5th May (Martyrs Day)

Qemal Stafa (20 March 1920 in Elbasan - 5 May 1942) was a founding member of the Albanian Communist Party, and the leader of its youth section. He was very active in the National Liberation Movement (Albania) during World War II. He was killed in a house at the outskirts of Tirana by the Italian fascist forces, who had occupied Albania. It is believed that he may have been betrayed by one or more of his comrades, possibly Enver Hoxha (the first secretary of the Albanian communist party & leader of Albania), who gained much from his death. The source of these allegations may derive from the deaths of many communist party members, during & after WWII, caused by the same Enver Hoxha. The 5th of May, his death anniversary, was chosen after the end of the war as the Martyrs' Day of Albania to commemorate all those who gave their life for Albania's liberation.

Many streets, squares and schools in different cities bear his name as well as a military base and the most important stadium in the country.

Independence day of Albania

Independence Day is a Public Holiday in Albania.

An Independence Day is an annual celebration commemorating the anniversary of a nation’s assumption of independent statehood. Most countries honor their respective independence day as a national holiday. Proclaiming Albanian independence after 500 years of Ottoman Turkish occupation; in a furthermore decisive act, the Congress officially issued the Vlore proclamation which marked the formal declaration of Albania’s independence on November 28th.

Albania Independence Day History

During the fifteenth century Albania enjoyed a brief period of independence under the legendary hero, Skanderbeg. Aside from this exception, the country did not enjoy independence until the twentieth century. After five hundred years of Ottoman domination, an independent Albania was proclaimed on the 28 November 1912.

Beginning with late 14th century the Ottoman Turks expanded their empire from Anatolia to the Balkans. By the 15th century, the Turks had brought under subjection nearly all of the Balkan Peninsula except for a small coastal strip which is included in present-day Albania. The Albanians’ resistance to the Turks in the mid-15th century won them acclaim all over Christian Europe. Albania became a symbol of resistance to the Ottoman Turks but suffered an almost continuous state of warfare. One of the most successful resistances against the invading Ottomans, was led by Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg from 1443 to 1468. Under a red flag bearing Skanderbeg’s heraldic emblem, an Albanian force of about 30,000 men held off Ottoman campaigns against their lands for twenty-four years.

The leadership of Skanderbeg was invincible, After the death of Skanderbeg, resistance continued until 1478, although with only moderate success. The loyalties and alliances created and nurtured by Skanderbeg faltered and fell apart, and the Ottomans conquered the territory of Albania shortly after the fall of Kruje’s castle. Albania then became part of the Ottoman Empire. This period also saw the rising of semi-autonomous Albanian ruled Pashaliks and Albanians were also an important part of the Ottoman army and Ottoman administration like the case of Köprülü family. Albania would remain a part of the Ottoman Empire as the provinces of Shkodra, Manastir and Yanya until 1912.

Albania Independence Day Customs and Activities

The Empire State has a longstanding tradition of acknowledging significant milestones and events of historic importance to its many citizens of Albanian ancestry. A popular celebration known as “Flag Day” is held annually within the Albanian community as a means of commemorating November 28, 1912 — a significant date in their history as a country and throughout the Albanian Diaspora.

Fossils from the ''Missing Years'' in Africa

Researchers say they have identified animal fossils from 27 000 000 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 scientists have only been able to guess what happened to African mammals during that period. The remains found in the Chilga area of 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, in 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 animals 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 Eurasia. He says elephants 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 size 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.