National Day | My Eyes Tokyo

Happy Birthday to Jamaica!

2018-08-06

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)

Happy Birthday to Burkina Faso!

2018-08-05

The Grand marché (Main Market) in Burkina Faso. *Photo from Wikipedia August 5 is Independence Day of Burkina Faso. Various ethnic groups of present-day Burkina Faso, such as the Mossi, Fula and Dyula, arrived in successive waves between the 8th and 15th centuries. From the 11th century the Mossi people established several separate kingdoms. In the 1890s during the European Scramble for Africa, the territory of Burkina Faso was invaded by France, and colonial control was established following a war of conquest between 1896 and 1904. The territory was made part of French West Africa in 1904, and the colony

Happy Birthday to Niger!

2018-08-03

A market in Maradi, the third largest city in Niger. *Photo from Wikipedia August 3 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Niger from France in 1960. In the 19th century, contact with Europe began with the first European explorers to travel to Niger. Following the 1885 Berlin conference during which colonial powers outlined the division of Africa into colonial spheres, French military efforts to conquer existing African states were intensified in all French colonies including Niger. By 1922, all resistance to colonial rule was eliminated and Niger became a French colony. Following the Overseas Reform Act (Loi Cadre) of

Happy Birthday to Benin!

2018-08-01

Beninese students. *Photo from Wikipedia August 1 is National Day, celebrates the independence of Benin from France in 1960. From the 17th to the 19th century, the main political entities in the area were the Kingdom of Dahomey. This region was referred to as the Slave Coast from as early as the 17th century due to the large number of slaves shipped to the New World during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. After slavery was abolished, France took over the country and renamed it French Dahomey. In 1960, Dahomey gained full independence from France and On November 30, 1975, Lt. Col.

Happy Birthday to Switzerland!

2018-08-01

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,

Happy Birthday to Vanuatu!

2018-07-30

A women’s dance from Vanuatu, using bamboo stamping tubes. *Photo from Wikipedia July 30 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Vanuatu from the United Kingdom and France in 1980. Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. The first Europeans to visit the islands were a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Fernandes de Queirós, who arrived on the largest island in 1606. As the Portuguese and Spanish monarchies had been unified under the king of Spain in 1580 (following the vacancy of the Portuguese throne, which lasted for sixty years, until 1640, when the Portuguese monarchy was restored), Queirós

Happy Birthday to Peru!

2018-07-28

A Peruvian family at the food market. *Photo from Wikipedia July 28 is Fiestas Patrias, celebrates the independence of Peru from Spain by General José de San Martín in 1821. Peruvian National Holidays, are celebrations of Peru’s independence from the Spanish Empire. Along with Christmas, Fiestas Patrias is one of the most important celebrations of the year for Peruvians. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty with its capital in Lima, which included most of its South American colonies. Ideas of political autonomy later spread throughout Spanish America and Peru gained its independence,

Happy Birthday to Liberia!

2018-07-26

Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia. *Photo from Wikipedia July 26 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Liberia from the American Colonization Society in 1847. Liberia is a country which was founded, established, colonized, and controlled by citizens of the United States and ex-Caribbean slaves as a colony for former African American slaves and their free black descendants. It is one of only two sovereign countries in the world that were started by citizens and ex-Caribbean slaves of a political power as a colony for former slaves of the same political power, the other being Sierra Leone, established by

Happy Birthday to Maldives!

2018-07-26

Malé, the capital of the Maldives. *Photo from Wikipedia July 26 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Maldives from the United Kingdom in 1965. The Maldives have been historically and culturally linked to the Indian subcontinent since the fourth century BCE (before the Common Era). The Maldivian archipelago was Islamized in the 12th century and consolidated as a sultanate, developing strong commercial and cultural ties with Asia and Africa. From the mid 16th-century, the region came under the increasing influence of European colonial powers, with the Maldives becoming a British protectorate in 1887. Independence from the United Kingdom was

Happy Birthday to Belgium!

2018-07-21

Crowd of Belgian fans at the 2018 World Cup. *Photo from Wikipedia July 21 is: Belgian National Day. It celebrates the inauguration of Léopold I, the first king of the Belgians, after its independence from the Netherlands on October 4, 1830. In 1830, drawing inspiration from the recent July Revolution in France, the southern provinces of the United Netherlands rebelled against Dutch rule after a period of growing economic and religious disparity and political alienation. The Dutch were forced out of much of the area and Belgium gained de facto independence. A National Congress was created to write a Constitution

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