July 20. Kazinform's timeline of major events

NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM Kazinform's Timeline is the one-stop shop where you can learn about historical events for the 20th of July. See what notable events happened throughout Kazakhstan's history on July 20.

World Chess Day

On 12 December 2019, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 20 July as World Chess Day to mark the date of the establishment of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in 1924. initiated by the FIDE, July 20 has been observed as International Chess Day by chess players around the world since 1966.

1969 – First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Kazakh SSR Communist Party Dinmukhammed Kunayev takes part in a ceremony of laying a symbolic foundation stone of the Kapshagay Hydroelectric Power Plant.

2005 – A photo exhibition of the European Parliament member Struan Stevenson ‘Eternal Grief’ devoted to the tragedy of the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing site opens in Nur-Sultan. For his constant attention to the problems of the Semipalatinsk polygon, Struan Stevenson was awarded the title of «Honorary Citizen of Semey».

2010 –Astana Contemporary Art Museum holds an exhibition of the Kazakh national ornament and calligraphy art organized by the Restu Foundation from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For the first time, a delegation from Malaysia presented a new, unique Kazakh ornament in Astana (now Nur-Sultan) - the results of two-year research work. The guests of the exhibition enjoyed a video about the process of creation of Kazakh ornaments, calligraphy, and a uniquely designed Koran in the Kazakh language.

2011 –Zhaslan Baraissov, a graduate of Lyceum No8 from Pavlodar, wins a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad 2011 in Bangkok.

2014 – First dombra playing courses are launched in Beijing, China. The course is run three times a week by Mural Bimuratuly, a graduate of the Central University for Nationalities. The course is organized for three groups of students. The first group includes Kazakh students, the second group consists of Chinese only, and the third group is a mixed one.

2017 – Unique artifacts are unearthed in Baidibek district of the South Kazakhstan region (now Turkistan region) where the ancient settlement of Kangui Khanate was located in the 1st century AD. The artifacts include a coin, a jug, a nameplate, and a mass grave.