Signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania recognition. The signatories succeeded in their mission and independent Lithuania survived until the Soviet Union occupied the state on June 15, 1940. Their political, professional, and social backgrounds were diverse. Several rose to political prominence; Antanas Smetona and Aleksandras Stulginskis were later elected Presidents of Lithuania and Jonas Vileišis went on to become mayor of Kaunas, the temporary capital of Lithuania. After Lithuania lost its independence during World War II, six of the surviving signatories were sent to prison or executed by the Soviet government and six others emigrated to Western countries. The signatories came from a variety of social
History of Jerusalem during the Kingdom of Jerusalem Sultan's command to raze the town to the ground seemed so implausible that it took the personal presence of Al-Mu'azzam in Jerusalem to carry it out. The city suffered two waves of destruction in 1219 and 1220. This was absolute and brutal destruction, with most buildings in Jerusalem and its walls destroyed, and led to severe reactions from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who thought that it was Judgment Day. Muslim women of Jerusalem cut their hair in a sign of mourning at the plaza on the Temple Mount. The vast majority of the population, including the Jewish community, left Jerusalem,