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1981 Taoiseach Charles J. Haughey announced the establishment of Aosdána (‘poet of the tribe’) to publicly honour distinguished achievement in the arts and to provide members with an annuity to free them from non-creative employment.
- 1940 The Katyn massacre of c. 22,000 Polish military officers and intelligentsia was initiated by the NKVD—the Soviet secret police—with the approval of the Soviet politburo led by Joseph Stalin.
- 1974 Merlyn Rees appointed secretary of state for Northern Ireland, where all but one of the Westminster seats in the general election the previous month had gone to anti-Sunningdale unionists.
- 1974 Merlyn Rees succeeded Francis Pym as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
