adityasasidhar/Wikipedia_Cleaned huggingface dataset:
The Nazis killed millions of people, hundreds at a time, with poison gas in special rooms called gas chambers. They forced others to dig giant holes in the ground where, after days of hard work, Jews and other prisoners were shot, buried, and burned in a mass grave. The Nazis executed many others by shooting, stabbing, or beating them to death. Many also died in forced marches from one camp to another. Other causes of death include starvation, diseases, and freezing to death because of the terrible conditions in the concentration camps.
On the other hand, there were people who saved Jews from the Holocaust because they thought it was the right thing to do. Some of them were later given "Righteous Among the Nations" awards by Yad Vashem.
Some people say the Holocaust did not happen at all, or was not as bad as historians say it was. This is called Holocaust denial. However, historians agree that the Holocaust did happen and have been described correctly. Many Holocaust deniers say that the Nazis did not kill so many people. Instead, they claim many of these people died because they were ill or didn't have enough to eat. But historical accounts, eyewitness evidence, and documentary evidence from the Nazis themselves clearly prove that the ideas of Holocaust deniers are not true. Jews were killed because Hitler ordered it. In Germany and other countries it is against the law to say that the Holocaust never happened.
Kyoto is one of oldest cities in Japan. Many tourists from all over the world come to Kyoto. Japanese people often come to Kyoto in the spring to see the cherry blossoms, and in the autumn to see the leaves change color.
In the second meaning listed, "anarchy" has to do with having no political order. The CIA World factbook said that there was only one nation, Somalia, that was in a state of anarchy. In Somalia, the government was no longer in control, and some parts of the country were ruled by mobs and warlords who sometimes fight one another.
When there is no political order, more than one government or political authority might compete for the same food, oil, land, or groups of people. The word "Anarchy" can be used to describe this. However, because there is "more than one" competing authority, a better word might be "polyarchy". The difference between "anarchy" and "polyarchy" is important to someone who thinks that true anarchy would work well. The word for someone who thinks this is "anarchist", and the word for this kind of thinking is "anarchism". Anarchism has been thought about for hundreds of years. The book called "The Politics of Individualism" attempts to teach its readers that anarchism is not always simply an opposition to the government, but a complicated political movement against the domination of few people.
DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule that contains the genetic code of organisms. This includes animals, plants, protists, archaea and bacteria. It is made up of two polynucleotide chains in a double helix.
Inside eukaryotic cells, DNA is organized into chromosomes. Before cell division, more chromosomes are made in the process of DNA replication. Eukaryotic organisms like animals, plants, fungi and protists store most of their DNA inside the cell nucleus. But prokaryotes, like bacteria and archaea store their DNA only in the cytoplasm, in circular chromosomes. Inside eukaryotic chromosomes, chromatin proteins, such as histones, help to compact and organize DNA.
The 'rungs' of the DNA ladder are each made of two bases, one base coming from each leg. The bases consistently connect in the middle i.e: 'A' will "only" pair with its complement 'T', and 'C' will "only" pair with its complement 'G' via the aid of hydrogen bonds (H-bonds).
Adenine (A) and thymine (T) can pair up because they make two hydrogen bonds, and cytosine (C) and guanine (G) pair up to make three hydrogen bonds. Although the bases are always in fixed pairs, the pairs can come in any order (A-T or T-A; similarly, C-G or G-C). This way, DNA can write 'codes' out of the 'letters' that are the bases. These codes contain the message that tells the cell what to do. This phenomenon is known under the name of Complementary base pairing or Watson-Crick base pairing that determines the essential forming of the helical structure of DNA as due to the base pairing, the DNA strands are complementary to each other, running in opposite directions, that forms anti-parallel strands. The main reason why DNA strands are anti-parallel is due to the high level of stability achieved in an anti-parallel configuration. Moreover, it is also important in replication as it allows semi-conservative replication.
A section of DNA that contains instructions to make a protein is called a gene. Each gene has the sequence for at least one polypeptide. Proteins form structures, and also form enzymes. The enzymes do most of the work in cells. Proteins are made out of smaller polypeptides, which are formed of amino acids. To make a protein to do a particular job, the correct amino acids need to be joined up in the correct order.
In the 1950s, Erwin Chargaff found that the amount of thymine (T) present in a molecule of DNA was about equal to the amount of adenine (A) present. He found that the same applies to guanine (G) and cytosine (C). Chargaff's rules summarizes this finding.
Experimental evidence supporting the Watson and Crick model was published in a series of five articles in the same issue of "Nature". Of these, Franklin and Gosling's paper was the first publication of their own X-ray diffraction data and original analysis method that partly supported the Watson and Crick model; this issue also contained an article on DNA structure by Maurice Wilkins and two of his colleagues, whose analysis and "in vivo" B-DNA X-ray patterns also supported the presence "in vivo" of the double-helical DNA configurations as proposed by Crick and Watson for their double-helix molecular model of DNA in the previous two pages of "Nature". In 1962, after Franklin's death, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins jointly received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Nobel Prizes are awarded only to living recipients. A debate continues about who should receive credit for the discovery.
DNA gets damaged a lot of times in cells which is a problem has DNA provide instructions to making proteins. But, cells have ways to fix these problems most of the time. Cells make use of special enzymes. Different enzymes fix different types of damages to DNA. The problem comes in different types:
Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in Trier, Prussia (now Germany). He came from a middle-class family, and his father was a lawyer. Marx studied law, history, and philosophy at the University of Bonn and later at the University of Berlin. During his education, he became involved with radical thinkers and developed his interest in philosophy and economics. After Completing his education, Marx began his career as a journalist in the early 1840s, writing for various German publications. He explored political and economic issues, laying the groundwork for his later theories. In 1844 Marx meet Friedrich Engels in Paris, France and became close friends by working together on the Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, sharing a passion for critiquing the socio-economic order. Their intellectual camaraderie helped shape Marxist theory. In his later years, Karl Marx faced financial struggles and health issues. He continued his political activities, writing, and research, contributing to the development of Marxist theory. Marx died in London on March 14, 1883, but his ideas had a lasting impact on political and economic thought.
Karl Marx lived in various European cities during his life. Some notable ones include Trier and Cologne in Germany, Brussels in Belgium, and London in the United Kingdom, where he spent a significant portion of his later life. Marx married Jenny von Westphalen, his childhood sweetheart, in 1843. Despite his revolutionary ideas, he struggled with poverty and relied on his friend Friedrich Engels for support. Marx had six children, and his family faced hardship due to their economic circumstances. Marx's Wife died in 1881 just two years before his own death in 1883. His personal life reflected the complexities of the era he lived in.
His most important work is "Das Kapital", or The Capital. It is commonly known in English as simply 'Capital.' He spent many years working on the three parts of the book. Das Kapital describes how "capitalism" works and the problems it creates, such as division of labour, alienation and exploitation. The book has led to many arguments between those who agree with the book and those who do not. Marx's ideas have been thought of as responsible for socialist revolutions (like the Russian Revolution).
The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848, advocates for the overthrow of capitalist societies by the working class. It emphasizes historical class struggles, predicts the inevitable rise of the proletariat, and calls for the abolition of private property. The manifesto outlines the principles of communism, aiming for a classless society where the means of production are collectively owned. Marx's Communist Manifesto, co-written with Engels, outlines the idea of a classless society, emphasizing the struggle between the bourgeoisie (owners) and proletariat (workers). It advocates for the overthrow of the capitalist system to establish a communist society where the means of production are collectively owned.
Marx's most popular theory was 'historical materialism', arguing that history is the result of material conditions, rather than ideas. He believed that religion, morality, Social structures and other things are all rooted in economics.
Karl Marx's legacy is marked by his influential contributions to political theory and economics, particularly with his ideas on communism and class struggle. While his ideas have shaped various political movements, their interpretation and application have varied widely, sometimes leading to both positive and negative outcomes. However, there's ongoing debate about Karl Marx's legacy by historians. Some see him as a revolutionary thinker who highlighted class struggles, while others criticize his ideas for various reasons, including their implementation in certain historical contexts. Some historians argue that Karl Marx's ideas, as interpreted and implemented by various leaders, contributed to the development of totalitarian regimes, citing instances like the Soviet Union and Maoist China as examples. Many people continue to follow and develop Marx's ideas.
Bread is a type of baked food. It is mainly made from dough, which is made mainly from flour and water. Usually, salt and yeast are added. Bread is often baked in an oven. It can be bought all over the world.
Bread can be toasted or used to make sandwiches. Pizza is a food-based on bread. There are many different kinds of bread.
The color and taste of the bread depending on the kind of flour used and the style of baking. Flour made from the whole grain gives darker bread. Flour made just from the polished wheat grain gives a very white bread. Rye and barley flour give darker types of bread. The type of flour also changes how long the bread can be kept before going bad. Some strains of wheat are resistant to fungus, but may not produce bread as tasty as a weaker strain.
Bread is an important part of life in many countries because so many people eat it. In many cultures, bread is so important that it is part of religious rituals.
A volcano is a mountain that has lava (hot, liquid rock) coming out from a magma chamber under the ground, or did have in the past. Volcanoes are formed by the movement of tectonic plates.
The Earth's crust has 17 major, rigid tectonic plates. These float on a hotter, softer layer in its mantle. Volcanoes are often found where tectonic plates are coming together.
The world's biggest volcano is named Mauna Loa in Hawaii. Mauna Loa is part of the five volcanoes on Hawaii's 'Big Island'. The most recent time this volcano erupted was in 1984. It erupted 33 times in the last 170 years. Like all the other Hawaiian volcanoes, Mauna Loa was created by the movement of the Pacific tectonic plate which moved over the Hawaii hotspot in the Earth's mantle. Mauna Loa is 4,196 meters tall. It is a shield volcano. The largest recent eruption from Mauna Loa left a lava trail long.
Two famous stratovolcanoes are Japan's Mount Fuji, and Vesuvius. Both have big bases and steep sides that get steeper and steeper as it goes near the top. Vesuvius is famous for its destruction of the towns Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD, killing thousands.
A traditional way to classify or identify volcanoes is by its pattern of eruptions. Those volcanoes which may erupt again at any time are called active. Those that are now quiet are called dormant (inactive). Those volcanoes which have not erupted in historical times are called extinct.
The Earth's largest volcano has been discovered. It is 2 km below the sea on an underwater plateau known as the Shatsky Rise. This is about 1,600 km east of Japan. The previous record-holder, Mauna Loa in Hawaii, is still the largest volcano on land.
The 310,000 km (119,000 sq mi) volcano, Tamu Massif, is comparable in size to Mars' vast Olympus Mons volcano, which is the largest known volcano in the Solar System. It was formed about 145 million years ago when massive lava flows erupted from the centre of the volcano to form a broad, shield-like feature. That suggests the volcano produced a flood basalt eruption.
The Tamu Massif extends some 30 km (18 miles) into the Earth's crust. The researchers doubted the submerged volcano's peak ever rose above sea level during its lifetime and say it is unlikely to erupt again.
The Big Bang is a physical theory about how the universe started expanding, and then made the stars and galaxies we see today. The Big Bang is the name that scientists use for the most common theory of the universe, from the very early stages to the present day.
The most commonly considered alternatives are called the Steady State theory and , according to both of which the universe has no beginning or end.
According to the theory the Big Bang began as a very hot, small, and dense superforce (the mix of the four fundamental forces), with no stars, atoms, form, or structure (called a "singularity"). Then about 13.8 billion years ago, space expanded very quickly (thus the name "Big Bang"). This started the formation of atoms, which eventually led to the formation of stars and galaxies. It was Georges who first noted (in 1927) that the universe is expanding. The universe is still expanding today, and getting colder as well.
Astronomer Fred Hoyle mockingly called the theory the "Big Bang" on his radio show. Scientists who did not agree with him decided to use it.
Scientists base the Big Bang theory on many different observations. The most important is the redshift of very far away galaxies. Cosmological redshift is the Doppler effect occurring in light. When an object moves away from Earth, its color rays look more similar to the color red than they actually are, because the movement stretches the wavelength of light given off by the object. Scientists use the word "red hot" to describe this stretched light wave because red is the longest wavelength on the visible spectrum. The more redshift there is, the faster the object is moving away. By measuring the redshift, scientists proved that the universe is expanding, and they can work out how fast the object is moving away from the Earth. With very exact observation and measurements, scientists believe that the universe was a singularity approximately 13.8 billion years ago. Because most things become colder as they expand, scientists assume that the universe was very small and very hot when it started. This does not take into account other possible (non-cosmological) causes of redshift.
Other observations that support the Big Bang theory are the amounts of chemical elements in the universe. Amounts of very light elements, such as hydrogen, helium, and lithium seem to agree with the theory of the Big Bang. The same is true, however, for Static State theory and plasma cosmology. Scientists also detected what they call the cosmic microwave background radiation. These electromagnetic waves are everywhere in the universe. This radiation is now very weak and cold, but is thought to have been very strong and very hot a long time ago.
It can be said that time had no meaning before the Big Bang. If the Big Bang was the beginning of time, then there was no universe before the Big Bang, since there could not be any "before" if there was no time. Other ideas state that the Big Bang was not the beginning of time 13.8 billion years ago. Instead, some believe that there was a completely different universe before the Big Bang, and it may have been very different from the one we know today.
Nonetheless, in November 2019, Jim Peebles, awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for his theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology, noted in his award presentation that he does not support the Big Bang Theory due to the lack of concrete supporting evidence, and stated, "It's very unfortunate that one thinks of the beginning whereas in fact, we have no good theory of such a thing as the beginning."
An astronomer is a scientist who studies astronomy. Observational astronomers work in observatories with telescopes to collect information from things in outer space such as planets, stars, or galaxies. Theoretical astronomers study the collected information, and use it to help us understand how the universe behaves.
Aristotle's father was named Nicomachus. He was a soldier for King Amyntas of Macedonia.
At about the age of eighteen, Aristotle went to Athens to become a student of Plato at Plato's Academy. Aristotle stayed at the academy until he was 27. He left after Plato died in 347 BC.
He then traveled with Xenocrates to Asia Minor. While in Asia, Aristotle traveled with Theophrastus to the island of Lesbos. They looked at the botany and zoology of the island.
In 343 B.C. Philip II of Macedon invited Aristotle to tutor his son Alexander the Great. Aristotle was put in charge of the royal academy of Macedon. During that time, he not only taught Alexander; he also taught two other future kings: Ptolemy and Cassander.
Aristotle believed Greek culture was better than all of the other cultures. He encouraged Alexander to conquer Persia, which was an empire to the east. One time, he advised Alexander to be 'a leader to the Greeks and a despot to the barbarians, to look after the former as after friends and relatives, and to deal with the latter as with beasts or plants'.
By 335 Aristotle returned to Athens. He started his own school there. It was called the Lyceum. Aristotle taught courses at the school for twelve years.
It was probably then (335 to 323 B.C.) that Aristotle wrote most of his works. Aristotle wrote many dialogues. Only parts of his dialogues survive. The works that have survived are probably lecture notes for his students. All of Aristotle's works are like an encyclopedia of everything the Greeks knew. Some people think Aristotle was probably the last person to know everything there was to know about in his own time.
Near the end of Alexander's life, he began to think people might be trying to kill him. He threatened Aristotle in letters he wrote to him. Aristotle often said that he disliked Alexander calling himself a god. The king executed Aristotle's grandnephew Callisthenes as a traitor. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 B.C. without ever going back to Greece. When Alexander died, Athenians started to dislike Macedonians again and Aristotle left the city. He died in Euboea of natural causes that same year, 322.
The three greatest ancient Greek philosophers were Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates. Socrates taught Plato, then Plato taught Aristotle. These three thinkers turned early Greek philosophy into the beginnings of Western philosophy as it is today.
Plato's main ideas were that knowledge from the senses was always confused and not pure. True knowledge can be got from the thinking soul that turns away from the world. Only the soul can have knowledge of "Forms", the real way things are. The world is only a copy of these "Forms" and is not perfect.
Aristotle thought differently. He thought that knowledge from the senses was more important. These thoughts became roots of the scientific method after hundreds of years. Most of the things Aristotle wrote that we still have today are notes from his speaking and teaching. Some of his important writings are "Physics", "Metaphysics", "(Nicomachean) Ethics", "Politics", "De Anima (On the Soul)", and "Poetics".
He also had problems with the atomic theory. He did not believe in Democritus' theories about the atomic theory. He believed that all matter was continuous whereas Democritus stated that all matter was made up of tiny indivisible things called "atoms".
Aristotle's logic influenced the history of Western thought. It was his logic which was copied and used in the Arabic and Latin mediaeval traditions. It was dominant for two and a half thousand years, until the late 19th century. Then modern logic was started by Gottlob Frege, Charles Sanders Peirce and others.
Sagan attended the University of Chicago earning two degrees in physics. He followed with a doctorate in astronomy in 1960 and taught at Harvard University until 1968, when he moved to Cornell University.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas. This is how the Europeans learned that North America and South America were there. The Europeans colonized the Americas. Because of this, and the killing of many Native Americans, most people now living in North America are the descendants of Europeans.
Sometimes, science fiction stories talk about space colonization on space stations or planets other than Earth. Some science fiction stories like The Matrix speak of the robots the human beings made, taking over, and colonizing Earth.
Dry cells are a type of chemical cells. Dry cells are commonly used today in the form of batteries. Dry cells are used in many electrical appliances. Most dry cells are not truly dry; they still contain a liquid electrolyte, but it is immobilized in a paste or gel. Several truly dry, or solid-state, batteries have been developed, but none are commercially available yet.
The Vietnam War (also known as Second Indochina War, Vietnamese-American War or American War in Vietnam) lasted from 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975. It was fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and North Korea, and South Vietnam was set up by the United States and supported by South Korea, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. People from other countries also went to fight but not in their own national armies. The conflict between communist and capitalist countries was part of the Cold War.
The Viet Cong, also known as the National Liberation Front or NLF, was a South Vietnamese communist force that was helped by North Vietnam. It fought a guerrilla war against South Vietnamese anticommunist forces. The People's Army of Vietnam (also known as the North Vietnamese Army) engaged in a more conventional war by at times putting large forces to battle.
The Vietnam War was very controversial, especially in the United States. It was the first war to feature live television coverage and the first major armed conflict that the United States lost. The war became so unpopular in the United States that President Richard Nixon eventually agreed to send American soldiers home in 1973.
During World War II, after Nazi Germany had defeated France in 1940, French Indochina was controlled by the Vichy French government, a puppet government recognized by Germany. In March 1945, the Japanese Empire launched the Second French Indochina Campaign. Japan occupied Indochina but surrendered in August 1945.
After the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Vichy government was no longer in control of France or its territories. The newly formed Provisional Government of the French Republic attempted to take back control of its former colonies in Indochina by force, if necessary, but France's efforts at regaining its colony in Vietnam were opposed by a communist Vietnamese army, the Viet Minh.
In July 1954, France and the Viet Minh signed the Geneva Peace Accord, which resulted in dividing Vietnam along the 17th parallel into a northern section, under the control of the communists, led by Ho Chi Minh, and a southern section, led by the Catholic anticommunist Ngo Dinh Diem who is backed by the United States. The partition was to be temporary until elections in 1956. However, Diem started arresting suspected communist sympathizers that year and wanted to keep power for himself. The elections were never held, and in 1957, North Vietnam began guerrilla warfare against the south.
The United States began to send military advisors to help train and support the South Vietnamese Army. It was fighting against the Viet Cong, also known as the National Liberation Front, a communist party based in South Vietnam that was controlled with North Vietnam. The Viet Cong began a campaign of assassination in 1957. In 1959, North Vietnam dramatically increased its military assistance to the Viet Cong, which then began attacking South Vietnamese military units. Because of domino theory, the US feared that if communism took hold in Vietnam, it would then spread to other countries nearby.
On 2 August 1964, the destroyer USS "Maddox" was in the Gulf of Tonkin, on an intelligence mission along North Vietnam's coast. The US said that three North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked the destroyer. The "Maddox" fired back and damaged the three torpedo boats. The US later claimed that two days later, the torpedo boats again attacked the "Maddox" and the destroyer USS "Turner Joy". In the second attack, the US ships did not actually see the torpedo boats, but it was said that they had been found by using the ship's radar.
After the alleged second attack, the US launched air strikes against North Vietnam. The Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Joint Resolution (H.J. RES 1145) on 7 August 1964 and so gave the president the power to run large-scale military operations in Southeast Asia without declaring war. There was little to no proof of the attacks, and it was believed by some that they had been an excuse for expanded US involvement in Indochina.
The communists were supplied by a vast network of hidden trails, known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It was very well hidden although many attempts were made by the US to bomb and destroy it. Supplies and soldiers from North Vietnam were sent through Laos to communists forces in South Vietnam. American planes heavily bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and of bombs were dropped on Laos. That slowed down but did not stop the trail system.
Severe communist losses during the 1968 Tet Offensive made it possible for the US to withdraw many soldiers. As part of a policy called "Vietnamization," South Vietnamese troops were trained and equipped to replace the Americans who had left. By 1973, 95% of the American troops had left.
All of the parties signed a peace treaty in Paris in January 1973, but the fighting continued until 1975, when the South Vietnamese government surrendered after its capital, Saigon, had fallen.
There were some large-scale battles during the Vietnam War, but most of the fighting was guerilla warfare, which is different from the large-scale battles fought between armies like those during World War II.
In guerilla warfare, small units fight limited battles against an enemy force, set up ambushes, make surprise attacks, and then retreat to the countryside or blend into the local population. That also includes making it difficult for the enemy to operate by engaging in sabotage and harassing the enemy with lethal means such as the land mine and the booby trap. The communist troops more often engaged in guerilla warfare against South Vietnamese and American troops than the reverse because the communists knew of their weakness in conventional (large-scale) warfare.
Although few of the traps were explosive, all of the explosive traps used grenades. A tripwire was placed, and if a soldier tripped over the wire, a grenade pin was pulled out, the grenade would blow, and the soldier would usually be killed.
Besides hurting or killing people, the traps caused fear and lowered morale.
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975. That marked the end of the Vietnam War and the beginning of the formal reunification of Vietnam into a communist state.
Before the city fell, the few American civilian and military personnel had left Vietnam, and tens of thousands of South Vietnamese soldiers and civilians had also fled.
By the afternoon of the next day, North Vietnamese troops had occupied the important points within the city and raised their flag over the South Vietnamese presidential palace. The government of South Vietnam soon formally surrendered.
The Americans still in Saigon were evacuated by helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft. The surrender of Saigon was given in person by South Vietnamese President General Duong Van Minh: "We are here to hand over to you the power in order to avoid bloodshed." He was president for two days as his country crumbled.
Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the communist leader Ho Chi Minh.
The war made potential farmland useless, as it was bombed and affected by Agent Orange. The economy crashed because inflation was high and so unemployment was common, and there was poor health care. Many people fled Vietnam because of these conditions.
The war also had lasting effects on the US. It led to divisions in American society that are still seen today, and many Americans became more wary of their government. Many veterans came back with PTSD and were not treated well; people who opposed the war saw them as killers, and people who supported the war saw them as losers.
The Sahel has a tropical semi-arid climate. It is between the dry desert land to the north and the forest areas to the south. The temperature is high throughout the year. There is little rainfall in the Sahel (between 100 and 150 mm and 600mm). It comes during summer months and may be unreliable. It may be very dry in some years, especially if a large area of low pressure, which brings rain, is not carried North over the Sahel by strong winds.
Sahel is the Arabic word for 'edge' or 'shore'.
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor. He was the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Before becoming president, he was the 33rd governor of California from 1967 to 1975. He was also the 9th and 13th president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1947 to 1952 and again from 1959 until 1960.
Reagan got a degree from Eureka College in 1932 and became a sports broadcaster in Iowa. In 1937, Reagan moved to California, where he became a film actor. From 1947 to 1952, Reagan was the president of the Screen Actors Guild. In the 1950s, he worked in television and spoke for General Electric. From 1959 to 1960, he again was the Screen Actors Guild's president. In 1964, "A Time for Choosing" gave Reagan attention as a new conservative figure. He was elected governor of California in 1966. During his governorship, he raised taxes, turned the state budget deficit into a surplus, and ended student protests in Berkeley. After running against and losing to president Gerald Ford in the 1976 Republican presidential primaries, Reagan won the Republican nomination and then a landslide victory over incumbent Democratic president Jimmy Carter in the 1980 United States presidential election.
Reagan left the presidency in 1989 with the American economy having seen far less inflation, less unemployment, and the United States having entered its then-longest period of economic growth. At the same time, the federal debt had nearly increased three times since 1981 as a result of his cuts in taxes and increased military spending, despite cuts to domestic discretionary spending. Alzheimer's disease made Reagan's post-presidency difficult and his physical and mental capacities quickly got worse, which led to his death in 2004. His presidency is a part of the Reagan era, and he is considered an important conservative figure in the United States. Historians and scholars have ranked Reagan among the upper tier of American presidents, although he tends to be disliked in left-wing politics because of his domestic policies.
Reagan was born to Jack and Nelle Reagan on February 6, 1911, in a small apartment building in Tampico, Illinois. He had an older brother named Neil. His father was a Roman Catholic of Irish descent. His mother was a Protestant of English and Scottish descent.
Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932. He became a sports announcer at news radio station WHO. Reagan was also a broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs. He was good at recreating baseball games. He made them interesting. At this time, the radio station would get only the scores. In 1936, Reagan went to California with the Cubs. The Cubs were there to practice baseball. While he was in California, Reagan got a seven-year contract with Warner Brothers. He left his job as a radio announcer to start acting.
Ronald Reagan was in fifty-three movies. His first screen credit was the starring role in the 1937 movie "Love Is on the Air". He then starred in many movies such as "Dark Victory" with Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. Before the movie "Santa Fe Trail" with Errol Flynn in 1940, he played the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the movie "Knute Rockne, All American". From his role in the movie, he got the lifelong nickname "the Gipper". In 1941, experts voted him the fifth most popular star from the younger generation in Hollywood.
Although Reagan called "Kings Row" the movie that "made me a star", he was unable to keep up with his success. This was because he was ordered to active duty with the U.S. Army in San Francisco two months after the movie's release.
During World War II, Reagan was separated for four years from his movie career. He served in the First Motion Picture Unit. After the war, Reagan co-starred in movies such as "The Voice of the Turtle", "John Loves Mary", "The Hasty Heart", "Bedtime for Bonzo", "Cattle Queen of Montana", "Juke Girl", "This Is the Army", "The Winning Team", "Tennessee's Partner", and "Hellcats of the Navy", in which he worked with his wife, Nancy. Reagan's last movie was a 1964 movie "The Killers". Throughout his movie career, his mother, Nelle, often answered much of his fan mail.
In 1957, Reagan won a Hollywood Citizenship Award, which was a special Golden Globe Award.
Reagan was nominated in a special election to become president of the Screen Actors Guild. Reagan was elected in 1947. Reagan was president of the Screens Actors Biold from 1947 to 1952. Reagan was re-elected president in 1959. He served only a year before resigning in 1960.
Although Reagan gave out names of actors who were suspected communists, he disagreed with the way people were using these names. Reagan said:
Reagan was very active in politics near the end of his acting career. Reagan used to be a Democrat. He strongly supported the New Deal. He admired Franklin D. Roosevelt. Over time, Reagan became a conservative Republican. This was because he thought the federal government had too much power and authority. He made a famous speech against socialized medicine (government-run health care).
After Reagan gave this speech, many business people thought that Reagan could run for Governor of California.
After giving a speech for Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign in 1964, he was persuaded to run for governor. Reagan ran as a Republican against the then governor, Pat Brown during the 1966 gubernatorial election. Reagan won the election with 3,742,913 (57.55%) of the vote while Brown won 2,749,174 (42.27%) of the vote. Reagan was inaugurated on January 2, 1967.
On May 15, 1969, during the People's Park protests at the University of California, Berkeley, Reagan sent the California Highway Patrol and other officers to fight off the protests, in an event that became known as "Bloody Thursday". Reagan then called out 2,200 state National Guard troops to occupy the city of Berkeley for two weeks to crack down on the protesters.
During his final term as governor, he played a major role in California's educational system. He raised student loans. This caused a massive protest between Reagan and the college students. Reagan would soon be criticized of his views of the educational system.
Reagan left office on January 6, 1975, when Jerry Brown, Pat Brown's son, succeeded Reagan as governor.
During his 1976 campaign, Reagan controversially used the pejorative phrase "welfare queen" to describe Linda Taylor who illegally misused her welfare benefits in 1974. He used Taylor and her criminal activities to defend his criticisms about social programs in the United States.
In November 1979, Reagan announced his plans to run for president again in the 1980 presidential election against incumbent President Jimmy Carter. His campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again", was heavily used in the 1980 election and in Reagan's 1984 re-election campaign. The slogan would be used by Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump in their presidential campaigns. Reagan also used the slogan "Morning in America" in this campaign. Reagan faced primary challenges from former Director George H. W. Bush, United States representatives John B. Anderson and Phil Crane, United States senators Bob Dole, Howard Baker, Larry Pressler and Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., Governor Harold Stassen, former Treasury Secretary John Connally and Republican executive Ben Fernandez. In May 1980, Reagan won enough delegates to win the Republican Party nomination. At the 1980 Republican National Convention, Reagan named Bush as his running mate.
His relaxed and confident appearance during the Reagan-Carter debate on TV on October 28, made him more popular. He increased his lead over Carter in opinion polls.
On November 4, Reagan won the election. He won 44 states with 489 electoral votes. Carter won 6 states and the District of Columbia with 49 electoral votes. He also won the popular vote with 50.7% to Carter's 41.0%. Independent John B. Anderson won 6.6%.
Reagan was nearly killed in an assassination attempt that happened on Monday, March 30, 1981. 69 days after becoming president, he was leaving after a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. He was shot by John Hinckley Jr. Hinckley shot six bullets.
White House Press Secretary James Brady was shot in the head. Brady later recovered, but was paralyzed. Another bullet hit officer Thomas Delahanty in the back of the neck, also paralyzing him. The third bullet hit Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy in the chest. McCarthy got shot so another bullet did not hit Reagan. No one was killed during the event.
Reagan was taken to the George Washington University Hospital, which was the nearest hospital to the hotel and White House. He suffered a punctured lung and a broken rib bone. He lost about 3/4 of his blood. Reagan soon made a fast recovery after doctors performed surgery. It was later said that the bullet was one inch away from his heart.
Reagan believed that the government should be small, not big. This means that the government should not interfere in people's lives very much or interfere with what businesses do. He believed in supply-side economics, which was also called Reaganomics and Voodoo economics (by people who did not like it) during his term. He lowered everybody's income taxes by 25% and cut spending in many government departments.
While he was president, inflation went from 14% to 4%. He vetoed 78 bills. Reagan's economic plan caused a bad economy during 1982, but the economy recovered in 1983. However, people who did not like his economic plan pointed out an increase in the national debt from 31% to 50.8% of the country's GDP.
In the summer of 1981, the union of federal air traffic controllers went on strike. They broke a federal law that does not allow government unions to strike. Reagan said that if the air traffic controllers "do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated". They did not return and on August 5, Reagan fired 11,359 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored his order, and used supervisors and military controllers to handle the nation's commercial air traffic until new controllers could be hired and trained.
Reagan's "Evil empire" speech was delivered to the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida on March 8, 1983. It is his first recorded use of the phrase. Speaking about the nuclear arms race he said that the Soviet Union was evil.
Audio and text of this speech are available here .
In 1983, Reagan sent forces to Lebanon to stop the threat of the Lebanese Civil War. On October 23, 1983, American forces in Beirut were attacked. The Beirut barracks bombing killed 241 American servicemen and wounded more than 60 others by a suicide truck bomber. Reagan withdrew all the Marines from Lebanon.
Reagan was once again nominated for president at the 1984 Republican National Convention. His Democratic opponent was former Vice President Walter Mondale of Minnesota.
Reagan's statement made the entire audience laugh including the moderators and Mondale himself. Reagan also repeated his 1980 debate phrase: "There you go again".
Reagan was sworn in as president once again on January 20, 1985. He was sworn in at the White House due to cold weather. In the weeks after, he changed his staff by moving White House Chief of Staff James Baker to Secretary of the Treasury and naming Treasury Secretary Donald Regan to Chief of Staff.
Reagan became friends with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher. Both of them held meetings about the Soviet Union's threat and how to end the Cold War. Reagan became the first American president to ever address the British Parliament.
Reagan announced a War on Drugs in 1982, because of concerns about the increasing number of people using crack. Even though Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs during the 1970s, Reagan used more militant policies. First Lady Nancy Reagan created her "Just Say No" campaign to oppose drug use to children.
In 1986, Reagan signed a drug enforcement bill that budgeted $1.7 billion to fund the War on Drugs. It created a mandatory minimum penalty for drug offenses. The bill was criticized for creating racial inequalities and mass imprisonment of African-Americans.
The UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher allowed the U.S. Air Force to use Britain's air bases to launch the attack, only if the UK was supporting America's right to self-defense supported by the United Nations. The attack was done to stop Gaddafi's "ability to export terrorism", offering him "incentives and reasons to alter his criminal behavior". The president addressed the nation from the Oval Office after the attacks started, he said
Reagan's reputation was badly hurt by the political scandal Iran-Contra Affair. The government illegally sold weapons to Iran. It later used the profits to support a Nicaraguan terrorist group called the Contras. Reagan told the American people he did not know anything about the scandal. Reagan funded the Contras to fight off the Communist regime of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, but when it became too expensive, Congress made it illegal to pay the Contras. As a result, the scandal at the center of the affair and the cover up was using illegal profits to break the law a second time by supporting terrorists.
His United States National Security Advisor John Poindexter was charged with multiple felonies and later resigned. Reagan later nominated former Ambassador Frank Carlucci to replace Poindexter. His Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger was thought to be guilty, but resigned before a trial could begin. Reagan later nominated Carlucci to serve as Defense Secretary for the rest of his term. Oliver North, a member of the United States National Security Council, resigned and was indicted for his involvement in the affair. In February 1987, White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan also resigned because of an ongoing feud between Reagan and First Lady Reagan about his handling of the affair.
In the 1980s, apartheid in South Africa was becoming more violent and a global issue. The Democrats in the Senate tried to pass the Anti-Apartheid Act in September 1985, but could not overcome a Republican filibuster. Reagan saw it as an act to lower his authority to plan foreign policy. He created his own set of sanctions, but Democrats saw them to be "watered down and ineffective".
The bill was re-introduced in 1986 and brought up for a vote despite Republican efforts to block it to give Reagan's sanctions time to work. It passed the House with Reagan publicly against it. Later the Senate approved the bill with a 84-14 vote.
On September 26, 1986, Reagan vetoed the bill saying that it would cause an "economic war". Republican Senator Richard Lugar led the Senate to override Reagan's veto. The veto was reversed by Congress (by the Senate 78 to 21, the House by 313 to 83) on October 2. The veto override was the first one on a presidential foreign policy veto in the 20th century.
In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, killing everyone on board. The entire country was shocked. Reagan postponed his 1986 State of the Union Address as a result of the tragedy. It was the first time that a President of the United States postponed a State of the Union Address. Afterwards, Reagan addressed the nation. Reagan famously said,
In 1987, Reagan traveled to Berlin to give a speech at the Berlin Wall. That is where he gave one of the greatest speeches of his presidency. Referring to the Brandenburg Gate and the Berlin Wall he said,
In January 1987, U.S. Representative Tom Foley introduced the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 to Congress as a way to give reparation to Japanese-Americans who were interned by the United States during World War II. It passed the House in September 1987 and was sent to the Senate where it was passed in April 1988.
Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act into law on August 10, 1988, granting USD $20,000 in payments beginning in 1990. A total of 82,219 Japanese-Americans received checks.
During his term as president, Reagan saw the change in the direction of the Soviet leadership with Mikhail Gorbachev. Months after his Berlin Wall speech, Gorbachev announced his plans to work with Reagan for a big arms agreement. Reagan and Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty which banned nuclear weapons being launched between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Reagan left office with high rankings on January 20, 1989, when his Vice President George H. W. Bush became president. Reagan and his wife, Nancy, soon returned home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California. In the years after he left office, Reagan's time in office was seen as one of the best and is compared to that of Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.
On April 13, 1992, Reagan was assaulted by an anti-nuclear protester during a speech while accepting an award from the National Association of Broadcasters in Las Vegas. The protester was Richard Paul Springer. He smashed a 2-foot-high (60 cm) 30-pound (13.5 kg) crystal statue of an eagle that the broadcasters had given to Reagan. Pieces of glass hit Reagan, but he was not injured.
Early in his presidency, Reagan started wearing a hearing aid, first in his right ear and later in his left as well. In 1985, he had colon cancer and skin cancer removed at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1987, Reagan had surgery to remove a polyp of the nose. Also in that year, Reagan went into surgery for an enlarged prostate.
On January 7, 1989, Reagan had surgery at the Reed Army Medical Center to fix a Dupuytren's contracture of the ring finger of his left hand. The surgery lasted for more than three hours. Eight months later in September, Reagan had surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota to remove fluid from his brain because of an injury from falling off a horse. The surgery lasted just over an hour.