March 20. Kazinform's timeline of major events

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

DATES

World Storytelling Day was first marked in Sweden in 1990 as All Storytellers Day to celebrate the art of storytelling with as many people as possible, both listeners and storytellers. By 1997, March 20 it had been celebrated in Australia as the Day of Oral Narrators and in Latin America as the National Day of Storytellers. In 2001, the holiday returned to Scandinavian countries thanks to the Internet. From Sweden it spread to Norway, Denmark, then to Finland and Estonia, then to Canada. In 2005 the holiday was finally named as the International Storytelling Day. The theme of the 2023 International Storytelling Day is «Together We Can.»

World Oral Health Day

The World Oral Health Day was proclaimed in 2013 by the World Dental Association – a non-commercial organization based in Geneva which unites more than 200 dental unions in 130 countries. The World Dental Association sets a goal to draw attention of governments, healthcare organizations and broad public to the importance of maintaining oral health.

International Happiness Day

The UN General Assembly in its resolution 66/281 as of 12 July 2012 proclaimed 20 March as the International Day of Happiness, thus recognizing happiness and well-being as a universal aspiration of the mankind.

International Astrology Day is observed every year on the Day of Spring Equinox by astrologers and all those that are enthusiastic about astrology. Astrologers regard the holiday as the beginning of a new astrological year.

EVENTS

1935–The first issue of Tote Oqu daily newspaper is published. In 1952 it is renamed as Qazaqstan Mugalimi (Kazakhstan’s teacher).The editorial staff pursued a goal of assisting schools, teachers and all those learning reading and writing.

1961– By a decree of the Presidium of the Kazakh SSR Supreme Council, the city of Akmolinsk (1830-1961) is renamed as Tselinograd (1961-1992).

1992– Kazakhstan issues its first postage stamp. The stamp is dedicated to the Golden Warrior which later becomes a symbol of the country’s independence.

1994– Poland opens its embassy in Almaty. Kazakhstan’s diplomatic mission is unveiled in Warsaw in May 1999. The Kazakh Embassy in Poland is opened in October 2000.

2009– Ancient monuments to well-known Turkic commanders Tui-Ukuk (Tonyukuk) and Terkin are unveiled at the Eurasian National Gumilyov University.

2015– Kazakhstan and the Kingdom of Tonga sign a joint communique on establishment of diplomatic relations.

2015– The Department of Kazakh Language, History and Culture is opened at the Center for Oriental Languages and Cultures of the Sofia University. Bulgarian Turkologist Emil Boyev is the first in Europe to introduce Kazakh Language course to the academic program of the Sofia University.

2015- The first Central Asian Bio Resource Center of the American Society for Microbiology is unveiled in Almaty

2017– Park named after famous Turkish writer, philosopher and enlightener Yunus Emre is opened in Shymkent.

2019- Senate Speaker Kassym-Jomart Tokayev takes an oath to become the acting President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.