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
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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)
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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)