The music of Nigeria includes many kinds of folk and popular music, some of which are known worldwide. Styles of folk music are related to the multitudes of ethnic groups in the country, each with their own techniques, instruments and songs. Little is known about the country's music history prior to European contact, although bronze carvings dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries have been found depicting musicians and their instruments. Nigeria has been called "the heart of African music" because of its role in the development of West African highlife and palm-wine music, which fuses native rhythms with techniques imported from the Congo, Brazil, Cuba and elsewhere. Highlife was an important foundation for the development of several popular styles that were unique to Nigeria, like apala, fuji, jùjú and Yo-pop.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Nigeria

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1859: Prince Alexander John Cuza merged his two principalities, Wallachia and Moldavia, to form the Kingdom of Romania. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Romania)

1885: King Leopold II of Belgium established the Congo Free State as his personal possession in Africa. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II_of_Belgium)

1924: Hourly Greenwich Time Signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory were first broadcast by the BBC. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Time_Signal)

1988: The first Red Nose Day raised £15 million in the United Kingdom for charity. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_Relief)

2004: The Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front captured the city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Haiti_rebellion)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"What counts now is not just what we are against, but what we are for. Who leads us is less important than what leads us — what convictions, what courage, what faith — win or lose." -- Adlai Stevenson (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Adlai_Stevenson)