Kuwait city: Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah assumed leadership in 1950 following the passing of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. This significant event was celebrated with a military parade at Safat Square, and it was later designated as Kuwait's National Day through an Amiri Decree issued on May 18, 1964, combining the coronation occasion with Independence Day.
According to Kuwait News Agency, in 1951, on the first anniversary of his coronation, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah was honored with the KSMG medal by the British envoy in Kuwait. The commemoration of Sheikh Abdullah's rule continued in 1959 when the postal and phone department released a memorial stamp celebrating his coronation.
In 1978, the national anthem, with lyrics by poet Ahmad Al-Adwani and melody by Ibrahim Al-Sola, was broadcast for the first time. By 1980, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) had expanded its services by broadcasting news in English for ten hours daily.
The Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain inaugurated a chair in the name of Kuwait Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in 2003, focusing on biology and clinical immunology at the Medicine College. Further cultural contributions continued with the Al-Shuaiba radio station's launch in 2009, which highlighted folkloric music and songs.
In sports achievements, runner Mohammad Metleg Al-Azmi won a gold medal in the 800 m race at the Asian tournament in Tehran in 2010, and Kuwaiti Paralympic shooter Atef Al-Dosari won the world 10-m rifle competition in the UAE in 2017.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to the transformation of Al-Khairan resort into a quarantine center by Kuwait's Touristic Enterprises Company. The nation mourned the loss of Kuwaiti dramatist and theatrical actor Meshari Al-Ballam in 2021. In international cooperation efforts, Kuwait signed two MoUs with the IAEA in 2022 to enhance research and training collaboration.
Looking forward, in 2025, the Kuwait Fund for Economic Arab Development (KFAED) plans to bolster agriculture in Burkina Faso through a KD six million loan for an irrigated agriculture project.