Libya had been under the rule of the Ottoman Empire since the middle of the sixteenth century. Following the Italo-Turkish war of 1912, Libya became an Italian colony.
With their defeat in World War II, the Italians lost control of Libya. The country came under UN administration. Control was split between France and Britain, with France administering the province Fezzan while the British administered the provinces of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania.
In 1949, the UN General Assembly declared that Libya should become an independent country by January 1st 1952. On December 24th 1951, Libya declared its independence from France and Britain becoming the United Kingdom of Libya, a constitutional and hereditary monarchy under King Idris.
This holiday has been celebrated since 2011 when Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and this holiday replaced the anniversary of the 1969 coup that brought Gadaffi to power.