People carry portraits of relatives who fought in World War II, during the Immortal Regiment march in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Monday, May, 9, 2022, marking the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II. (Photo by Vladimir Voronin/AP Photo)

Russian Boxing Federation lifts a portrait of late Soviet leader Joseph Stalin with a hot air balloon, close to city of Belogorsk outside Simferopol, Crimea, on May 11, 2020, to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II also called the Great Patriotic War, amid the coronavirus (COVID) pandemic. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

A Star Wars fan in an R2-D2 costume poses for a photo outside the venue during a fan convention called the Star Wars Celebration in Chiba, near Tokyo, Friday, April 18, 2025. (Photo by Hiro Komae/AP Photo)

A woman adjusts the Mantle of the Order of the British Empire at an exhibition at Buckingham Palace in London, Thursday, July 21, 2016. In celebration of Her Majesty's 90th birthday this year, visitors to the Summer Opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace will enjoy an unprecedented display of The Queen's outfits, from childhood to the present day, in the special exhibition Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style from The Queen's Wardrobe. (Photo by Frank Augstein/AP Photo)

“Sir Thomas John Woodward, Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE), (born 7 June 1940), known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer, particularly noted for his powerful voice. Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Singer Tom Jones with a small potted plant, 17th February 1965. (Photo by Bob Haswell/Express/Getty Images)

A monument to the character of Darth Vader from "Star Wars", which was rebuilt from a statue of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin, is seen in Odessa, Ukraine, October 23, 2015. The Internet Party of Ukraine's main candidate, a person named for the legendary "Star Wars" villain Darth Vader, campaigned in Odessa, cruising through town on a black van to the sound of Imperial March from "Star Wars" saga. (Photo by Yevgeny Volokin/Reuters)

The Kingdom of Pagan (also commonly known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire) was the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Burma (Myanmar). Pagan's 250-year rule over the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and in mainland Southeast Asia.