Statue of Shakira in Barranquilla, Colombia

Public Domain Photo: Statue of Shakira (Escultura de Shakira) in Barranquilla, Colombia.

The Colombian singer, musician, dancer, songwriter and record producer Shakira (born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll on February 2, 1977) emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s. Shakira is a multitalented artist with vocal ability in Rock and Roll, Latin American and Middle Eastern music and dance influences, marked by her own original version of Belly Dance. She was born and raised in Barranquilla in northern Colombia, where there is a huge following of music groups inspired by the musical style of Shakira.

World War I American Navy propaganda poster

PD Image: World War I U.S. Navy propaganda poster (1917 or 1918) by American artist and illustrator James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960). The message on the U.S. Navy Recruiting Station poster is "The Navy Needs You! Don't READ American History, MAKE IT!" The poster features a US Navy sailor who addresses a civilian reading about the war in a newspaper, in the sky above them Columbia holds a sword and flag, and a battle ship is far beyond, in the distance.

Columbia, Napoleon Bonaparte and John Bull

PD Image: ‘Columbia teaching John Bull his new lesson’ (Philadelphia, 1813) cartoon by artists Samuel Kennedy and William Charles, print on wove paper: etching with watercolor, published in American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly, Boston: G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1813-3, Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.

The caricature ‘Columbia Teaching John Bull his New Lesson’ (1813) on the American view of the War of 1812 depicts Columbia (the personification of the United States, holding a pole with a liberty cap on it, and with a Stars-and-Stripes shield behind her), Napoleon and John Bull (personification of Britain), and the words spoken by them are as follows:

Columbia (on the left): "I tell you Johnny, you must learn to read Respect -- Free Trade -- Seaman's Rights &c. -- As for you, Mounseer Beau Napperty, when John gets his lesson by heart, I'll teach you Respect, Retribution, &c &c."

Napoleon Bonaparte (in the middle): "Ha Ha -- Begar, me be glad to see Madam Columbia angry with dat dere John Bull -- But me no learn respect -- me no learn retribution -- Me be de grand Emperor."

John Bull (on the right, a national personification of Great Britain in general and England in particular, holding a book with the words "Power Constitutes Right"): "I don't like that lesson, I'll read this pretty lesson".

William Charles: Bruin becomes mediator or negotiation for peace

PD Image: Bruin becomes mediator or negotiation for peace (1813), cartoon by William Charles (1776–1820) depicting John Bull, the Russian Bear and Columbia (the female personification of America before Uncle Sam became popular as the personification of America). The cartoon refers to the War of 1812 between America and Great Britain and the Russian efforts to mediate between them.