Calendar of the Day // The Mont Blanc Tunnel celebrates its 58th anniversary today
Radio Moldova presents the calendar of the day - the most important events in history, politics and culture that we mark today, July 16.
1790: The US Congress decides to allocate a special territory for the construction of the country's new capital - Washington.
1945: The first Trinity Test atomic bomb is tested in the Alamogordo Desert in the US, triggering an explosion equivalent to the power of 19 kilotons of TNT.
1951: The novel by American author J.D. Salinger, Watching in the Rye.
1965: French President Charles de Gaulle and Italian President Giuseppe Saragat inaugurate the tunnel under Mont Blanc, linking the French town of Chamonix with the Italian town of Aosta. It was considered the longest tunnel in the world at the time, and is now the fourth longest. At 11 and a half kilometres long, the tunnel has shortened the journey across the Alps to 12 minutes. For over 13 years it was the longest road tunnel in the world. It currently ranks 12th in the world. The agreement between France and Italy to build the tunnel was concluded in March 1953. The tunnel took almost eight years to build, with construction work starting in May 1959. Every day, more than 5,000 cars pass through the Mont Blanc tunnel.
1990: The "Declaration on State Sovereignty" is adopted in Ukraine.
2000: Last lunar eclipse of the 20th century.
In 1966 Petru Leonardi, ballet master and artist emeritus of the Republic of Moldova, died.
Today is International Snake Day.
