●Bechara El Khoury elected the first president of independent Lebanon

On 21 September 1943 the parliament that emerged from the summer 1943 elections elected Bechara el-Khoury president of the republic, and four days later he charged Riad al-Solh with forming the first government; the two led the battle to amend the constitution and strike out the Mandate articles, which ended with their arrest at Rashaya and then their release on 22 November, Independence Day.