Sri Lanka on May 1

This is 1st of May. It is day 121 of the year. As of today, there are 244 days left until the end of the year. If you are curious about the most important and notable historical footprint of Sri Lanka, let us delve into more On This Day events to uncover fascinating tidbits from the nation's history that covers for 365 days.

Today’s Highlight

• 1869 – Good Shepherd Convent, one of the oldest schools in Sri Lanka, was established by the Good Shepherd Order in Colombo.
• 1969 – The Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist) held a mass rally which ended in bloodshed, with the major cause of the riot being the banning of the May Day rally.
• 1989 – The LTTE and 43 civilians escaped from Vavunia jail, which was under the control of Indian peacekeeping forces (IPKF).
• 1993 – Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated in Colombo in a suicide bombing carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during a May Day rally.
• 1993 – Dingiri Banda Wijetunga, the Prime Minister at the time of Premadasa’s assassination, was appointed as acting president and served until 7 May 1993.
• 2009 – Shelling in Mullivaikkal, Mullaitivu, killed over 27 people and injured more than 110.

International observance

• International Workers’ Day / Labor Day / May Day
• International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day