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THE Country Celebration Thread

76K views 887 replies 44 participants last post by  HoorayBeer 
#1 · (Edited)
Well a good friend of mine (Orange Wombat) gave me this idea (he would've posted this, but he had to leave). This will be moved to non-tennis, but it belongs in GM so that more people will see it. Today is national Indonesia day, and as a sign of respect me and Orange Wombat have switched our flags to Indonesia. When people think of the world, they rarely think of Indonesia and as a result Indonesia doesn't get the respect it deserves. So just take this day to show a sign of respect and switch your flag to Indonesia.

No, this is not a 'trolling attempt', but rather showing respect. Have fun all :)



2013 Flag Season
January- Sudan
February- Saint Lucia
March- Bosnia and Herzegovina
April- Syria
May- Israel
June- Democratic Republic of the Congo
July- São Tomé and Príncipe
August- Burkina Faso
September- Saint Kitts and Nevis
October- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
November- Yemen
December- Iceland
 
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#271 · (Edited)
December 15:

Kingdom of the Netherlands: (1954) --- Kingdom Day



The origin of the administrative reform of 1954 was the 1931 Westminster Statute and the 1941 Atlantic Charter (stating the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live, and the desire for a permanent system of general security), which was signed by the Netherlands on 1 January 1942. Changes were proposed in the 7 December 1942 radio speech by Queen Wilhelmina. In this speech, the Queen, on behalf of the Dutch government in exile in London, expressed a desire to review the relations between the Netherlands and its colonies after the end of the war. After liberation, the government would call a conference to agree on a settlement in which the overseas territories could participate in the administration of the Kingdom on the basis of equality. Initially, this speech had propaganda purposes; the Dutch government had the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in mind, and hoped to appease public opinion in the United States, which had become skeptical towards colonialism.

After Indonesia became independent, a federal construction was considered too heavy, as the economies of Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles were insignificant compared to that of the Netherlands. In the Charter, as enacted in 1954, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles each got a Minister Plenipotentiary based in the Netherlands, who had the right to participate in Dutch cabinet meetings when it discussed affairs that applied to the Kingdom as a whole, when these affairs pertained directly to Suriname and/or the Netherlands Antilles. Delegates of Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles could participate in sessions of the First and Second Chamber of the States-General. An overseas member could be added to the Council of State when appropriate. According to the Charter, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles were also allowed to alter their “Basic Law”s (Staatsregeling). The right of the two autonomous countries to leave the Kingdom, unilaterally, was not recognised; yet it also stipulated that the Charter could be dissolved by mutual consultation. Before the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands was proclaimed in 1954, Suriname, Netherlands New Guinea, and the “Netherlands Antilles”, formerly “Colony of Curaçao and subordinates” (Kolonie Curaçao en Onderhorige Eilanden) were colonies of the Netherlands.

Suriname was a constituent country within the Kingdom from 1954 to 1975, while the Netherlands Antilles were a constituent country from 1954 until 2010. Suriname has since become an independent republic, and the Netherlands Antilles were dissolved into the constituent countries: Aruba (since 1986), Curaçao and Sint Maarten (since 2010), and the special municipalities of the Netherlands proper, Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius. Netherlands New Guinea was a dependent territory of the Kingdom until 1962, but was not an autonomous country, and was not mentioned in the Charter.



December 16:

Bahrain: (1971) --- Accession Day



After World War II, Bahrain became the centre for British administration of the lower Persian Gulf. In 1968, when the British Government announced its decision to end the treaty relationships with the Persian Gulf sheikdoms, Bahrain joined with Qatar and the seven Trucial States (which now form the United Arab Emirates) under British protection in an effort to form a union of Arab emirates. By mid-1971, however, the nine sheikhdoms still had not agreed on the terms of union. Accordingly, Bahrain sought independence as a separate entity declaring independence on 15 August 1971, and becoming formally independent as the State of Bahrain on 16 December 1971. At independence, the permanent Royal Navy presence in Bahrain ended and the United States Navy moved onto the 10 acres (40,000 m2) previously occupied by British operations. The installation later grew into Naval Support Activity Bahrain, headquarters for the United States Fifth Fleet.

Bangladesh: (1971) --- Victory Day



After staging compromise talks with Mujib, President Yahya Khan and military officials launched Operation Searchlight, a sustained military assault on East Pakistan and arrested him in the early hours of 26 March 1971. Yahya's methods were extremely bloody, and the violence of the war resulted in many civilian deaths. Chief targets included intellectuals and Hindus, and about one million refugees fled to neighbouring India. Estimates of those massacred throughout the war range from thirty thousand to 3,000,000. Mujibur Rahman was ultimately released on 8 January 1972, due to direct US intervention. Awami League leaders set up a government-in-exile in Calcutta, India. The exile government formally took oath at Meherpur, in Kustia district of East Pakistan on 17 April 1971, with Tajuddin Ahmad as the first Prime Minister and Syed Nazrul Islam as the Acting President. The Bangladesh Liberation War lasted for nine months. The Bangladesh Forces formed within 11 sectors led by General M.A.G. Osmani consisting of Bengali Regular forces conducted a massive guerilla war against the Pakistan Forces with support from the Mukti Bahinis consisting of Kaderia Bahni, Hemayet Bahini, and others financed and equipped by Indian Armed Forces Maj. Gen. Sujat Singh Uban. The Indian Army, assisted by Bangladeshi forces, negotiated a cease-fire and surrounded the Dhaka Area. The Indian Army remained in Bangladesh until 19 March 1972.



December 17:

Bhutan: (1907) --- Ugyen Wangchuck Election Day



During the 1870s, power struggles between the rival valleys of Paro and Tongsa led to civil war in Bhutan, eventually leading to the ascendancy of Ugyen Wangchuck, the ponlop (governor) of Tongsa. From his power base in central Bhutan, Ugyen Wangchuck defeated his political enemies and united the country following several civil wars and rebellions during 1882–85. In 1907, an epochal year for the country, Ugyen Wangchuck was unanimously chosen as the hereditary king of the country by an assembly of leading Buddhist monks, government officials, and heads of important families. The British government promptly recognized the new monarchy, and in 1910 Bhutan signed the Treaty of Punakha, a subsidiary alliance which gave the British control of Bhutan's foreign affairs and meant that Bhutan was treated as an Indian princely state. This had little real effect, given Bhutan's historical reticence, and also did not appear to affect Bhutan's traditional relations with Tibet. After the new Union of India gained independence from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947, Bhutan became one of the first countries to recognize India's independence. On 8 August 1949, a treaty similar to that of 1910, in which Britain had gained power over Bhutan's foreign relations, was signed with the newly independent India.
 
#274 ·
December 18:

Niger: (1958) --- Republic Day



A further revision in the organization of overseas territories occurred with the passage of the Overseas Reform Act (Loi Cadre) of 23 July 1956, followed by reorganizing measures enacted by the French Parliament early in 1957. In addition to removing voting inequalities, these laws provided for creation of governmental organs, assuring individual territories a large measure of self-government. After the establishment of the Fifth French Republic on 4 December 1958, Niger became an autonomous state within the French Community. Following full independence on 3 August 1960, however, membership was allowed to lapse.

Qatar: (1878) --- National Day



December 18, 1878 was the turning point when Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani took power. It was also the inception of the modern State of Qatar, achieved as a result of Sheikh Jassim's assiduous efforts that led to gaining full recognition by both powers of Qatar's independence. Sheikh Jassim adamantly opposed the Ottoman Empire's attempts to increase its influence in Qatar through appointing administrative personnel in Zubarah, Doha, Al Wakrah and Khawr al Udayd, establishing a customs office and reinforcing the Ottoman garrison. In addition, the Ottoman Empire took several important Qatari politicians and people, one of whom is Sheikh Jassim's younger brother, Sheikh Ahmad bin Mohammed Al Thani. As a result, a military confrontation followed and a crucial battle broke out between the Qataris, led by Sheikh Jassim and the Ottoman soldiers. He and his troops, composed of Qatari tribes, fought bravely, inflicted defeat on the Ottoman troops and achieved victory. The victory was decisive, leaving the Turks no choice but to free Ahmad bin Muhammad in exchange of Sheikh Jassim permitting the captured Turkish cavalry free passage by land to Hofuf, Saudi Arabia. A more notable battle between Sheikh Jassim and the Ottoman Empire was the famous Al Wajbah Battle. The site of the confrontation on 25 March 1893 was 15 kilometers west of Doha. The battle was a turning point in Qatar's history, making it one of the most important and major battles of Qatar's strive for independence and freedom against oppression and tyranny. The fort that Sheikh Jassim used to fend off the Ottoman soldiers in the battle of Al Wajbah was the Al Wajbah Fort, found in the municipality of Al Rayyan.
 
#276 ·
Final celebration of the year.

December 20:

French Guiana: (1848) --- Abolition of Slavery Day



In 1809 an Anglo-Portuguese naval squadron took French Guiana (ousting governor Victor Hugues) and gave it to the Portuguese in Brazil. However with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1814 the region was handed back to the French, though a Portuguese presence remained until 1817. In 1848 France abolished slavery and the ex-slaves fled into the rainforest setting up communities similar to the ones they had been stolen from in Africa. Now called Maroons, they formed a sort of buffer zone between the Europeans who settled along the coast and main rivers, and the unconquered, and often hostile, Native American tribes of the inland regions. Without the availability of slave labour the plantations were soon taken over by the jungle, and the planters ruined. In 1850 several shiploads of Indians, Malays and Chinese were brought out to work the plantations but, instead, they set up shops in Cayenne and other settlements. In 1852 the first shiploads of chained convicts arrived from France. In 1885, to get rid of habitual criminals and to increase the number of colonists, the French Parliament passed a law that anyone, male or female, who had more than three sentences for theft of more than three months each, would be sent to French Guiana as a "relégué."

Reunion: (1848) --- Abolition of Slavery Day



The first European discovery of Reunion was made around 1507 by Portuguese explorers, but the specifics are unclear. The uninhabited island may have been first sighted by the expedition led by Don Pedro Mascarenhas, who gave his name to the island group around Réunion, the Mascarenes. Réunion itself was dubbed Santa Apolonia after a favorite saint, which suggests that the date of the Portuguese discovery may have been February 9, her saint day. Diego Lopes de Sequeira is claimed to have landed on the island in 1509. Over a century later, nominal Portuguese rule had left Santa Apolonia virtually untouched. The island was then occupied by France and administered from Port Louis, Mauritius. Although the first French claims date from 1638, when François Cauche and Salomon Goubert visited in June 1638, the island was officially claimed by Jacques Pronis of France in 1642, when he deported a dozen French mutineers to the island from Madagascar. The convicts were returned to France several years later, and in 1649, the island was named Île Bourbon after the royal house. Colonization started in 1665, when the French East India Company sent the first 20 settlers. “Réunion” was the name given to the island in 1793 by a decree of the Convention with the fall of the House of Bourbon in France, and the name commemorates the union of revolutionaries from Marseille with the National Guard in Paris, which took place on 10 August 1792. In 1801, the island was renamed "Île Bonaparte", after Napoleon Bonaparte. The island was invaded by a Royal Navy squadron led by Commodore Josias Rowley in 1810, who used the old name of “Bourbon”. When it was restored to France by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the island retained the name of "Bourbon" until the fall of the restored Bourbons during the French Revolution of 1848, when the island was once again given the name “Réunion”. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Indians gave the island its ethnic mix. Starting from 1690, most of the immigrants from outside Europe were enslaved until 20 December 1848 when slavery was abolished. Afterwards, many of them were indentured workers. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 reduced the importance of the island as a stopover on the East Indies trade route.

Macau: (1999) --- Transfer of sovereignty



Portugal and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations on 8 February 1979, and Beijing acknowledged Macau as “Chinese territory under Portuguese administration.” A year later, Gen. Melo Egidio became the first governor of Macau to pay an official visit to Beijing. The visit underscored both parties' interest in finding a mutually agreeable solution to Macau's status. A joint communiqué signed 20 May 1986 called for negotiations on the Macau question, and four rounds of talks followed between 30 June 1986 and 26 March 1987. The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau was signed in Beijing on 13 April 1987, setting the stage for the return of Macau to full Chinese sovereignty as a Special Administrative Region on 20 December 1999. After four rounds of talks, "the Joint Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Portugal on the Question of Macau" was officially signed in April 1987. The two sides exchanged instruments of ratification on 15 January 1988 and the Joint Declaration entered into force. During the transitional period between the date of the entry into force of the Joint Declaration and 19 December 1999 the Portuguese government was responsible for the administration of Macau. The Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, was adopted by the National People's Congress (NPC) on 31 March 1993 as the constitutional law for Macau, taking effect on 20 December 1999. The PRC has promised that, under its “one country, two systems” formula, China's socialist economic system will not be practised in Macau and that Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defence affairs until at least 2049, fifty years after the handover. Thus the history of European colonisation of Asia ended where it began. Although offered control of Macau in the 1970s, the Chinese deemed the time "not yet ripe" and preferred to wait until December 1999—the very end of the millennium, two years after the Hong Kong handover--to close this chapter of history.
 
#280 ·
Final celebration of the year.
Since you're Reunion at the moment, I'll, do French Guiana :)

My first memory of French Guiana is from studying world maps. That inspired me to make a private football World Cup, just me, two goals and a ball, with a roster including the entire world, and one of the things I remember is French Guiana being a surprise quarterfinalist. Who eventually won? Sadly, I lost interest once the real WC ended (this was summer of 1982) and my QFs were never played. So FG went undefeated. Who knows? They might even have won...though my money would be on Brazil.
 
#282 ·
Cool, Litotes, I see you're Premium now... Were you before, cause I haven't noticed...

It's the Abolition of Slavery Day in the French Empire. The French was the second world power to do it in 1848, after the British Empire did it in 1833. The US was the third in 1865. Both Reunion and French Guiana base their National Day on this event. :D

Here in Romania, slavery was legally abolished in 1864.:D
 
#283 ·
You are perceptive, I became a premium brand yesterday.

Denmark/Norway were in fact the first European nation to forbid transportation of slaves in 1792, in other words the taking of new slaves (the ban was only enforced in 1803). Slavery itself was banned in 1848.
 
#294 ·
i agree with you, i would love to know
 
#298 ·
You are correct. The Northernmost part of Norway does not have daylight at all these days. Up to two and a half months of no sun. Which also means it has midnight sun in summer. I do not live as far North as that, but there's only about five to six hours of daylight now here.

It would be really cold here in Norway if it wasn't for the Gulf stream, an ocean current originating in the Gulf of Mexico. Brings warm water to our shores.
 
#301 ·
same here but in the summeror else i will return in a coffin :p
 
#316 ·
so what is the best time if i wanna see the lights?



August is also my fav, bc its hot in here in August, its the month i was born and it free time from studies
 
#325 ·
Now for the January 1st lineup, before I go on holiday:

January 1:

Cuba: (1899; 1959) --- Liberation Day



Cuba's Liberation Day came as a result of the Spanish-American War, in 1899. With defeats in Cuba and the Philippines, and both of its fleets incapacitated, Spain sued for peace. Hostilities were halted on August 12, 1898, with the signing in Washington of a Protocol of Peace between the United States and Spain. After over two months of difficult negotiations, the formal peace treaty, the Treaty of Paris, was signed in Paris on December 10, 1898, and was ratified by the United States Senate on February 6, 1899. The United States gained almost all of Spain's colonies in the treaty, including the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico. The treaty came into force in Cuba April 11, 1899, with Cubans participating only as observers. Having been occupied since July 17, 1898, and thus under the jurisdiction of the United States Military Government (USMG), Cuba formed its own civil government and gained independence on May 20, 1902, with the announced end of USMG jurisdiction over the island. However, the U.S. imposed various restrictions on the new government, including prohibiting alliances with other countries, and reserved the right to intervene. The U.S. also established a perpetual lease of Guantánamo Bay.

On 2 December 1956 a party of 82 people on the yacht Granma landed in Cuba. They landed a week later, off course and under attack from Batista's forces, who had been anticipating their arrival. Fewer than 20 of the men on the ship survived. Batista's men claimed to have killed Castro yet could not produce a body. Months later New York Times reporter Herbert Matthews would publish the first in a series of articles that proved Castro was very much alive and made him a legend: "Fidel Castro, the rebel leader of Cuba's youth, is alive and fighting hard and successfully in the rugged, almost impenetrable fastness of the Sierra Maestra, at the southern tip of the island." The party, led by Fidel Castro, had the intention of establishing an armed resistance movement in the Sierra Maestra. While facing armed resistance from Castro's rebel fighters in the mountains, Fulgencio Batista's regime was weakened and crippled by a United States arms embargo imposed on 14 March 1958. By late 1958, the rebels broke out of the Sierra Maestra and launched a general popular insurrection. After the fighters captured Santa Clara, Batista fled from Havana on 1 January 1959 to exile in Portugal. Barquín negotiated the symbolic change of command between Camilo Cienfuegos, Che Guevara, Raúl Castro, and his brother Fidel Castro after the Supreme Court decided that the Revolution was the source of law and its representatives should assume command. Fidel Castro's forces entered the capital on 8 January 1959. Shortly afterward, a liberal lawyer, Dr Manuel Urrutia Lleó became president. He was backed by Castro's 26th of July Movement because they believed his appointment would be welcomed by the United States. Disagreements within the government culminated in Urrutia's resignation in July 1959. He was replaced by Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, who served as president until 1976. Castro became prime minister in February 1959, succeeding José Miró in head of the state.

Haiti: (1804) --- Independence Day



When the French government changed, new members of the national legislature – lobbied by planters – began to rethink their decisions on colonial slavery. After Toussaint Louverture created a separatist constitution, Napoléon Bonaparte sent an expedition of more than 20,000 men under the command of his brother-in-law, General Charles Leclerc in 1802 to retake the island. Leclerc's mission was to oust Louverture and restore slavery. The French achieved some victories, but within a few months, yellow fever had killed most of the French soldiers. More than 50,000 French troops died in an attempt to retake the colony, including 18 generals. Leclerc invited Toussaint Louverture to a parley, kidnapped him and sent him to France, where he was imprisoned at Fort de Joux. He died there in 1803 of exposure and tuberculosis or malnutrition and pneumonia. Slaves, along with free gens de couleur and allies continued their fight for independence after the French transported Louverture to France. The native leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines – long an ally and general of Toussaint Louverture, brilliant strategist and soldier – defeated French troops led by Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau, at the Battle of Vertières. In late 1803, France withdrew its remaining 7,000 troops from the island and Napoleon gave up his idea of re-establishing a North American empire. With the war going badly, he sold Louisiana to the United States. At the end of the double battle for emancipation and independence, former slaves proclaimed the independence of Saint-Domingue on 1 January 1804,[26] declaring the new nation be named "Ayiti", both a Native American and African term, meaning "home or mother of the earth" in the Taíno-Arawak Native American language and "sacred earth or homeland" in the Fon African language, to honor one of the indigenous Taíno names for the island.

Sudan: (1956) --- Independence Day



The continued British occupation of Sudan fueled an increasingly strident nationalist backlash in Egypt, with Egyptian nationalist leaders determined to force Britain to recognise a single independent union of Egypt and Sudan. With the formal end of Ottoman rule in 1914, Hussein Kamel was declared Sultan of Egypt and Sudan, as was his brother and successor Fuad I. They continued their insistence of a single Egyptian-Sudanese state even when the Sultanate was retitled as the Kingdom of Egypt and Sudan, but the British continued to frustrate such reaches for independence. The Egyptian Revolution of 1952 finally heralded the beginning of the march towards Sudanese independence. Having abolished the monarchy in 1953, Egypt's new leaders, Muhammad Naguib, whose mother was Sudanese, and later Gamal Abdel-Nasser, believed the only way to end British domination in Sudan was for Egypt to officially abandon its claims of sovereignty over Sudan. The British on the other hand continued their political and financial support for the Mahdi successor Sayyid Abdel Rahman who, they believed, could resist the Egyptian pressures for Sudanese independence. Rahman was able to resist the pressures, but his regime was plagued with political ineptitude, which garnered him a loss of support in northern and central Sudan. Egypt and Britain both sensed a great political instability forming, and opted to allow the Sudanese in the north and south to have a free vote on independence to see whether they wished for a British withdrawal. A polling process was carried out resulting in composition of a democratic parliament and Ismail al-Azhari was elected first Prime Minister and led the first modern Sudanese government. On 1 January 1956, in a special ceremony held at the People's Palace, the Egyptian and British flags were lowered and the new Sudanese flag, composed of green, blue and white stripes, was raised in their place by the prime minister Ismail al-Azhari.
 
#332 ·
Very cold is relative, I suppose. It is, on average, one of the coldest countries on Earth. But we have Finns and Canadians posting here, they are not going to be very impressed by the low Norwegian temperatures. And certainly not Russians.

My part of Norway is warmer that the average, still not the warmest part. Our temperatures tend to be no worse than -15 C (5 F) in winter. Other parts of Norway are not unaccustomed to -30 C (-22 F) or even colder during winter. My Father once experienced the conversion temperature where Celsius and Fahrenheit meet, -40. But inland climate is better than coastal for the same temperatures, so the difference feels smaller.
 
#334 ·
21 F is certainly not what we would call warm in Norway either. I hope you have something warm to snuggle under :) Minding the feet is the most important, I find. If you can keep them warm most of the work is done.

What would be a normal summer temperature in WV?
 
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