Happy Birthday to Panama!

The Matterhorn, a mountain of the Alps straddling the border between Switzerland and Italy. *Photo from Wikipedia August 1 is National Day, commemorates Switzerland becoming a single unit in 1291. The date is inspired by the date of the Federal Charter of 1291, placed in “early August”, when “three Alpine cantons (*canton: a type of administrative division of a country) swore the oath of confederation” (Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden), an action which later came to be regarded as the “foundation of Switzerland.” Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. The country is situated in Western-Central Europe,

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

Aerial view of Nauru. *Photo from Wikipedia January 31 is Nauru’s Independence Day, celebrates independence from Australia in 1968. Settled by native peoples from Micronesia and Polynesia, Nauru was annexed and claimed as a colony by the German Empire in the late 19th century. After World War I, Nauru became a League of Nations mandate administered by Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. During World War II, Nauru was occupied by Japanese troops, who were bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific. After the war ended, the country entered into UN trusteeship. Nauru gained its independence in 1968.