Worldwide events newspaper; 223 issue; 12 18 apr 2015

Cosmonaut's Day Russia - Apr 12

Cosmonautics Day is a holiday celebrated in Russia and other countries every April 12. It celebrates the first manned space flight made on April 12, 1961 by 27-year old cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who circled the Earth for 1 hour 48 minutes aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft. The holiday was established in the Soviet Union one year later, April 9, 1962. In modern Russia, it is celebrated in accordance with Article 1.1 of the Law "On the Days of Military Glory and the Commemorative Dates in Russia".

Gagarins flight was an instant and surprising success for the Soviet space program. Gagarin became a national hero of the Soviet Union and eastern block and a famous figure around the world. Major newspapers around the globe published his biography and details of his flight.

Moscow and other cities in the USSR held parades, the scale of which were second only to WWII Victory Parades. Gagarin was escorted in a long motorcade of high-ranking officials through the streets of Moscow to the Kremlin where, in a lavish ceremony, he was awarded the highest Soviet honour, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, by the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Until today the commemoration ceremony on Cosmonautics Day starts in the city of Korolyov, near Gagarin's statue. Participants then proceed under police escort to Red Square for a visit to Gagarin's grave in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, and continue to Cosmonauts Alley, near the Monument to the Conquerors of Space. Finally, the festivities are concluded with a visit to the Novodevichy Cemetery.

National Redemption Day Liberia - Apr 12

In celebration of the anniversary of the coup d’état that was spearheaded by Samuel Doe in 1980, Liberia dedicated the 12th of April as the National Redemption Day. This is a special day for the Liberians as they commemorate the establishment of the Second Republic.

History

The existence of Liberia as a modern state was a product of the efforts of the negotiations initiated by the liberated black residents from the United States who were once slaves. These forces received supports from the many different branches of the United States and ruled the country for almost a century. It was only on 1847 that the country was declared as independent after several years under the hands of the colonial powers.

However, when the country achieved its independence, it never managed to stand alone since it was not able to improve its economic stability by itself. Due to this condition, many parts of Liberia’s territory were handed down to the British and French colonies. The plan of the Europeans on Liberia turned out to be not a good idea for the Liberians.

The Europeans wanted to re-establish the Liberians to let go and forget their origins and traditions. Due to the strong spirit of the Liberian customs and values, several underground movements were organized by concerned civilian groups to preserved and maintain their identities. Liberia was then ruled by President William Tolbert Jr. under a single-party government where there was limited civilian freedom. Moreover, the executive branch controlled the judiciary and legislative branches under the administration of Tolbert. In 1980, an opposition to the administration of the president led by Gabriel B. Matthews was established and aimed to oust the Tolbert government. Seeing it as a threat, Tolbert had Matthews arrested along with his alliances on March 1990. A few weeks after the arrest of Matthews, 28-year old Master Sergeant Samuel Doe plotted a coup and assassinated President Tolbert along with his officials. After the execution, Doe established a People’s Redemption Council which granted full executive and legislative council. Doe was officially announced as the President of Liberia on January 1986. This new constitution created by Doe took effect on 1986 and he was inaugurated as the first president of the Second Republic of Liberia.

Celebrations This memorable event in the History of Liberia is being celebrated each year with pride and honor. The people ob-

served the even with respect as they participate in ceremonial activities and parades during the holiday. The media also covers important events and activities for the whole nation to witness and be part of this yearly celebration.

Some of the most common activities throughout the day are parades, rallies, speeches organized by civic groups and political organizations.

Yuri`s Night Worldwide - Apr 12

Yuri's Night is an international celebration held on April 12 every year to commemorate space exploration milestones.

The event is named for the first and most important milestone, the launch of the first human into space, Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961, on the Vostok 1 spaceship. In 2004, people celebrated Yuri's Night in 34 countries in over 75 individual events. Locations have included Los Angeles, Stockholm, Antarctica, the San Francisco Bay Area, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, and the International Space Station. The goal of Yuri's Night is to increase public interest in space exploration and to inspire a new generation of explorers. Driven by space-inspired artistic expression and culminating in a worldwide network of annual celebrations and educational events, Yuri's Night creates a global community of young people committed to shaping the future of space exploration while developing responsible leaders and innovators with a global perspective. These global events are a showcase for elements of culture that embrace space including music, dance, fashion, and art.

Yuri's Night was created by Loretta Hidalgo, George T. Whitesides and Trish Garner. The first Yuri's Night was held on April 12, 2001, but its counterpart, known as Cosmonautics Day was established in the Soviet Union in 1962. The 2004 event in Los Angeles was attended by over 100 prominent space leaders including author Ray Bradbury, space tourist Dennis Tito, X-Prize founder Peter Diamandis, *NSYNC's Lance Bass and Nichelle Nichols (Uhura from the original Star Trek series). The event was followed by a large party with 2 dance floors and world-class DJs. The 2007 event in the San Francisco Bay Area was located at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in Mountain View, CA. The event features artistic installations, technology demonstrations, and DJ music continuing through dawn of the following day and takes place in an aircraft hangar not accessible to the public.

Yuri's Night is a Space Generation Advisory Council event.

April 2011 will mark the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's historic first flight.

Cambodian New Year Cambodia- Apr 13

The Cambodian New Year or popularly known to the natives as Chol Chnam Thmey is celebrated for three days and usually falls around the 13th or 14th of April depending on the Buddhist calendar which relies on the Lunar calendar. This day usually marks the end of the harvesting season.

History The history of Cambodia has a very exciting

culture and tradition that dates back from the ancient times. And the commemoration of the Cambodian New year is one of the most celebrated festivities.

The Khmer (Cambodian language) New Year is being observed, usually in the middle of April right after the farmers gathered their harvests. Apart from the purpose of merry making during this celebration, the New Year symbolizes a new start for the people by renewing their lives and leaving back the bad habits from the past year. The people hope for a better year and ask for blessings and prosperity to their God Buddha.

Celebrations The Cambodian New Year lasts for three days and each day has a significant tradition that the people religiously fol-

low.

The first day is known as the Maha Songkran. People welcome the first day of the year by buying new clothes and dressing up with using the finest and colorful linen. It is also believed that the angels come down from heaven and give blessings to all of God’s creations so the people offer flower bouquets and garlands to the Lord Buddha. They give other material presents like candles, incense, aromatic water and food especially fruits which they also offer to the priests and monks in the temples.

The second day after the New Year is the Wanabat. This day is centered to the spirit of charity and gift giving. The Cambodian family usually holds reunions and get-together with their relatives. They, too give alms and food to the poor and less fortunate.

The third day, which is the last day of the Cambodian New Year, is the Tngay Leang Saka which involves the cleansing and decorating of their religious figures by washing them with scented water and flower petals. During the evening of the last day of the New Year tradition, the Cambodians gather for the Pithi Srang Preah ceremony which involves the bathing of the Buddha statues, preachers, priests and the grown-ups. This ritual is centered to repentance and forgiveness for all the things that happened to them the previous year.

Aside form the solemn customs that they observe, they also celebrate this special event with traditional games and dances.

Thai New Year Thailand - Apr 13

The Songkran festival is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 15 April. It coincides with the New Year of many calendars of South and Southeast Asia.

The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed. If these days fall on a weekend, the missed days off are taken on the weekdays immediately following. If they fall in the middle of the week, many Thai take off from the previous Friday until the following Monday. Songkran falls in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the dry season. Until 1888 the Thai New Year was the beginning of the year in Thailand; thereafter 1 April was used until 1940. 1 January is now the beginning of the year. The traditional Thai New Year has been a national holiday since then. Songkran has traditionally been celebrated as the New Year for many centuries, and is believed to have been adapted from an Indian festival. It is now observed nationwide, even in the far south. However, the most famous Songkran celebrations are still in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where it continues for six days and even longer. It has also become a party for foreigners and an additional reason for many to visit Thailand for immersion in another culture.

New year traditions The most obvious celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water. Thais roam the streets with containers of water

or water guns (sometimes mixed with mentholated talc), or post themselves at the side of roads with a garden hose and drench each other and passersby. This, however, was not always the main activity of this festival. Songkran was traditionally a time to visit and pay respects to elders, including family members, friends and neighbors. Besides the throwing of water, people celebrating Songkran may also go to a wat (Buddhist monastery) to pray and give food to monks. They may also cleanse Buddha images from household shrines as well as Buddha images at monasteries by gently pouring water mixed with a Thai fragrance (Thai: ) over them. It is believed that doing this will bring good luck and prosperity for the New Year. In many cities, such as Chiang Mai, the Buddha images from all of the city's important monasteries are paraded through the streets so that people can toss water at them, ritually 'bathing' the images, as they pass by on ornately decorated floats. In northern Thailand, people may carry handfuls of sand to their neighborhood monastery in order to recompense the dirt that they have carried away on their feet during the rest of the year. The sand is then sculpted into stupa-shaped piles and decorated with colorful flags. Some people make New Year resolutions - to refrain from bad behavior, or to do good things. Songkran is a time for cleaning and renewal. Besides washing household Buddha images, many Thais also take this opportunity to give their home a thorough cleaning. The throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people, by capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for cleansing and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder. Among young people the holiday evolved to include dousing strangers with water to relieve the heat, since April is the hottest month in Thailand (temperatures can rise to over 100°F or 40°C on some days). This has further evolved into water fights and splashing water over people riding in vehicles. Nowadays, the emphasis is on fun and water-throwing rather than on the festival's spiritual and religious aspects, which sometimes prompts complaints from traditionalists. In recent years there have been calls to moderate the festival to lessen the many alcohol-related road accidents as well as injuries attributed to extreme behavior such as water being thrown in the faces of traveling motorcyclists. The water is meant as a symbol of washing all of the bad away and is sometimes filled with fragrant herbs when celebrated in the traditional manner.

Songkran is also celebrated in many places with a pageant in which young women demonstrate their beauty and unique talents, as judged by the audience. The level of financial support usually determines the winner, since, to show your support you must purchase necklaces which you place on your chosen girl.

Astrological calculation

Although the traditional calendar of Thailand like most of Southeast Asia utilizes a lunisolar calendar, the date of the new year was calculated on a purely solar basis. The term Songkran comes from Sanskrit "Sankranta" and means "a move or change" - in this case the move of the sun into the Aries zodiac. Originally this happened at the vernal equinox, but, as the Thai astrology did not observe precession, the date moved from March to April. There is a similar named Indian Festival called as Sankrant or Makar Sankranti, celebrated on 14 January every year. Songkran as such has similarity to Indian festival of Holi. The traditional new year celebration in Sri Lanka also coincides with the Thai new year.

Greetings The traditional greeting is (sa-wat-di pi mai), basically "Happy New Year". Sawatdi is also used for "hello" or "good-

bye". Pi and mai means "year" and "new" respectively in Thai. Another greeting used is (suk-san wan pi mai), where suksanmeans "happy". However, most people use (suk-san wan songkran) — meaning "Happy Songkran Day" — since pi mai is more often linked with the first of January. Suksan is also used as an attribute for other days such as Valentine's Day.

In other calendars

Songkran is also celebrated in Laos (called pee mai lao), Cambodia (called Chaul Chnam Thmey, Cambodian New Year), Myanmar (called Thingyan), and by the Dai people in Yunnan, China (called Water-Splashing Festival). The same day is celebrated in South Asian calendars as well: the Assamese (called Rongali Bihu), Bengali (called Pohela Boishakh), Oriya (called Maha Visuba Sankranthi), Malayali, Punjabi,Sinhalese, and Tamil New Years fall on the same dates, based on the astrological event of the sun beginning its northward journey. And, as mention above, there is an Indian Festival called as Sankrant or Makar Sankranti in Marathi, celebrated every year on 14 January.

Songkran as such is similar to the Indian festival of Holi, with a lot of splashing of water as paints, colored dusts, and fragances. The traditional new year celebration in Sri Lanka also coincides with the Thai new year. In Nepal, the official new year is celebrated on the 1st of Baisakh (Baisakh) according to astrological calendar Vikram Samwat and day often falls somewhere between 12-15 April. It occurs at the same time as that given by Bede for festivals of Eostre—and Easter weekend occasionally coincides with Songkran (most recently 1979, 1990, and 2001, but not again until 2085).

Thomas Jefferson's Birthday U.S. - Apr 13

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–1809) and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776). An influential Founding Father, Jefferson envisioned America as a great "Empire of Liberty" that would promote republicanism. Jefferson served as the wartime Governor of Virginia (1779–1781), barely escaping capture by the British in 1781. Many people disliked his tenure, and he did not win office again in Virginia. From mid-1784 through late 1789 Jefferson lived outside the United States. He served in Paris initially as a commissioner to help negotiate commercial treaties. In May 1785 he succeeded Benjamin Franklin as the U.S. Minister to France. He was the first United States Secretary of State (1789– 1793) under George Washington and advised him against a national bank and the Jay Treaty. He was the second Vice President (1797–1801) under John Adams. Winning on an anti-federalist platform, Jefferson took the oath of office and became President of the United States in 1801. As president he negotiated theLouisiana Purchase (1803), and sent the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) to explore the vast new territory and lands further west. Jefferson sponsored embargo laws that escalated tensions with Britain and France, leading to war with Britain in 1812 shortly after he left office. He idealized the independent yeoman farmer as exemplar of republican virtues, distrusted cities and financiers, and favored states' rights and a limited federal government.

Jefferson supported the separation of church and state and was the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1779, 1786). Jefferson's revolutionary view on individual religious freedom and protection from government authority have generated much interest with modern scholars. He was the eponym of Jeffersonian democracy and the co-founder and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, which dominated American politics for 25 years. Born into a prominent planter family, Jefferson owned hundreds of slaves throughout his life; he held views on the racial inferiority of Africans common for this period in time. While historians long discounted accounts that Jefferson had an intimate relationship with his slave Sally Hemings, it is now widely held that he did and had six children by her.

Education:

In 1752, Jefferson began attending a local school run by a Scottish Presbyterian minister. At the age of nine, Jefferson began studying Latin,Greek, and French; he learned to ride horses, and began to appreciate the study of nature.

In 1757, when he was 14 years old, his father died. Jefferson inherited about 5,000 acres (20 km2) of land and dozens of slaves. He studied under the Reverend James Maury from 1758 to 1760 near Gordonsville, Virginia. While boarding with Maury's family, he studied history, science and the classics. At age 16, Jefferson entered the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, and for two years he studied mathematics, metaphysics, and philosophy under Professor William Small, who introduced the enthusiastic Jefferson to the writings of the British Empiricists, including John Locke, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton. He also improved his French, Greek, and violin. A diligent student, Jefferson displayed an avid curiosity in all fields and graduated in 1762 with highest honors. He read law with William & Mary law professor George Wythe and was admitted to the Virginia bar five years later in 1767.

Career:

Jefferson handled many cases as a lawyer in colonial Virginia, and was very active from 1768 to 1773. Jefferson's client list included members of the Virginia's elite families, including members of his mother's family, the Randolphs.

In 1768 Thomas Jefferson started the construction of Monticello, a neoclassical mansion. Since childhood, Jefferson had always wanted to build a beautiful mountaintop home within sight of Shadwell. Jefferson fell greatly in debt by spending lavishly over the years on Monticello in what was a continuing project to create a neoclassical environment, based on his study of the architect Andrea Palladio and the classical orders. Besides practicing law, Jefferson represented Albemarle County in the Virginia House of Burgesses beginning in 1769. Following the passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament in 1774, he wrote a set of resolutions against the acts, which were expanded into A Summary View of the Rights of British America, his first published work. Previous criticism of the Coercive Acts had focused on legal and constitutional issues, but Jefferson offered the radical notion that the colonists had the natural right to govern themselves. Jefferson also argued that Parliament was the legislature of Great Britain only, and had no legislative authority in the colonies. The paper was intended to serve as instructions for the Virginia delegation of the First Continental Congress, but Jefferson's ideas proved to be too radical for that body.

Political career from 1775 to 1800 Drafting a declaration:

Jefferson served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress beginning in June 1775, soon after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. When Congress began considering a resolution of independence in June 1776, Jefferson was appointed to a five-man committee to prepare a declaration to accompany the resolution. The committee selected Jefferson to write the first draft probably because of his reputation as a writer. The assignment was considered routine; no one at the time thought that it was a major responsibility. Jefferson completed a draft in consultation with other committee members, drawing on his own proposed draft of the Virginia Constitution, George Mason's draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and other sources. Jefferson showed his draft to the committee, which made some final revisions, and then presented it to Congress on June 28, 1776. After voting in favor of the resolution of independence on July 2, Congress turned its attention to the declaration. Over several days of debate, Congress made a few changes in wording and deleted nearly a fourth of the text, most notably a passage critical of the slave trade, changes that Jefferson resented. On July 4, 1776, the wording of the Declaration of Independence was ratified. The Declaration would eventually become Jefferson's major claim to fame, and his eloquent preamble became an enduring statement of human rights.

State legislator:

In September 1776, Jefferson returned to Virginia and was elected to the new Virginia House of Delegates. During his term in the House, Jefferson set out to reform and update Virginia's system of laws to reflect its new status as a democratic state. He drafted 126 bills in three years, including laws to abolish primogeniture, establish freedom of religion, and streamline the judicial system. In 1778, Jefferson's "Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge" and subsequent efforts to reduce clerical control led to some small changes at William and Mary College. While in the state legislature Jefferson proposed a bill to eliminate capital punishment for all crimes except murder and treason. His effort to end the death penalty law was defeated.

Governor of Virginia:

Jefferson served as governor of Virginia from 1779–1781. As governor in 1780, he transferred the state capital from Williamsburg to Richmond. He continued to advocate educational reforms at the College of William and Mary, including the nation's first student-policed honor code. In 1779, at Jefferson's behest, William and Mary appointed George Wythe to be the first professor of law in an American university. The British invaded Virginia under Benedict Arnold and then by Lord Cornwallis. He and other rebel leaders in Virginia barely escaped capture by the British in June 1781. Many people disliked his tenure, and he not win office again in Virginia. However, in 1783 he was appointed to Congress by the state legislature.

Notes on the State of Virginia:

In the Fall of 1780, Gov. Thomas Jefferson was given a list of 22 questions, by Secretary of the French legation to the United States François Marbois, intended to gather pertinent information on the American colonies. Jefferson's responses to Marbois' "Queries" would become known as Notes on the State of Virginia. Jefferson, scientifically trained, was a member of the American Philosophical Society and had extensive knowledge of western lands from Virginia to Illinois. In a course of 5 years, Jefferson enthusiastically devoted his intellectual energy to the book, which discussed contemporary scientific knowledge, and Virginia's history, politics, and ethnography. Jefferson was aided byThomas Walker, George R. Clark, and U.S. geographer Thomas Hutchins. Jefferson has been controversial for both condemning slavery while expressing views that blacks were inferior to whites. The book was first published in France in 1785 and in England in 1787.

Member of Congress:

The Virginia state legislature appointed Jefferson to the Congress of the Confederation on 6 June 1783, his term beginning on 1 November. He was a member of the committee formed to set foreign exchange rates, and in that capacity he recommended that the American currency be based on the decimal system. Jefferson also recommended setting up the Committee of the States, to function as the executive arm of Congress when Congress was not in session. He left Congress when he was elected a minister plenipotentiary on 7 May 1784.

Minister to France:

Jefferson served as minister to France from 1785 to 1789, and did not attend the Philadelphia Convention, though he followed the proceedings by correspondence, and was supportive of it. Beginning in early September 1785, Jefferson collaborated by mail with John Adams in London to outline an anti-piracy treaty with Morocco. Their work culminated in a treaty that was ratified by Congress on 18 July 1787 and is still in force today, making it the longest unbroken treaty relationship in U.S. history. He enjoyed the architecture, arts, and the salon culture of Paris. He often dined with many of the city's most prominent people, but sided with the revolutionaries in 1789 French Revolution. While in Paris, Jefferson corresponded with a number of individuals who had important roles in events leading up to the French Revolution. These included marquis de Lafayette and comte de Mirabeau, a popular pamphleteer who repeated ideals that had been the basis for the American Revolution. Jefferson brought some of his slaves to serve the household, including James Hemings for training as a French chef. After his youngest daughter died, he requested that a young woman slave accompany his daughter Polly to France. Sally Hemings was chosen to travel with Polly, and lived with the Jefferson household for about two years in Paris. It is likely Jefferson began his longterm relationship with Sally Hemings while in Paris; that is what their son Madison Hemings reported in his 1873 memoir.

Secretary of State:

As George Washington's (1790–1793) Secretary of State, Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton argued over national fiscal policy, especially the funding of the debts of the war. Jefferson later compared Hamilton and the Federalists with "Royalism", and stated the "Hamiltonians were panting after...crowns, coronets and mitres." Jefferson and James Madison founded and led the Democratic-Republican Party. He worked with Madison and his campaign manager John J. Beckley to build a nationwide network of Republican allies. The French minister said in 1793: "Senator Morris and Secretary of the Treasury Hamilton...had the greatest influence over the President's mind, and that it was only with difficulty that he [Jefferson] counterbalanced their efforts." Jefferson supported France against Britain when they fought in 1793. Jefferson believed that political success at home depended on the success of the French army in Europe. The French minister in 1793, Edmond-Charles Genêt, caused a crisis when he tried to influence public opinion in appealing to the people, something Jefferson tried to stop.

Break from office:

Jefferson retired to Monticello in late 1793 where he continued to oppose the policies of Hamilton and Washington.

However, the Jay Treaty of 1794, led by Hamilton, brought peace and trade with Britain – while Madison, with strong support from Jefferson, wanted, "to strangle the former mother country" without going to war. "It became an article of faith among Republicans that 'commercial weapons' would suffice to bring Great Britain to any terms the United States chose to dictate." Even during the violence of the Reign of Terror, Jefferson refused to disavow the revolution because "To back away from France would be to undermine the cause of republicanism in America."

Election of 1796 and Vice Presidency:

As the Democratic-Republican candidate in 1796 he lost to John Adams, but had enough electoral votes to become Vice President (1797–1801). He wrote a manual of parliamentary procedure, but otherwise avoided the Senate.

With the Quasi-War underway, the Federalists under John Adams started rebuilding the military, levied new taxes, and enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts. Jefferson interpreted the Alien and Sedition Acts as an effort to suppress Democratic-Republicans rather than dangerous enemy aliens, and were used to attack his party. Jefferson and Madison rallied support by anonymously writing the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which declared that the federal government had no right to exercise powers not specifically delegated to it by the states.

Election of 1800:

Working closely with Aaron Burr of New York, Jefferson rallied his party, attacking the new taxes especially, and ran for the Presidency in 1800. Before the passage of the Twelfth Amendment, a problem with the new union's electoral system arose. He tied with Burr for first place in the electoral college, leaving the House of Representatives (where the Federalists still had some power) to decide the election. Hamilton convinced his party that Jefferson would be a lesser political evil than Burr and that such scandal within the electoral process would undermine the new constitution.

On February 17, 1801, after thirty-six ballots, the House elected Jefferson President and Burr Vice President. Jefferson later removed Burr from the ticket in 1804 after Burr killed Hamilton in a duel. Jefferson owed his election victory to the South's inflated number of Electors, which counted slaves under the three-fifths compromise. After his election in 1800, some called him the "Negro President", with critics like the Mercury and New-England Palladium of Boston that Jefferson had the gall to celebrate his election as a victory for democracy when he won "the temple of Liberty on the shoulders of slaves."

Presidency 1801–1809 "The two major achievements of Jefferson's presidency were the Louisiana Purchase and the abolition of the slave

trade," according to historian John Chester Miller. Jefferson obtained the repeal many federal taxes in his bid to rely more on customs revenue. He pardoned people imprisoned under the Alien and Sedition Acts, passed in John Adams' term. He repealed the Judiciary Act of 1801 and removed nearly all of Adams' "midnight judges" from office, which led to the Supreme Court deciding the important case of Marbury v. Madison. He began and won the First Barbary War(1801–1805), America's first significant overseas war, and established the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1802. In 1803 Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France, doubling the size of the United States. Immediately launched the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806), which explored the new territory and opened the American West to settlement. He also signed into law a bill that officially segregated the U.S. postal system by not allowing blacks to carry mail.

Second Term:

In 1807, Jefferson ordered his former vice president Aaron Burr tried for treason, but he was acquitted. Jefferson called for a law making it illegal to import and export slaves; Congress passed it an it went into effect. Jefferson's reputation was damaged by the Embargo Act of 1807, which was ineffective. Congress repealed it at the end of his second term.

Administration, Cabinet and Supreme Court appointments 1801–1809:

Associate Justice • William Johnson – 1804 • Henry Brockholst Livingston – 1807 • Thomas Todd – 1807 States admitted to the Union: • Ohio – March 1, 1803

Laos New Year Laos - Apr 13

Lao New Year called "Bpee Mai" or "Songkan" is celebrated every year from April 13th to April 15th.

History Lao New Year is the most widely celebrated festival in Laos. The

festival is also celebrated by Laotians in the United States of America,Canada, France, and Australia. When the Lao people first emigrated from southern China, Lao New Year was celebrated according to the Chinese Lunar New Year calendar.

Since settling in mainland Southeast Asia, the Lao have adopted the new year's traditions of the Khmerand Mon-Burmese people, based on the calendar and traditions of India. Lao New Year takes place in April, the hottest time of the year in Laos, which is also the start of the monsoon season. Lao New Year takes place at roughly the same time as Songkran in Thailand and Chaul Chnam Thmey in Cambodia.

De Diego's Birthday Puerto Rico - A p r 1 6

José de Diego y Martínez (April 16, 1866 – July 16, 1918), known as "The Father of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement", was a statesman, journalist, poet, lawyer, and advocate for Puerto Rico's independence from Spain and from the United States.

years Early De Diego, son of Felipe de Diego Parajón a Spanish army officer

from Asturias, Spain and Elisa Martínez Muñiz a Criollo from Puerto Rico, was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico and received his primary education in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. He then moved to Spain where he graduated from the "Polytechnic College of Logroño". While in Spain, de Diego collaborated with the newspaper El Progreso (Progress) which was founded by José Julián Acosta and which attacked the political situation in Puerto Rico. This led to various arrests and eventually he returned to the island.

Poetry Festival dates In 1886, de Diego had an unhappy love affair, with Carmen EchavarThe official festival lasts for three days from April 13th to April 15th (although celebrations can last more than a week ría, which led him to write one of his acclaimed poems "A Laura" (To

in towns like Luang Prabang). The first day is the last day of the old year. Houses and villages are properly cleaned on the first day. Perfume, water and flowers are also prepared for the Lao New Year. The second day of the festival is the "day of no day", a day that falls in neither the old year or the new year. The last day of the festival marks the start of the new year.

Lao New Year Traditions Water:

Water is used for washing homes, Buddha images, monks, and soaking friends and passers-by. Students first respectfully pour water on their elders, then monks for blessings of long life and peace, and last of all they throw water each other. The water is perfumed with flowers or natural perfumes. Some people prefer flowers in the water to give a pleasant smell, as well as adding cologne/perfume. The idea of watering came from the legend of King Kabinlaphom, whose seven daughters kept his severed head in a cave. The daughters would visit their father's head every year and perform a ritual to bring happiness and good weather. Over the years another tradition has developed with Lao New Year: people will smear or throw cream (shaving cream or whipped cream) or white powder on each other during the celebrations.

Sand:

Sand is brought to the temple grounds and is made into stupas or mounds, then decorated before being given to the monks as a way of making merit. There are two ways to make the sand stupas. One way is to go to the beach, and the other way is to bring sand to the wat, or pagoda. Sand stupas are decorated with flags, flowers, white lines, and splashed with perfumed water. Sand stupas symbolize the mountain, Phoukao Kailat, where King Kabinlaphom's head was kept by his seven daughters.

Animals:

Another way to make merit at this time is to set animals free. The Lao believe that even animals need to be free.

The most commonly freed animals are tortoises, fish, crabs, birds, eels, and other small animals.

Flowers:

Flowers are gathered to decorate Buddha images. In the afternoons people collect fresh flowers. Senior monks take the younger monks to a garden filled with flowers, where they pick flowers and bring back to the wat to wash. People who didn't participate in the flower picking bring baskets to wash the flowers so the flowers can shine with the Buddha statues.

Beauty pageant:

There is an annual beauty pageant in Luang Prabang to crown Miss Bpee Mai Lao (Miss Lao New Year). There are many beauty pageants in Laos, but Luang Prabang - the old capital - is widely known for its Nangsoukhane pageant.

There are seven contestants, each one symbolizing one of King Kabinlaphom's seven daughters.

Music and dance:

During Lao New Year, there are many spectacles including traditional Lao music, mor-lam, and lam-wong (circle dancing). During the daytime almost everybody is at the temple worshipping, hoping to have a healthier and happier life in the new year. During the evening, people of all ages go to the wat for entertainment.

Greetings:

There are several ways to wish someone a happy Lao New Year. The most common expressions are souk dee peemai, souksan van peemaior sabidee pimai, which can be translated into English as "Happy New Year".

National Fast and Prayer Day Liberia - Apr 14

Liberia observes one day a year of solemn celebration through their National Day of Fast and Prayer which happens every second Friday of April. This day calls out to every Liberians to participate in a national prayer for the divine purification and healing of the nation.

History

Many Christian celebrations which are considered as holy days are being celebrated and honored in Liberia with immense pride and practice. The people of Liberia have high regards into recognizing the Creator and ask for spiritual guidance and safety.

One incident in the history of Liberia which sparked the proclamation of this day of prayer and fasting was the political crisis that happened between Liberia and the British colonial parents of Sierra Leone during the 1800s. Because of the past national crises and surprising tragedies that came by the country, the Liberians realized the importance of dedicating of even just once a day each year to ask for the grace of the Lord and spare them many more years of strength and survival.

Making the first step for the declaration of this holiday, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf along with the parliament of its republic, enacted a bill proposing the second Friday of April to be a National Day of Fast and Prayer.

The holiday will also be a national holiday for National Safety and Welfare.

Celebrations During this day of fast and prayer, the people, regardless of religious preference and perspective gather all together

as one unified nation and spend a solemn time in the churches and their places of worship.

The country during this day, observes their traditional Sackcloth and Ashes ritual to fast, pray and meditate. This is usually observed during the evening which starts specifically at 8 o’clock and ends noon of the following day.

Public offices and business establishments also remain closed the whole day and are encouraged to cease from their every day habits and routine to give time to the Lord and recognize the love and guidance of the Creator.

Pan American Day Honduras, Haiti - Apr 14

Day of the Americas or Pan American Day is celebrated in the country of Honduras every 14th of April.

It is actually observed by every American nations as a symbol of the unity and strong bond of the American continent.

History

Pan American Day originated during the 1800s which was proclaimed by Simon Bolivar in the Congress of Panama. This was established because of the Monroe doctrine that aimed to create a spirit of unity between the countries in the American continent at the same time not forgetting about their European origin. There were several actions and proposals that were escalated for the confederation of the Inter-American connection. It was only on 1889 that the American customs union was formally proposed and happened during the first International Conference of American States in Washington DC. Finally on April 14, 1890, the International Bureau of American Republics was established which later on was called the Pan American Union and sooner became known as the Organization of American States or OAS. On May 7, 1930, the official date of the celebration of the Pan American Day was proposed at a resolution adopted by the Governing Board of the Pan American Union. And on 1931, April 14 as the official celebration day of the Pan American Day was officially passed under the administration of President Herbert Hoover.

Celebrations During this special holiday, the people of Honduras ac-

tively participate in the commemoration rites. Most offices display flag of the different nations that are part of the Pan American Union. In most schools and universities, the Day of the Americas is always a big celebration every year. Some activities include a parade or a presentation by the orchestra and some even hold pageants or play that reenacts this particular day in the history. Travel companies and the tourism department also organize exhibits and public displays that feature the many different articles and artifacts including replicas of the publication of the Organization of American States.

Youth Day Angola - Apr 14

On 14 April Angola celebrates Youth Day in memory of Hoji-yaHenda, who was killed on that day during the Portuguese Colonial War.

Hoji-ya-Henda José Mendes de Carvalho (c. 1941 – April 14, 1968), known by

his nom de guerre Hoji-ya-Henda, was a leader of the Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola. Now remembered as a national hero, he was killed in the Portuguese Colonial War. Mendes died in combat, at 27 years old, during a raid on the headquarters of the Portuguese colonial army in Karipande, Moxico, Angola, on April 14, 1968. He was buried near the river Lundoji 30 miles from the then headquarters of Karipande, from the Front East of the Third Political-Military Region. In August 1968, the People's Liberation Movement of Angola (MPLA) assigned Hoji-ya-Henda the title of "dear son of the Angolan people and heroic fighter of the MPLA".

The First Assembly of the Third Political-Military Region of the MPLA, held on March 23, 1969, determined that April 14 would be celebrated in Angola as Angolan Youth Day in his memory, a decision later confirmed by an assembly of youth organisations, some of them affiliated to the National Youth Council (CNJ) that gathered in Cabinda for a number of years.

Orange Day Japan - Apr 14

Orange Days is a drama series that aired in Japan on TBS in 2004.

History Yuuki Kai (Tsumabuki) is a senior at a university

studying social welfare psychology and trying to find a job. One day, he encounters a girl, Hagio Sae (Shibasaki), playing the violin, and becomes intrigued. He eventually discovers that she has lost her hearing, and can now only communicate using Japanese Sign Language. Before they reveal what they think about each other, Sae and Kai must overcome a lot of barriers. They both become stronger along the way, finding their goals.

Army Day Bosnia-Herzegovina - Apr 15

The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian: Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine, ARBiH) was the military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina established by the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 following the outbreak of the Bosnian War. Following the end of the war, and the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995, it was transformed into the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ArBiH was the only military force on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina recognised as legal by other governments. Under the State Defense Reform Law the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were unified into a single structure, OSBiH, making entity armies defunct.

History

Creation and composition:

The Army of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed on 15 April 1992 during the early days of the Bosnian War.[3]Before the ARBiH was officially created, a number of paramilitary and civil defense groups were established.

The Patriotic League (PL) and the local Territorial Defence Force of the Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina (TORBIH) were the official army while paramilitaries such as the Zelene Beretke (Green Berets) and Crni Labudovi (Black Swans) units were also active. Other irregular groups included Bosnian mafia groups, as well as collections of police and former Yugoslav People's Army soldiers.

The army was formed in poor circumstances, and suffered from a very limited supply of arms. Critical deficiencies includedtanks and other heavy weaponry. The first commander of the army was Sefer Halilović.

1992:

In 1992, 70% of Bosnia was under JNA (Yugoslav People's Army), and then later VRS (Bosnian Serb Army), control.

Sarajevo was under siege. The ARBiH had defended Sarajevo with light weaponry. The army was surrounded and the transfer of supplies was hard, if not impossible.

1993:

1993 saw no major changes in the front lines against Serbs. Instead, this year marked the start of the Croat-Bosniak war in Central Bosnia and in Herzegovina, notably the Mostar region. Pressured and contained by heavily armed Serb forces in Bosnia-Hercegovina and Croatia, Croat forces - HVO (Croatian Defence Council) shifted their focus from defending their parts of Bosnia from Serbs to trying to capture remaining territory held by Bosnian Army. It is widely believed that this was due to the Karađorđevo agreement reached between presidents Slobodan Milošević and Franjo Tuđman to split Bosnia between Croatia and Serbia. In order to accomplish this Croatian forces would have to defeat the Bosnian Army, since the territory that they wanted was under Bosnian government control. HVO with great engagement from the Military of Republic of Croatia and material support from Serbs, attacked Bosniak civilian population in Herzegovina and in central Bosnia starting an ethnic cleansing of Bosniak populated territories (e.g. Lašva Valley ethnic cleansing). Vastly underequipped Bosnian forces, fighting on two fronts, were able to repel Croats and gain territory against them on every front. At this time, due to its geographic position, Bosnia was surrounded by Croat and Serb forces from all sides. There was no way to import weapons or food. What saved Bosnia at this time was its vast Industrial complex (Steel and Heavy Industries) that was able to switch to military hardware production. After a short but bloody war and once Croats realized that their partnership with Serbs would not bring them any territorial gains they agreed to the US leadership's "Washington treaty" peace agreement. From that point on, Croat and Bosnian government forces continued to fight as allies against Serbs.

1994:

A renewed alliance between HVO and ARBiH was agreed upon, with the objective of forming a strong force that could fight the much stronger and better equipped VRS. This was the time of frequent peace negotiations.

1995:

Despite the loss of several enclaves, notably Srebrenica, 1995 was marked by HVO and ARBiH offensives and later

by NATO intervention. Following the Split Agreement, the Croatian army, with cooperation from ARBiH and HVO, launched a series of operations: Flash, Summer '95, Storm and Mistral 2. In conjunction, Bosnian forces launched operations like Sana. Bosnian and Croat armies were on the offensive in this phase, captured entire western Bosnia, and the Serb capital Banja Luka was seriously threatened, until peace negotiations stopped further bloodshed.

In the period of August–December 1995, Serb forces were defeated and driven out of the majority of Croatia and western Bosnia, and the ethnic Serb population fled from these parts.

Following the second Markale massacre, NATO intervention was launched, which destroyed much of the VRS infrastructure in just a few days (Operation Deliberate Force). The war ended with the signing of the Dayton Accord.

Income Tax Day U.S. - A p r 1 5

In the United States, Tax Day is a slang term for the day on which individual income tax returns are due to the federal government. The term may also refer to the same day for states, even where the tax return due date is a different day. Since 1955, Tax Day is usually on April 15.

When April 15 falls on a weekend, Emancipation Day, or any other holiday, tax returns are instead due on the following business day. In 2011, Tax Day is April 18.

History

Federal income tax was introduced with the Revenue Act of 1861 to help fund the Civil War. That Act stipulated that income tax "shall be due and payable on or before the thirtieth day of June". There is an unsubstantiated claim that the first income tax was paid only by the very wealthy, and they tended to spend their summers vacationing.

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is said to have argued, "The collection of taxes would be much easier if an earlier assessment was made, before they leave town." The case of Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. challenged the constitutionality of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act of 1894 which taxed incomes over $4,000 at the rate of two percent. The case was decided by the United States Supreme Court in 1895. The Supreme Court decided that the Act's unapportioned income taxes on interest, dividends, and rents were effectively direct taxes. The Act was therefore unconstitutional because it violated the Constitution's rule that direct taxes be apportioned. In 1913, eighteen years later, the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. This Amendment gave the United States Congress the legal authority to tax all incomes without regard to the apportionment requirement. The filing deadline for individuals was March 1 in 1913 and was changed to March 15 in 1918 and again to April 15 in 1955.

Today, the filing deadline for U.S. federal income tax returns for individuals remains April 15 or, in the event that the 15th falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the first succeeding day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or holiday. Tax Day occasionally falls on Patriots' Day, a civic holiday in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and state of Maine, or the preceding weekend. When this occurs the tax deadline is extended by a day for the residents of Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,New York, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. This is because the IRS processing center for these areas is located in Andover, Massachusetts, and the unionized IRS employees get the day off. In 2007, Tax Day was on Tuesday, April 17, 2007 because April 15 fell on a Sunday and Monday, April 16 was Emancipation Day, a legal holiday in the District of Columbia. A storm and flooding affected the Northeast that year and certain states were granted additional time to file. In some cases, the deadline was extended to as late as June 25.

Kim Il-sun's Birthday North Korea - A p r 1 5

Kim Il-sung (15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a Korean communist politician who ruled North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death. He was also the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea from 1949 to 1994 (titled as chairman from 1949 to 1966 and as general secretary after 1966).

His tenure as leader of North Korea has often been described as autocratic, and he established an all-pervasive cult of personality. From the mid-1960s, he promoted his self-developed Juchevariant of communist national organization. In the Library of Congress Country Study on North Korea in 2009, he was described as "one of the most intriguing figures of the twentieth century". He outlived Joseph Stalin by four decades, Mao Zedong by two, and remained in power during the terms of office of six South Korean presidents, 7 Soviet leaders, ten U.S. presidents, and twentyone Japanese prime ministers.

Following his death in 1994, he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il, who in turn was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-un.

North Korea officially refers to Kim Il-sung as the "Great Leader" (Suryong in Korean 수령) and he is designated in the North Korean constitution as the country's "Eternal President". His birthday is a public holiday in North Korea.

Death

By the early 1990s, North Korea was isolated from the outside world, except for limited trade and contacts with China, Russia, Vietnam and Cuba. Its economy was crippled by huge expenditures on armaments, and the agricultural sector was unable to feed its population. At the same time, the state-run North Korean media continued to praise Kim. On 8 July 1994, at age 82, Kim Il-sung collapsed from a sudden heart attack.

After the heart attack, Kim Jong-il ordered the team of doctors who were constantly at his father's side to leave, and for the country's best doctors to be flown in from Pyongyang. After several hours, the doctors from Pyongyang arrived, and despite their efforts to save him, Kim Il-sung died. After the traditional Confucian Mourning period, his death was declared thirty hours later.

Kim Il-sung's death resulted in nationwide mourning and a ten-day mourning period was declared by Kim Jong-il. His funeral in Pyongyang was attended by hundreds of thousands of people from all over North Korea, many of whom were mourning dramatically. Kim Il-sung's body was placed in a public mausoleum at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where his preserved and embalmed body lies under a glass coffin for viewing purposes. His head rests on a Korean-style pillow and he is covered by the flag of the Workers Party of Korea. Newsreel video of the funeral at Pyongyang was broadcast on several networks, and can now be found on various websites.

Rubber Eraser Day U.S. - A p r 1 5

This day is celebrated on April 15 in commencement of April 15, 1770 and the founding of the rubber eraser.

April 15, 1770 Joseph Priestly founded a vegetable gum to remove pencil marks. He dubbed the substance “rubber”. 1770 Edward Nairne developed the first marketed rubber eraser. 1839 Charles Goodyear discovered vulcanization (a method that would cure rubber and make it a durable material). This method made rubber erasers common. 1858 Hyman Lipman (Philadelphia, Pa.) patented the pencil with an eraser at the end.

Militia Day Cuba - A p r 1 6

The National Revolutionary Militias (NRM) of Cuba is an organization constituted on 30 October 1960, to enable citizens to defend the country from the threat of military aggression, particularly from the United States, and for the protection of civilian targets against actions of terrorist groups that operate on the island, from the U.S. and other countries of the Caribbean.

The militias have their origins in a ceremony celebrated in front of the Presidential Palace (presently the Museum of the Revolution) in Havana on 22 March 1959. There, Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro proposed creating the Voluntary Popular Militias, in response to the popular call to prepare citizens militarily to defend the Revolution; the idea definitely took shape in the NRM. On 16 April of each year, Cuba celebrates Militiaman Day, in honor of the combatants of this organization who on the same date in 1961, defended the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution, that Fidel Castro had proclaimed on 1 January 1959. On 17 April 1961, together with the combatants of the Rebel Army and the National Revolutionary Police, the militias confronted and defeated in less than 72 hours 1,500 mercenaries whom the United States financed, armed and trained to invade Cuba at Playa Girón (Giron beach), in what became known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

In 1986 another organization with the same objectives, but subordinate to the Revolutionary Armed Forces, was instituted: the Territorial Militia Troops (TMT).

University Militias

These were actually founded on 26 October 1959, when Fidel Castro raised the need to create the National Revolutionary Militias. The university people, who had attended the event in front of the Presidential Palace, from there set out toward the Hill and the coffee shop of the house of higher studies, between refreshments, with notebook sheets turned into enlistment forms, agreed that the University Militia be named the José Antonio Echeverría Brigade.

After weeks of training, on 27 November 1959, uniformed in wine-red shirts, gray pants and black berets, armed with garands that Fidel had sent them, the boys at the University Student Federation (USF) in mass returned to the Escalanita. A whistle was heard and a squad of girls began to perform evolutions. In its journey through San Lázaro street up to the La Punta monument, the student militiamen were applauded by the people. This parade went on to become the catalyst of large scale popular enthusiasm for the constitution of the National Revolutionary Militias.

The graduation of the University Militia in January 1960 was done with an ascent up Pico Turquino, where they were joined by Fidel Castro, Celia Sánchez and other revolutionary leaders.

The University Militias then became the 154th Battalion of the National Revolutionary Militias, consisting of students, professors and workers. Presently this unit is known as the 154th Regiment of the Territorial Militia Troops.

Laura). This poem became very popular among the romantics of that time. He became known as the "Father" of the "Modern Puerto Rican Poetry Movement". Among his most noted poetry books are : • Pomarrosas • Jovillos • Cantos de Rebeldía • Cantos del Pitirre

Confederation of the Spanish-speaking islands in the Caribbean

De Diego returned to Spain and studied law in Barcelona. He received his law degree and continued his studies until he graduated with a doctorate in law in 1892. He then returned to Puerto Rico to advocate for its autonomy from Spain.

De Diego set up his law practice inArecibo and was the founder of the newspaper La República (The Republic). Together with Román Baldorioty de Castro, Diego founded the "Autonomist Party" in 1887. Luis Muñoz Rivera and Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón, who were members of the party, formed a committee which ultimately convinced the Spanish representative in the island Práxedes Mateo Sagasta to support the idea of autonomy for Puerto Rico. De Diego did not accompany Muñoz Rivera and Matienzo Cintrón, because he believed that Spain should be a Federal Republic and Mateo Sagasta's party followed the ideals of the monarchy. De Diego envisioned the establishment of a Confederation of the Spanish-speaking islands in the Caribbean which would include Dominican Republic and Cuba, known as the Antillean Confederation. In 1897, Spain acknowledged Puerto Rico's autonomy, after Mateo Sagasta's victory in Spain. De Diego celebrated Muñoz Rivera's accomplishment and was named Sub-Secretary of Justice and Government. Puerto Rico's autonomy, however was short-lived.

Politician

After the United States invasion of Puerto Rico during the SpanishAmerican War, the Treaty of Paris (1898) committed Spain to ceding Puerto Rico to the United States as a war bounty.

On June 5, 1900, President William McKinley named de Diego, together with Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón, José Celso Barbosa, Manuel Camuñas, and Andrés Crosas to an Executive Cabinet under U.S.-appointed Governor Charles H. Allen. The Executive Cabinet also included six American members. De Diego resigned from the position in order to pursue the island's right to govern itself.

In 1904, he co-founded the "Unionist Party" along with Luis Muñoz Rivera, Eduardo Georgetti, Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón and Antonio R. Barceló.

De Diego was then elected to the House of Delegates, the only locally elected body of government allowed by the U.S., and which De Diego presided from 1904 to 1917. The House of Delegates was subject to the U.S. President's veto power and voted for the island's right to independence and self-government and against the imposition of U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans, among other resolutions passed. None of these requests were honored by newly developing US hemispheric expansionism. In 1914, Barceló, Muñoz Rivera and de Diego were members of an executive council that attempted to form an alliance between the Union and Republican Parties. In 1917, after Luis Muñoz Rivera died, Barceló became the leading force behind the liberal ideas of the island. Barceló and De Diego were against the creation of theJones-Shafroth Act which would impose United States citizenship upon the citizens of Puerto Rico because the act represented an impediment to Puerto Rican independence as a final status solution and because the judicial and executive branches would still be controlled by the United States. The Jones-Shafroth Act, however was approved by the United States and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilsonon March 2, 1917. The Union Party under Barceló's leadership then resolved to adopt a different stance and to seek more autonomy which he believed would finally lead to independence. This move prompted de Diego's, who was a strong independence advocate, to have great differences with the majority of his party members,. De Diego became known as the "Father of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement".

Later years

He founded the "Colegio de Agricultura y Artes Mecánicas de Mayagüez" now known as "University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez". De Diego travelled throughout the Caribbean and Spain seeking the support from what he called "Los hermanos de la misma raza" (Brothers of the same race) for Puerto Rico's independence. After giving a speech in Barcelona in to such a request, he became known as the "Caballero de la Raza" (The gentlemen of the race). José de Diego's right leg developed gangrene and was amputated in 1916. He died in New York City on July 16, 1918 of endocarditis. His remains were returned to Puerto Rico and are buried in the "Cementerio Antiguo de San Juan" (Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery), in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Legacy

José de Diego's memory has been honored in Puerto Rico, by having his birth date as an official holiday as well as the naming schools, avenues, and a highway after him. The plaza in his hometown of Aguadilla, the Plaza José de Diego is named in his honor, plus there are schools in Chicago, Illinois, Brooklyn, New York, and Miami, Florida named after him.

Queen Margrethes Birthday Greenland, Denmark - A p r 1 6

Margrethe II (Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, sometimes anglicised as Margaret II) (born 16 April 1940) is the queen regnant of Denmark. In 1972 she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margrete I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1388-1412 during the Kalmar Union.

Early life Princess Margrethe was born at Amalienborg Palace, to

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid. She was baptised on 14 May 1940. Since King Christian X was also the King of Iceland at the time, as a tribute to the people of Iceland, the Princess was given an Icelandicname, Þórhildur (spelled with the Icelandic thorn character, simplified as "th"). This middle name is sometimes anglicized as "Thorhildur."

Margrethe has two younger sisters: Princess Benedikte (born 1944), who lives in Germany, and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece (born 1946), who lives in London.

The princess's godparents were King Christian X of Denmark, Prince Knud of Denmark, Prince Axel of Denmark, King Gustaf V of Sweden, Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, The Duke of Connaught.

In mid-1960, together with the Princesses of Sweden and Norway, she traveled to the United States, which included a visit to Los Angeles, California, and to the Paramount Studios, where they were met by several celebrities, including Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Elvis Presley.

presumptive Heiress Margrethe was not born to be Monarch. At the time of her birth, only males could ascend the throne of Denmark, owing

to the changes in succession laws enacted in the 1850s when theGlücksburg branch was chosen to succeed. As she had no brothers, it was assumed that her uncle Prince Knud would one day assume the throne.

The process of changing the constitution started in 1947, not long after her father ascended the throne as Frederick IX and it became clear that Queen Ingrid would have no more children. The popularity of Frederik and his daughters and the more prominent role of women in Danish life started the complicated process of altering the constitution. That proposal had to be passed by two Parliaments in succession and then by a referendum, which was held on 27 March 1953. The new Act of Succession permitted female succession to the throne of Denmark, according to male-preference primogeniture, where a female can ascend to the throne only if she does not have a brother. Princess Margrethe therefore became the Heiress Presumptive.

On her eighteenth birthday, 16 April 1958, the Heiress Presumptive was given a seat in theCouncil of State, and the Princess subsequently chaired the meetings of the Council in the absence of the King.

Education and marriage

She studied prehistoric archaeology at Girton College, Cambridge during 1960–61, political science at Aarhus University between 1961– 1962, at the Sorbonne in 1963, and at the London School of Economics in 1965, and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

On 10 June 1967, Princess Margrethe of Denmark married a French diplomat, Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, at the Naval Church of Copenhagen. Laborde de Monpezat received the style and title of "His Royal Highness Prince Henrik of Denmark" because of his new position as the spouse of the Heiress Presumptive to the Danish throne.

Queen Margrethe is fluent in her native tongue, Danish; the native tongue of her husband, French; as well as English, Swedish and German.

Queen Margrethe II and her consort, Prince Henrik, Reign King Frederik IX died in 1972. On the occa- in 2010.

sion of her accession to the throne on 14 January 1972, Queen Margrethe II became the first female Danish Sovereign under the new Act of Succession.

Queen Margrethe II's official motto is: God's help, the love of The People, Denmark's strength. She is an accomplished artist and costume designer. She suffers from arthritis and has had both her knees replaced as a result.

In 2008 the Queen announced that her male-line descendants would bear the additional title of Count of Monpezat.

She is the 1,188th Dame of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain and the 961st Lady of the Order of the Garter.

Constitutional role

After an election where the incumbent Prime Minister does not have a majority behind him, a “Dronningerunde” (Queen's meeting) between the chairmen of each of the Danish political parties attends a meeting with the monarch.

Each party has the choice of selecting a Royal Investigator to lead these negotiations or alternatively, give the incumbent Prime Minister the mandate to continue his government as is.

In theory each party could choose its own leader as Royal Investigator, the globalistic party Det Radikale Venstre did so in 2006, but often only one Royal Investigator is chosen plus the Prime Minister, before each election.

The leader who, at that meeting succeeds in securing a majority of the seats in the Folketing, is by royal decree charged with the task of forming a new government. (It has never happened in more modern history that any party has held a majority on its own.)

Once the government has been formed, it is formally appointed by the Queen. Officially, it is the Queen who is the head of government, and she therefore presides over the Council of State, where the acts of legislation which have Queen Margrethe II in Vágur, Faroe Islands, 21 June been passed by the parliament are signed into 2005 law. In practice, however, nearly all of the Queen's formal powers are exercised by the Council of State, and she is required by convention to act on its advice.

The Queen's main tasks are to represent the Kingdom abroad and to be a unifying figurehead at home. The queen performs the latter task by accepting invitations to open exhibitions, attending anniversaries, inaugurating bridges, etc.

As an unelected public official, the Queen takes no part in party politics and does not express any political opinions.

Although she has the right to vote, she opts not to do so to avoid even the appearance of partisanship.

In addition to her roles in her own country, the queen is also the Colonel-in-Chief of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires), an infantry regiment of the British Army, following a tradition in her family.

The Queen is an accomplished painter, and has held many art shows over the years. It is said that were she not the queen, she could make a living as a professional artist. Her illustrations—under the pseudonym Ingahild Grathmer—were used for the Danish edition ofThe Lord of the Rings published in 1977 and the re-issue in 2002. She is also an accomplished translator and is said to have participated in the Danish translation of The Lord of the Rings. She also designs some of her own clothes. Margrethe is a chain smoker, and she is famous for her tobacco habit. However, on 23 November 2006 the Danish newspaper B.T. reported an announcement from the Royal Court stating that the queen would never again be seen smoking in public. Still, the queen does continue to smoke but in the future she will do so only privately. The announcement is probably due to the fact that the Danish parliament recently has decided on strict rules concerning smoking.

Queen Margrethe II and her husband Prince Henrik A statement in a 2005 authorized biography about the Queen (entitled Margrethe) focused of Denmark welcome President George W. Bush and on Islam: "We are being challenged by Islam his wife Laura Bush at Fredensborg Palace, July 5, these years. Globally as well as locally. There 2005. is something impressive about people for whom religion imbues their existence, from dusk to dawn, from cradle to grave. There are also Christians who feel this way. There is something endearing about people who give themselves up completely to their faith. But there is likewise something frightening about such a totality, which also is a feature of Islam. A counterbalance has to be found, and one has to, at times, run the risk of having unflattering labels placed on you. For there are some things for which one should display no tolerance. And when we are tolerant, we must know whether it is because of convenience or conviction."

Honours and decorations Danish decorations:

Order of the Elephant Grand Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog One hundred anniversary Commemorative Medal of King Frederik IX's birth One hundred anniversary Commemorative Medal of King Christian X's birth Queen Ingrid's Commemorative Medal Commemorative Medal for the 50-year anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Ingrid's arrival in Denmark Home Guard fortjensttegn Home Guard 25-year mark Civil Defense League glory sign Danish Reserve Officers Association Medal

Foreign decorations:

Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator San Martin (Argentina) Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold (Belgium) Order of the Southern Cross with chain (Brazil) Order of Stara Planina with scarf (Bulgaria) Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (Chile) Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (Estonia) Order of Al Kamal (United Arab Emirates) Chain of the Order of the Nile (Egypt) Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (France) Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer (Greece) Order of Saints Olga and Sophia (Greece) Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of the Falcon (Iceland) Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Order of the Precious Crown, First Class (Japan)) Order of the Chrysanthemum with chain (Japan) Order of al-Hussain ibn-Ali (Jordan) Order of the Yugoslav Grand Star Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of the Three Stars (Latvia) Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great (Lithuania) Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (Luxembourg) Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite (Morocco) Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (Netherlands) Order of Pratap Bhasker first class (Nepal) Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of St. Olav (Norway) Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Grand Cross with chain of the Order of Prince Henry (Portugal) Grand Cross with chain of the Order of Saint James of the Sword (Portugal) Grand Cross with chain of the Order of the Star of Romania Collar of the Order of Abdulaziz al Saud (Saudi Arabia) Golden Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia Order of the Golden Fleece (Spain) Grand Cross with chain of the Order of Charles III (Spain) Knight of the Order of the Garter (United Kingdom) Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (United Kingdom) Chain of the Order of the Seraphim (Sweden) Grand Cross with chain of the Order of Good Hope (South Africa) Order of Maha Chakrkri first pm. with chain (Thailand) Order of Rajamitrabhorn (Thailand) Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (Austria)

Ancestry

Patrilineal descent:

Margrethe's patriline is the line from which she is descended father to son. Patrilineal descent is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations - which means that if Margrethe II were to choose an historically accurate house name it would be Oldenburg.

Egilmar I of Lerigau, dates unknown 1.

Egilmar II of Lerigau, d. 1142 2.

Christian I of Oldenburg, d. 1167 3.

Moritz of Oldenburg, d. 1209 4.

Christian II of Oldenburg, d. 1233 5.

John I, Count of Oldenburg, d. 1275 6.

Christian III, Count of Oldenburg, d. 1285 7.

John II, Count of Oldenburg, d. 1314 8.

Conrad I, Count of Oldenburg, 1300–1347 9.

Christian V, Count of Oldenburg, 1340–1423 10.

Dietrich, Count of Oldenburg, 1398–1440 11.

Christian I of Denmark, 1426–1481 12.

Frederick I of Denmark, 1471–1533 13.

Christian III of Denmark, 1503–1559 14.

John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, 1545–1622 15.

Alexander, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, 1573–1627 16.

August Philipp, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, 1612–1675 17.

Frederick Louis, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, 1653–1728 18.

Peter August, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, 1696–1775 19.

Prince Karl Anton August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, 1727–1759 20.

Friedrich Karl Ludwig, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, 1757–1816 21.

Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, 1785–1831 22.

Christian IX of Denmark, 1818–1906 23.

Frederick VIII of Denmark, 1843–1912 24.

Christian X of Denmark, 1870–1947 25.

Frederick IX of Denmark, 1899–1972 26.

Margrethe II of Denmark, b. 1940 27.

Emancipation Day (DC) U.S. - A p r 1 6

Emancipation Day is celebrated in many former British colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates in observance of the emancipation of slaves of African origin. It is also observed in other areas in regard to the abolition of serfdom or other forms of servitude.

Wa s h i n g t o n , D.C. The District of Columbia cele-

brates April 16 as Emancipation Day. On that day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia. The Act freed about 3,100 enslaved persons in the District of Columbia nine months before President Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation. The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act represents the only example of compensation by the federal government to former owners of emancipated slaves.

On January 4, 2005, Mayor Anthony A. Williams signed legislation making Emancipation Day an official public holiday in the District. Although Emancipation Day occurs on April 16, by law when April 16 is a Saturday, Emancipation Day is observed on the preceding Friday. Each year, a series of activities will be held during the public holiday including the traditional Emancipation Day parade celebrating the freedom of enslaved persons in the District of Columbia. The Emancipation Day celebration was held yearly from 1866 to 1901, and was resumed as a tradition and historic celebration in 2002 as a direct result of years of research, lobbying and leadership by Ms. Loretta Carter-Hanes.

In 2007, the observance of this holiday in Washington, D.C. had the effect of nationally extending the 2006 income tax filing deadline from April 16 to April 17. Under a federal statute enacted decades ago, holidays observed in the District of Columbia have an impact nationwide, not just in D.C. The 2007 date change was not discovered until after many forms went to print. In 2011, the tax deadline was extended to Monday, April 18, since the observed date for the holiday was Friday, April 15. In 2012, because Emancipation Day fell on Monday, April 16, and the normal tax deadline of April 15 fell on a Sunday, the tax deadline was Tuesday, April 17.

FAO Day Iraq - A p r 1 7

Food and Agriculture Organization Day (FAO) is celebrated in Iraq to mark the organization’s goal of assuring food security, disseminating effective farming methods and providing machineries and technologies for better farming and livestock-raising techniques. This holiday is celebrated every 17th of April yearly.

History

Iraq is one of the countries in the United Nations which maintain membership with Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). FAO operates as one of the United Nations’ agencies that is tasked to create agendas, policies, and actions to prevent and, eventually, end world hunger. The organization also seeks to modernize the field of agriculture, forestry, livestock raising/animal farming, including fisheries across all member countries, both the developing and developed ones.

FAO-Iraq is active in cross-country agricultural expedition on improving the country’s food security and responding to its citizen nutrition demands especially in poverty-stricken areas by implementing policies that drives food production in the household level.

Celebrations

Iraq’s Ministry of Agriculture usually holds agenda during the celebration with topics covering important issues surrounding food security in Iraq and important bills and laws passed concerning food manufacture in the country and the impact of environmental crisis that regularly strikes the region such as drought. The working class usually takes their day off during the holiday.

It is also during this time when FAO-Iraq awards personalities, usually farmers, in the important role they play in supporting food security all throughout Iraq.

Health Day Kiribati - A p r 1 8

The Republic of Kiribati (pronounced Kiribas) is a group of 33 coral islands in the central Pacific Ocean, about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. The islands of Kiribati are divided into three groups: the Gilbert Islands, the Phoenix Islands, and the Line Islands. All of the islands, except for Banaba in the Gilbert Islands, are atolls (ring-shaped islands with central lagoons). The capital of Kiribati is Tarawa, an atoll in the Gilbert Islands.

Most of the Kiribati atolls are just over 19 feet above sea level and surrounded by barrier reefs. This makes an ideal setting for fishing, snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming, and other water sports.

There are few natural resources found throughout Kiribati.

The country's agricultural products include copra (dried coconut meat from which coconut oil is extracted), taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, and other vegetables. The main industries are fishing, handicrafts, and tourism. World War II battle sites, game fishing, and ecotourism are some of the more popular attractions.

Every year, the people of Kiribati celebrate National Health Day. It is a public holiday set aside to encourage people to live a healthy lifestyle. This includes not only being active, but also taking time to relax. The Health Department coordinates several sports competitions throughout the day, including soccer, volleyball, softball, boxing, basketball, and cycling. In addition, most people take time to relax and enjoy their hobbies.

Independence Day Zimbabwe- A p r 1 8

Independence Day Syria - A p r 1 7

Syria officially the Syrian Arab Republic is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest. The name Syria formerly comprised the entire region of the Levant, while the modern state encompasses the site of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the third millennium BC. In the Islamic era, its capital city, Damascus, the seat of was theUmayyad Empire and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Empire. Damascus is one of the oldest inhabited continuously cities in the world. The population is 74% Sunni Muslim, with a 13%Shia and Alawite population, 10% non-Muslim Christian and 3% Druze minorities. Since the 1960s, Alawite military officers have tended to dominate the country's politics. Some 90% of the population is Muslim, which includes Arabs, Kurds, Circassians, and others, while some 10% are Christians, which includes Arabs, Assyrians/Syriacs, and Armenians. Ethnic minorities include Kurdish, Assyrians/Syriacs, Armenian, Turkmen, and Circassian people.

Modern Syria was created as a French mandate and attained independence in April 1946, as a parliamentary republic. The postindependence period was rocky, and a large number of military coups and coup attempts shook the country in the period 1949-1970.

Syria has been under Emergency Law since 1962, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, and its system of government is considered non-democratic.

Since 1971 the power has been concentrated first to Hafez al-Assad and then to his son Bashar al-Assad.

Etymology The name Syria is derived from the ancient

Greek name for Syrians, which the Greeks applied without distinction to the Assyrians A number of modern scholars argued that the Burj Islam, a well known beach just north of Greek word related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Latakia.

Assyria, ultimately derived from the Akkadian Assur. Others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the Çineköy inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria does indeed derive from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time. Classically, Syria lies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, between Egypt and Arabia to the south and Cilicia to the north, stretching inland to include Mesopotamia, and having an uncertain border to the northeast that Pliny the Elder describes as including, from west to east, Commagene, Sophene, and Adiabene. By Pliny's time, however, this larger Syria had been divided into a number of provinces under the Roman Empire (but politically independent from each other): Judaea, later renamed Palaestina in AD 135 (the region corresponding to modern day Israel and Jordan) in the extreme southwest, Phoenicia corresponding to Lebanon, with Damascena to the inland side of Phoenicia, Coele-Syria (or "Hollow Syria") south of the Eleutheris river, and Mesopotamia.

History

Since approximately 10 000 BC Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture (PPNA) where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period (PPNB) is represented by rectangular houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic people used vessels made of stone, gyps and burnt lime (Vaiselles blanches). Finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age. Archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth. Around the excavated city of Ebla in northern Syria, an Italian Female figurine, Syria, 5000 BC. mission led by Prof. Paolo Matthiae discovered in 1975, a great Semitic empire spread from the Red Sea north to Turkey and east to Ancient Orient Museum.

Mesopotamia from 2500 to 2400 BC Ebla appears to have been founded around 3000 BC and gradually built its empire through trade with the cities of Sumer and Akkad, as well as with peoples to the northwest. Gifts from Pharaoh found during excavations confirm Ebla's contact with Egypt. Scholars believe the language of Ebla to be among the oldest known written Semitic languages. The Eblan civilization was likely conquered by Sargon of Akkad around 2260 BC; the city was restored as the nation of the Amorites a few centuries later and flourished through the early second millennium BC until conquered by the Hittites. During the second millennium BC, Syria was occupied successively by Canaanites, Phoenicians, and Arameans as part of the general disruptions associated with the Sea Peoples; the Phoenicians settled along the coastline of these areas as well as in the west (Now Lebanon and the current Syrian coast), in the area already known for its cedars. Egyptians, Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Hittites variously occupied the strategic ground of Syria during this period, as it was a marchland between their various empires. Eventually the Persians took control of Syria as part of their general control of Southwest Asia; this control transferred to the Greeks after Alexander the Great's conquests and thence to the Romans and the Byzantines. In 83 BC Syria fell under the rule of Tigranes the Great; the King of Armenia. The Armenians maintained a rule of 13 years over Syria which was finally turned into a Roman Province in 64 BC.

Eblan civilization:

Around the excavated city of Ebla near Idlib city in northern Syria, discovered in 1975, a great Semitic empire spread from the Red Sea north to Turkey and east to Mesopotamia from 2500 to 2400 BC. Ebla appears to have been founded around 3000 BC, and gradually built its empire through trade with the cities of Sumer and Akkad, as well as with peoples to the northwest. Gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Ebla's contact with Egypt.

Scholars believe the language of Ebla to be among the oldest known written Semitic languages, designated as Paleo-Canaanite. However, more recent classifications of the Eblaite language has shown that it was an East Semitic language, closely related to the Akkadian language. The Eblan civilization was likely conquered by Sargon of Akkad around 2260 BC; the city was restored, as the nation of the Amorites, a few centuries later, and flourished through the early second millennium BC until conquered by the Hittites.

Antiquity and early Christian era:

During the second millennium BC, Syria was occupied successively by Canaanites, Phoenicians, and Arameans as part of the general disruptions and exchanges associated with the Sea Peoples. The Phoenicians settled along the coast of Northern Canaan (Lebanon), which was already known for its towering cedars. Egyptians, Sumerians,Assyrians, Babylonians and Hittites variously occupied the strategic ground of Syria during this period; the land between their various empires being marsh. Eventually, the Persians took Syria as part of their hegemony of Southwest Asia; this dominion was transferred to the Ancient Macedonians after Alexander the Great's conquests and the Seleucid Empire. The capital of this Empire (founded in 312 BC) was situated at Antioch, modern day Antakya just inside the Turkish border. But the Seleucid Empire was essentially just one long slow period of decline, and Pompey the Great captured Antioch in 64 BC, turning Syria into a Roman province. Thus control of this region passed to the Romans and then the Byzantines. In the Roman Empire period, the city of Antioch was the third largest city in the empire after Rome and Alexandria. With an estimated population of 500,000 at its peak, Antioch was one of the major centers of trade and industry in the ancient world. The population of Syria during the heyday of the empire was probably not exceeded again until the 19th century. Syria's large and prosperous population made Syria one of the most important of the Roman provinces, particularly during the 2nd and 3rd centuries (AD). The Roman Emperor Alexander Severus, who was emperor from 222 to 235, was Syrian. His cousin Elagabalus, who was emperor from 218 to 222, was also Syrian and his family held hereditary rights to the high priesthood of the sun god El-Gabal at Emesa (modern Homs) in Syria. Another Roman emperor who was a Syrian was Marcus Julius Philippus, emperor from 244 to 249.

Syria is significant in the history of Christianity; Saul of Tarsus was converted on the Road to Damascus, thereafter being known as the Apostle Paul, and emerged as a significant figure in the first organized Christian Church at Antioch in ancient Syria, from which he left on many of his missionary journeys. (Acts 9:1-43 )

Islamic era:

By AD 640, Syria was conquered by the Rashidun army led by Khaled ibn al-Walid, resulting in the area's becoming part of the Islamic empire. In the mid-7th century, the Umayyad dynasty, then rulers of the empire, placed the capital of the empire in Damascus. Syria was divided into four districts: Damascus, Homs, Palestine and Jordan. The Islamic empire stretched from Spain and Morocco to India and parts of Central Asia; thus Syria prospered economically, being the capital of the empire. Early Ummayad rulers such as Abd al-Malik and al-Walid constructed several splendid palaces and mosques throughout Syria, particularly in Damascus, Aleppo and Homs. There was great toleration of Christians in this era and several held governmental posts. The country's power dramatically declined during later Ummayad rule; mainly due to the totalitarianism and corruption spread among the empire's leaderships, conflict between its general staff, and the successive revolutions by the oppressed and miserable groups. As one Ummayad chieftain responded to a question about the reasons of the decline of their empire: "Rather visiting what needed to be visited, we were more interested in the pleasure and enjoyment of life; we oppressed our people until they gave up and sought relief from us, we trusted our ministers who favoured their own interests and kept secrets from us, and we unhurriedly rewarded our soldiers that we lost their obedience to our enemies." Ummayad dynasty was then overthrown by the Abbasid dynasty in 750, who moved the capital of empire to Baghdad. Arabic — made official under Ummayad rule — became the dominant language, replacing Greek and Aramaic in the Abbasid era. In 887, the Egypt-based Tulunids annexed Syria from the Abbasids, and were later replaced by the Hamdanids originating in Aleppo founded by Sayf al-Daula. Sections of the coastline of Syria were briefly held by Frankish overlords during the Crusades of the 12th century, and were known as the Crusader state of the Principality of Antioch. The area was also threatened by Shi'a extremists known as Assassins (Hashshashin). In 1260, the Mongols arrived, led by Hulegu with an army 100,000 strong, destroying cities and irrigation works. Aleppo fell in January 1260, andDamascus in March, but then Hulegu needed to Philippus Araps, Roman Embreak off his attack to return to China to deal with a succession dispute. The peror command of the remaining Mongol troops was placed under Kitbugha, a Christian Mongol. A few months later, the Mamluks arrived with an army from Egypt, and defeated the Mongols in the Battle of Ayn Jalut, in Galilee. The Mamluk leader, Baybars, made his capitals in Cairoand Damascus, linked by a mail service that traveled by both horses and carrier pigeons. When Baybars died, his successor was overthrown, and power was taken by a Turk named Qalawun. In the meantime, an emir named Sunqur al-Ashqar had tried to declare himself ruler of Damascus, but he was defeated by Qalawun on 21 June 1280, and fled to northern Syria.

Al-Ashqar, who had married a Mongol woman, appealed for help from the Mongols, and in 1281, they arrived with an army of 50,000 Mongols, and 30,000 Armenian, Georgian, and Turkish auxiliaries, along with Al-Ashqar's rebel force. The Mongols of the Ilkhanate took the city, but Qalawun arrived with a Mamluk force, persuaded Al-Ashqar to switch sides and join him, and they fought against the Mongols on 29 October 1281, in the Second Battle of Homs, a close battle which resulted in the death of the majority of the combatants, but was finally won by the Mamluks. In 1400, Timur Lenk, or Tamerlane, invaded Syria, sacked Aleppo and captured Damascus after defeating the Mamluk army. The city's inhabitants were massacred, except for the artisans, who were deported to Samarkand. It was during the conquests of Timur that the indigenous Christian population of Syria began to suffer under greater persecutions.

By the end of the 15th century, the discovery of a sea route from Europe to the Far East ended the need for an overland trade route through Syria. Shattered by the Mongols, Syria was easily absorbed into the Ottoman Empire from the 16th through 20th centuries, and found itself largely apart from, and ignored by, world affairs.

Ottoman era:

Two allied diplomats (Frenchman François Georges-Picot and Briton Mark Sykes) secretly agreed, long before the end of the war, how to split the Ottoman Empire into several zones of influence. With the end of World War I and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire as an ally of Germany, plans by the Entente powers to dissolve this Ottoman territory could then begin.

The Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 set the fate of modern Southwest Asia for the coming century; providing France with the northern zone (Syria, with later the upcoming Lebanon), and the United Kingdom with the southern one (Iraq and later, after renegotiations in 1917, Palestine (then still including Jordan) - 'to secure daily transportation of troops from Haifa to Baghdad' - agreement n° 7).

The two territories were separated by only a straight border line from Jordan to Iran. But early discoveries of oil in the region of Mosul just before the end of the war led to yet another negotiation with France in 1918 to cede this region to 'Zone B', or the British zone of influence. The borders between the 'Zone A' and 'Zone B' have not changed from 1918 to this date. Since 1920, the two sides have been recognized internationally under mandate of the League of Nations by the two dominant countries: France and the United Kingdom.

French Mandate:

In 1920, an independent Arab Kingdom of Syria was established under Faisal I of the Hashemite family, who later became the King of Iraq. However, his rule over Syria ended after only a few months, following the clash between his Syrian Arab forces and regular French forces at the Battle of Maysalun. French troops occupied Syria later that year after the San Remo conference proposed that the League of Nations put Syria under a French mandate.

In 1925 Sultan Pasha al-Atrash led a revolt which broke out in the Druze Mountain and spread to engulf the whole of Syria and parts of Lebanon. This is considered one of the most important revolutions against the French mandate, as it encompassed the whole of Syria and witnessed fierce battles between rebel and French forces. On August 23, 1925, Sultan Pasha al-Atrash officially declared revolution against France, and soon fighting erupted in Damascus, Homs and Hama. Al-Atrash won several battles against the French at the beginning of revolution, notably the Battle of Al-Kabir on July 21, 1925, the Battle of Al-Mazra'a on August 2, 1925, and the battles of Salkhad, Almsifarh and Suwayda.

After rebel victories against the French, France sent thousands of troops to Syria and Lebanon from Morocco and Senegal, equipped with modern weapons; the rebels were lightly armed. This dramatically altered the results and allowed the French to regain many cities, although resistance lasted until the spring of 1927. The French sentenced Sultan al-Atrash to death, but he had escaped with the rebels to Transjordan and was eventually pardoned. He returned to Syria in 1937 after the signing of the Syrian French Treaty. He was met with a huge public reception.

Syria and France negotiated a treaty of independence in September 1936, and Hashim al-Atassi, who was Prime Minister under King Faisal's brief reign, was the first president to be elected under a new constitution, effectively the first incarnation of the modern republic of Syria. However, the treaty never came into force because the French Legislature refused to ratify it. With the fall of France in 1940 during World War II, Syria came under the control of the Vichy Government until the British and Free French occupied the country in July 1941. Syria proclaimed its independence again in 1941, but it was not until 1 January 1944 that it was recognised as an independent republic. Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalist groups and British pressure forced the French to evacuate their troops in April 1946, leaving the country in the hands of a republican government that had been formed during the mandate.

Instability and foreign relations: independence to 1967:

Although rapid economic development followed the declaration of independence, Syrian politics from independence through the late 1960s were marked by upheaval. Between 1946 and 1956, Syria had 20 different cabinets and drafted four separate constitutions. In 1948, Syria was involved in the Arab-Israeli War, aligning with the other local Arab nations who were attempting to prevent the establishment of Israel. The Syrian army was pressed out of most of the Palestine area, but fortified their strongholds on the Golan Heights and managed to keep their old borders and some additional territory (this was converted into "supposed" demilitarized zones under UN supervision ; the status of these territories have proved a stumbling-block for Syrian-Israeli negotiations). It was during this period that many Syrian Jews, who faced growing discrimination, emigrated from the country, as part of Jewish exodus from Arab countries.

The humiliating defeat suffered by the army was one of several trigger factors for Col. Husni al-Za'im'sseizure of power in 1949, in what has been described as the first military overthrow of the Arab world since the start of the Second World War. This was soon followed by another overthrow, by Col. Sami al-Hinnawi, who was then himself quickly deposed by Col. Adib Shishakli, all within the same year.

After exercising influence behind the scenes for some time, dominating the ravaged parliamentary scene, Shishakli launched a second overthrow in 1951, entrenching his rule and eventually abolishing multipartyism altogether. Only when president Shishakli was himself overthrown in a 1954 overthrow, was the parliamentary system restored, but it was fundamentally undermined by continued political maneuvering supported by competing factions in the military.

By this time, civilian politics had been largely gutted of meaning, and power was increasingly concentrated in the military and security establishment, which had now proven itself to be the only force capable of seizing and - perhaps - keeping power. Parliamentary institutions remained weak and ineffectual, dominated by competing parties representing the landowning elites and various Sunni urban notables, while economy and politics were mismanaged, and little done to better the role of Syria's peasant majority. This, as well as the influence of Nasserism and other anti-colonial ideologies, created fertile ground for various Arab nationalist, Syrian nationalist and socialist movements, who represented disaffected elements of society, notably including the religious minorities, and demanded radical reform.

During the Suez Crisis of 1956, after the invasion of the Sinai Peninsula by Israeli troops, and the intervention of British and French troops,martial law was declared in Syria. The November 1956 attacks on Iraqi pipelines were in retaliation for Iraq's acceptance into the Baghdad Pact. In early 1957 Iraq advised Egypt and Syria against a conceivable takeover of Jordan.

In November 1956 Syria signed a pact with the Soviet Union, providing a foothold for Communist influence within the government in exchange for planes, tanks, and other military equipment being sent to Syria. With this increase in the strength of Syrian military technology worried Turkey, as it seemed feasible that Syria might attempt to retake Iskenderun, a matter of dispute between Syria and Turkey. On the other hand, Syria and the U.S.S.R. accused Turkey of massing its troops at the Syrian border. During this standoff, Communists gained more control over the Syrian government and mili- President Adib Shishakli tary. Only heated debates in the United Nations (of which Syria was an original member) lessened the threat of war.

Syria's political instability during the years after the 1954 overthow, the parallelism of Syrian and Egyptian policies, and the appeal of Egyptian President Gamal Abdal Nasser's leadership in the wake of the Suez crisis created support in Syria for union with Egypt. On 1 February 1958, Syrian President Shukri al-Quwatli and Nasser announced the merging of the two countries, creating the United Arab Republic, and all Syrian political parties, as well as the Communists therein, ceased overt activities.

The union was not a success, however. Following a military overthrow led by Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi on 28 September 1961, Syria seceded, reestablishing itself as the Syrian Arab Republic. Instability characterized the next 18 months, with various overthrows culminating with 8 March 1963 coup, resulting in installation by leftist Syrian Army officers of the National Council of the Revolutionary Command (NCRC), a group of military and civilian officials who assumed control of all executive and legislative authority. The takeover was engineered by members of the Arab Socialist Resurrection Party (Ba'ath Party), which had been active in Syria and other Arab countries since the late 1940s. The new cabinet was dominated by Ba'ath members.

The Baath takeover in Syria followed a Baath overthrow in Iraq the previous month. The new Syrian Government explored the possibility of federation with Egypt and with Baath-controlled Iraq. An agreement was concluded in Cairo on 17 April 1963, for a referendum on unity to be held in September 1963. However, serious disagreements among the parties soon developed, and the tripartite federation failed to materialize. Thereafter, the Baath government in Syria and Iraq began to work for bilateral unity. These plans foundered in November 1963, when the Baath government in Iraq was overthrown.

In May 1964, President Amin Hafiz of the NCRC promulgated a provisional constitution providing for a National Council of the Revolution (NCR), an appointed legislature composed of representatives of mass organizations— labour, peasant, and professional unions—a presidential council, in which executive power was vested, and a cabinet.

On 23 February 1966, a group of army officers carried out a successful, intra-party overthrow, imprisoned President Hafiz, dissolved the cabinet and the NCR, abrogated the provisional constitution, and designated a regionalist, civilian Baath government on 1 March. The leaders of the overthrow described it as a "rectification" of Baath Party principles.

Six Day War and aftermath:

We shall never call for nor accept peace. We shall only accept war. We have resolved to drench this land with your blood. To oust you aggressors, to throw you into the sea.

—Hafez al-Assad, then Syrian Defence Minister, 24 May 1966 When Nasser closed the Gulf of Aqaba to Eilat-bound ships, the Baath government supported the Egyptian leader and amassed troops in the strategic Golan Heights. Syria sponsored Palestinian raids into Israel and Syrian artillery repeatedly bombed Israeli civilian communities from positions on the Golan Heights Concerning the raids on Israel's territory, Syria claimed that it could not be held responsible for the activities of El-Fatah and El-Asefa, nor for the rise of Palestinian organizations.

Conflicts also arose over different interpretations of the legal status of the Demilitarized Zone. Israel maintained that it had sovereign rights over the zone, allowing the civilian use of farmland. Syria and the UN maintained that no party had sovereign rights over the zone. Israel was accused by Syria of cultivating lands in the Demilitarized Zone, using armored tractors backed by Israel forces. Syria claimed that the situation was the result of an Israeli aim to increase tension so as to justify large-scale aggression, and to expand its occupation of the Demilitarized Zone by liquidating the rights of Arab cultivators.

Conflict over the cultivation of disputed lands sparked into April 7 prewar aerial clashes between Israel and Syria.

The Israeli defense minister Moshe Dayan said in a 1976 interview that Israel provoked more than 80% of the clashes with Syria.

After Israel launched a preemptive strike on Egypt to begin the June 1967 war, Syria joined the battle against Israel as well. In the final days of the war, after having captured the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt, as well as the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem from Jordan, Israel turned its attention to Syria, capturing the entire Golan Heights in under 48 hours.

Conflict developed between an extremist military wing and a more moderate civilian wing of the Baath Party. The 1970 retreat of Syrian forces sent to aid the PLO during the "Black September" hostilities with Jordan reflected this political disagreement within the ruling Baath leadership. By 13 November 1970, Minister of Defense Hafez al-Assad was solidly established as the strongman of the government, when he effected a bloodless military overthrow ("The Corrective Movement").

Baath Party rule under Hafez al-Assad, 1970–2000:

Upon assuming power, Hafez al-Assad moved quickly to create an organizational infrastructure for his government and to consolidate control. The Provisional Regional Command of Assad's Arab Baath Socialist Party nominated a 173-member legislature, the People's Council, in which the Baath Party took 87 seats. The remaining seats were divided among "popular organizations" and other minor parties. In March 1971, the party held its regional congress and elected a new 21-member Regional Command headed by Assad.

In the same month, a national referendum was held to confirm Assad as President for a 7-year term. In March 1972, to broaden the base of his government, Assad formed the National Progressive Front, a coalition of parties led by the Baath Party, and elections were held to establish local councils in each of Syria's 14 governorates. In March 1973, a new Syrian constitution went into effect followed shortly thereafter by parliamentary elections for the People's Council, the first such elections since 1962. The 1973 Constitution defines Syria officially as a secular socialist state with Islam recognised as majority religion.

On 6 October 1973, Syria and Egypt began the Yom Kippur War by staging a surprise attack againstIsraeli forces returning the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. After early successes, the Israeli military reversed the initial Syrian gains, pushing the Syrian army out of the Golan and invaded into Syrian territory beyond the 1967 border. As a result, Israel continued to occupy the Golan Heights as part of the Israeli-occupied territories.

In early 1976, the Lebanese civil war was going poorly for the Maronite Christians. Following a request from the Maronite dominated Lebanese government with the approval of the Arab league, Syria sent 40,000 troops into the country ostensibly to prevent them from being overrun, but abruptly switched sides soon thereafter and became embroiled in the Lebanese Civil War, beginning the 30 year Syrian military presence. Many crimes in Lebanon, including the assassinations of Rafik Hariri, Kamal Jumblat and Bachir Gemayel were attributed to the Syrian forces and Hafez al-Assad, former president of intelligence services but these were never proven. Over the fol- Syria lowing 15 years of civil war, Syria fought for control over Lebanon, and attempted to undermine Israel in southern Lebanon, through extensive use of proxy militias. Many saw the Syrian Army'spresence in Lebanon as an occupation, especially following the end of the civil war in 1990, after the Syrian-sponsored Taif Agreement. Syria then remained in Lebanon until 2005, exerting a heavy-handed influence over Lebanese politics that was deeply resented by many. Following the assassination of the popular former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, blamed on Syria, pressure was put to bear on Syria to withdraw their forces from Lebanon. On April 26, 2005 the bulk of the Syrian forces withdrew from Lebanon but some of its intelligence operatives remained, drawing further international rebuke.

About one million Syrian workers came into Lebanon after the war ended to find jobs in the reconstruction of the country. Syrian workers were preferred over Palestinian and Lebanese workers because they could be paid lower wages, but some have argued that the Syrian government's encouragement of citizens entering its small and militarily dominated neighbor in search of work, was in fact an attempt at Syrian colonization of Lebanon. Now, the economies of Syria and Lebanon are completely interdependent. In 1994, under pressure from Damascus, the Lebanese government controversially granted citizenship to over 200,000 Syrian residents in the country. (For more on these issues, see Demographics of Lebanon) The authoritarian government was not without its critics, though open dissent was repressed. A serious challenge arose in the late 1970s, however, from fundamentalist Sunni Muslims, who reject the basic values of the secular Baath program and object to rule by the Alawis, whom they consider heretical. From 1976 until its suppression in 1982, the arch-conservative Muslim Brotherhood led an armed insurgency against the government. In response to an attempted uprising by the brotherhood in February 1982, the government crushed the fundamentalist opposition centered in the city of Hama, leveling parts of the city with artillery fire and leaving between 10,000 and 25,000 people either dead or wounded, mostly civilians (see Hama massacre). The Syrian government's actions at Hama have been described as possibly being "the single deadliest act by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East". Since then, public manifestations of anti-government activity have been limited.

In 1982 Assad responded to an insurrection in the city of Hama by sending a paramilitary force to indiscriminately kill between 10,000 and 20,000 civilians including children, women, and the elderly.

Syria's 1990 participation in the U.S.-led multinational coalition aligned against Saddam Hussein marked a dramatic watershed in Syria's relations both with other Arab states and with the Western world. Syria participated in the multilateral Southwest Asia Peace Conference inMadrid in October 1991, and during the 1990s engaged in direct, faceto-face negotiations with Israel. These negotiations failed, and there have been no further direct Syrian-Israeli talks since President Hafiz al-Assad's meeting with then President Bill Clinton in Geneva in March 2000.

Paul Revere Day U.S. - A p r 1 8

On this day in 1775, British troops march out of Boston on a mission to confiscate the American arsenal at Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to be hiding at Lexington. As the British departed, Boston Patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes set out on horseback from the city to warn Adams and Hancock and rouse the Minutemen.

By 1775, tensions between the American colonies and the British government had approached the breaking point, especially in Massachusetts, where Patriot leaders formed a shadow revolutionary government and trained militias to prepare for armed conflict with the British troops occupying Boston. In the spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, received instructions from Great Britain to seize all stores of weapons and gunpowder accessible to the American insurgents. On April 18, he ordered British troops to march against Concord and Lexington.

The Boston Patriots had been preparing for such a British military action for some time, and, upon learning of the British plan, Revere and Dawes set off across the Massachusetts countryside. They took separate routes in case one of them was captured: Dawes left the city via the Boston Neck peninsula and Revere crossed the Charles River to Charlestown by boat. As the two couriers made their way, Patriots in Charlestown waited for a signal from Boston informing them of the British troop movement. As previously agreed, one lantern would be hung in the steeple of Boston’s Old North Church, the highest point in the city, if the British were marching out of the city by Boston Neck, and two lanterns would be hung if they were crossing the Charles River to Cambridge.

Two lanterns were hung, and the armed Patriots set out for Lexington and Concord accordingly. Along the way, Revere and Dawes roused hundreds of Minutemen, who armed themselves and set out to oppose the British.

Revere arrived in Lexington shortly before Dawes, but together they warned Adams and Hancock and then set out for Concord. Along the way, they were joined by Samuel Prescott, a young Patriot who had been riding home after visiting a lady friend. Early on the morning of April 19, a British patrol captured Revere, and Dawes lost his horse, forcing him to walk back to Lexington on foot. However, Prescott escaped and rode on to Concord to warn the Patriots there. After being roughly questioned for an hour or two, Revere was released when the patrol heard Minutemen alarm guns being fired on their approach to Lexington.

About 5 a.m. on April 19, 700 British troops under Major John Pitcairn arrived at the town to find a 77-man-strong colonial militia under Captain John Parker waiting for them on Lexington’s common green. Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment’s hesitation, the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, the “shot heard around the world” was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead and 10 others were wounded; only one British soldier was injured. The American Revolution had begun.

Zimbabwe officially the Republic of Zimbabwe is a landlocked country of southern Africa. It shares a 125-mile (200-kilometre) border on the south with the Republic of South Africa and is bounded on the southwest and west by Botswana, on the north by Zambia, and on the northeast and east by Mozambique. The capital is Harare(formerly called Salisbury). Zimbabwe achieved majority rule and internationally recognized independence in April 1980 following a long period of colonial rule and a 15-year period of white-dominated minority rule, instituted after the minority regime’s so-called Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965.

Zimbabwe has three official languages: English, Shona, and Ndebele. Zimbabwe began as theBritish self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia, created from land held by the British South Africa Company. President Robert Mugabe is the head of State and Commander in Chief of the armed forces. Morgan Tsvangirai is the Prime Minister. Mugabe has been in power since the country's internationally recognised independence in 1980.

History

Pre-colonial era (1000–1887):

Proto-Shona speaking societies first emerged in the middle Limpopo valley in the 9th century before moving on to the Zimbabwean highlands. The Zimbabwean plateau eventually became the center of subsequent Shona states, beginning in ca. the 10th century. Around the early 10th century, trade developed with Arab merchants on the Indian Ocean coast, helping to develop the Kingdom of Mapungubwe in the 11th century. This was the precursor to the more impressive Shona civilisations that would dominate the region during the 13th to 15th centuries, evidenced by ruins at Great Zimbabwe, near Masvingo, and other smaller sites. The main archaeological site is a unique dry stone architecture.

The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was the first in a series of sophisticated trade states developed in Zimbabwe by the time of the first European explorers from Portugal. They traded in gold, ivory and copper for cloth and glass.

From about 1300 until 1600, Mapungubwe was eclipsed by the Kingdom of Zimbabwe. This Shona state further refined and expanded upon Mapungubwe's stone architecture, which survives to this day at the ruins of the kingdom's capital of Great Zimbabwe. From c. 1450–1760, Zimbabwe gave way to the Kingdom of Mutapa. This Shona state ruled much of the area that is Philippus Araps, Roman Emknown as Zimbabwe today, and parts of central Mozambique. It is known by peror many names including the Mutapa Empire, also known asMwene Mutapa or Monomotapa as well as "Munhumutapa," and was renowned for its gold trade routes with Arabs and the Portuguese.

Portuguese settlers destroyed the trade and began a series of wars which left the empire in near collapse in the early 17th century.

As a direct response to the Portuguese presence in the interior, a new Shona state emerged called the Rozvi Empire.

Relying on centuries of military, political and religious development, the Rozvi (which means "destroyers") removed the Portuguese from the Zimbabwe plateau by force of arms. The Rozvi continued the stone building traditions of the Zimbabwe and Mapungubwe kingdoms while adding guns to its arsenal and developing a professional army to protect its trade routes and conquests.

Around 1821, the Zulu general Mzilikazi (meaning The Great Road) of the Khumalo clan successfully rebelled from King Shaka and set up his own tribe, the Ndebele. The tribe fought its way northwards into the Transvaal leaving a trail of destruction in its wake and beginning an era of widespread killings and devastation known as the Mfecane.

When the Boer settlers (descendants of Dutch and other Europeans) arrived in the Transvaal in 1836 during the Great Trek they attacked the Ndebele and drove the tribe even further northward. In 1837–38, the Rozvi Empire along with other Shona states were conquered by the Ndebele and forced to pay tribute and concentrate in the northeast of present-day Zimbabwe.

After losing the Transvaal in 1840, Mzilikazi and his tribe settled the southwest of present-day Zimbabwe in what became known asMatabeleland and established Bulawayo as their capital. Mzilikazi then organised his followers into a military system with regimental kraals, similar to those of Shaka, which became strong enough to repel the Boer attacks of 1847–1851 and persuade the government of the South African Republic to sign a peace treaty with him in 1852. Mzilikazi died in 1868 and after a brief, violent power struggle was succeeded by his son, Lobengula.

Colonial era (1888–1965):

In the 1880s, the British arrived with colonialist Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company.In 1888, Rhodes obtained a concession for mining rights from King Lobengula of the Ndebelepeoples. He presented this concession to persuade the government of the United Kingdom to grant a royal charter to his British South Africa Company (BSAC) over Matabeleland, and its subject states such as Mashonaland.

Rhodes used this document in 1890 to justify sending the Pioneer Column, a group of white settlers protected by well-armed British South Africa Police (BSAP) through Matabeleland and into Shona territory to establish Fort Salisbury (now Harare). In 1893 and 1894, with the help of their new maxim guns, the BSAP would go on to defeat the Ndebele in the First Matabele War, a war which also resulted in the death of King Lobengula. Rhodes sought permission to negotiate similar concessions covering all territory between the Limpopo River and Lake Tanganyika, then known as "Zambesia".

In accordance with the terms of aforementioned concessions and treaties, Rhodes promoted the colonisation of the region's land, with British control over labour as well as precious metals and other mineral resources. In 1895 the BSAC adopted the name "Rhodesia" for the territory of Zambesia, in honour of Rhodes. In 1898 "Southern Rhodesia" became the official denotation for the region south of the Zambezi, which later became Zimbabwe. The region to the north was administered separately by the BSAC and later named Northern Rhodesia (nowZambia).

Shortly after the disastrous Jameson Raid on the South African Republic, the Ndebele were led by their spiritual leader Mlimo against the white colonials and thus began the Second Matabele War (1896–97). The Shona also staged unsuccessful revolts (known as Chimurenga) against encroachment upon their lands, by clients of BSAC and Cecil Rhodes in 1896 and 1897. Following the failed insurrections of 1896–97 the Ndebele and Shona groups became subject to Rhodes's administration thus precipitating European settlement en masse which led to land distribution dispropor- Opening of the railway to Umtali in 1899 tionately favouring Europeans, displacing the Shona, Ndebele, and other indigenous peoples.

Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing British colony in October 1923, subsequent to a 1922 referendum.

Rhodesians served on behalf of the United Kingdom during World War II, mainly in theEast African Campaign against Axis forces in Italian East Africa. Proportional to (European-descended) population, Southern Rhodesia contributed more to both the First and Second World Wars than any other part of the Empire, including Britain itself.

In 1953, in the face of African opposition, Britain consolidated the two colonies of Rhodesia withNyasaland in the illfated Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland which was dominated by Southern Rhodesia. Growing African nationalism and general dissent, particularly in Nyasaland, persuaded Britain to dissolve the Union in 1963, forming three colonies. As colonial rule was ending throughout the continent and as African-majority governments assumed control in neighbouring Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and in Nyasaland (Malawi), the white-minority Rhodesian government led by Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front (RF) dropped the designation "Southern" in 1964 and issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (commonly abbreviated to "UDI") from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965, effectively repudiating the recently-adopted British policy of "no independence before majority rule". It was the first declaration of independence by a British colony since the American declaration of 1776, which was indeed claimed by the Rhodesian government to provide a precedent.

Independence and civil war (1965–1979):

After UDI, the British government requested United Nations economic sanctions against Rhodesia as negotiations with the Smith administration in 1966 and 1968 ended in stalemate. The United Kingdom deemed the Rhodesian declaration an act of rebellion, but did not re-establish control by force. A civil war ensued, with Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) using assistance from the governments of Zambia and Mozambique (the latter following its independence from Portugal in 1975).

Smith's declaration of a republic in 1970 was recognised only by South Africa, then governed by its apartheid administration. Over the years, the fighting against Ian Smith's government intensified. As a result, the Smith government opened negotiations with the leaders of ZAPU and ZANU. In March 1978, with his regime near the brink of collapse, Smith signed an accord with three African leaders, led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa, who offered safeguards for white civilians. As a result of the Internal Settlement, elections were held in April 1979. The United African National Council (UANC) party won a majority in this election. On 1 June 1979, the leader of UANC, Abel Muzorewa, became the country's prime minister and the country's name was changed toZimbabwe Rhodesia. The internal settlement left control of the country's police, security forces, civil service and judiciary in white hands. It assured whites of about one-third of the seats in parliament. On 12 June, the United States Senate voted to end economic sanctions against Zimbabwe Rhodesia.

Following the fifth Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), held in Lusaka, Zambia from 1 to 7 August in 1979, the British government invited Muzorewa and the leaders of thePatriotic Front to participate in a constitutional conference at Lancaster House. The purpose of the conference was to discuss and reach an agreement on the terms of an independence constitution and that elections should be supervised under British authority to enable Rhodesia to proceed to legal independence and the parties to settle their differences by political means.

Lord Carrington, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom, chaired the conference. The conference took place from 10 September to 15 December in 1979 with 47 plenary sessions. On 1 December 1979, delegations from the British and Rhodesian governments and the Patriotic Front signed the Lancaster House Agreement, ending the civil war.

Post-Independence (1980–1999):

Britain's Lord Soames was appointed governor to oversee the disarming of revolutionary fighters, the holding of elections and the granting of independence to an uneasy coalition government with Joshua Nkomo, head of ZAPU. In the elections of February 1980, Robert Mugabe and his ZANU won a landslide victory.

There was opposition to a Shona win in Matabeleland. In November 1980 Enos Nkala made remarks at a rally in Bulawayo, in which he warned ZAPU that ZANU would deliver a few blows against them. This started the first Entumbane uprising, in which ZIPRA and ZANLA fought for two days.

In February 1981 there was a second uprising, which spread to Glenville and also to Connemara in the Midlands.

ZIPRA troops in other parts of Matabeleland headed for Bulawayo to join the battle, and ex-Rhodesian units had to come in to stop the fighting. Over 300 people were killed.

These uprisings led to what has become known as Gukurahundi (Shona: "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains") or the Matabeleland Massacres, which ran from 1982 until 1985. Mugabe used his North Korean trained Fifth Brigade to crush any resistance in Matabeleland. It has been estimated that at least 20,000 Matabele were murdered and tens of thousands of others were tortured in camps such as the Valagwe camp, where 2-3000 people could be detained for torture and interrogation at any one time. The violence ended after ZANU and ZAPU reached a unity agreement in 1988 that merged the two parties, creating ZANU-PF. Elections in March 1990 resulted in another victory for Mugabe and his party, which won 117 of the 120 election seats. Election observers estimated voter turnout at only 54% and found the campaign neither free nor fair.

During the 1990s students, trade unionists and workers often demonstrated to express their discontent with the government. Students protested in 1990 against proposals for an increase in government control of universities and again in 1991 and 1992 when they clashed with police. Trade unionists and workers also criticised the government during this time. In 1992 police prevented trade unionists from holding anti-government demonstrations. In 1994 widespread industrial unrest weakened the economy. In 1996 civil servants, nurses, and junior doctorswent on strike over salary issues. The general health of the civilian population also began to significantly flounder. By 1997 an estimated 25% of the population of Zimbabwe had been infected by HIV.

Economic difficulties and hyperinflation (1999–2008):

Land issues, which the liberation movement had promised to solve, re-emerged as the main issue for the ruling party around 1997. Despite majority rule and the existence of a "willing-buyer-willing-seller" land reform programme since the 1980s, whites made up less than 1% of the population but held about 70% of the most arable land. Mugabe began to redistribute land to blacks in 2000 with a compulsory land redistribution.

Eventually a wide range of sanctions were imposed by the US government and European Union against the person of Mugabe, individuals, private companies, parastatals, and the government of Zimbabwe.

The legality and constitutionality of the process has regularly been challenged in the Zimbabwean High and Supreme Courts. The confiscation of the farmland was affected by continuous droughts and lack of inputs and finance led to a sharp decline in agricultural exports, which was traditionally the country's leading export producing sector. Mining and tourism have surpassed agriculture. As a result, Zimbabwe experienced a severe hard-currency shortage that led to hyperinflation and chronic shortages in imported fuel and consumer goods. In 2002, Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations on charges of human rights abuses during the land redistribution and of election tampering. In 2003, the Zimbabwe government terminated its Commonwealth membership.

Following elections in 2005, the government initiated "Operation Murambatsvina", an effort to crack down on illegal markets and homes that had seen slums emerge in towns and cities. This action has been widely condemned by opposition and international figures, who charge that it has left a substantial section of urban poor homeless. The Zimbabwe government has described the operation as an attempt to provide decent housing to the population although they have yet to deliver any new housing for the forcibly removed people.

Zimbabwe's current economic and food crisis, described by some observers as the country's worst humanitarian crisis since independence, has been attributed in varying degrees to the government's price controls and land confiscations, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and a drought affecting the entire region.

Life expectancy at birth for males in Zimbabwe has dramatically declined since 1990 from 60 to 42 years, among the lowest in the world. The amount of time a Zimbabwean Bishop Abel Muzorewa signs the Lancaster citizen is expected to live healthily from birth is 39 years. House Agreement seated next to British Concurrently, the infant mortality rate has climbed from 53 Foreign Minister Lord Carrington. to 81 deaths per 1,000 live births in the same period. As of 2009, 1.2 million Zimbabweans live with HIV. On 29 March 2008, Zimbabwe held a presidential election along with a parliamentary election. The three major candidates were Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC-T), and Simba Makoni, an independent. The results of this election were withheld for two weeks, following which it was generally acknowledged that the MDC had achieved a majority of one seat in lower house of parliament. Mugabe retained control because after the "recount" which was done behind close doors without independent monitors Tsvangirai no longer had the margin required by Zimbabwean law[citation needed]. Hence, the doctored election results that would otherwise put Mugabe out of power, failed the opposition[weasel words].

In late 2008, problems in Zimbabwe reached crisis proportions in the areas of living standards, public health (with a major cholera outbreak in December) and various public considerations. Mining of diamonds at Marange in Chiadzwa became the subject of international attention as the World Diamond Council called for a clampdown on smuggling and illegal miners were reported killed by the military.

2008–present:

In September 2008, a power-sharing agreement was reached between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, in which Mugabe remained president and Tsvangirai became prime minister. Due to ministerial differences between their respective political parties, the agreement was not fully implemented until 13 February 2009, two days after the swearing in of Tsvangirai as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.

In November 2010, the IMF described the Zimbabwean economy as "completing its second year of buoyant economic growth after a decade of economic decline", mentioning "strengthening policies" and "favorable shocks" as main reasons for the economic growth.

In December 2010 President Mugabe threatened to further expropriate privately-owned companies unless "western sanctions" were lifted. He said: "Why should we continue having companies and organisations that are supported

by Britain and America without hitting back? Time has come for us to [take] revenge. We can read the riot act and say this is 51 percent we are taking and if the sanctions persist we are taking over 100 percent."

Journalist Nicholas D. Kristof reported that life continues to be considerably worse for the majority of the nation than under the Rhodesian Front government, this despite improvements since the beginning of the power-sharing government. However more recent studies, such as a 2011 survey by Freedom House, suggest that living conditions have improved on a wide front since the power-sharing agreement. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs states in its 2012–2013 planning document that the "humanitarian situation has improved in Zimbabwe since 2009, but conditions remain precarious for many people".