Happy Birthday to Panama!

Main street in the east end of Freetown, the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. *Photo from Wikipedia April 27 is the Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Sierra Leone from United Kingdom in 1961. Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north-east, Liberia to the south-east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south-west. The Afro-European colony was founded by a British organization for freed American slaves on March 11, 1792. There were about 1,192 African Americans who were relocated from Nova Scotia to Sierra

Dominican kids taking classes. *Photo from Wikipedia February 27 is Independence Day, celebrates the first independence of Dominican Republic from Haiti in 1844. Christopher Columbus landed on the Western part of Hispaniola, in what is now Haiti, on December 6, 1492. The island became the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World. The Dominican people declared independence in November 1821 but were forcefully annexed by their more powerful neighbor Haiti in February 1822. In 1844, Dominican independence was proclaimed and the republic, which was often known as Santo Domingo until the early 20th century, maintained its

Temple of Bacchus, which is considered one of the best preserved Roman temples in the world. *Photo from Wikipedia November 22 is Independence Day, which celebrates the independence of Lebanon from France in 1943. In 64 BC, the region came under the rule of the Roman Empire, and eventually became one of the Empire’s leading centers of Christianity. In the Mount Lebanon range a monastic tradition known as the Maronite Church was established. As the Arab Muslims conquered the region, the Maronites held onto their religion and identity. However, a new religious group, the Druze, established themselves in Mount Lebanon