Freedom and Democracy Day

Date 2009November 17
Date 2010November 17
Date 2011November 17
SignificanceOn November 17, 1939, students staged protests in Prague against the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. One of the students, Jan Opletal, was killed. November 17, 1989, was the beginning of Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. It started as a legal rally to commemorate the death of Jan Opletal in 1939 but turned into a demonstration demanding democratic reforms.