Happy Birthday to Panama!

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

Bosnian meat platter *Photo from Wikipedia March 1 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992. Christianity arrived in the 1st century, and by the 4th century the area became part of the Western Roman Empire. Germanic tribes invaded soon after, followed by Slavs in the 6th Century. In 1136, Béla II of Hungary invaded Bosnia and created the title “Ban of Bosnia” as an honorary title for his son Ladislaus II of Hungary. During this time, Bosnia became virtually autonomous, and was eventually proclaimed a kingdom in 1377. The

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