Václav Havel died on 18 December 2011 in Hrádeček, aged 75. A Czech writer and statesman, Havel gained a reputation in the 1960s as an absurdist playwright whose works, such as The Garden Party and The Memorandum, satirized bureaucracy. After the Soviet-led invasion of 1968 he became a leading dissident, a spokesman for Charter 77 and the author of the essay The Power of the Powerless, which urged people to live in truth under totalitarian rule. He was imprisoned several times. In 1989 he helped lead the Velvet Revolution and was elected president of Czechoslovakia in December. After the country split in 1992 he served as the first president of the Czech Republic until 2003.
Before and after
- 1 December 2011Launch of JTBC
- 4 December 2011Premiere of Black Mirror
- 5 December 2011Discovery of Kepler-22 b
- 17 December 2011Death of Kim Jong-il
- 18 December 2011Death of Václav Havel
- 1 January 2012Founding of Aix-Marseille University
- 2012Higgs boson
- 2012Launch of Coursera
- 16 January 2012Mali War
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The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 21st century.