Although the “Republic of Gran Colombia” in South America was short-lived (1819 to 1831), political unions in other parts of the world have survived for much longer. On this day (July 22) in 1706, for example, the terms of a treaty creating a political union between the kingdoms of England and Scotland were finalized. Via Wikipedia: “The Treaty of Union is the name usually now given to the treaty [that] led to the creation of the new state of Great Britain, stating that the Kingdom of England (which already included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland were to be ‘United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain’. At the time it was more often referred to as the Articles of Union. The details of the Treaty were agreed on 22 July 1706, and separate Acts of Union were then passed by the parliaments of England and Scotland to put the agreed Articles into effect. The political union took effect on 1 May 1707.”