Holidays on 1st January

Cuba Liberation Day

This national public holiday commemorates the overthrow of the military government of Fulgencio Batista led by Fidel Castro that succeeded on this day in 1959.

Haiti Independence Day

This day commemorates the declaration of independence from France in 1804. The French first settled in the western part of the island in the 16th century. In the Haitian Revolution began when slaves and some free people of colour began a rebellion against French authority. The rebellion was abated when the French abolished slavery in the colony in 1793. But Toussaint Louverture had grown powerful during the rebellion and in 1801 he drafted a new constitution. Napoloeon sent 20000 troops to restore French authority and Louvrture was captured and deported to France in 102, where he died a year after. Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a lieutenant to Louverture, then took the leadership of the revolution, defeating French troops at the Battle of Vertieres on 18th November 1803. This led to the French withdrawing its remaining 7000 troops and on 1st January the following year, the island was declared as a free republic, renaming it Haiti after its indigenous name.

Sudan Independence Day

Today is its national day and commemorates from Egypt and Britain on this day in 1956. It was once part of the ancient Egyptian Empire, but was settled by Muslim Arabs from the 14th century. In 1820 it was conquered by Muhammed Ali, viceroy of Egypt under the Ottoman Empire. In 1881 a revolt was led by Mahdi Muhammed Ahmad, which resulted in the establishment of the Caliphate of Omdurman and the end of Ottoman rule on 26th January 1885. This was short lived as the British Army under the command of Lord Kitchener defeated them at the Battle of Omdurman on 2nd September 1898. The following year Britain and Egypt agreed that the country be run by a governor-general appointed by Egypt with British consent. The 20th century saw the growth of Sudanese nationalism and was emboldened by the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and support from Egypt’s new leaders. When the Egyptians abandoned their claims of sovereignty, the British agreed to a free vote in the Sudanese regions on whether they wanted independence or British withdrawal. The vote was for independence and the Sudanese parliament declared its independence on 19th December 1955, with the British and Egyptian Governments recognising their independence on 1st January 1956.