A column of sand and front of clouds are seen by dash cam as the car drives near a tornado in Dragalina, Calarasi county, Romania April 30, 2019 in this still image taken from a video obtained from social media. (Photo by Alexandra Puscasu via Reuters)
Revellers in Newcastle, England on the last Friday before Christmas, December 20, 2019. Black Eye Friday festive mayhem hit the nation; Christmas celebrations kicked off with a bang across the country as revellers flocked to pubs and clubs for the biggest night of the year. (Photo by Scott Heppell/PA Images via Getty Images)
Revellers take part in the Els Enfarinats festival, in the town of Ibi near Alicante, Spain, Saturday December 28, 2019. For about 200-years the inhabitants of Ibi annually celebrate with a battle using flour, eggs and firecrackers, outside the city town hall. (Photo by Alberto Saiz/AP Photo)
Saintsetseg Jambaldorj, a member of the Tsaatan ethnic minority, one of the last remaining groups of nomadic reindeer herders in East Taiga, Mongolia, wearing a traditional deel, on July 5, 2016. (Photo by Madoka Ikegami/Barcroft Images)
This file photo provided on Sunday February 15, 2015 by the Syrian anti-government activist group Aleppo Media Center (AMC), which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian rebels firing locally made shells against the Syrian government forces, in Aleppo, Syria. (Photo by AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center)
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.