Singapore was founded on this day
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founded the Republic of Singapore on February 6, 1819, as a trading post of the East India Company. Often referred to as the Lion City and the Garden City, Singapore is the only island city-state of the world. It lies one degree north of the equator and has a population of 5,535,000. Singapore's territory consists of the diamond-shaped main island and 62 islets.