Independence from Britain celebrated by almost 50 countries

Being part of the Commonwealth, we Canadians still have many connections, including that the King is still our ‘head of state’ and we sing God Save The King at various events. Re: its former size (and influence) is the old adage, ‘the sun never sets on the British Empire’. And some of us still spell words the ‘British’ way as opposed to the ‘American’ way. It’s one of the reasons I love visiting England as we have been taught so much of its history and literature.

Thanks for highlighting this Mardee!

Another fun fact - the map shows Australia with the date 1942, presumably for the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act, but strictly speaking its was the Australia Act of 1986 that delivered full sovereignty to Australia, removing theoretical rights of the British Parliament to legislate for Australia and the ability to appeal to British courts.

And like Canada, we still have the King as monarch.

And as a funny coincidence, they're holding elections on our Independence Day.

More countries were colonized by England than any other country in the world.

I am curious how this is being counted or determined. England ceased being the colonizing power in 1707, supplanted by Great Britain. How are they counting a colony that becomes a country vs a union of separate and distinct colonies as a country? What about colonies that passed from control of the Spanish crown, the French crown, to the British crown and vice-versa.

VAP, that's probably my mistake and was a typo. I was thinking "Britain" and writing "England." I'll fix it. :-)

Just when I see VAP is from Virginia, it makes me think of Virginia Street in Glasgow. Jamaica Street is also a main thoroughfare. Many of the streets in Glasgow are named in honour of merchants from the days of Empire. There's been something of a re-examination of memorials to these times in the last few years, I think at least in part inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement coming out of the US.

VAP, that's probably my mistake and was a typo. I was thinking "Britain" and writing "England." I'll fix it. :-)

Oh no, it's all good and a fascinating thought. I mean Quebec certainly wasn't culturally British when it became a British colony and the Dominion of Newfoundland didn't become Canadian until 1949. They were separate kingdoms that came to be controlled by the East India Company forged together as British India eventually taken over by the crown and gained independence in 1947. Originally English colonies may have become the US, but the Gulf Coast had been Spanish. And if the Spanish Jesuits who settled on the York River in 1570 hadn't been killed a year and a half later, it might not have become Virginia and remained Ajacán and never the Chesapeake Bay, but the Bay of the Mother of God.

Pretty cool for both sides, in my opinion

Why would you think it was cool to be dominated by the British Empire. Most of us certainly do not, we lost our language and a large part of our culture over it. There is a reason why we call the Union Jack the Butcher's Apron and it is definitely not because we think it is cool.

Well, as an American from a country once controlled by Great Britain, I have no hard feelings towards the Brits, especially since everyone involved is now deceased. :-)