Happy Birtday Switzerland

Today is August 1st is a Birthday of Switzerland. It is National Holiday.
August 1, 1291 has been declared as Switzerland's birthday.

As what I wrote in my last blog yesterday, Me and my husband with my friends we are going to go piknick as we celebrate the Switzerland day. We will drive a car within 45 minutes to go in this picknik area. We have so many food to grill and also we have pancit(noddles) adobong kangkong of course rice *smile* and for desserts...hmmm this would be yummy yummy.

This is the story of Switzerland past and today:

1. The growing phase of Switzerland (1291 - 1815):

1291
The 3 states Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden - the so called "Ur-Kantone" unite against the surrounding aggressors. A citizen of each state swears on august, 1st 1291 on a small mountain named "Rütli":"we will be a one and only nation of brothers ..."This leads to the term confederation ("Eidgenossenschaft")
1332
Luzern joins the Swiss Federation
1351
Zürich joins the Swiss Federation
1352
Glarus and Zug join the Swiss Federation
1353
Bern joins the Swiss Federation - 8 states form the acht alten Orte ("eight old states")
1460
Foundation of the university of Basel which later became the first university of Switzerland
1481
Fribourg and Solothurn join the Swiss Federation
1500
Beginning of a new area called "Renaissance", people become interested in science
1501
Basel and Schaffhausen join the Swiss Federation
1513
Appenzell joins the Swiss Federation
1522
Beginning of the "Reformation"
1648
Declaration of Independence - Switzerland becomes an independant Nation
1803
Sankt Gallen, Graubünden, Thurgau, Ticino, Aargau and Vaud join the Swiss Federation
1812
The Swiss Federation declares its neutrality
1815
Valais, Neuchâtel and Genéve join the Swiss Federation - Switzerland gets its final boundaries.

The more recent history of Switzerland (1815 - today):

1848
The Swiss Federation changes from a Union of States to a Confederation. Its first Federal Constitution ("Bundesverfassung") is set up.
1864
Foundation of the International Red Cross (IKRK)
1872
Start of the construction of the railway across the alps ("Gotthardbahn").
1882
Opening of the "Gotthardbahn".
1932
Swiss physician Auguste Piccard sets record when he reaches a height of 16'940 m with his balloon. This was the first ballon equipped with a preassure cabin.
1-feb-1959
Vaud (VD) was the first canton to give women the vote, followed by Neuchâtel (NE) (27-sep-1959) and Genève (GE) (6-mar-1960).
1960
Jacques Piccard (son of Auguste Piccard mentioned above) sets record when he dives together with american Don Walsh in a Bathyscaphe (special type of submarine) called "Trieste" as low as 10'916 m below sea level.
1971
Swiss people vote for the women's suffrage.
1978
Some villages leave the state Bern and found the new state Jura.
2-oct-1984
The combined federal assembly ("Vereinigte Bundesversammlung") elected Elisabeth Kopp as the first woman as Bunderat (executive authority). Ms. Kopp had to step back on 12.1.1989 due to some possible illegal activities of her husband.
30-apr-1989
Appenzell Ausserrhoden (AR) was the last canton to give women the vote; Appenzell Innerrhoden (AI) had to be forced by the Swiss federal court ("Bundesgericht") to give women the vote (27-nov-1990).
1992
Swiss people vote against becoming a member of the EEA (european economic area).
31-jul-1992
Claude Nicollier (born 2-sep-1944) takes off on board of the space shuttle Atlantis (ST-46) and becomes the first Swiss in space.

10-mar-1993
The combined federal assembly ("Vereinigte Bundesversammlung") elected Ruth Dreifuss as the second woman as Bunderat (executive authority).


2-dec-1993
Claude Nicollier's second journey on board of a space shuttle. The mission of Endeavour (STS-61) is seen as the most difficult one so far, the repair of the Hubble space telescope. It is Claude Nicollier's task to catch the telescope with the robotic arm of the space shuttle.
1999
Ruth Dreifuss became the first female president of the Bundesrat ("Bundesratspräsident").


11-mar-1999
The combined federal assembly ("Vereinigte Bundesversammlung") elected Ruth Metzler as the third woman as Bunderat (executive authority). Ruth Metzler is 34 years young !


20-mar-1999
Swiss Scientist Bertrand Piccard (son of Jacques Piccard mentioned above) and british co-pilot Brian Jones have become the first balloonists to circumnavigate the globe with a non-stop, non-refuelled flight. It has taken the team 19 days, 21 hour and 55 minutes to travel the 46'759 km on board of Breitling-Orbiter 3.


18-apr-1999
Swiss people accept a new Federal Constitution ("Bundesverfassung") on a vote.
21-may-2000
The Swiss people accept the bilateral contracts with the European Union, see http://www.europa.admin.ch/ for further information.
3-mar-2002
Finally, Switzerland is to join the United Nations. Today, both the people and cantons have accepted the popular initiative on Swiss membership of the United Nations.
10-sep-2002
Switzerland was declared a full member of the United Nations as recommended by UN's Security Council.
2-mar-2003
Team Alinghi - lead by the Swiss Ernesto Bertarelli - wins the 31st America's Cup in Auckland, New Zealand after a 5:0 victory over Team New Zealand. Team Alinghi makes history by bringing the America's Cup to Europe for the first time in 152 years.