Today is Republic Day, a public holiday in Tunisia. It commemorates the anniversary of the vote to abolish the monarchy and found the republic on July 25th 1957.
Tunisia came under French control in 1881 and became a French protectorate in 1883.
The movement for independence had begun in 1920 with the creation of the political party, Destour. In 1934, the fervor for independence was increased with the formation of a new party called Neo Destour, led by Habib Bourguiba.
In March 1956 Bourguiba led Tunisia to independence, as a constitutional monarchy with Muhammad VIII al-Amin as King and Bourguiba as Prime Minister. The constitutional monarchy was seen as a French decision and many thought the king was pro-France, so the National Assembly moved to change the political structure of the country from a constitutional monarchy to a republic.
On July 25th 1957, the monarchy was abolished, the king abdicated and the Republic of Tunisia was proclaimed with Habib Bourguiba as its first president. President Bourguiba went on to rule Tunisia for 31 years, finally being deposed in a medical coup d’état.
Air Loom
Today is the birthday, in 1942, of Bruce Woodley, from Australian folk-influenced pop quartet The Seekers who scored the 1965 UK No.1 single ‘I’ll Never Find Another You’. They were the first Australian group to achieve major chart and sales success in the UK and the US. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZf41UudAbI
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