February 18

Events

1857: The British and French occupation forces leave Greece.
1910: A strong earthquake (6.8 on the Richter scale) strikes Chania, Crete, causing six fatalities.
1952: The Greek Parliament approves the country's entry into NATO.
1964: Georgios Papandreou forms a government. The swearing in ceremony takes place at the royal palace of Tatoi as King Paul is seriously ill.
1968: The KKE Interior is formed after a split in the ranks of the Communist Party of Greece.
1969: The Junta's Minister of the Interior, Stylianos Pattakos, rules out the possibility of municipal elections in the near future.
1972: An Olympic Aviation Learjet crashed off the coast of Monte Carlo. Both crew members are killed.
1973: Archbishop Makarios III is proclaimed President of Cyprus for a third term as there were no other candidates for the post.
1978: Egyptian editor, Youssef Sebai, is murdered in Nicosia by members of the PLO.

1947: Anton Christoforidis fights his last bout against Anton Raadik. He loses by unanimous decision.
1948: The CISM is founded by member states Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Denmark and France in Nice, France. Greece will become member on March 8, 1950.
2006: At the Greek Indoor Championships, 24-year-old triple jumper, Dimitrios Tsiamis jumped 17.12m, improving the old national record set by Konstantinos Zalagitis last year (16.95m).