Belize Independence Day

This day was when the country was granted independence from Britain in 1981. The Spanish initially settled there before the British tried to put down roots, and several battles occurred between the two sides. The Spanish finally gave up after the Battle of St George’s Caye in September 1798. It became a British colony in 1840, known as British Honduras, and it formally declared the settlement a British Crown Colony in 1862. It granted self-government in 1964, and on 1st June 1973 it was officially renamed Belize. It was later granted independence, but it wasn’t until 2011 the British fully left as the armed forces stayed on to prevent any military dispute with Guatemala.