Huang Mei-ya in a scene from Lunar Halo by Cloud Gate at Sadler's Wells in London in the last decade of November 2023. (Photo by Tristram Kenton/the Guardian)
Madison Chock, top, and Evan Bates, bottom, perform during the ice dance rhythm dance competition at the U.S. figure skating championships Friday, January 24, 2025, in Wichita, Kan. (Photo by Travis Heying/AP Photo)
Demonstrators kiss in front of police, during a protest on the day Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was jailed as part of a corruption investigation, in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 23, 2025. (Photo by Umit Bektas/Reuters)
The Philly Phanatic has fun with a fan during game four of the NLCS against the San Diego Padres for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 22, 2022. (Photo by Kyle Ross/USA TODAY Sports)
The earliest historic references to Minsk date to the 11th century 1067, when it was noted as a provincial city within the principality of Polotsk. The settlement developed on the rivers. In 1242, Minsk became a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It received town privileges in 1499.