Vidovdan

Vidovdan (Видовдан) is a religious holiday, St. Vitus' Day, observed on June 28 in the Serbian and Bulgarian Orthodox calendar. In Bulgaria it is called Vidovden (Видовден) or Vidov Den (Видов ден) and is particularly well-known in the western part of the country.

Vidovdan is also a date of historical importance:

on June 28, 1389 the Ottoman Empire defeated Serbia in the Battle of Kosovo.
on June 28, 1914 the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke triggers the First World War.
on June 28, 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending the First World War.
on June 28, 1921 the Serbian King Alexander I of Yugoslavia proclaimed the new Constitution of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, known thereafter as the Vidovdan Constitution (Vidovdanski ustav.)
on June 28, 1948 the Cominform published, on the initiative of its Soviet delegates Shdanov, Malenkov and Suslov, in a "Resolution on the State of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia" their condemnation of the Yugoslavian communist leaders - this happening is seen as the date that marks the final split between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.
on June 28, 1989 — the 600th anniversary of the battle of Kosovo — Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević held an oft-cited speech at the site of the historic battle.
on June 28, 1990 draft amendments to the Constitution of Croatia, which deleted references to the Serbs as a constituent nation of Croatia, were revealed by Croatian President Franjo Tuđman.
on June 28, 2001 former Yugoslav leader Milošević was deported to The Hague to stand trial. (He died while imprisoned.)

References

Serbian culture | Bulgarian culture

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