Dates for 2008

International Year of Sanitation
International Year of Languages - Languages matter!
International Year of the Potato - Hidden Treasure
International Year of Planet Earth (spanning 2007-09)

2008 - International Year of Planet Earth

The General Assembly of the United Nations has proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE). Its subtitle Earth Sciences for Society reflects the IYPE’s main ambition: to make our planet a safer, healthier and wealthier place for its societies around the globe by ensuring a greater and more effective use of the knowledge accumulated by the world’s 400,000 Earth scientists. The International Year of Planet Earth was officially launched at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris on 12 and 13 February. Visit the IYPE website with further information.

Note: The links below are for reference only. The Social Action Office does not necessarily agree with or endorse all of the content of the websites.

JANUARY

1	World Day of Peace - The Human Family, a Community of Peace
5	Guru Gobind Singh born 1666 (Sikh)
8	Galileo died 1642
10	Islamic New Year (1 Muharram 1429 H.)
15	Martin Luther King Jr born 1929
19	Day of 'Ashura (Muslim Observance)
21-22	Tu B'Shevet - New Year for Trees (Jewish)
23	Vietnam Peace Treaty announced 1973
26	Australia Day or Survival/Invasion Day
27	Mozart born 1756
30	Mahatma Gandhi assassinated 1948
30	Bloody Sunday (Irish)
31	Thomas Merton born 1915

FEBRUARY

2	World Wetlands Day - Healthy Wetlands, Healthy People
5	Cape York Heads of Agreement signed 1996
6	Ash Wednesday
6	Waitangi Day - signing of The Treaty of Waitangi 1840
7	Chinese New Year - The Year of the Rat
12	The Freedom Ride against racism to NSW country towns commenced 1965
18	Martin Luther died 1546
21	International Mother Language Day

MARCH - Landcare Month

1	International Treaty to Ban Landmines becomes effective 1999
2	Clean Up Australia Day
5	Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Commission commenced operations 1990
5	International Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons 1970
8	International Women's Day
16	ATSIC Amendment Bill passed abolishing ATSIC 2005
16-23	Holy Week
19	US and allies invade Iraq 2003
20	World Day of Planetary Consciousness
20	Mawlid an-Nabi (Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad)
21	International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
21	National Harmony Day
21	World Forestry Day
21-28	Week of Solidarity with the Peoples Struggling against Racism and Racial Discrimination
22	World Water Day - Sanitation
23	World Meteorological Day
24	Assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero 1980
24	ATSIC ceased operations 2005
25	Death of Caroline Chisholm 1877
28	National Parks Day (Contact: 07 3367 0878)

APRIL

4	Dr Martin Luther King Jr assassinated 1968	Xanana Gusmao
6-13	NSW Seniors Week - Live Life!
7	World Health Day - Protecting health from climate change
9-10	28th Session - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Budapest, Hungary
11	Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), John XXIII 1963
12	Holocaust Remembrance Day
13	Baisakhi - Sikh New Year
14	First presidential elections elect Xanana Gusmao as President of Timor-Leste 2002
14	Rachel Carson died 1964
15	Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Royal Commission Final Report signed 1991
18	World Heritage Day
18	Albert Einstein died 1955
22	International Earth Day (Prayer for International Earth Day)
24	First United Nations Conference opened with 50 countries represented 1945
25	ANZAC Day
26	Bishop Gerardi murdered in Guatemala 1998
28	St Peter Chanel, first martyr from Oceania, killed on Futuna in the New Hebrides 1841

MAY

1	International Workers Day
1-7	Save the Children Week - Skip a Treat
4-11	Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2008 - Pray without ceasing (NCCA Resource)
8	World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day
10	Nelson Mandela's Inaugural Address as President of South Africa 1994
16	World Debt Day 2008 - Ten years on ... the crisis isn't over
17	World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2008 - Connecting Persons with Disabilities: ICT Opportunities for All
20	Timor-Leste became fully independent 2002
20	42nd World Communications Day 2008 - The Media: At the Crossroads between Self-Promotion and Service. Searching for the Truth in order to Share it with Others
21	Murder of Australian Josephite Sister Irene McCormack in Peru 1991
21	World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
22	International Day for Biological Diversity 2008 - Biodiversity and Agriculture
25	Bringing Them Home Report released 1997
25	Africa Day
25-31	Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories 2008
26	National Sorry Day 2008
27	1967 Referendum allows Federal Government to grant citizenship rights to Aboriginal people (ABC Online Didj "u" Know Story)
27-3 June	National Reconciliation Week 2008 (12th Anniversary) - Reconciliation: it’s all our story
28	Amnesty International founded 1962
29	Torres Strait Islander flag launched 1992
29	International Day of UN Peacekeepers

JUNE

3	High Court Decision in Mabo Case 1992
4	International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression 2008
4	Tiananmen Square Massacre 1989
5	World Environment Day 2008 - CO2 Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy
10	Myall Creek Massacre 1838 (Decisions of the Superior Courts of NSW)
11	Neville Bonner became the first Aboriginal Australian to hold a seat in Federal Parliament 1971
12	Barunga Statement presented to Prime Minister Hawke by Aboriginal leaders 1988
12	World Day Against Child Labour 2008 - Education: The right response to child labour
14	The Society for the Promotion of Universal and Permanent Peace founded in London 1816 (International Peace Movement)
15	King John of England put his seal to the Magna Carta 1215
16	International Day of the African Child
17	World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2008 - Combating Land Degradation for Sustainable Agriculture
19	Equal pay for women in Australia 1969
20	World Refugee Day
23	First International Peace Congress held in The Hague 1889
26	International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
26	Native South Africans celebrated Freedom Day with bonfires and candles 1953, initiated by Chief Albert Lutuli who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960
30	Introduction of unemployment benefits in Australia 1945

JULY

1	14th International Day of Cooperatives 2008 - Confronting Climate Change through Cooperative Enterprise
1	Voluntary Native Title Agreement signed between the Gunggari People and the Cowley family
6	The Dalai Lama born in Tibet 1935 - awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989
7	Blessed Peter To Rot killed in Papua New Guinea 1945
6	Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Sunday
6-13	National Aboriginal and Islander Week 2008 - Advance Australia Fair?
10	Anniversary of the Sinking of Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland 1985
11	World Population Day	Nelson Mandela
12	Aboriginal flag first flown, Adelaide 1971
14	Aboriginal flag and Torres Strait Islander flag proclaimed "Flags of Australia" 1995
15-20	World Youth Day 2008 Events in Sydney
16	First atomic bomb detonated in New Mexico 1945
18	Nelson Mandela born 1918
18	Peace Pilgrim born in New Jersey 1908
20	Neil Armstrong first person on the moon 1969
25	Schools Tree Day 2008
27	National Tree Day 2008 (Arbor Day)
29	Dag Hammarskjöld born in Sweden 1905 - awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961

Note: 2008 Calendar updated to here as much as possible

AUGUST

2	First Indo-Chinese refugees allowed to settle in Australia 1965 (White Australia Policy in the Twentieth Century)
4	National Aboriginal and Islander Children's Day - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Families – Nurturing Our Children to Flourish
6	Hiroshima Day 1945
8	Feast of Mary MacKillop, founder of Sisters of St Joseph
8	Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki 1945
9	International Day of the World's Indigenous People
14	Death of Maximilian Kolbe 1941
15	Oscar Romero born in El Salvador 1917
15	End of World War II in the Pacific 1945
16	Wave Hill Station returned to Gurindji People 1975
17	Global National Day
18	Vietnam Veterans Day
18-26	Qld Seniors Week
23	International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
25	93rd World Day of Migrants and Refugees - The migrant family (Message of Benedict XVI)
26	MV Tampa rescues 433 asylum seekers from a sinking vessel. Australian government refuses entry to its shores and sends troops to prevent disembarkation 2001
26	Refugee and Migrant Sunday
27	Dom Helder Camara died 1999
30	East Timor's Independence Ballot 1999

SEPTEMBER - Biodiversity Month

1	National Wattle Day - Spring commences
1	Beginning of Ramadan fasting month (Muslim Observance)
2	Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act 1991
7	National Threatened Species Day (last Tasmanian Tiger in captivity died in Hobart Zoo 1936)	Steve Biko
8	International Literacy Day
12	Death of Steve Biko 1977
15	Racial Hatred Act assented 1995
16	International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
21	International Day of Prayer for Peace (See also DOV IDPP)	Aung San Suu Kyi
24	Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma forms National League for Democracy 1988
25	Social Justice Sunday
28	Death of John Pat in Roeburne Prison WA 1983 initiated the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
28	Green Consumer Day
30	Racial Discrimination Act proclaimed 1975

OCTOBER

1	International Day of Older Persons	Mahatma Ghandi
1	World Wildlife Week begins
1	Eid al-Fitr - The Festival of Fast-Breaking (End of Ramadan - Muslim Observance)
2	Mahatma Ghandi born 1869
3	Day of Jewish and Christian Dialogue (Center for Christian-Jewish Learning)
3	World Habitat Day - Cities, magnets of hope
4	St Francis of Assisi - Patron Saint of Animals and the Environment
10	Treaty on the Exploration and Use of Outer Space 1967
10	World Mental Health Day
11	Opening Session of Vatican Council II 1962
12	International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction - 2006-07 - Disaster risk reduction begins at school
13	Racial Hatred Act commenced 1995	Rigoberta Menchu Tum
15	World Rural Women's Day
16	World Food Day - Investing in Agriculture for Food Security
16	Rigoberta Menchu Tum of Guatemala receives Nobel Peace Prize 1992
17	International Day for the Eradication of Poverty - Working Together out of Poverty (See also Millenium Campaign Voices Against Poverty)
19	Amnesty International Candle Day
19	The SIEV X sank in international waters inside the Australian border protection surveillance zone - 353 asylum seekers drown (146 children, 142 women and 65 men) 2001
24	United Nations Day - The anniversary of the entry into force of the United Nations Charter on 24 October 1945 has been celebrated as United Nations Day since 1948. It has traditionally been marked throughout the world by meetings, discussions and exhibits on the achievements and goals of the Organization. In 1971, the General Assembly recommended that Member States observe it as a public holiday (resolution 2782 (XXVI).
24	World Development Information Day
24	Disarmament Week commences
26	Uluru handed back to traditional owners, the Mutijulu people 1985
31	Racial Discrimination Act proclaimed 1975

NOVEMBER

4	World Community Day
9	Wall separating East and West Berlin demolished 1989
10	Nine Nigerian environmentalists and human rights activists hanged 1995
11	Remembrance Day, commemorating the end of World War I 1918
12	Dili Massacre 1991
13	Death of Karen Silkwood 1975 en route to a meeting at which she planned to expose unsafe practices in a US nuclear facility
16	International Day for Tolerance
20	Anniversary of Declaration of Rights of the Child 1959 and Convention on Rights of the Child 1989
25	International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
28-9 Dec	11th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and 1st meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, Montreal, Canada
29	Death of Dorothy Day 1980, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement

DECEMBER

1	World AIDS Day - Stop AIDS. Keep the promise
2	International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
3	International Day of Disabled Persons
4	Battle of the Eureka Stockade
5	International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development
6-11	Hajj Days (Muslim annual pilgrimage to Mecca)
7	Proclamation of Gaudium et Spes 1965
8	Close of Vatican Council II 1965
8	Eid al-Adha (Islamic Festival of the Sacrifice)
10	Human Rights Day - Adoption of United Nations Declaration of Human Rights 1948
10	Death of Thomas Merton 1968
18	International Migrants Day
18	South Australian Parliament was the first in the world to give women the right to vote 1894
21	Native Title Bill passed by the Senate 1993
23	Wik decision 1996
23	Immigration Restriction Act (White Australia Policy) enacted 1901
29	Islamic New Year (1 Muharram 1430 H.)