Outstanding Events in Belgium
2016: March 22 In Brussels, capital of Belgium, around 8 in the morning there are two explosions at Zaventem airport. Around 9:30 a.m., a third explosion takes place in a central subway station. The brutal massacre, perpetrated by ISIS suicide bombers, left 32 dead and more than 300 injured. (5 years ago)
1992: February 7
A Treaty is signed in Maastricht (Holland) by which Western European nations, after centuries of armed conflict, unite in a spirit of economic cooperation, seeking common security policies and cooperation between police and other authorities against crime, terrorism and immigration. The treaty is signed by the Ministers of 12 countries of the European Community (Great Britain, France, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands) and will enter into force from of January 1, 1993. establishes rules for the future single currency and a common foreign and security policy. The "European Union" officially replaces the "European Community". (29 years ago)
1960: December 15
In the Royal Palace of Brussels (Belgium), Fabiola de Mora y Aragón marries King Baudouin of Belgium. The monarch was crowned in 1951 after his father, Leopold III, abdicated. (60 years ago)
1957: March 25
In Rome, the representatives of France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg sign the Treaties of Rome, which are the founding Treaties of the European Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). (64 years ago)
1949: April 4
In the middle of the Cold War, meeting in Washington (USA), twelve western states, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Holland, Portugal, Canada and the USA, founded the Organization of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO), a military alliance, which provides for a collective defense, through close military collaboration, against possible Soviet aggression. This alliance will help to significantly increase the influence and power of the United States in Europe. In successive years, more countries will join, Spain in 1982. In 1955, as a response to NATO and as a result of the increase in international tension, several eastern countries, led by the Soviet Union, founded the Warsaw Pact. (72 years ago)
1948: March 17
As during the previous two years the USSR has established socialist regimes in central and eastern Europe, the climate of mutual distrust between the former allies against Hitler's Germany grows in the face of Western fear of an extension of Soviet power. For this reason, today, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign the so-called "Treaty of Brussels", by which they promise each other assistance in case of aggression. This treaty lays the foundations of what the future NATO will be, which will finally see the light of day on April 4, 1949 by signing the "North Atlantic Treaty" the "Brussels Five", plus Canada, Denmark, the United States, Iceland, Italy, Norway and Portugal. (73 years ago)
1945: January 3
The German offensive in The Ardennes (Belgium) fails between today and tomorrow, despite sending eight Waffen-SS divisions against the Americans. Fierce hand-to-hand combat ensues that will conclude the next day, when Patton's tanks pass Bastogne in the direction of the Rhine, forcing the German army to withdraw. (76 years ago)
1940: June 4
As German troops enter Dunkirk (Belgium), allied troops evacuate it. Allied defense in Western Europe has become unsustainable after the capitulation of Leopold II, King of Belgium, and the fall of the Netherlands. Thousands of French and English soldiers have been forced to retreat to Dunkirk, a town on the coast. Their evacuation by sea is immediately improvised. For this, all available boats are put at the service of the allied troops, including fishing and pleasure boats. The evacuation lasted 10 days and saved 338,000 soldiers from being captured by the German army. Entering Dunkirk today, the Germans still manage to capture 40,000 Allied soldiers who have arrived too late to be evacuated. (81 years ago)
1934: February 23
In Belgium, Leopold III rose to the throne, under whose reign the Nazis invaded the country with little resistance. (87 years ago) 1929: January 10The first page of "The Adventures of Tintin, reporter du Petit Vingtième, au pays des soviets" enters workshops . Hergé, pseudonym of its creator Georges Remi, will conceive other characters, but it will be Tintin who will consecrate him universally, becoming a phenomenon of great worldwide popularity. A total of 24 albums will be released, the last of them in 1976. (92 years ago)
1920: April 20
With the presence of 29 countries and 2,561 athletes, the VI Olympics of the Modern Era, the first after World War I, are inaugurated in Antwerp (Belgium). They will close on September 12. (101 years ago)
1915: April 22
German forces surprise the Allies in Ypres (Belgium) by using chlorine gas for the first time on the battlefield, causing at least 5,000 casualties and contaminating enemy trenches. The Germans use very sophisticated gas masks and protective uniforms. The response of the English with the same chemical agent will be given six months later in Loos (France). In 1917, the Germans used mustard gas and phosgene in Verdun. The terrible balance at the end of World War I will be that a quarter of the projectiles will have contained chemical agents, that more than 100,000 people will have died and up to 1,000,000 will have been injured by the use of gases during this tragic fight. (106 years ago)
1914: September 5
In the framework of World War I, the Battle of Marne (France, northeast of Paris) began when the French attacked the advanced German forces. After the start of hostilities in Europe in August 1914, the Germans, with victories and easy advances in Belgium over the Allies, invaded France advancing westward, hoping to achieve a quick victory before the Russians began to gain ground in the east. . As the Germans crossed the River Marne, the French government was evacuated, but its army began to attack today the most exposed flank of the invading troops and, the next day, the French counterattack would be total. Four days later the Germans will be forced to withdraw. On the battlefield, more than 500. (107 years ago)
1914: August 20
In the framework of World War I, after encountering bitter resistance in Belgium, the Germans finally occupy Brussels and Liege on this day. They will continue their unstoppable advance and in less than a month they will find themselves at the gates of Paris. (107 years ago)
1914: August 4
At 9 am, German troops cross the eastern border of Belgium, thus violating its neutrality. The Belgian army will be unable to stop the German war machine. This same day, in response to this invasion, the United Kingdom entered World War I declaring the outbreak of hostilities with Germany. Meanwhile, in Belgium, about a million and a half civilians will flee from the barbarities of war and German terror (summary collective executions, looting, rape and destruction), taking refuge in France, Great Britain and the Netherlands. Allied propaganda will use the image of the invasion of "brave little Belgium" to support the war effort. (107 years ago)
1876: September 12
In Brussels (Belgium) and until the 14th an international geographic conference is held in order to suppress the African slave trade and open the continent to civilization. For this, and formed by several national committees, the Association for the Civilization and Exploration of Central Africa is constituted. (145 years ago)
1815: June 18
At the Battle of Waterloo (Belgium), Napoleon Bonaparte suffered his greatest defeat before the Duke of Wellington, thus ending the Napoleonic era in Europe. Napoleon, who was forced to abdicate as Emperor of France in 1814 and sent into exile on the island of Elba, from where he escaped at the end of February of this year, returned to France, had Louis XVIII abdicated and assembled a new Grand Army. For 100 days, Napoleon and his new empire, whose reputation as an invincible commander precedes him, was able to achieve several successes in battles across the fields of Europe. Shortly after his defeat at Waterloo, he will be arrested and sent into exile to the island of Saint Helena, where he will die of cancer six years later. (206 years ago)
1814: December 24
In the city of Ghent (Belgium), the United States and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the Anglo-American War of 1812. The Treaty establishes that all the occupied territories are returned to the country that was in possession of them before the beginning of hostilities. No decision is taken regarding the controversial issues that have led to the conflict, but it is proposed that joint commissions be created to negotiate between the two countries the dispute over the limits of the British colonies in Canada. Matters relating to the naval forces to remain in the Great Lakes and matters relating to fishing rights are being deferred to future meetings. This agreement will mark the decline of American dependence on Europe, (206 years ago)
1795: October 1
Through a decree of Napoleon, the Austrian Netherlands, Flanders and Liege are annexed to France and divided into 9 departments in which Brussels will be the most important. During the French period, Wallonia will emerge as one of the most industrialized regions in Europe. This period came to an end in 1815 with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. (226 years ago)
1709: September 11
Within the framework of the War of the Spanish Succession, the Battle of Malplaquet (present-day Belgium) takes place, a bloody battle of great strategic importance. The victors (Anglo-Dutch, commanded by the Duke of Malborough and Eugene of Savoy) suffer twice as many casualties as the vanquished (French, commanded by the Duke of Villars). In Britain this "Pyrrhic victory" will be exploited by critics of the government, and the Duke of Marlborough himself. (312 years ago)
1692: August 3
During the so-called Nine Years' War between France and the League of Augsburg, today, at the Battle of Steinkerque, the French Marshal François-Henri de Montmorency defeats William III of Orange after having conquered the city of Namur (present-day Belgium) in June. In 1695, William III of Orange himself recovered Namur from the French. (329 years ago)
1609: April 9
A 12-year truce between Spain and the United Provinces is signed in Antwerp (Netherlands). This fact practically supposes the official independence of the Netherlands. (412 years ago)
1432: May 6
The polyptych "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" by the Van Eyck brothers, a key work of European painting, is exhibited for the first time in the church of San Bavon (Ghent, Belgium) , for the representation of space and perspective. (589 years ago)
1302: July 11
In Courtrai, west of Belgium, the "Battle of the Golden Spurs" takes place in which the French infantry commanded by Roberto de Artois, advances with great success against the Flemish militias (composed mainly of weavers, peasants and artisans), But by ordering the return to allow their cavalry to make the final successful charge, on uneven and boggy terrain, the knights are unable to muster enough strength to break through the flamingo shield wall (one of the earliest displays of the power of the solid infantry supported in defensive positions), being defeated and massacred. Roberto will lead several reserves in a second charge trying to change the outcome of the battle, but will be countered by the Flemish infantry. (719 years ago)
Outstanding births in Belgium
1930: September 7
In Laeken, Belgium, Balduino I was born, who would ascend to the throne in 1951, when his father Leopold III abdicated in his favor, making him the fifth king of the Belgians, until his death in 1993, being succeeded by his brother with the name of Alberto II from Belgium. (91 years ago)
1907: May 22Georges Remi was born in Brussels (Belgium), a Belgian cartoonist who in 1929 created "The Adventures of Tintin", which would become very popular. They will narrate the adventures of a young journalist and his dog Snowy. (114 years ago)
1903: June 8
In Brussels, Belgium, the Belgian writer, who will become an American citizen, Marguerite Yourcenar is born. Perhaps his best known work will be "Memories of Hadrian" , which he wrote in 1951 recounting the life and death of Emperor Hadrian in the first person. (118 years ago)
1901: November 3
Leopold III of Belgium was born in Brussels, Belgium, who will be King of the Belgians from 1934 to 1951, the year in which he will abdicate his son Baudouin. In 1940, during his reign he will have to face the invasion of Belgium by Nazi Germany during World War II, to which Leopold hardly offers any resistance. The discomfort that this will cause among his subjects will be the main cause of his abdication in his son in 1951. (120 years ago)
1894: July 17
In the Belgian city of Charleroi, Georges Lemaitre was born, a famous astronomer and priest who, upon studying Edwin Hubble's theory about the expansion of the Universe, formulated, in 1931, that the universe originated in the explosion of a "primeval atom" or " cosmic egg ", a point of enormous density that when exploding was the origin of the expansion and creation of matter. This theory of the explosion is now known as the "Big Bang". Later he will estimate that the age of the Universe is between 10 and 20 billion years. (127 years ago)
1835: April 9
In Brussels, Belgium, Leopold II, King of Belgium, was born. In 1885 he created the Congo Free State, making it a territory of his exclusive property. During the next two decades he will devote himself to despotically plundering it, killing between 8 and 10 million people, most of them enslaved, which will represent at least 50% of the population. In 1908, under pressure from various European and US governments, it ceased to be their property to become the Belgian Congo, a colony of Belgium. (186 years ago)
1817: February 17
Born in Brussels, Belgium, Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk van Oranje-Nassau, known as William III of the Netherlands, who will be King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg between 1849 and 1890. He will enjoy great popularity. He will have four children of whom only three will survive to adulthood. (204 years ago)
1814: November 6
In the beautiful Belgian city of Dinant, Adolphe Sax was born, who would be a manufacturer of musical instruments and invented the saxophone in 1840. Four years later, Héctor Berlioz will compose the first known work for this brand new instrument. (207 years ago)
1599: March 22
Antoon Van Dyck was born in Antwerp (Belgium), after Pedro Pablo Rubens, the most important Flemish painter of the 17th century. (422 years ago)
1522: December 28
Margaret of Austria, known as Margaret of Parma, was born in the Belgian town of Oudenaarde, the illegitimate daughter of Emperor Charles V and of a young woman in the Netherlands. Her father will recognize her and authorize her to bear the surname Austria. She will be Duchess consort of Florence and Parma and Governor of the Netherlands. There she will have to face constant uprisings that she will be able to silence through diplomatic channels, although Felipe II will think that she has not been diligent and will replace her with the Duke of Alba. (498 years ago)
1500: February 24
Born in Ghent (now Belgium) Charles I of Spain and V of Germany, who will reign as Holy Roman Emperor, and will fight to maintain the Spanish Habsburg empire, which will span from Europe to America, trying to overcome the feudal concept of empire and achieve the union of such different territories under a single crown. (521 years ago)
1480: January 10
In the city of Brussels, present-day Belgium, Margaret of Austria, Archduchess of Austria, Infanta of Spain and Duchess of Savoy was born. She will be considered one of the most intelligent women of European royalty. (541 years ago)
1478: July 22
Born in the city of Bruges (Belgium) Philip I the Fair, King of Castile from 1504 to 1506 and Archduke of Austria, belonging to the House of Habsburg. He is the first monarch of what will be a long dynasty, known as the Habsburgs, who will reign in Spanish territories, succeeding the House of Trastamara. (543 years ago)
686: August 23
In Heristal (present-day Belgium), Carlos Martel was born, founder of the Carolingian dynasty and palace steward of the kingdom of France, victorious in the battle of Poitiers in 732 that will stop the Muslim advance in Europe, and will conquer numerous territories that will incorporate the Frankish kingdom . (1335 years ago)
Reported deaths in Belgium
1983: March 3
Georges Remi, better known as Hergé, the Belgian cartoonist who created the unforgettable "Adventures of Tintin and his dog Snowy", dies in the Belgian town of Louvain . (38 years ago)
1967: August 15
In Brussels (Belgium) the Belgian painter René Magritte dies. In his early years his work was strongly influenced by the figure of De Chirico and by the mysterious atmosphere of his paintings. Later he came into contact with the Parisian avant-garde of the moment, chaired by André Breton, and began to develop surrealism that, over time, would acquire a very personal style revolving around the relationship between language and its objects. (54 years ago)
1924: November 29
In Brussels, Belgium, one of the greatest exponents of lyrical realism dies, the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who imbued each of his works with a distinctive atmosphere. His are "La Bohème" , "Tosca" and "Madame Butterfly" . (97 years ago)
1909: December 17
In Laeken, Belgium, Leopold II, King of Belgium since 1865, dies. The Congo Free State was his private possession and he amassed a great personal fortune by keeping its population in conditions of slavery. (111 years ago)
1640: May 30
In Antwerp (present-day Belgium), Pedro Pablo Rubens, a Baroque painter of well-known works and the main representative of Flemish painting of the 17th century, dies. (381 years ago)
1569: September 5
Pieter Brueghel, called the Elder, Flemish painter and printmaker and founder of a dynasty of painters, dies in Brussels (Belgium). He will be considered one of the great Flemish masters of the 16th century, and the most important Dutch painter of that century. (452 years ago)
1441: July 9
The Dutch painter Jan Van Eyck, considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century and the most famous among the Flemish Primitives, dies in Bruges (Belgium). The "Polyptych of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" , painted with his brother Hubert for the main altar of the Cathedral of Saint Bavo in the city of Ghent, of great beauty for its light and color, where the redemption of man by the sacrifice of Jesus is perhaps one of his best known works. (580 years ago)
1106: August 7
The former Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV dies in the city of Liege, present-day Belgium. During his tenure he faced Pope Gregory VII who wanted to end the imperial investiture, gathering in Worms bishops and feudal princes who voted to remove the Pope, to which he responded by excommunicating Henry and freeing his subjects from the oath of allegiance. Finally Enrique lowered himself and requested the pardon of the Pope who absolved him. In the last years of his reign he had to face rebellions in which his eldest son, Enrique, and his second wife were involved. In 1105, he was forced to abdicate by the Diet of Mainz. (915 years ago)
