Today’s Highlight

• 1798 – Ceylon was made a British Crown colony, with Frederick North, the 5th Earl of Guilford, appointed as governor.
• 1950 – Sri Lanka joined the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, an international treaty that makes genocide a crime and requires countries to enforce its ban.
• 1953 – The Hartal of 1953, a nationwide protest involving strikes and civil disobedience in Ceylon, opposed the policies of the United National Party government and resulted in over 21 deaths. It was the first major political action in Ceylon after independence, marking a significant social crisis and the first struggle against an elected government.
• 1953 – Dudley Senanayake resigned as prime minister due to illness, and John Kotelawala became prime minister during a time of civil unrest and protests.
• 1987 – The Jaffna University Helidrop was the first commando operation by the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) against the LTTE in Jaffna city, but it was unsuccessful.
• 2020 – SLNS Weeraya (formerly HMCyS Weeraya) and SLNS Jagatha, both Shanghai Class fast gunboats, were decommissioned.

International observance

• International Day Against DRM (Digital Rights Management)