Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1885
To celebrate Italian unification and honour Italy's first king, Vittorio Emanuele II, construction work
begins on Il Vittoriano, the mountainous monument dominating Piazza Venezia.
1922
Some 40,000 fascists march on Rome. King Vittorio Emanuele III, worried about the possibility of
civil war, invites the 39-year-old Mussolini to form a government.
1929
Keen to appease the Church, Mussolini signs the Lateran Treaty, creating the state of the Vatican
City. To celebrate, Via della Conciliazione is bulldozed through the medieval Borgo.
1946
The republic is born after Italians vote to abolish the monarchy. Two years later, on 1 January 1948,
the Italian constitution becomes law.
1957
Leaders of Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg sign the Treaty of Rome
establishing the European Economic Community.
1960
Rome stages the Olympic Games while Federico Fellini makes La Dolce Vita in Cinecittà film studios.
Meanwhile Stanley Kubrick is using Cinecittà to film his Roman epic, Spartacus .
1968
Widespread student unrest results in mass protests across Italy. In Rome, students clash with police
at La Sapienza's architecture faculty, an event remembered as the Battle of Valle Giulia.
1978
Former PM Aldo Moro is kidnapped and shot by a cell of the extreme left-wing Brigate Rosse (Red Bri-
gades) during Italy's anni di piombo (years of lead).
1992−93
A nationwide anti-corruption crusade, Mani Pulitei (Clean Hands), shakes the political and business
establishment. Many high-profile figures are arrested.
1999
After 20 years, the Sistine Chapel restoration is finally completed. The Michelangelo frescoes have
never looked so vibrant, leading some critics to question the restorers' methods.
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