Physicist Giulio Racah Dies
August 28, 1965 Physicist Giulio Racah, a winner of the Israel Prize, dies at age 56 during a visit to Florence, Italy. The cause of death is believed to be asphyxiation by a faulty gas…
Israel Museum Opens in JerusalemCIE+ members only
The concept of a national museum originated in the early years of Zionist settlement in the Yishuv. Boris Schatz, the founder of the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts, opened the Bezalel Museum in 1912.
‘Sallah Shabati’ Receives Oscar NominationCIE+ members only
Ephraim Kishon’s “Sallah Shabati” becomes Israel’s first Oscar-nominated film in the foreign language film category for the 37th Academy Awards.
Bones of Moshe Hess Brought to IsraelCIE+ members only
Moshe Hess, a 19th century Zionist, is reburied in the Kibbutz Kinneret cemetery beside other fathers of socialist Zionism.
All-Time Miss Israel Illana Shoshan Is BornCIE+ members only
April 14, 1961 Illana Shoshan, who wins the 1980 Miss Israel title after finishing second in the 1978 teen pageant, is born in Kfar Saba, Israel. In a public vote held in 2010 to celebrate…
Wadi Salib Riots BeginCIE+ members only
July 9, 1959 Riots break out in the impoverished Haifa neighborhood of Wadi Salib after police officers shoot resident Yaakov Elkarif during an attempt to arrest him for being drunk and disorderly. Witnesses dispute whether…
Museum Marks First Official Yom HaShoahCIE+ members only
May 5, 1959 Some 2,500 people, including Israeli Interior Minister Israel Bar-Yehuda and Polish Ambassador Antoni Bida, gather at Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot in the western Galilee for a commemoration of the first Yom HaShoah (Holocaust…
Singer Ofra Haza Is BornCIE+ members only
November 19, 1957 Singer Ofra Haza, the youngest of nine children, is born in Tel Aviv to a family who had emigrated from Yemen. Haza grows up in the impoverished Hatikvah Quarter, where she is…
Conductor Shlomo Mintz Is BornCIE+ members only
Shlomo Mintz, violinist and conductor, is born in Moscow.
Yiddish Writer Sholem Asch DiesCIE+ members only
July 10, 1957 Yiddish novelist and playwright Sholem Asch dies at age 76 in London. Asch was born in Kutno in Russian-controlled Poland in 1880 as the youngest of 10 children in a Hasidic family….
Eilat Mazar Is BornCIE+ members only
Eilat Mazar, a third generation Israeli archaeologist, is most well-known for her work at the City of David site in Jerusalem. She is a professor of archaeology at Hebrew University.
Writer Gadi Taub Is BornCIE+ members only
April 19, 1956 Writer and academic Gadi Taub, a leading commentator on the meaning of modern Zionism, is born in Jerusalem. Taub’s grandparents were Zionist pioneers who arrived in Palestine in the 1920s during the…
Hadassah Medical Center Breaks GroundCIE+ members only
June 5, 1952 Having been forced to evacuate its campus on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus after the massacre of 78 medical people April 13, 1948, Hadassah breaks ground on the Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center at…
Rock Star Yoni Rechter Is BornCIE+ members only
November 18, 1951 Yoni Rechter, considered one of Israel’s greatest musicians, is born in Tel Aviv. He is the son of architect Ya’akov Rechter and stepson of actress Hanna Maron. He pursues music as a…
Filmmaker Amos Gitai Born in HaifaCIE+ members only
Filmmaker Amos Gitai, known for documentaries and features on the Middle East, the Israeli-Arab conflict and Holocaust memory in Europe, is born to architect Munio Weinraub and teacher Efratia Margalit in Haifa.
Third Maccabiah Games BeginCIE+ members only
The Third Maccabiah Games commence in the 50,000-seat stadium in Ramat Gan, Israel.
First Festival of Jewish Music Opens in JerusalemCIE+ members only
June 20, 1950 Israel’s first Festival of Jewish Music begins in Jerusalem and runs until July 1. It is arranged by the Music Department of the Israeli government’s Ministry of Education and Culture and the…
Harari Resolution Halts Effort to Enact Israeli ConstitutionCIE+ members only
After more than a year of continued debate on the issue, the First Knesset adopts the “Harari Resolution,” which stipulated that the “constitution” of Israel would be composed of a series of Basic Laws approved by the Knesset.
Airlift of Iraqi Jews BeginsCIE+ members only
Following the passage of March 1950 law allowing Jews to leave Iraq, the Ministry of Aliyah in Israel develops a plan to facilitate their immigration to Israel.
Rock Singer Shlomo Artzi Is BornCIE+ members only
Israeli folk rock singer-songwriter and composer Shlomo Artzi is born on Moshav Alonei Abba, southeast of Haifa.
Compulsory Education Law Is ImplementedCIE+ members only
The Compulsory Education bill, which had been passed on September 12th, enters into law. It mandates that all children between the ages of 5 and 15 attend a state-recognized educational institution.
Israel Joins UNESCOCIE+ members only
September 16, 1949 Israel becomes a member of UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Based in Paris, UNESCO has the purpose of creating peace and security by encouraging international collaboration in education, natural…
Herzl’s Body Is Reburied in Israel
August 17, 1949 Theodor Herzl, who was buried in Vienna after his death July 20, 1904, is reburied along with his wife and parents on the Jerusalem hill that is renamed Mount Herzl in his…
Poet Elisheva Bikhovsky DiesCIE+ members only
March 27, 1949 Elisheva Bikhovsky, one of the “four mothers” of modern Hebrew poetry, dies of cancer at age 60 in Tiberias and is buried at Kvutzat Kinneret, a kibbutz. A native of Russia with…
