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)

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)

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.

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)

A view of a Van Gogh-inspired hot air balloon being inflated during the Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta at Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga province, north of Manila February 12, 2015. According to the organizer, a total of 32 hot air balloons are part of the four-day event. (Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters)

Activists stage a protest outside the Louvre pyramid, calling the museum to cancel its contracts with French oil giant Total and Italian oil company Eni, in Paris, France, December 9, 2015, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget near the French capital. (Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters)

A man carries a sheep after it was rescued from mud in Sanliurfa, Turkey on January 9, 2019. Total of 67 sheep and a donkey rescued from mud by gendarmerie forces, firefighters and local people in Sanliurfa's Bozova district. (Photo by Halil Fidan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)