Happy Birthday to Panama!

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

Uzbek newlywed couple. *Photo from Wikipedia September 1 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Uzbekistan from the Soviet Union in 1991. What is now Uzbekistan was in ancient times part of the predominantly Persian-speaking region of Transoxiana, with cities such as Samarkand growing rich from the Silk Road. The area was later conquered by a succession of invaders including the Arab Caliphate and Turkic states such as the Göktürk Khaganate (a political entity ruled by a Khan or Khagan), after which it was laid waste by the Mongols. The region was conquered in the early 16th century by Eastern

Old City of Luxembourg at night. Luxembourg, also known as Luxembourg City, is the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. *Photo from Wikipedia June 23 is Grand Duke’s Official Birthday, also known as Luxembourgish National Day. It is celebrated on 23 June, although this has never been the actual birthday of any ruler of Luxembourg. Although its recorded history can be traced back to Roman times, the history of Luxembourg proper is considered to begin in 963. Over the following five centuries, the powerful House of Luxembourg emerged, but its extinction put an end to the country’s independence.