February 9

From Phantis

Events

• 474: Zeno I ascends to the Byzantine throne.
• 1919: Workers in Thessaloniki protest shortages in food.
• 1934: The Balkan Entente is established by Greece, Turkey, Romania and Yugoslavia.
• 1948: A major earthquake (7.1 on the Richter scale) strikes the island of Karpathos.
• 1950: Martial law, imposed as a result of the Greek Civil War, is lifted throughout Greece.
• 1954: The statue of Theodoros Kolokotronis on his horse, is placed in front of old Parliament building.
• 1976: The European Common Market accepts the application of Greece for full membership.
• 1995: Four members of the Northern Epirus "Omonia Party" are released from prison by the Albanian authorities.
• 2007: The body of Yiannis Vartholomeos, head of the Social Insurance Institute (IKA), was found in the stairwell of an apartment block in the central Zografou area.

Births

• 1404: Constantine XI Palaeologus, last Byzantine emperor.
• 1893: Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas, poet, Prime Minister
• 1935: Charilaos Michail, EOKA fighter.
• 1957: Katerina Stanisi, singer.
• 1980: Angelos Charisteas, footballer.

Deaths

• 1857: Dionysios Solomos, poet who wrote the Greek National Anthem.
• 2011: Miltiades Ewert, politician and Mayor of Athens