AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
London City Airport was purchased in October 2006 by a consortium comprising AIG Financial Products Corp. and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for an undisclosed sum. Speculation suggests the sale was valued at over £750 million. In 2007, London City Airport had 2.9 million passengers; by 2017 this had risen to 4,530,439.
1999–2000 NHL season
The 1999–2000 NHL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-eight teams each played 82 games. The New Jersey Devils defeated the defending champion Dallas Stars for their second Stanley Cup championship. During the regular season, no player reached the 100-point plateau - the first time this had happened in a non-lockout season since 1967-68.
"Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalty Minutes."
"Note: W = Wins, G = Goals Scored"
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1999–2000 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1999–2000 (listed with their last team):
Bob may mean:
In acronyms:
In fictional characters:
International Opium Convention
The International Opium Convention was the first drug control treaty (or agreement). It was signed at The Hague in The Netherlands on January 23, 1912. The United States organised a conference between 13 countries called the International Opium Commission in 1909 in Shanghai, China because people complained more and more about opium trade. The treaty was signed by Germany, the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, Russia, and Siam. The Convention said that "The contracting Powers shall use their best endeavours to control, or to cause to be controlled, all persons manufacturing, importing, selling, distributing, and exporting morphine, cocaine, and their respective salts, as well as the buildings in which these persons carry such an industry or trade."
The Convention was implemented in 1915 by the United States, Netherlands, China, Honduras, and Norway. It went into force around the world in 1919 when it became part of the Treaty of Versailles.
A modified International Opium Convention was signed on February 19, 1925, which started on September 25, 1928. It introduced control system to be looked after by a Permanent Central Opium Board, part of the League of Nations. Egypt, with support from
China and United States, recommended that a ban on hashish be added to the Convention.
India and other countries did not agree, saying social and religious customs and that wild-growing cannabis plants being available in many places, that would make it difficult to enforce, so this never made it into the final treaty. A compromise was made that banned the export of "Indian hemp" to countries that have banned its use. Importing countries were made to issue certificates approving the import and stating that the shipment was required "exclusively for medical or scientific purposes." It also required Parties to "exercise an effective control of such a nature as to prevent the illicit international traffic in Indian hemp and especially in the resin." These restrictions still made it easy for countries to allow production, internal trade, and use of cannabis for recreational purposes.
The Convention was superseded by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
Coleoidea
1998–99 NHL season
The 1998–99 NHL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Hockey League. Twenty-seven teams played 82 games each.
The Dallas Stars finished first in regular season play. They won the Stanley Cup Championship over the Buffalo Sabres with a disputed overtime goal by Brett Hull.
Goaltenders continued to rule the league; only two teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New Jersey Devils, averaged more than three goals scored per game. In addition, no player reached the 50-goal plateau. A total of 160 shutouts were recorded for the second-straight regular season.
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1998–99 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1998–99 (listed with their last team):
Bagh District
Bagh District () is one of the eight districts of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The district, which had been part of Poonch District, was created in 1988. The district is bordered by Muzaffarabad District to the north, by Punjab in the east. It also borders the divided district of Poonch, to the south is the Poonch District of Azad Kashmir and to the east is the Poonch District of India's Jammu and Kashmir state. The total area of the district is 1,368 square kilometers. Bagh District is linked to Muzaffarabad by two roads, one via Sudhan Gali (80 km) and the other through Kohala (97 km). It is 46 km from Rawalakot. The district is well known for its confectionery and bakery products.
The total population of the district according to the 1998 census was 395,000 which is estimated to have increased to 434,000 in 2003, with an annual growth rate of 2%.
The district is divided into 3 tehsils:
Bhimber District
Bhimber () is the southernmost of the eight districts of Azad Kashmir, the district is between Latitude: 32-48 to 33-34 and Longitude: 73.55 to 74-45, and has an area of 1516 km². The chief town is Bhimber
The area is very rich in archaeological remains because of its location. The Mughal Emperors used to travel through the area quite a lot to visit the Kashmir Valley.
Until 1995 Bhimber was a sub-division (tehsil) of Mirpur District. In 1996 the tehsil of Bhimber was removed from Mirpur and made into a separate district.
The district is bounded by Mirpur District to the northwest (and is 50 km from Mirpur city), and Punjab province in the west and south. It also shares borders with Indian Kashmir to the east.
The total area of the district is 1516 square kilometres and is divided into three tehsils.
According to the 1998 census, 297,000 people lived there. According to a 1999 estimate, it was 303,000. Latest figures show that 350,000 people live there. The Jaats are the biggest tribe in the region. The main language is Mirpuri.
Kotli District
Kotli () is one of the eight districts of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. Kotli is the capital city of the district. Kotli used to be a small town between Mirpur and Muzaffarabad, but has recently grown in size.
There are two theories about the origin of the name "Kotli". One is that in ancient times Prince Raja Shahswar Khan built a small house here and called it "Kot", which became "Kotli". Another theory is that the name is derived from the Sanskrit word Kotli which means to "" or to "live in". At one time the area was inhabited by the Mangran and Solhan peoples, and was called Kotli Solwhan.
The district of Kotli used to be a sub-division of Mirpur District until 1975. Before 1947, it was a part of the Jammu area. The district is bounded by the Indian part of Kashmir in the east, and by Mirpur District in the south and Rawalakot to its north. The district is divided into three tehsils (sub-divisions)
The district covers a total area of 1862 square kilometres. Kotli is now the largest city by population (656,000).
Before the division of Kashmir in 1947, Nakyal was part of Mehndar sub-division of Poonch.
Mirpur District
Mirpur District () is a district in Pakistan's Azad Kashmir Liberated Territory. The district is named after the main city - Mirpur. The District of Mirpur comprises mostly plain and some hilly areas. Its hot and dry climate and other geographical conditions closely resemble those of Jhelum and Gujrat, the adjoining Districts of Pakistan.
Mirpur District is now located in the south west of the Kashmir region. Azad Jammu & Kashmir is administered by Pakistan from Islamabad. Azad Kashmir has been considered politically, constitutionally and geographically as part of a separate state, i.e. Jammu and Kashmir. This state is a disputed territory and has been controlled by both Pakistan and India, since their independence, 14 / 15th August 1947, respectively. Azad Kashmir is under the indirect control of Pakistan, however its defence, foreign policy and currency are under the direct control of Pakistan.
Consequently, fiscal issues, i.e. budget and tax affairs have been dealt with by the 'Azad Jammu & Kashmir Council', instead of the Central Board of Revenue. Azad Jammu & Kashmir Council is a supreme body, consisting of 11 members - 6 of these members are from the Government of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, and 5 members are from the Government of Pakistan.
Also its chairman / chief executive is always the President of Pakistan. Hence, the rest of members are Azad Kashmir's own Prime Minister and President and some ministers, (also note that Azad Kashmir has its own president, prime minister and legislative assembly also supreme-court and high-court & other departments). The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) is responsible for tax affairs of rest of all Pakistani territory, i.e. all four provinces and the capital, Islamabad.
People from this former Punjab region now known as Azad Kashmir are ethnic Pahari who have historically looked abroad for employment. Many a ship employed Mirpuri boiler men in the age of steam. During the two world wars many Mirpuris enlisted in the merchant navy and armed services. During the last four decades a large number of people from this district have gone abroad, especially to United Kingdom for earning their livelihood. The Mangla Dam project in the early sixties resulted in the displacement of a large number of people, who under an agreement between the Pakistan government and the British government, were allowed to settle in the UK, where they are usually known as Mirpuri and play a role in the British society, economy, and politics.
As such, they are today the major foreign exchange earning resource for Pakistan. Around 50,000 people were moved from this district in the mid-sixties to make way for the construction of Mangla Dam, but corrupt handling of funds meant long drawn out delays in completing the project. Most of these people settled in new Mirpur whilst some moved elsewhere in Pakistan or to the UK.
Mirpur is divided into the following tehsils
Notable places within the district are
Mirpur became part of Kashmir in 1846 as part of the treaty of Amritsar between the British and the Maharaja Gulab Singh.Before the treaty Mirpur was part of the Punjab. Although they are citizens of Kashmir the peoples of Mirpur are ethnic Pahari's in much the same way as Attock has a large Pashtun population even though it only became part of the Punjab in 1970 when Ayub Khan removed it from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The caste system in Mipur is very strong despite the most of people living in UK. The famous castes in Mirpur are:
Muzaffarabad District
Muzafarabad district () of Pakistan is on the banks of the Jhelum and the Neelum rivers. The district is bounded to Pakistan in the west and to Kupwara and Baramulla districts of Indian Kashmir in the east and Neelum District fall on the northeast of the district. Total area of the district is 6117 square kilometres. The total population of the district according to the 1998 census was 725,000 and according to 1999 projection its population stands at 741,000. The district is administratively subdivided into three tehsils and fifty one Union Councils. Muzaffarabad city in the district serves as capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Poonch District
Sudhnoti District
Sudhnoti () is a district of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan.
Sudhnoti was the main site from where struggle against dogras and British imperialists was made. It remained the capital of Azad Kashmir and Jammu before it was shifted to Muzafferabad. It was named Sudhnoti in 2000 as a new district of Azad Kashmir and Jammu in the honour of the Sudhen tribe.
The district is divided into four tehsils
Sudhnati has a population of 242,000.
Kiyani/Gakhhars, Awan, Khwaja, Sudhan, Qureshi, Mughal and Dar are main tribes of this area.
Baramulla District
Baramulla () is a district in Kashmir.
Budgam District
Badgam district () is one of the twenty districts in Indian administered Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Badgam is located at 34.63° N 76.04° E. It has an average elevation of .
Doda District
Jammu District
Jammu District () is a district in Jammu and Kashmir.
Kargil district
Kargil is a district in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. Kargil lies near the Line of Control and is surrounded by the Pakistan-administered region of Gilgit–Baltistan to the north, the Kashmir Valley and Jammu divisions to the west, Leh district to the east and Himachal Pradesh to the south. Kargil is divided into 9 blocks which are, Kargil, Drass, Sankoo, Taisuru, Shargole, Shakar-Chiktan, Zanskar, GM Pore/Trespone and Lungnak. It has three Tehsils, namely Kargil, Zanskar and Sankoo. Zanskar and Drass are also sub divisions, and are headed administratively by a Sub Divisional Magistrate.
The name Kargil is said to derive from the Balti-Tibetan words "Khar" and "Rkil". "Khar" means "Castle" and "rkil" means "Centre" - thus a place between castles (as the place lay between many kingdoms). The ancient name of Kargil was "Purig".
With a population of 140,000 Kargil is the only Muslim majority district in Ladakh. Of total population, 85% are Muslim, of which 73% follow Shia Islam. Most of the district's Muslims are found in Kargil town, Drass, Wakha and the lower Suru valley. The remainder 14% are followers of Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, mostly found in Zanskar with small populations in the upper Suru valley (Rangdum) and around Shergol and Mulbekh. Another 1% of the population follow Hinduism and Sikhism.
Purig and Balti people of Tibetan origin (converting from Buddhism to Islam in the 16th Century) mainly live in Kargil. They have mixed with the Dard, Mon and other Aryan people. The mainly Muslim Dards live in the valley of Drass and speak Shina. A small number of Buddhist Dard, known as Brokpa, live in the Dha-Hanu region near the Lamayuru monastery. Some Arghons also live in in Kargil Town. Of late, immigrants from Kashmir and Hindus Jammu have come to live in in Kargil.
Kupwara District
Kupwara () is a district of India. It is in Jammu and Kashmir.
Leh District
Leh is one of the two districts in the Indian union territory of Ladakh, the other being the Kargil District to the west. It is bounded on the north by Ghanche District (Northern Areas), a small border with Xinjiang, China, via the Karakoram Pass which is part of the district. Aksai Chin and Tibet is to the east. Kargil district to the west, and lahul and spiti to the south. The district headquarters is based in Leh. It lies between 32 to 36 degree North latitude and 75 to 80 degree East longitude. As of 2001 the district has a population of 117,637.
The whole of Ladakh was under the administration of Leh district until July 1, 1979, when Kargil district was bifurcated from Leh district. About 84% of the district population are followers of Tibetan Buddhism, with much of the remainder being followers of Shi'a Islam, and the rest being Sunni and Nurbakhshi Muslims. Religion has been the source of grievances between Buddhists and Muslims since the late 20th century.
According to the 2001 census Total fertility rate in Leh district is the lowest in all of India at 1.3 per women. In neighbouring Kargil district, TFR is 3.4 The Total Birth Rate was 10.02 per 1000 people in 1995-2000 period. The Natural Growth Rate was 0.62% per year implying a Total Death Rate of 3.78 per 1000 people. The Birth Rate in some remote areas have plummeted to lowest anywhere in the world. For example in the village Diggar in the Nubra Valley, only 5 children were born during 1998-2002 period for a Total population of 700 people, implying a Total Birth Rate of just 1.79 per 1000 people per year. The lowest birth rate recorded is for German city of Cottbus in 2005, with 6.20 births per 1000 people.
Pulwama District
Pulwama () is a district in Indian-occupied Kashmir.
Rajouri District
Rajouri () is a District in Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmir, Pakistan. Since it borders the Republic of India's side of the Line of Control, it is the site of infiltration and militant activity. Rajouri is also notable for the presence of many Gujjar and Bakerwal villages, particularly towards the Pir Panjal mountain range.
The District has 7 Tehsils (towns) namely Rajouri Tehsil, Darhal Tehsil, Nowshera Tehsil, Sunderbani Tehsil, Kalakote Tehsil, Budhal Tehsil and Thannamandi Tehsil and 7 Blocks of Rajouri, Manjakote, Darhal, Budhal, Kalakote, Sunderbani and Nowshera. There is diversity in the religious practices of the residents of these various towns with some being predominantly Hindu and others with Muslim majorities. The presence of militancy has affected the composition in most Muslim majority regions that are closer to the border. In overall, per official 1981 estimates, the population as divided by religion is 58% Muslim, 39% Hindu, 2% Sikh and 1% buddhist. This composition has since likely changed dramatically due to militancy having forced substantial minority communities to the Hindu dominated districts near Jammu. Rajouri district is famous for its local cheez all over the state along with milk product's , one of the famous dish in rajouri is "makki di roti" ( i.e maize bread) ,most of the people's are farmer's and they do subsistence framing ( edited by sachin sharma lpu ).
Srinagar District
Srinagar () is at the center of the Valley of Kashmir. It is the most populous district in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India and is home to the summer capital (Srinagar) of Jammu and Kashmir (the capital moves to Jammu city in the winter). The largest city is Srinagar. It is also home to the scenic Dal Lake, a popular tourist destination.
Srinagar District is made up of two administrative tehsils: North Srinagar and South Srinagar.
Udhampur District
Udhampur () is a district in Jammu and Kashmir. The town of Udhampur is the headquarters of this district.
The 2001 census indicates the population of the district to be just over 700,000. There are 871 females for every 1000 males in the district. The overall literacy rate is at 54.16%, with 66.43% for males and 39.89% for females. Majority of the population of the district practise Hinduism. Majority are of Dogras in this district.There are a large number of nomadic Gujjar's and Bakarwal's present in the district as well.
The major languages spoken in the district are Dogri, Urdu, and Kashmiri. Kahmiri language used by people migrated from Kashmir known as Kashmiri pandits which are in very good number as well.
The Invasion (professional wrestling)
The Invasion was a wrestling storyline in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) that began after the WWF bought World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It involved the WCW wrestlers "invading" WWF television to try to "take over" the WWF.
The idea of a match showing the top 2 shows of the Monday Night Wars was considered to be a "dream match" show in the eyes of many fans, because it let fans to see which show would be superior. The storyline began when Vince McMahon's son, Shane McMahon, said on "RAW" that he bought WCW. This led to many appearances of WCW wrestlers during "RAW" and "SmackDown!" after WrestleMania X-Seven.
In June 2001, the storyline got more intense as more WWF storylines ended to make room for the central Invasion storyline. WCW and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) merged to make The Alliance and challenged the WWF's control over the wrestling industry. An Inaugural Brawl took place at the WWF Invasion pay-per-view, where Stone Cold Steve Austin defected and joined the Alliance. Many inter-promotional matches occurred after the Invasion between The Alliance and the WWF, leading up to the climax of the angle at Survivor Series 2001, when Team WWF (The Rock, Chris Jericho, Big Show, The Undertaker, and Kane) defeated Team Alliance (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, and Shane McMahon) in a Winner-Take-All match.
A very large storyline that went for 5 months from June 2001 to November 2001, the storyline has been heavily criticized.
During the Monday Night Wars, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the top 2 North American wrestling shows, competed for ratings. Through developments such as the nWo and the Montreal Screwjob, fans compared the two promotions, and the Internet wrestling community was full of arguments as to which of the two was the best.
Among other things, however, mismanagement within WCW (such as allowing wrestlers themselves to book matches) eventually led WCW to a downward spiral from which it never recovered. The Monday Night Wars came to an end on March 23 2001, when the WWF bought WCW for what was considered to be a bargain price.
The final night of the Monday Night Wars occurred on March 26 2001: "RAW" primarily focused on the major storylines heading into WrestleMania X-Seven, while "Nitro" held their final episode with a "Night Of Champions". Vince McMahon opened up "Nitro" and announced a simulcast later that night to address the future of WCW. Throughout "RAW", McMahon publicly named several WCW wrestlers who would not be retained. After Sting defeated Ric Flair in WCW's final match, the simulcast began. McMahon talked about the buyout of WCW and toyed with the idea of making WCW into a huge media conglomerate, much like the WWF. He asked the crowd who he should keep under his belt by mentioning names of WCW wrestlers and asking for a reaction. Lex Luger received a negative reaction from fans, and Hulk Hogan, Buff Bagwell, Booker T, Scott Steiner, Sting, and Goldberg received positive reactions. Vince then proceeded to fire them all, however, to the cheers of the "RAW" crowd and the jeers of the "Nitro" crowd. McMahon then announced that he would sign the contract and make the purchase official at WrestleMania. Shane McMahon, however, appeared on "Nitro" and announced that he had signed the contract and purchased WCW out from under his father's nose, planting the seed for what was considered a lucrative future storyline opportunity. The Invasion did not begin immediately afterwards, as the WWF was preparing for WrestleMania X-Seven, the year's largest show, mere days away.
The WWF had effectively doubled the size of its roster through its purchase of WCW, and as a result, there was not enough screen time for everyone. The original plan was to find a time slot on TNN to continue running WCW as a separate entity. Polls were even put up on WWF.com and WCW.com to decide the name of the new show. These plans fell through when no TV station would touch WCW because of its reputation for losing money. The WWF eventually carried out a brand extension, effectively reviving WCW under its own auspices and running two separate promotions, each with one of the WWF's two existing televised shows, "RAW" and "SmackDown!".
As part of its plans, Lance Storm became the first WCW wrestler to appear on WWF programming, by running in during a match on the May 28 episode of "RAW" while a match was being held. At King of the Ring 2001 on June 24, then-WCW wrestler Booker T interfered during the Triple Threat Main Event match for the WWF Championship and almost cost Stone Cold Steve Austin the title. Also, Austin suffered fractured bones in his hand from the side slam he took from Booker into an announce table. The next night, a confrontation occurred between WCW owner Shane McMahon and WWF owner Vince McMahon. While Vince was in the ring, Booker T came from behind to deliver his trademark scissor kick to Vince. The WWF roster ran to the ring to the aid of Vince, but Booker T and Shane McMahon escaped through the crowd. This incident marked the official start of the Invasion storyline, to which "RAW" announcer Jim Ross announced, "The battle lines have been drawn!"
The WWF eventually began to recognize WCW and tested the idea of a brand extension by giving WCW the final twenty minutes of "RAW" with Scott Hudson and Arn Anderson doing announcing duties in place of Jim Ross and Paul Heyman. During a match between Buff Bagwell and Booker T for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, WWF wrestlers Kurt Angle and WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin interfered in revenge by beating Booker T up, with Bagwell joining Angle and Austin by attacking Booker T. A
On the July 9 episode on "RAW", Kane was scheduled to go into a handicapped match against Mike Awesome and Lance Storm. Chris Jericho came out and offered to be Kane's partner, thus turning it into a tag team match. Near the end of the match, Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho on Lance Storm. As the move was being applied, however, Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer ran through the audience and into the ring and started to beat on Kane and Jericho. In response, WWF wrestlers consisting of The Dudley Boyz, Tazz, Justin Credible, Rhyno, and Raven ran to the ring. After a brief stand-off, the WWF group turned around and attacked Kane and Jericho. This prompted Paul Heyman to leave the announce table and enter the ring. After high-fiving the wrestlers, he announced that ECW has been brought into the Invasion. Heyman talked about how tired he was sitting beside Jim Ross and discussing WCW vs. WWF, stating that he felt that everyone had forgotten about ECW and announced, "This Invasion just got taken to the extreme."
Later during the night, Shane and Vince McMahon bumped into each other backstage. Shane told his father that ECW needed to be taken care of and pointed out that there were 10 ECW wrestlers under Heyman's belt. He suggested that he would take five of his WCW wrestlers and have them team up with five of Vince McMahon's WWF wrestler's later that night to take out ECW. Vince agreed but insisted that WCW would eventually meet its demise when all was said and done.
At the end of the night, the WCW wrestlers came into the ring, accompanied by Shane McMahon. The WWF wrestlers then came into the ring and, before ECW entered, the WCW and WWF wrestlers started to brawl. The WWF wrestlers cleared the ring but then were stormed by the ECW wrestlers and taken out. After this, WCW's men came into the ring and high-fived the ECW men. Paul Heyman and Shane McMahon then hugged and started to dismantle the WWF wrestlers. Vince McMahon, stunned, came out and asked what was going on. Shane McMahon responded that he was responsible for all the events that just transpired and announced that ECW and WCW merged to form The Alliance. He then announced that the new owner of ECW was Stephanie McMahon.
At InVasion, the Inaugural Brawl took place between Team WCW/ECW and Team WWF. The WWF consisted of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Kane, and the Undertaker, who all wrestled against the team of DDP, Booker T, Rhyno, and the Dudley Boys. Near the end of the match, all of the wrestlers were outside of the ring except Booker T and Angle. Kurt Angle applied the ankle lock on Booker T, who tapped out, but no referee was there to witness it. Stone Cold then dragged a referee into the ring, but then kicked Kurt Angle in the face, Stunned him, and placed Booker T on top of Kurt Angle and told the referee to count. Team WCW/ECW won the match due to Stone Cold's actions.
Shane McMahon, on the July 26 edition of "SmackDown!", extended an invitation to The Rock, who had not been seen since the "RAW" following WrestleMania X-Seven, to the Alliance. Also that night, Kurt Angle challenged Booker T to a WCW World Heavyweight Championship match, which Booker T accepted. The WWF gained momentum when Angle beat Booker T with an ankle lock, taking the WCW Championship away from the Alliance. Angle's title run proved to be short-lived, as Booker T won it back on the July 30 episode of "RAW".
On that same "RAW", The Rock returned for the first time since his suspension on the April 2 edition of "RAW". Shane and Vince McMahon were in the ring that night, and each tried to convince The Rock to join their respective side. Shane McMahon took the liberty of reminding The Rock of how Vince screwed him out of the WWF Championship earlier that year at WrestleMania and also in a steel cage match the day after WrestleMania. Vince McMahon replied that Shane was somewhat accurate in his accusations but ceded that it was wrong for him to back Stone Cold, as he was a rattlesnake that he should have known would eventually bite him. He promised to The Rock that he had no intention of screwing him if he returned to the WWF but also ceded that he could not promise that he never would; if it was good for business, he said, then he just might do it. He told The Rock that he was at least being honest with him and pleaded for The Rock to trust himself, stating that his future was with the fans and the WWF. The Rock, however, Rock Bottomed Vince McMahon and proceeded to shake Shane's hand, but he then proceeded to Rock Bottom him as well.
His return led to a WCW Title match between The Rock and Booker T at SummerSlam 2001, which The Rock won, marking the second time the WCW Championship belt changed sides to the WWF. At that same pay-per-view, Austin retained his WWF Championship against Angle after Angle won by disqualification.
The following "RAW" and "SmackDown!" showings featured primarily inter-promotional matches between the two companies. Austin stole Kurt Angle's medals during one of the shows, and on the August 30 edition of "SmackDown!", tied them to a cinder block and threw them in a river. The following "RAW", Debra and Stephanie bought a new truck for Stone Cold, but Angle came up from behind and nailed Austin in the back of the head with a pipe. He put a cinder block and rope in the truck, put Austin in it, and drove away on the truck. He threatened to throw Stone Cold into a river if he did not get a title shot. Austin complied and gave him a shot at the upcoming pay-per-view, Unforgiven. Angle said, however, that Austin was "still going into the water", but instead simply embarrassed Austin by throwing him into a kiddie pool.
The WWF gained even more momentum at Unforgiven, as The Rock retained the WCW Championship against Booker T, and Kurt Angle made Austin submit to the ankle lock, winning the WWF Championship from Stone Cold, putting both belts into the hands of the WWF.
There were several inter-promotional matches after Unforgiven. Furthermore, a crucial plot point formed when, on the October 8 airing of "RAW", Jericho and The Rock teamed up against Shane McMahon and Rob Van Dam. Jericho's face was drenched in blood and, with a steel chair in his hand, accidentally nailed The Rock when he was trying to hit Shane McMahon. This caused a stir backstage later on in the night when The Rock checked to make sure Jericho, who was being treated by EMTs, was in good condition but stated that Jericho made a big mistake in the match. Jericho, irritated, countered that everyone makes mistakes, including The Rock. The Rock responded that everyone should own up to their mistakes but was more concerned with Jericho's condition. As he went to leave the room, Jericho made a comment to the EMT wondering "what the hell" The Rock wanted for him. The Rock overheard this, walked back, and asked Jericho to repeat himself. Jericho did just that, and The Rock countered that his mistake actually cost them the match. Jericho countered that he maybe should have hit The Rock instead with a chair on purpose and proceeded to taunt The Rock by stating that he should knock the People's Eyebrow off of The Rock's face. The Rock provoked Jericho to do just that, and a brawl ensued.
Also that night, Stone Cold and Kurt Angle faced off for the WWF Championship, and William Regal, who sat at ringside to ensure a fair match would take place, hit Kurt Angle with the championship, thereby backstabbing the WWF and costing Angle the title.
The feud between Jericho and The Rock built up to a match at No Mercy on October 21, where Jericho beat the Rock to win the WCW Championship, and Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Angle and Rob Van Dam to retain his WWF Championship.
On the October 29 edition of "RAW", Shane McMahon told his father, Vince McMahon, that a member of the WWF would jump ship to the Alliance that night. Later that same night, Kurt Angle backstabbed the WWF by hitting Jericho, The Rock, Undertaker, and Kane with steel chairs. On the November 1 edition of "SmackDown!", Angle, who originally led the WWF wrestlers, explained that he represented what is great about America—he was a winner, and his defection came from his decision to fight along the winning side. That side included Stone Cold, a man, Kurt Angle claimed, knew how to win.
On the November 5 airing of "RAW", Vince McMahon countered Kurt Angle's defection by stating that a member of Team Alliance would defect during a match at the upcoming Survivor Series. Stone Cold came out to confront Vince about it, and Vince stated that Stone Cold would be the one to defect. Because of this announcement, many Alliance members began to distrust Stone Cold, looking at him with suspicious eyes, to which Stone Cold denied the charges and called Vince a liar. Stone Cold went on to interrogate members of Team Alliance, questioning Booker T and sitting Rob Van Dam down in a room with a light shining on him.
All of this led to a "Winner Take All" match at Survivor Series 2001, which pitted Team WWF (The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, and The Big Show) against Team Alliance (Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Shane McMahon). The final three men in the match were The Rock and Jericho vs. Austin. Jericho was eliminated and, to continue the feud between the two men, attacked the Rock, even though Jericho's future was on the line if The Rock lost. The Rock and Austin continued to battle it out, and the referee was knocked down in the match. Austin stunned the Rock and pinned him, but there was no referee to count it. Austin approached the downed referee to try to revive him. As this was occurring, Angle ran to the ring, picked up the WWF championship belt, and nailed Austin with it, revealing himself to be the defector to which McMahon was referring the entire time. The Rock followed this with a Rock Bottom and a pin on Austin, to which the referee woke up and counted Austin down to three. Team WWF prevailed, thus ending the storyline.
After The Alliance was disbanded, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship would be simply renamed the World Championship, and later unified with the WWF Championship to form the WWF Undisputed Championship. The Undisputed Championship was originally represented with both the original WWF and WCW title belts, as the champion would carry both belts around, until being replaced with a single belt. At the beginning of the WWE Brand Extension, the champion would appear on both RAW and SmackDown! until then champion Brock Lesnar took the title to Smackdown. Eric Bischoff would reward Triple H with the former WCW championship belt, as he was the last person to have it, renaming it the World Heavyweight Championship. The Undisputed Championship would be renamed the WWE Championship, as having two world titles contradicted the term "undisputed."
Another WCW championship, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, was rebranded as a WWE title and replaced the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Additionally, the WCW United States Championship was revived in 2003 as a "SmackDown!"-exclusive title, thus becoming the WWE United States Championship.
Although the WCW brand effectively died once and for all following the end of this storyline, ECW was "temporarily" revived by WWE in 2005 for the purposes of a special "reunion" show, ECW One Night Stand, held on June 12 2005. The build-up to this one-shot event featured former ECW talent putting over the virtues of the brand versus the WWE product and appearances by several former ECW wrestlers not under contract to WWE. In 2006, it was announced that WWE would be reviving ECW as its third "brand" (to complement "RAW" and "SmackDown!"). The second One Night Stand, held on June 11 2006, led to the official debut of the new ECW the following Tuesday.
Test won the Immunity Battle Royal, which granted him immunity from being fired for an entire year, beginning a storyline in which he would bully other wrestlers simply because he could. Every Alliance member who held championships were also immune from being fired, such as Christian, the Dudley Boyz, and Rob Van Dam. William Regal got his job back by being the first to join Vince McMahon's infamous Kiss My Ass Club. The remaining Alliance members (with the exception of RVD) would associate themselves with Vince, who immediately turned heel, against Austin, who immediately turned face. Kurt Angle remained a heel, despite being the one responsible for the end of the Alliance. It was during this storyline that Stone Cold Steve Austin coined the "What?" catchphrase, which fans continue to chant to this day. Ric Flair would make a return and become the kayfabe co-owner of the WWE with Vince.
The Invasion angle was a large storyline that spanned for almost half of 2001 and brought about financial success for the WWF, such as the InVasion pay-per-view being one of the highest non-major event buyrates in the history of pay-per-views. However, the Invasion storyline has come under criticism by wrestling fans and wrestling media, with the storyline being called a flop. Other media refer to the storyline as "one of the most poorly handled, ego-filled storylines in wrestling history." The Invasion storyline was awarded the 2001 Gooker Award by WrestleCrap for worst gimmick, storyline, or event in wrestling.
Throughout the storyline, many inter-promotional matches had WWF wrestlers winning over WCW/ECW wrestlers, usually cleanly. In contrast, most of the Alliance's wins were due to interference or disqualification. For example, it took Tazz assisting Raven at InVasion for Raven to beat William Regal. The Rock, however, won cleanly at SummerSlam 2001, despite Shane McMahon's helping Booker T.
One particular example of this was during the Inaugural Brawl at the InVasion pay-per-view. Besides Austin's turn in the match that was needed to secure a WCW/ECW win over the WWF, Slam! Wrestling alleged that the Alliance wrestled poorly in comparison to the WWF wrestlers:
""Portrayed as disorganized and inferior grapplers, the ECW-WCW Team had more than its fair share of mistimed moves which hurt their own team members while the "WWF squad" of course wrestled like a well-oiled machines. The weakening of the ECW-WCW dubbed superstars didn't stop there either. The WWF faction battered their enemy tag partners off the ring apron over and over again making them appear weak and more times than not, the ECW-WCW grapplers gained an advantage only by double-teaming or employing underhanded tactics. The message sent was loud and clear. The best of ECW-WCW is not good enough to hang with the WWF.""
It has been speculated that the reason for this was because Vince McMahon did not want the WWF to look weak while fighting the Alliance, as he worked very hard to put down his competition, especially WCW. Smash Wrestling alleges that WWF wrestlers needed to defect to make the Alliance appear to be a credible threat.
The Invasion storyline was presented with a backdrop of a McMahon feud. In storyline, WWF was owned by Vince McMahon, WCW was owned by Shane McMahon, and ECW was owned by Stephanie McMahon. Although the feud did not center completely around the McMahons, the family feud storyline had been done many times before. In addition to this, the Stone Cold versus Vince McMahon feud was to start again when Vince McMahon hit Austin in the back of the head with a chair at No Mercy. As stated by a Slam! Wrestling synopsis of No Mercy 2001:
"For fans who didn't catch it the fifth, tenth or twentieth time they've run the angle, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Vince McMahon are about to feud once again... First up was Vincent McMahon labeling Austin with a steel chair as he was waiting to put a dazed RVD away... Three minutes later, it was Shane McMahon's turn to hurl Kurt Angle out of the ring and into a steel ring post. Vince tackled Shane over the announce table and the two began pummeling one another. Back in the ring, Austin laid a "Stone Cold" Stunner on to retain the belt as a disgruntled Vince scowled. Gee, how many times have we seen that scenario play itself out before? Austin wins. Vince fumes. Fans snore. Whatever."
The storyline also allegedly centered too much on the McMahons, who were getting more airtime than the wrestlers.
It has been argued that the Invasion angle may have been more successful if Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff were perceived as controlling ECW and WCW, respectively, instead of Stephanie and Shane McMahon.
Many fans had dreamed of a day where they could pit WWF and WCW wrestlers against each other, but the storyline's final match ended with four WWF wrestlers brawling it out. As a column in "Online World of Wrestling" stated:
""While it was good TV, it wasn't what everyone thought the WCW vs WWF would have been all about... When the fans of WWF and WCW reminisced about a WCW vs WWF match back in the glory days of Monday Night Wars of around 1997, their match would have probably gone like this: WCW would probably have a team of Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Goldberg, and Ric Flair against... maybe the WWF team of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, the Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Mick Foley. Something like that anyway, obviously, even if Vince had done this thing right and signed some good WCW talent we would have had a match a little different due to... factors such as retirement or injuries or something, but still similar to that.""
It is important to note that some of the WCW wrestlers' absences were out of the WWF's control. Many of WCW's top wrestlers had contracts with AOL Time Warner, WCW's parent company, and were willing to sit at home rather than wrestle for less money. Ric Flair and Rey Mysterio were not signed until the end of the Invasion because they were tied to their contracts, and therefore their absence was out of the WWF's control. In addition, Scott Steiner was recovering from an injury. Others, such as Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Goldberg, were not signed until well after the storyline finished. Because of this, the WWF's opponent allegedly lacked the strong identity of WCW.
To bolster the ranks of WCW (in lieu of big WCW names), some WWF wrestlers (such as Stone Cold Steve Austin) defected and joined the Alliance. Although both WWF and WCW featured talents who had worked for both companies, wrestlers such as Stone Cold had their greatest success in WWF and were seen by fans as WWF wrestlers. Kurt Angle had never wrestled a match for either WCW or ECW, but was a main player for the Alliance towards the end of the storyline. In fact, despite both being viewed as prominent WWF wrestlers, they ended up not only being main players of the Alliance, with Stone Cold being the leader that carried championship gold, but also playing a bigger role than the WCW and ECW stars during the Invasion. For example, the final two Alliance members were Stone Cold and Angle at Survivor Series 2001—Booker T and Rob Van Dam were eliminated only after Shane McMahon.
Several top WCW and ECW talent who were top superstars in their previous company such as Diamond Dallas Page, Justin Credible, Raven and Tazz were put down into low-mid card matches, while lesser-ranked WWF wrestlers who defected to the Alliance, such as Test, were given a greater push.
A caliphate ( "khilāfa") is a state ruled by an Islamic leader known as a caliph ( "" ). This is a person considered a political-religious successor to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, and a leader of the entire Muslim community.
The Rashidun caliphs directly succeeded Muhammad as leaders of the muslim community. They were chosen through ", "a process of community consultation that some think is an early form of Islamic democracy. During the history of Islam after the Rashidun period, many muslim states, mostly hereditary monarchies, have claimed to be caliphates. Caliphs were not thought of as having the same prophetic power as Muhammid did.
In the Sunni branch of Islam a caliph should be elected by Muslims or their representatives. Followers of Shia Islam, however, believe a caliph should be an imam chosen by God from the "Ahl al-Bayt" (the "Family of the House", Muhammad's direct descendants).
Abu Bakr, the first successor of Muhammad, nominated Umar as his successor on his deathbed, and there was consensus in the Muslim community to his choice. His successor, Uthman Ibn Affan, was elected by a council of electors (Majlis). But soon he was seen by some more as a "king" than as an elected leader. Uthman was killed by members of an opposition group. Then Ali took control. He was very popular with many, but he was not accepted as caliph by the governors of Egypt. Later on even some of his own guard were against him. He had two major rebellions and was assassinated after a tumultuous rule of only five years. This period is known as the Fitna, or the first Islamic civil war.
Muawiyah, a relative of Uthman, and governor "(Wali)" of Syria became one of Ali's challengers. After Ali's death he became Caliph. Under him, the caliphate became a hereditary office for the first time. He founded the Umayyad dynasty.
In areas which were previously under Persian or Byzantine rule, the Caliphs lowered taxes, provided greater local autonomy, greater religious freedom for Jews, indigenous Christians, and brought peace to peoples that were demoralized and disaffected by the casualties and heavy taxation that resulted from the years of Byzantine-Persian warfare.
Under the Umayyads the Caliphate grew rapidly geographically. Islamic rule expanded westward across North Africa and into Hispania and eastward through Persia and ultimately to Sindh and Punjab in modern-day Pakistan. This made it one of the largest unitary states in history and one of the few states to ever extend direct rule over three continents (Africa, Europe, and Asia). Although not ruling all of the Sahara, homage was paid to the Caliph by Saharan Africa usually via various nomad Berber tribes.
Largely due to the fact that they were not elected via , the Umayyad dynasty was not universally supported within the Muslim community. Some supported prominent early Muslims like Al-Zubayr; others felt that only members of Muhammad's clan, the Banu Hashim, or his own lineage, the descendants of Ali, should rule. There were numerous rebellions against the Umayyads, as well as splits within the Umayyad ranks (notably, the rivalry between Yaman and Qays). Eventually, supporters of the Banu Hisham and the supporters of the lineage of Ali united to bring down the Umayyads in 750. However, the "", "the Party of Ali", were again disappointed when the Abbasid dynasty took power, as the Abbasids were descended from Muhammad's uncle, `Abbas ibn `Abd al-Muttalib and not from Ali. Following this disappointment, the finally split from the majority Sunni Muslims and formed what are today the several denominations.
The Umayyad Caliphate emerged as the rulers of the Islamic world. Although they maintained the Sasanians' administrative practices, the Umayyads considered Islam as primarily an Arab religion and were wary of Persian culture. They enforced use of the Arabic language in Persia, leading to the demise of the Middle Persian or Pahlavi alphabet in favor of the new Arabic/Persian alphabet in use to this day. They attempted to assimilate Persians as they had "Arabized" and assimilated the Egyptians and the Assyrians, but with much less success.