Clik here to view.
1 December 2002
As Balkan Airlines, Bulgaria's then flagship air carrier, was going into receivership, several air hostesses made an effort to save it by posing nude for Bulgaria's Playboy, the first Bulgarian language monthly licensed from the West.
Inspired by the "Girls of Enron," a photo spread in the US Playboy just after the energy giant went bust – no pun intended – the Bulgarian flight attendants hoped to garner publicity to save Balkan Airlines. The Bulgarian government had sold the air carrier to Gad Ze'evi, an Israeli businessman, under whom the company went broke. Ze'evi took a different view of events, however, and sued Bulgaria in an international court for over $10 million in damages.
8 December 1989
On the day of John Lennon's murder, teenagers and fans from around Bulgaria used to gather with guitars and flowers at John Lennon's Wall – the north side of what at the time was the Central Notary's Office in Sofia – to light candles and paste up sheets of Beatles lyrics. The 1989 anniversary proved richer in significance as young people had just witnessed the fall of Communism. Today the area is still a favourite gathering place for hip youths.
14 December 1995
Zhan Videnov's Socialist government submitted Bulgaria's application for EU membership. The EU's invitation to open accession talks came in December 1999, after the position of Prime Minister Ivan Kostov's rightwing government on the crisis in Yugoslavia had played a key role in winning the confidence of the West. The negotiations began in 2000 and ended in 2004, after Bulgaria's commitment to shut down the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant's Reactors Nos. 3, 4. Bulgaria joined the EU on 1 January 2007 – with fireworks.
20 December 1990
Pressed by public discontent with the economy's dire straits, Prime Minister Andrey Lukanov submitted his resignation, ending the term of office of the first government to take power after November 1989. In March 1990 Lukanov had declared a moratorium on servicing Bulgaria's more than $10 billion foreign debt. The country's credit rating plummeted and banks stopped giving loans for imports. The so-called Lukanov winter is remembered for its electricity blackouts and food rationing.
26 December 1980
The National Committee for Celebrating the 1300th Anniversary of the Founding of the Bulgarian State was created – a brainchild of Lyudmila Zhivkova, the daughter of dictator Todor Zhivkov. As part of the campaign, the regime rummaged through the country's past, dredging up ancient sources of national pride. At lightning speed the National Palace of Culture and the memorial next to it were built, as well as dozens of other megalomaniacal buildings and monuments around the country.
29 December 1989
The Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party's, or BKP, held its third plenary session of the month. Earlier, party leaders decided to expel Communist dictator Todor Zhivkov from the party and to scrap BKP's constitutionally guaranteed leading role in government. The committee also urged that the government restore the names of Bulgarian Turks, who five years earlier had been made to change their names to Bulgarian ones. The process aimed at "reconnecting" Turkish populations with their Bulgarian roots. As a result, 360,000 Bulgarian Turks fled to Turkey.