Today in History – 3 November

The Çubuk Dam completed

Construction on Turkey’s first reinforced concrete dam Çubuk began on 1930. Designed to provide water for Ankara and prevent floods, the dam was completed in 1936 and was inaugurated on November 3, 1936 by President Atatürk and Prime Minister İnönü. Announcing the event on its front page, Yedigün magazine explained the significance of the dam as follows:

The residents of Ankara used to go on a rain prayer at the location of the Ankara People’s House, which now serves as a cradle personal growth and productiveness! Even the recollection of this near past is enough to demonstrate the significance of Çubuk Dam. The dam’s daily function of providing potable water for Ankara and irrigating the nearby land aside, this monument will stand testimony the great victory of the Republic’s public works movement across the entire plain.