Happy Birthday to Djibouti!

A market street in central Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan and its largest city. *Photo from Wikipedia August 19 is Independence Day of Afghanistan, commemorates the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919, granting independence from Britain. The land has historically been home to various peoples and has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including those by Alexander the Great, Mauryas, Muslim Arabs, Mongols, British, Soviet, and in the modern era by Western powers. The political history of the modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotak and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a buffer state

*Photo from Wikipedia July 1 is Canada Day, formerly Dominion Day. It is the national day of Canada, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the Constitution Act, 1867 (then called the British North America Act, 1867), which united three colonies into a single country called Canada within the British Empire. Beginning in the 15th and 16th centuries, British and French claims were made on the area, with the colony of Canada first being established by the French in 1537. As a consequence of various conflicts, the United Kingdom gained and lost territories

Coconut palms line the beaches of Fiji. *Photo from Wikipedia October 10 is Fiji Day, celebrates the independence of Fiji from United Kingdom in 1970. The first settlements in Fiji were started by voyaging traders and settlers from the west about 5000 years ago. Over the centuries, a unique Fijian culture developed. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman visited Fiji in 1643 while looking for the Great Southern Continent. Europeans settled on the islands permanently beginning in the 19th century.The first European settlers to Fiji were beachcombers, missionaries, whalers, and those engaged in the then booming sandalwood and bêche-de-mer (sea cucumber)