Republic of Upper Volta Republic of Upper Volta The Republic of Upper Volta (), now Burkina Faso, was a landlocked West African country established on December 11, 1958, as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Before attaining autonomy it had been French Upper Volta and part of the French Union. On August 5, 1960, it attained full independence from France. Thomas Sankara came to power through a military coup d'état on August 4, 1983. After the coup, he formed the National Council for the Revolution (CNR), with himself as president. Under the direction of Sankara, the country changed its name on August 4,
Merry company with two men and two women Merry company with two men and two women Merry company with two men and two women (1657) is an oil on panel painting by the Dutch painter Pieter de Hooch; it is an example of a Merry Company, a popular form of genre painting in Dutch Golden Age painting, showing a group of figures who are not meant to be identified as portraits enjoying each other's company. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This painting by Hooch was documented by Hofstede de Groot in 1910, who wrote; "192. TWO LADIES AND TWO GENTLEMEN IN AN