National day of mourning

Belgian flag half-mast due to the day of national mourning on March 16, 2012.

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A national day of mourning is a day marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by that nation's government. Such days include those marking the death or funeral of a renowned individual or individuals from that country or elsewhere, or the anniversary of such a death or deaths.

Selected list of figures recognized by national days of mourning

State officials

• Victims of the 2005 assassination of Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri (Lebanon)
• Presidents of the United States, usually on the day of their funerals, beginning with John F. Kennedy (these days are also considered Federal holidays). The most recent are:
  • Gerald Ford (2006)
  • Ronald Reagan (2004)
• Winston Churchill death 24 1965 January 25–27 January national mourning United Kingdom
• After the assassination of the Swedish Social Democratic Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986–Sweden, Cuba, Nicaragua and Vietnam.
• Leaders Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong (who was given a national mourning period lasting a week), and Deng Xiaoping – China
• Diana Spencer, death 1 September 1997 6 September national mourning
• Yitzhak Rabin, the Prime Minister of Israel who was assassinated on November 4, 1995; a national day of mourning is commemorated in Israel and in various Jewish communities worldwide.
• Emperor Hirohito of Japan, who died in January 1989; national mourning was declared for two days and the day of his funeral.^{[citation needed]}
• Indonesian former President Soeharto. Following his death in January 2008, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared seven days of National Mourning and instructed all government officials, embassies overseas, and all Indonesian citizens to fly the Indonesia flag at half-staff in Soeharto's honor from January 27 to February 2, 2008.
• Alexander Dubček's death, at the time he was the chairman of the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia
• Philippine former President Corazon Aquino. Following her death in August 2009, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared ten days of National Mourning from August 1, 2009 to August 10, 2009 and instructed all flags of all government buildings and installations throughout the Philippines and abroad shall be flown at half-mast.
• Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua death (mainly African countries)
• Argentinean President Néstor Kirchner (mainly Latin American countries)
• North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, who died on July 8, 1994, and nation's mourning period from July 1994 to July 8, 1997.^{[citation needed]}
• North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who died on December 17, 2011, and nation's mourning period up to December 29^[1]

Religious figures

• Pope John Paul II, (mainly Roman Catholic countries)
• Mother Theresa of Calcutta, (mainly India, Albania, and some Roman Catholic countries)
• Venerable Master Yin Shun (Taiwan)
• Patriarch Pavle of Serbia^[2]

Sporting figures

• Ayrton Senna (Brazil)
• Abebe Bikila (Ethiopia)
• Ferenc Puskas (Hungary)
• Maurice Richard (Canada)

Tragedies

• Victims of the 19th century Circassian Genocide are remembered in the Circassian Day of Mourning
• Victims of the Soviet deportations from Estonia (1941 ; 1949) are remembered every year on June 14 in Estonia.
• Victims of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941: Day of Remembrance and Mourning, held on June 22 annually in the countries of the CIS
• Victims of the Nanking Massacre (Taiwan and mainland China)
• Israel's Yom HaShoah in remembrance of the Holocaust
• Victims of the Great Chilean Earthquake of 1960.
• Survivors and victims of European Settlement of the Americas are honored every year on Thanksgiving Day during the National Day of Mourning (United States protest) in Plymouth, MA. First celebrated in 1970; organized by United American Indians of New England. [2]
• Victims of the United States invasion of Panama (1989) are remembered in December
• Victims of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 (Hong Kong)
• Victims of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing (United States)
• Victims of the 1999 Taiwan Earthquake (Taiwan)
• Victims of September 11, 2001 attacks (United States of America, State of Israel, France, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Ireland)
• Victims of the 2003 Nasiriyah bombing (Italy, May 2, 2003)
• Victims of the 2004 Tsunami in Southeast Asia (All parts of the world)
• Victims of the 2004 terrorist train bombing in Madrid, Spain (Spain, Romania, Poland and Portugal)
• Victims of the 2005 terrorist bombings in London (United Kingdom, Poland)
• Victims of Hurricane Katrina (United States) August 29, 2005
• Victims of the 2006 roof collapse in Katowice (Poland), January 29, 2006 – February 1, 2006
• Victims of the mining disaster at the Halemba Coal Mine in Ruda Śląska (Poland), November 23, 2006 – November 25, 2006
• Victims of the Ulyanovskaya Mine disaster, the crash of UT Air Flight 471 and a fire in a retirement home (Russia), March 21, 2007
• Victims of the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre (United States, held once)
• Victims of the 2007 Slovenia floods (held September 21, 2007) (Slovenia)
• Toše Proeski's death in a car accident on October 17, 2007 (Macedonia)
• Victims of the Polish Army aircraft crash in Mirosławiec on January 23, 2008 (Poland)
• Victims of the 2008 Cameroonian anti-government protests, called for on the April 21, 2008
• Victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake
• Victims of Cyclone Nargis in Burma
• Victims of the crash of Spanair Flight 5022 which crashed in Madrid on August 20, 2008
• Victims of the 2008 Kyrgyzstan earthquake
• Victims of the Black Saturday bushfires in Australia
• Victims of the Winnenden school shooting (March 12, 2009, Germany)
• Victims of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake (2009, Italy)
• Victims of the 2009 Fire in Kamień Pomorski (2009, Poland)
• Victims of the bus accident in Yambol (2009, Bulgaria)
• Victims of the bus accident in Egypt (2009, Serbia)
• Victims of the Užice explosion (2009, Serbia)
• Victims of the Air France Flight 447- which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009.
• Victims of the 2009 Republic of Macedonia boat accident on Lake Ohrid (2009, Bulgaria and Republic of Macedonia)
• Victims of the Maguindanao Massacre (2009, Philippines)
• Victims of the Perm Lame Horse club fire (2009, Russia)
• Victims of the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 (January 2009, Lebanon)
• Victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake
• Victims of the 2010 Madeira floods and mudslides (February 2010, Madeira, Portugal)
• Victims of the 2010 Cheonan Navy ship capsized on March 26, 2010, and national mourning day of April 25 to 29 in South Korea^{[citation needed]}
• Victims of the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash (April 2010, Poland, Brazil, Canada, Spain, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey and Ukraine)
• Victims of the 2010 Yushu earthquake
• Victims of the 2010 Dhaka fire
• Victims of the 2010 Yanga train derailment
• Victims of the 2010 Gansu mudslide^[3]
• Victims of the 2010 Manila hostage crisis (August 24–26 in Hong Kong SAR of PR China, August 25 in Philippines)
• Victims of the Marhanets train and bus collision (2010, Ukraine)
• Victims of the Phnom Penh stampede (2010, Cambodia)
• Victims of the Pike River Mine disaster (2010, New Zealand)
• Victims and damage of the 2010 Israel forest fire^[4]
• Victims of the January 2011 Rio de Janeiro floods and mudslides (2011, Brazil)
• Victims of the Rio de Janeiro school shooting (2011, Brazil)
• Victims of the 2011 Norway attacks (Norway, Sweden)
• Victims of the 2012 Buenos Aires train crash (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• Victims of the 2012 Szczekociny train collision (Poland)
• Victims of the 2012 Sierre bus disaster (Belgium)

References