Consulate General of Lithuania in L.A.

@America250 @Freedom250 @USHeritageComm @USEmbVilnius @LTconsulateLA @LithuaniaConNY @LithuaniaMFA @JBANCchatter @WBHOF @URDailyHistory @smithcollege 🏀 In 1985, Senda became the first woman inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Today, a monument in her hometown of Butrimonys 🇱🇹honors her enduring legacy – a reminder of how one person can change a game forever. ✨ Follow us (@LTembassyUS) for more stories like this!

@America250 @Freedom250 @USHeritageComm @USEmbVilnius @LTconsulateLA @LithuaniaConNY @LithuaniaMFA @JBANCchatter @WBHOF @URDailyHistory At age 7, Senda, a Jewish girl from 🇱🇹, immigrated to the U.S. While teaching at @smithcollege, she adapted the new game of basketball for women. In 1893, she organized the first women’s basketball game, published the rules, and authored the first Basketball Guide for Women. 📖

This year, as we celebrate #America250, we’re highlighting stories of people, events & ideas that have linked 🇱🇹 & 🇺🇸 across history. One story shines bright: Senda Berenson Abbott, born Mar 19, 1868 in Butrimonys, Lithuania – the Mother of Women’s Basketball. 🏀 🧵 Read on ↓

🇱🇹 36 years of independence, and Lithuania is becoming the Baltic economy to watch. GDP per capita reached 87% of the EU average, startups are worth €16B (39× growth), and foreign investment rose to €42.9B – about 52% of GDP (~€14,800 per person), up 9% from last year.

Lithuania ranks 1st in Europe and 4th globally in the 2025/2026 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Index, a Top 5 entrepreneurial environment alongside the UAE, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and India, providing a strong foundation for long-term growth. 🇱🇹

Lithuanian book smugglers defied Tsarist Russia’s ban on our language in the 19th century. Despite brutal persecution, each year they secretly brought into the country tens of thousands of books in Lithuanian, keeping our language and national identity alive. 🇱🇹

March 16 marks the Day of Book Smugglers. In the 19th century, they secretly smuggled thousands of books, regardless of the Tsarist Russia's ban on the Lithuanian press. Resilience of Jurgis Bielinis and his peers helped keep our language and national identity alive to this day.

Lithuania is home to 9 of Europe’s fastest-growing companies in 2026, according to the Financial Times and Statista ranking. In 2025, there were 6. This year the list includes: Mediatech, PAYSTRAX, SME Bank, REVU CLINIC, Hostinger, Surfshark, smeGo, Insuvia, OBDeleven.

Whoever saves one life, saves the entire world. Today, Lithuania commemorates the Day of the Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews - a tribute to those who chose humanity over fear during the darkest chapter of our history. They risked everything - their freedom, their families, their lives - to save the Jewish neighbours from death. They sought no recognition - they simply followed conscience when indifference and silence were the safer choice. Their courage lives on in every life they saved, in every family line that survived, and serves as a powerful reminder that even a single act of light can break through immense darkness, and that one act of bravery can change the fate of generations. The choice to protect another human being is the strongest stand one can take against evil. Today, we honour the rescuers - known and unknown - whose humanity saved worlds. Their legacy calls on us to defend dignity, reject hatred, and choose courage always and everywhere. #RighteousAmongTheNations #LithuanianJewsRescuersDay

March 15 is the Day of the Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews. It was not chosen by chance. #OTD, in 1966, Ona Šimaitė, a librarian, was the first Lithuanian to be titled as Righteous Among the Nations. Saving more than 100 lives, she shed light on one of the darkest periods of history.

A new report from FIRSTPICK and Practica Capital shows Lithuania leading the Baltic startup resurgence 🇱🇹 In 2025, startups raised €238M – the highest in the region – with the most exits and strong early-stage growth.

Lithuania’s biotech sector progressed from strong scientific foundations into to a global industry. It now spans gene editing, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and precision fermentation, exporting ~90% of output and aiming for 5% of GDP by 2030.

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Amid all hardships, Lithuania has remained resilient. Thirty-six years ago, news of Lithuania's restored independence spread around the world. Every day, the world learns about our progress – results of enormous courage and determination, of which we are proud. 🇱🇹 1/2

Today Lithuanians celebrate more than the Day of the Restoration of Independence — we celebrate the unbreakable will to remain free. Oppression can never crush a nation that has freedom in its DNA. Freedom always finds a way. With pride, courage, and responsibility, we keep building a stronger #Lithuania and a more resilient Europe. 🇱🇹

Today, we celebrate our freedom. Amid the darkness of the Soviet rule, March 11, 1990, came as a ray of light and hope. We have always believed in our independence and resilience, and we always will.

As Lithuania nears March 11, its rise as a laser nation shows what freedom allows a country to achieve with talent & ambition. Today, 80% of 🇱🇹‘s laser production is exported, used by 95 of the top 100 universities & holds over 50% of the global ultrashort-pulse laser market.

🇱🇹 Today we remember over a thousand years of Lithuanian history – #OTD in 1009, the name of Lithuania first appeared in the Quedlinburg Annals as “Litua”, later evolving into the modern-day “Lietuva”.

📢 OUT NOW: Lithuanian intelligence services have published the National Threat Assessment 2026. This annual report provides a consolidated, unclassified assessment of threats and risks to Lithuania’s national security. Read the full report in English: vsd.lt/en/reports/nat…

🇪🇪🇫🇮🇮🇸🇱🇻🇱🇹🇵🇱🇷🇴🇸🇪 stand in solidarity with 🇺🇦. In a joint statement, we condemned the decision by the IPC to allow athletes from aggressor 🇷🇺 and its accomplice 🇧🇾to be part of the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games and to display their state symbols. urm.lt/en/news/928/st… 1/3