July 24 in Bulgaria’s history belongs to two moments of return — electricity flowing into homes for the first time, and Bulgarians finally coming home after years of unimaginable ordeal.
July 24, 1974 — Kozloduy Powers Up
The first unit of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant on the Danube fed electricity into Bulgaria’s national grid for the very first time, eight years after the country signed its initial agreement with the Soviet Union to build the facility.
The plant would go on to supply a large share of Bulgaria’s electricity for decades and remains the country’s only nuclear power station — a lasting symbol of the ambitious industrial modernization pursued under socialism.
July 24, 2007 — The Bulgarian Nurses Come Home
Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian-born doctor who had acquired Bulgarian citizenship landed in Sofia after more than eight years in Libyan custody, where they had been tortured, twice sentenced to death, and accused of deliberately infecting hundreds of children with HIV.
Their release followed intense diplomatic efforts led by France, with First Lady Cécilia Sarkozy personally involved in the negotiations. Bulgaria’s president pardoned the group the moment they set foot on home soil.
More from this corner of Bulgaria’s calendar: July 23 | July 25 | July 22. See the country these stories belong to through our Bulgaria From Above series and Bulgaria travel guides.
