Happy Chile’s National Day!

Lithuanians dancing at a festival in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania and its largest city. *Photo from Wikipedia July 6 is Lithuania’s Statehood Day, commemorates the coronation in 1253 of Mindaugas as the first and only King of Lithuania. For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, the King of Lithuania, and the first unified Lithuanian state, the Kingdom of Lithuania, was created on July 6, 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe; present-day

A market scene in Mali. *Photo from Wikipedia. September 22 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Mali from France in 1960. Present-day Mali was once part of 3 West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire (for which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. During its golden age, there was a flourishing of mathematics, astronomy, literature, and art. At its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire covered an area about twice the size of modern-day France and stretched to the west coast of Africa. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for

The Parthenon at the acropolis of Athens at night. *Photo from Wikipedia March 25 is Revolution Day, celebrates the declaration of the start of Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire, in 1821. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organized into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Philip of Macedon united most of the Greek mainland in the fourth century BC, with his son Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the ancient world, spreading Greek culture and science from the eastern Mediterranean to the Indus River.