Happy Birthday to Panama!

Tajik young women during Navrūz (Persian New Year). They are holding sprouting plants which symbolize rebirth. *Photo from Wikipedia September 9 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tajikistan from USSR in 1991. The area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Achaemenid Empire, Sasanian Empire, Hephthalite Empire, Samanid Empire, Mongol Empire and Timurid dynasty. The Tajik people came under Russian rule in the 1860s. The Basmachi revolt, an uprising against Russian Imperial and Soviet rule by the Muslim peoples of Central Asia, broke out in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and was quelled

The streets of Kingston, the capital and largest city of Jamaica. *Photo from Wikipedia August 6 is Independence Day of Jamaica, celebrates the independence of Jamaica from the United Kingdom in 1962. Inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Early inhabitants of Jamaica named the land ‘Xaymaca,’ meaning “Land of wood and water.” Many of the indigenous people died of disease, and the Spanish imported African slaves as laborers. Named Santiago, the island remained a possession of Spain until 1655, when England (later Great Britain)

Students of the Escuela Lenin. *Photo from Wikipedia May 20 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Cuba from the United States in 1902. The island of Cuba was inhabited by various Mesoamerican cultures prior to the arrival of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492. After Columbus’ arrival, Cuba became a Spanish colony, ruled by a Spanish governor in Havana. In 1762, Havana was briefly occupied by Great Britain, before being returned to Spain in exchange for Florida. A series of rebellions during the 19th century failed to end Spanish rule. However, the Spanish-American War resulted in a Spanish