Mass protests keep Georgian as the state language in the constitution.
1978
On 14 April 1978 a mass peaceful demonstration took place in Tbilisi in defence of the status of the Georgian language.
The draft of the new constitution of the Georgian SSR sought to remove the clause on Georgian as the state language; tens of thousands took to the streets.
The authorities gave way, the language's status was kept; it was a rare popular victory in the USSR, and 14 April became the Day of the Georgian Language.