Albania's Independence Day

On 28 November 1912, now 98 years ago, Albanians gained their independence from the Ottoman Turks who had occupied the country for close to five centuries.
This day is also called the Day of the Flag and it is celebrated by all people of Albanian origin or ethnicity, in and outside the territory of the country of Albania.

A short history leading to the country's independence:

The Illyrians, who are believed to have evolved directly from the Stone Age, occupied the western area of the Balkans, from modern Slovenia to approximately half of the way through modern Greece. Shkodra, now the most important city of northern Albania, was the capital. The Illyrians were sociable and hospitable people, much like Albanians today. They were also daring fighters and known for their bravery in war. Around eight to six century B.C., the neighboring Greeks began to create a string of colonies along the Albanian borders. Closer now to the more advanced Greeks, the Illyrians were greatly influenced and began to evolve politically and economically.Albania was attacked by more foreign powers. The Bulgarians, Norman crusaders, Serbs and Venetians all wreaked havoc on the Albanians until the conquest by the Ottoman Turks in 1388. In 1443, an Albanian military genius, Gjergj Kastrioti(Skanderberg), rallied the Albanians together and drove out the Turks. Although Kastrioti’s death meant the eventual return of the Turks in 1468, the 25 years of resilience gained two accomplishments for the Albanians.The drive for independence was still strong within the Albanians. Throughout the 19th Century, resisting the Turks attempts at assimilation, leaders led their country with the rallying cry,”The religion of Albanians is Albanianism!” The leaders formed the Albanian League in 1878 to unite the country and develop the native language, literature, education and to adopt a new alphabet. In 1908, the Albanians fought again, and by 1912, they succeeded in making the Turks agree to their demands for autonomy.

Our Flag's History:

The Albanian National Flag is black double headed eagle on a dark red background. It is one of the most ancient flags in Europe. It used to be Scanderbeg’s flag under whose leadership Albania fought against the Turks in the 15 century. The symbolism of the bicephalated eagle is that of the religiously divided Albanians, when the Albanians were divided into Christians of the Western Catholic tradition and the Orthodox East. The National Assembly of Vlora which proclaimed Albanian Independence on 28 November 1912 approved the flag as a symbol of the Albanian nation. The horizontal open-winged eagle symbolizes the lack of submission of the highland Albanians to foreign conquest.

Celebrating our independence day:

On the 28th of November the first thing that catches your eyes is the number of flags. You can see them everywhere: hanging on balconies, around corners, people waving flags and even wearing them. The atmosphere is really nice and makes you feel proud you were born in Albania. People usually dine together and go out to celebrate. In Vlora a flag is raised and a speech is held in the same balcony where Ismail Qemali declared our independence. Also, in Tirana, every year a great concert is organized on this day, which is called "The White Night"...

The missing vowels exercise!

Here you are teacher. Hope I haven't made any mistakes ^^.

Researchers say they have identified animal fossils from 270 000 000 years ago in what is now Ethiopia. The remains are from the middle of a time called the “missing years” or the “dark period”. This is because scientists have so little information about the mammals that lived then. The period began 32 million years ago, Africa and Arabia were a single continent, a huge island known as Afro-Arabia. The period ended 24 000 000 years ago after a land bridge formed with Eurasia.

John Kappelman is an anthropologist at the University of Texas in Austin and leader of the American and Ethiopian search team. Mr Kappelman says 8 000 000 years is a long time to lack information about a continent. He says scientist have only been able to guess what happened to African mammals during that period. The remains found in the Chilga area in Ethiopia offer important evidence.

The remains include teeth, skull pieces and other bones. The scientists found them in a farming area about 2000 meters above sea level, on the highlands of Ethiopia. Satellite pictures helped the researchers decide where to dig. The fossils came from about 70 different digs. The magazine Nature published the findings. The scientists say the fossils come from before large numbers of animal began to arrive in Africa from Europe and Asia. The fossils also show that some animals existed millions of years before scientists had thought.

The researchers found several kinds of ancient proboscideans. These are animals with trunks. Modern elephants are proboscideans. Scientists have long thought elephants began in Africa. They say this discovery proves that theory. The ancestors weighed about 1000 kilograms, a lot smaller than African elephants today.

John Kappelman says the elephant ancestors were one of the few African mammals that survived the invasion of mammals from Europe. He says elephant got their start in Africa during the eight-million-year period, and then spread around the world. The researchers also found the remains of an ancient animal with two horns on its head, called the arsinoithere . The scientists were excited because this is the youngest set of such remains yet discovered. The animal is much larger than its ancestors, earlier forms were about the sizes of pigs. But the arsinoithere found at Chilga was about two meters tall and weighed more than two tons.

They were similar to the modern rhinoceros. The two are not related, in fact, scientists thought arsinoitheres had disappeared from the Afro-Arabian continent once rhinos arrived from Eurasia. One researcher says it now appears they did not compete for survival. Scientists say they expect more discoveries to come about the mammals that lived during the so-called missing years.