Happy Birthday to Panama!

The Portuguese School of Díli, the capital and largest city of East Timor. *Photo from Wikipedia May 20 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of East Timor from Indonesia in 2002. East Timor was colonised by Portugal in the 16th century, and was known as Portuguese Timor until November 28, 1975, when the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN) declared the territory’s independence. Nine days later, it was invaded and occupied by Indonesia and was declared Indonesia’s 27th province the following year. The Indonesian occupation of East Timor was characterized by a highly violent decades-long conflict between separatist

Moroccan football fans. *Photo from Wikipedia November 18 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Morocco from France and Spain in 1956. Since the foundation of the first Moroccan state by Idris I in 788 AD, the country has been ruled by a series of independent dynasties, reaching its zenith under the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, spanning parts of Iberia and northwestern Africa. The Marinid and Saadi dynasties continued the struggle against foreign domination, allowing Morocco to remain the only northwest African country to avoid Ottoman occupation. The Alaouite dynasty, which rules to this day, seized power in 1631. In

Traditional Armenian dance. *Photo from Wikipedia September 21 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Armenia from the Soviet Union in 1991. Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion. In between the late 3rd century to early years of the 4th century, the state became the first Christian nation. The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century. Declining due to the wars against the Byzantines, the kingdom fell in 1045 and Armenia was soon after invaded by the Seljuk Turks. Between the 16th