On this day in ...... 1958 (50 years ago today), the Central African Republic won independence from France. Landlocked and slightly smaller than the state of Texas, the country whose flag is at right has a population of 4.3 million.
... 1948 (60 years ago today), soon after conclusion of a civil war in the Central American country, the President of Costa Rica abolished its military. It never was restored; a Police Guard remains the state's single security
force. In 1984 President Oscar Arias Sánchez, who'd go on to win the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize, declared this date el Día de la Abolición del Ejército/Military Abolition Day in Costa Rica( flag at left).
