Happy Birthday Italy!
Italy celebrated the 150th anniversary of its unification yesterday (17 March) but the party continues all week. The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed on March 17, 1861 after military forces led by national hero Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which at the time spread from Sicily to Naples. Garibaldi delivered the conquered territory to the King of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia, Victor Emanuel II, who then became the first King of Italy.