This day in history

1812: Nikitsky Botanical Garden is founded in the Crimea.

1841: Medical school opens at Kyiv University (currently: Ukrainian State Medical University).

1848: In response to the invasion of Austrian troops to suppress the Hungarian Revolution, a Committee for Defense of the Fatherland is established; it assumes governmental functions.

1920: Radnarkom of the Ukrainian SSR adopts a decree on mandatory classes in Ukrainian in the schools with instruction in other languages.

1940: Opera and Ballet Theater opens in Lviv and becomes the first stationary opera house in western Ukraine.

1943: Soviet troops clear Chernihiv of the Nazi aggressor.

1968: The Soviet unmanned spacecraft Zond 6 is launched on the world’s first Moon-flyby mission.

1993: The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine accepts Leonid Kuchma’s resignation as prime minister.