April 25th

On this day in 1974, a bloodless coup was led by the armed forces of Portugal. The regime of Marcelo Caetano was overthrown by army officers discontented by the colonial wars being waged in Africa. The revolution became known as the Carnation Revolution when people began placing red carnations in the barrels of soldiers’ guns. Two years later the first free elections in nearly 50 years would take place.

People had the day off and were outside enjoying the day and the festivities that occurred. Parades, ceremonies, park gatherings, and even protests took place.

Below is one of the two main bridges linking Lisbon over the Tagus river. It was originally named after the dictator Salazar who had it built in 1966. It later was renamed the April 25th bridge after the Carnation Revolution. Can you guess which U.S. bridge inspired its design?

April 25th Bridge

It was also a big day for our group of interns as we got together later that day to celebrate Heidi’s birthday. She thinks the bridge was built in honor of her birth and no one has had the heart to tell her otherwise;).

Heidi is the cutie on the right!