VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

January 8

1912 African National Congress was established.

The African National Congress -ANC is the Republic of South Africa's governing social democratic political party. It has been the ruling party of post-apartheid South Africa on the national level, beginning with the election of Nelson Mandela in the 1994 election, the first after the end of apartheid. Today, the ANC remains the dominant political party in South Africa, winning every election since 1994. The party was established on January 8, 1912 in Bloemfontein to protect the rights of black skin. One of the founders is Albert Lutuli. Until 1923, the party names South African Native National Congress. The Congress is one of parties which has controlled since 1994. The support on the party was reduced in the 1999 general election, but they gained support again in the 2004 general election.

1926  Abdul-Aziz bin Saud became King Hijaz and changed the name of the region to be Saudi Arabia.

Abdul Aziz As-Saud is the first king of Saudi Arabia. He is also well-known with some names, such as Ibnu Saud. He came from royal family of Saudi Arabia which reigned part of Arabian Peninsula. In 1901, when he was 22 years old, Ibnu Saud replaced his father as the Head of Saud dynasty with the title ‘Sultan Nejd’. Then, he began a campaign to seize land from Rashidi dynasty which is now Saudi Arabia.  In 1902, he and his troops together with his family and siblings succeeded to seize   Riyadh. In 1912, Ibnu Saud succeeded to control Nejd with the help of Wahabi troops led by Syaikh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab with the help of Britain. In 1922, Saud dynasty succeeded to defeat Rashidi dynasty and ended the reign of Rashidi dynasty on Arabian land. On  January 8,  1926, Abdul-Aziz bin Saud became king Hijaz and merged name of Hijaz and Nejd to be Saudi Arabia.

 2003  Accident of Turkish Airlines Flight 634 occurred.

Turkish Airlines Flight 634 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Turkish Airlines' hub at Istanbul Atatürk Airport to Diyarbakır Airport insoutheastern Turkey. On 8 January 2003, the aircraft operating the flight, a British Aerospace Avro RJ100, struck the ground on final approach approximately 900 meters or 3,000 feet short of the runway threshold during extreme weather conditions. In the following collision with a slope, a post-crash fire broke out, killing 75 of the 80 occupants, including both pilots.

January 6

1919 Theodore Roosevelt died.

Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th president of the United States.   Presidential position was obtained when Roosevelt replacing president William McKinley which was killed. He has begun active in politics since 1880s by obtaining some political posts in New York. In 1898, as assistant secretary of the US navy, he provoked war against Spain. When war began, Roosevelt formed “Rough Riders” which has big role in US victory at Cuba’s war.

1970 PAN AM, the first commercial  airline services route was to go around the earth.  

Pan America Airways which was established on March 14, 1927, became the first commercial airline which flew around the earth.  In the world war II, the company has network in the United States, Europe and Asia. Entering World War II, Pan America Airways planes were used by military. In 1947, the airline operated again with a world-wide service by using Lockheed Constellations with the name Clipper America. The flight route was included San Francisco by stopping at Honolulu, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Delhi, Istanbul, Frankfurt, London, and New York. On January 6, 1970, the flight was really realized with the initial route New York return to New York with Boeing 707.  

1980  Indira Gandhi was re-elected as Prime Minister.

On January 6, 1980, Indira Gandhi won majority votes and became Prime Minister of India again. But on October 31, 1984 due to her repressive policy on Sikh group, Indira was shot by her guard who is Sikh blooded. Indira was chosen to be Prime Minister in 1966 replacing Lal Bahadur Shastri. In 1971, Indira won in national general election and became prime minister again. But,  in 1975, she was sentenced for committing fraud in  1971 general election. Indira rejected the sentence and proclaimed that she was not guilty.  Then, she imposed a state of emergency in India. During the period, Indira held control in various life aspects in India and imprisoned many opponents. In1977, Indira held general election to stop critic that she has  treaded democracy inIndia. However, at the time, Indira Gandhi lost and was knocked out of the seat of the Prime Minister.

 January 4

1948 Myanmar was granted independence.

Myanmar officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and formerly known as Burma, is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia. Its capital is Naypyidaw, and its largest city and former capital is Yangon (Rangoon). Myanmar has been a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -ASEAN since 1997.

In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a brief period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia. The early 19th century, Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur and Assam as well. The British took over the administration of Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the country became a British colony. Myanmar was granted independence in 1948, as a democratic nation. Following a coup d'état in 1962, it became a military dictatorship.

In 2011, the military junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election, and a nominally civilian government was installed. This, along with the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners, has improved the country's human rights record and foreign relations, and has led to the easing of trade and other economic sanctions. There is, however, continuing criticism of the government's treatment of ethnic minorities, its response to the ethnic insurgency, and religious clashes. In the landmark 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyi's party won a majority in both houses. However, the Burmese military remains a powerful force in politics.

1999 European zone united in the unity of currency "Euro."

Eleven members of the European Union -EU, namely Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, hope one currency will improve European integration and improve the economy. On its inaugural day, the Euro closed with a strong enough value of US $ 1.17.

By design, the currency is decorated with images and symbols of European unity and completed with motives representing member states. But on January 1, 2002, the Euro consisting of eight coins and seven banknotes, officially circulated.

However, one currency is not without controversy. There is a concern that this change process will cause chaos, costly, and lead to inflation. Even, it can make a country lose its economic policy control.
It makes United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark choose not to use the Euro currency.

2004Spirit landed on Mars.

Spirit, also known as MER-A (Mars Exploration Rover –A) or MER-2, was a robotic rover on Mars, active from 2004 to 2010. It was one of two rovers of NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity(MER-B) landed on the other side of the planet. Its name was chosen through a NASA-sponsored student essay competition. The rover became stuck in late 2009, and its last communication on Earth was sent on March 22, 2010.

 RRI VOI with Today's event in History January 2

1942 

Manila is  controlled by Japan.
In the Second World War, Japan launched an offensive attack into the Philippines, the US colony on December 8, 1941, just ten hours after their attack on Pearl Harbor. The initial aerial bombardment was followed by a landing of ground troops in the  north and south of Manila. The troops of the Philippines and the United States under the command of General Douglas MacArthur tried to hold the ground. However, as their troops lost to the Japanese, the  US and Philippine defense forces retreated to the Bataan Peninsula and to the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay. Manila fell into the hands of Japanese troops on January 2, 1942. On May 6, 1942, all the Philippines fell into the hands of Japanese troops.

1959, USSR Launches Luna-1 Unmanned Airplane to the Moon.

After successfully launching its  first spacecraft, Sputnik,  the Soviet space agency on January 2, 1959 launched the Luna-1 unmanned aircraft aimed at researching the moon. The aircraft carried radio transmitters, telemetry systems and a number of detection systems. According to the plan, after the aircraft completed a series of detection of space during flight, the plane was then directed to hit the surface of the moon. But, there was  failure of the control system so that the plane failed to reach the moon and finally into the orbiting position of the sun, thus making it as the first manmade object that orbited the sun at the position between Earth and Mars.

1962, Mandala Command for the liberation of West Irian was formed.

Mandala Command is a command formed by President Soekarno as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia on January 2, 1962. The Mandala Command was based in Makassar, South Sulawesi with Major-General Suharto as Commander-in-Chief. Mandala's command duties were to plan, prepare, and conduct military operation to return West Papua to Indonesia, which was still controlled by the Dutch.

On January 12, 1962, Mandala Command mission was started. Thanks to the Mandala Command, Ellsworth Bunker, United States representative for the United Nations proposed the  Dutch-Indonesian problem to be brought to the negotiating table. On 15 August 1962, negotiations between Indonesia and the Netherlands were held at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Problems were  solved with West Irian back to Indonesian hands.