April 9, 2018
April 9
In 2009 a meteorite fell on Mežakla, a plateau in the foothills of the Julian Alps, Slovenia. The fall was observed by firefighters on a night duty in Jesenice. Two pieces of the meteorite were found in the days and months that followed, but the experts believe there must be a few more lying somewhere on Mežakla plateau.
April 10
In 1912 Boris Kidrič, was born. In 1930, Kidrič, alongside Edvard Kardelj, was one of the leading Slovenian communists who organized the Partisan resistance against the occupying Axis powers in 1941. During WWII Kidrič became a secretary of the Slovenian communist party and a political secretary of the Liberation front, its leader and the president of the Slovenian national government. He retained his high government positions, especially in the economic sector, until his death in 1953.
April 11
In 1941 Italian army occupied Ljubljana. The city has a special place in history of European capitals, as it presents one of the few which were completely occupied, encircled in barbed wire and thus essentially turned into an internment camp.
April 12
In 1998 Soča river area was hit by one of the strongest earthquakes in the recent history of the Slovenes. After the main shock, which took place about lunch time on Easter Sunday, 400 more aftershocks followed in the first 20 hours and about 9,000 more after that. About 4,000 buildings were damaged during the earthquake which, luckily, did not require any casualties.
Photo: www.gis.si
April 13
In 1735 a child who became a barefoot Augustinian monk, Marko Pohlin, was born, known for the first systematic book on Slovenian grammar, Kraynska grammatika, (1768) which he wrote in German. Pohlin called for Slovenian to become a written language and the language of church in Carniola, which he considered spoke a different language to that spoken in Carinthia or Styria.
April 14
In 1912 several Slovenes lost their lives in the Titanic disaster, but some of them survived as well. It is not clear how many Slovenes were on board as they were all citizens of Austria at the time. Among the five known names, three died and two survived. The latter were Franc Karun and his four years old daughter Manca, who travelled in third class. According to the stories told by their relatives, Manca was pulled out of bed and placed on one of the boats, while Franc took a chance by jumping off the sinking ship into the freezing sea, and then swam to the nearest boat where he was pulled out of the water.
Franc Karun with his family, Manca is second from the left
April 15
In 1952 Jernej (Nejc) Zaplotnik, one of Slovenia's most successful alpine climbers was born. Among other things, he wrote a popular book on climbing called Pot (Way), and was the first Slovenian climber to climb Everest in 1979. Nejc Zaplotnik died in 1983 in Manaslu, Himalaya.
Nejc Zaplotnik on Mount Everest, May 13, 1979
April 16
In 2003 The Treaty of Accession was signed in Athens. On May 1 2004, when the treaty entered into force, this meant the largest enlargement of the European Union so far. Ten Eastern European countries joined the Union, among them, Slovenia.
