 19 July 20 July 21 July 22 July 23 July 24 July 25 July 26 July 27 Greece and Saudi Arabia on 27 July 2022 signed energy, military and security cooperation agreements during the official visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz to Athens. July 28 July 29 Team AMANDA of Greece took the top spot at the 2016 Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship in World Citizenship category for its anti-bullying app that leverages virtual reality. The International Monetary Fund on 29 July 2013 approved a further 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in funds for Greece, meant to help Greece recover from the ongoing debt crisis and rebuild its economy. July 30 July 31

August

August 1 Greek computer scientist Constantinos Daskalakis was awarded one of the most prestigious prizes in the mathematics world, Nevanlinna Prize, on 1 August 2018. Corinna Tsopei won the Miss Universe title in 1964 representing Greece at the age of 20. Corinna was the first Greek woman to win the title. August 2 August 3 August 4 The Nonagriam Twins Project in Greece won the Jury Award in the Private House category at the 2020 Architizer A+ Awards. August 5 August 6 August 7 August 8 Greece, Israel and Cyprus on 8 August 2013 signed an agreement in Nicosia for the linking of their electricity grids via a 2,000-megawatt underwater cable – known as the EuroAsia Interconnector. According to the agreement, the three countries will also work together to protect natural gas fields, and will cooperate with treatment of sewage as well as recycling water for use in farming. August 9 Anna Korakaki of Greece won gold in the women's 25m pistol shooting at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil. August 10 August 11 Greek long jump athlete Miltiadis Tentoglou soared out to a record-equalling fourth European long jump title on 11 August 2026 at the European championships. August 12 August 13 Greece men's water polo team clinched the 2017 FINA Junior Men’s World Championships title defeating Croatia in a penalty shootout 12-10 after the match was tied at 7-7. Greece hosted the 28th Summer Olympic Games from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens. It was the second time that the Summer Olympics were held in Greece, the birthplace of both the ancient and modern Olympic Games. August 14 August 15 August 16 August 17 August 18 August 19 Greece's Ekaterini Stefanidi won gold in Women's Pole Vault at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil. 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 Greece introduced a ban on smoking in enclosed public areas since 1 September 2010 as part of an effort to curb the country's high smoking rates. The ban also placed new limits on tobacco advertising. September 2 September 3 September 4 Greece won its first gold medal at the fourteenth London Paralympics on 4 September 2012 in mixed pairs BC3 boccia event final striking a 4-1 score against Portugal. September 5 September 6 September 7 Greek archaeologists have unearthed two marble sculpted female figurines, known as Caryatids, in an ancient tomb discovered in Greece's northeast, the country's culture ministry revealed on 7 September 2014. September 8 September 9 September 10 September 11 September 12 September 13 September 14 September 15 September 16 September 17 September 18 Lefteris Velissaratos of Greece won the 2015 Astronomy Photographer of the Year Award in the Planets, Comets & Asteroids category for an image titled The Arrow Missed the Heart. September 19 September 20 September 21 September 22 September 23 September 24 September 25 September 26 September 27 A team of Greek and Swiss archaeologists have uncovered an ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis, the whereabouts of which have eluded researchers for more than 100 years, as widely reported on 27 September 2017. September 28 Greece and France on 28 September 2021 announced a defence deal worth about €3 billion ($4.8 billion) that will allow them to come to each other's aid in the event of an external threat. September 29 September 30 Air China's inaugural direct Beijing-Athens flight landed at Athens International Airport (AIA) on 30 September 2017, a significant milestone in the history of China and Greece relations to further strengthen the bilateral ties.

October

October 1 Greece and Bulgaria started commercial operation of a 182-km gas pipeline on 1 October 2022 which will help boost energy security for both the countries. October 2 October 3 Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou was awarded Germany's Quadriga Prize for "Power of Veracity" in Berlin on October 3, 2010. The prize, awarded on the Day of German Unity every year by the non-profit Werkstatt Deutschland organization, is traditionally given to "role models who are committed to enlightenment". October 4 October 5 October 6 October 7 October 8 October 9 October 10 October 11 October 12 October 13 October 14 October 15 October 16 October 17 Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari scooped the Best Film Award at the 2015 London Film Festival for her film Chevalier. October 18 October 19 The Nobel Prize in Literature for 1979 was awarded to Odysseus Elytis from Greece for his poetry, which, against the background of Greek tradition, depicts with sensuous strength and intellectual clear-sightedness modern man's struggle for freedom and creativeness. October 20 October 21 Greek scientists have discovered a new species of giant tortoise in the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. The new species was named Chelonoidis donfaustoi and was detailed in PLoS ONE on 21 October 2015. October 22 October 23 October 24 October 25 Greece was admitted as a member of the United Nations (UN) on 25 October 1945. October 26 Greek and American archaeologists have discovered a Bronze Age warrior’s tomb in southwestern Greece filled with more than 1,400 objects: jewels, weapons and armor, as well as bronze, silver and gold vessels, as revealed on 26 October 2015. October 27 Greece was elected as a council member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on 27 October 2014 for four years from the Western European region. ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. October 28 October 29 October 30 October 31 Greek gymnast Eleftherios Petrounias won gold medal in Men's Still Rings final at the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow.

November

November 1 November 2 November 3 Greece secured a EUR 285 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) on 3 November 2015 to support various energy projects in Greece, aimed to improve the electricity transmission and interconnection network across the country, while at the same time bolstering environmental-friendly energy security and efficiency. November 4 Ancient shipwreck dating back 2,500 years was discovered beneath Aegean Sea near the island of Kythera, Greece during a marine survey for the Crete-Peloponnese subsea interconnection, the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) announced on 4 November 2021. November 5 November 6 November 7 November 8 November 9 November 10 November 11 November 12 Greek photographer Angelos Tzortzinis was awarded the first prize in the Sports Pictures Story category at the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar 2022 photography competition for his black and white series telling the story of young migrants passionate about basketball. Greece was elected on the United Nations Human Rights Council on 12 November 2012 for a three-year term. The council was created by the UN General Assembly in 2006 as the main human rights body of the UN. November 13 November 14 The head of an ancient statue of the Greek god Hermes has been unearthed during excavations for sewage system improvements in central Athens, the ministry of culture in Greece said 14 November 2020. November 15 November 16 November 17 November 18 November 19 November 20 November 21 November 22 November 23 Irene Skliva from Greece won the 46th Miss World contest at the age of 18. The event was held on November 23, 1996 in the city of Bangalore, India. Skliva was the first Greek woman to win the title. November 24 November 25 November 26 November 27 November 28 November 29 November 30 Greek photographer Angelos Tzortzinis was named Time magazines Wire Photographer of 2015 for his images documenting the refugee crisis in Greece as well as the country’s economic crisis.

December

December 1 Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was named as one of the world's top 100 global thinkers by Foreign Policy, a Washington-based prestigious magazine of global politics, economics and ideas, on 1 December 2015 for his fight to protect Greek economy. December 2 The art of marble-carving in Tinos, Greece was added to the 2015 UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. December 3 December 4 December 5 December 6 December 7 December 8 December 9 December 10 December 11 A storehouse of ancient treasures, including precious jewels and gold beads, has been uncovered by archaeologists in Greece on an island near Crete devoted to making a precious purple dye from sea snails thousands of years ago, as widely revealed on 11 December 2019. Giorgos Seferis from Greece won the Nobel Prize in Literature for 1963 for his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture. Giorgos's Nobel lecture and award ceremony took place on December 11, 1963. December 12 Greek and Swedish archaeologists have discovered an unknown 2,500-year-old city at a village called Vlochós, five hours north of Athens, as announced on 12 December 2016. December 13 December 14 December 15 December 16 December 17 December 18 December 19 December 20 December 21 Greek photojournalist Yannis Behrakis was named Guardian Photographer of the Year 2015 for capturing the refugee crisis and the financial implosion in Greece. December 22 December 23 December 24 December 25 December 26 December 27 Greek football club Olympiacos FC was awarded the Revelation Team of 2024 prize during the dazzling Globe Soccer Awards gala in Dubai. December 28 December 29 December 30 December 31

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