Happy Birthday to Panama!

English Harbour, Antigua. *Photo from Wikipedia November 1 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Antigua and Barbuda from the United Kingdom in 1981. The islands were inhabited by three successive Amerindian (Pre-Columbian peoples of the Americans) societies. The islands were neglected by the first wave of European colonization, but were settled by England in 1632. Under British control, the islands witnessed an influx of both Britons and African slaves. In 1981, the islands were granted independence as the modern state of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island country lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic

A market in Cap Haitien, a commune (the third-level divisions of Haiti) on the north coast of Haiti. *Photo from Wikipedia January 1 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Haiti from France in 1804. Originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno people, Europeans first became aware of the island on December 5, 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic. When Columbus first landed in Haiti, he had thought he had found India or Asia. The island was named Hispaniola and claimed by Spain, which ruled until the early 17th century. Competing claims and settlements by the

A Mariachi group. Mariachi is a musical expression that dates back to at least 18th century in Western Mexico and inscribed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2011. *Photo from Wikipedia September 16 is The Cry of Dolores, celebrates the declaration of independence of Mexico from Spain in 1810. Roman Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the bell of his church and gave the pronunciamiento (call to arms) that triggered the Mexican War of Independence. This happened in the state of Guanajuato within the small town of Dolores (now Dolores Hidalgo). From 1521, the Spanish conquest of