Today is Independence Day for Indonesia. It marks Indonesia’s declaration of independence from the Netherlands in 1945 – immediately after the end of World War II. Indonesia had been a Dutch colony for over 300 years when a group of revolutionaries declared independence on 17 August 1945.
It took Indonesians four years of diplomacy and armed struggle before their independence was formally granted by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.
Indonesia is an archipelago of over 17,000 islands ( more than 2/3 are uninhabited). It is the world’s fourth most populous country. More than half of Indonesia’s population live on Java, making it the world’s most populous island.
Marco Polo was the first European to visit Indonesia in 1292.
According to his autobiography….
Today is the birthday, in 1953, of Kevin Rowland, singer, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, (1982 UK No.1 & 1983 US No.1 single ‘Come On Eileen’). Solo 1986 UK No.13 single ‘Because Of You’). This song and video may be in a category of its own. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BODDyZRF6A
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