nPostednon March 11, 2014
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nLesothonis a pretty small nation—about the size of Maryland—that isnentirely surrounded by the much larger nation of South Africa.
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nWhynis this small chunk within another nation counted as a separatennation?
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| Moshoeshoe I |
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nAnlong time ago, in the 1800s, there were some Bantu-speaking Sothonpeople whose chief had a son called Moshoeshoe. At age 34 Moshoeshoenformed his own clan and became its chief. He built up his chiefdomnmostly through diplomacy; he took in refugees from the warlike Zulu,nand he gave land and protection to the victims of war and even to hisnbeaten enemies.
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| Lesotho scenery |
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nDutchnpeople (Boers) from the nearby Cape Colony came to settle on Sothonlands. The Boers had guns. Moshoeshoe knew he needed help dealingnwith these white people, and he welcomed some French missionaries asninterpreters and advisers. Again mostly through diplomacy, he managednto prevent his chiefdom from being swallowed up by the Boers.nEventually Moshoeshoe asked Queen Victoria to make his lands anBritish protectorate, so that they could remain independent of thenSouth African nation.
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nMoshoeshoendied on this date in 1870, and March 11 has ever since then beenndedicated to his memory. n
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| The Kingo of Lesotho pays tribute to Moshoeshoe I on Moshoeshoe Day. |
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nInn1966 this small nation gained independence from Britain and was namednthe Kingdom of Lesotho.
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nAnhero even outside of Lesotho…
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| Nelson Mandela |
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nInwondered if Nelson Mandela, who was born decades afternMoshoeshoe died, had found inspiration in Moshoeshoe’s diplomatic andnreconciliatory form of leadership. As I poked around the internet, Infound that, in at least one speech, Mandela mentioned King Moshoeshoenas a hero he’d heard about as a child. I also discovered somethingnwritten by South African Max du Preez about Moshoeshoe:
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nAncentury from now historians will still write about Mandela’snspectacular role in bringing freedom, stability and democracy tonSouth Africa….
But they probably won’t record that henwasn’t the first remarkably wise and inspirational leader to emergenfrom this land. King Moshoeshoe (1787 – 1870) springs to mind.nUnlike his more aggressive contemporaries like King Shaka and ChiefnMzilikazi, he avoided war, gathered people from many clans andnlanguage groups to form a new inclusive nation and stabilized centralnSouth Africa at a time of great turmoil and bloodshed. Pure Mandela.
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nAlsonon this date:
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Eight Hours Day in Tasmania
Eight Hours Day in Tasmania
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nWorldnPlumbing Day
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nAnniversary of Charles Van Doren’s loss on the TV quiz show TwentyOne
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nAnniversarynof the discontinuance of two-stick Popsicles
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Plannahead:
Plannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in March
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nApriln holidays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in April
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