Around 500 BC, present-day Iran was the center of the Persian Empire. Then, Alexander the Great took the country by fighting and the "Achaemenid dynasty" of Persia later ruled. After them the "Sassanian dynasty" (224-651) took over.
Other people took Persia by fighting, like the Arabs (7th century), Turks (10th century) and Mongols (13th century). However, Iran has always maintained a distinct culture and continued to survive.
The "Safavid dynasty" (1502-1736) made Islam and Shi'a the state religion of Iran although Islam was already popular then. The latest kings of Iran were from the "Pahlavi dynasty", and ruled from 1925 until 1979, when there was a revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini created an Islamic republic.
In 1951, Mohammed Mossadegh was brought to power after being elected as prime minister by nearly all members of the Majlis (parliament) in Iran. His first act in office was to take control of the oil industry in Iran which had been controlled by Great Britain. Most of Britain's oil was pumped from Iran at the time. This move was seen as a danger to Great Britain's security and empire, so they tried to overthrow the government but failed. After this they convinced the United States through diplomacy that the government of Iran was a communist threat.
The CIA worked in Iran to create riots which led to the removal of Prime Minister Mossadegh. The United States and Great Britain then made the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi King of Iran, again.
The Shah ruled in Iran for 38 years. When he left Iran the Iranian government was changed to an Islamic Republic by Islamic Revolution. Soon afterwards, Iranian Students Movement (Tahkim Vahdat), with the backing of the new government took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held most of the diplomats hostage for 444 days. Relations between the two countries have not been good since. For example. The US has imposed various types of economic sanctions against Iran. The US claims the Iran supports terrorist groups against Israel. Iran does not recognize Israel as a state. Iran, along with most Arab countries believe that Israel does not have the right to occupy the land of Palestinians.
Iran has long borders in common with Iraq. (The words "Iran" and "Iraq" are similar only in Latin alphabet. In Arabic and Persian, they are written differently.) Iranians are ethnically not Arabs. Iran defended itself against Iraqi invasion in 1980, a war that lasted eight years. Many Arab and Western countries, including the United States provided weapons (including biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction) and technical support for Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
Now, the West is trying to prevent Iran from mastering nuclear technology, even though Iran is a member of the NPT. They voice their concern claiming that Iran's intention is to develop nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported numerous times that there is no evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, however, it also says that it can not say for sure that Iran is not doing so in secret. A CIA report on nuclear activity in Iran, in December 2007 claimed that Iran's secret program to achieve nuclear weapons technology was stopped in 2003, and that since then, it was never restarted. It reports that Iran's ability to build a nuclear weapon will probably not happen soon.
The presidential elections of 13th June 2009 were officially won by the existing president M. Ahmadinejad, but certain people do not believe this is true. There were demonstrations because of these results, and some protesters fought with police forces. Many people who demonstrated thought that the election was a fraud. Officially nine people died during the protests.
Cobalt(II) chloride
Cobalt(II) chloride, also known as cobaltous chloride and cobalt dichloride, is a chemical compound. It contains cobalt in its +2 oxidation state. Its chemical formula is CoCl. It contains cobalt and chloride ions.
Cobalt(II) chloride is normally found in the red (or pink) form. The red form has water in it. It can be heated to turn it into the blue form, without water. The blue form will absorb water from the air and turn red again.
A different blue form is made when cobalt(II) chloride is reacted with a chemical compound that has chloride in it. Hydrochloric acid works the best, but sodium chloride can be used too. When it is heated, it turns more blue than when it is cooled.
It can be oxidized to cobalt(III) compounds, although cobalt(III) chloride does not exist. If it is made, it just drops a Cl from CoCl, making CoCl (cobalt(II) chloride) again.
The anhydrous (without water) blue form can be made by reacting cobalt with chlorine. The hydrated (with water) red form can be made by reacting cobalt(II) oxide or cobalt(II) hydroxide with hydrochloric acid.
It is used to place cobalt into other chemical compounds. It can be used to make other cobalt compounds. It is the most common cobalt compound in the lab.
It is a weak oxidizing agent, too weak to ignite things. Cobalt compounds are toxic in large quantities, like any other transition metal compounds. They are not toxic like lead or mercury compounds, though.
Man of the match
Man of the Match is an award given to one player from each School Cup match (game). This award was created and first awarded for the 2021 School Cup tournament. The award is sponsored by City mark, a large world-wide beer company.
The winner of the award is decided by all playes votes. The players vote during the match. Voting closed when the match is over. The Man of the Match trophy will be awarded to the winning player at the end of the game.
Prohibition Era
The Prohibition Era was a period in United States history when alcohol was outlawed. Police would arrest anyone who was found making or selling alcohol illegally. The Women's Christian Temperance Union and other reformist organizations agitated for this change in order to improve the lives of the people. Prohibition lasted from 1920 to 1933. It was established by the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It was ratified (approved by the states) by January 16, 1919. It came into effect at January 16, 1920.
The punishment for being caught with an alcoholic beverage was jail time. The millions of people becoming criminals in such a short period of time led to overflowing prisons and it was common to have a case dismissed. Prohibition was a constitutional experiment set up by the American government in an effort to decrease crime rates, reduce tax burden, and improve health in Americans. It had little to do with the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Prohibition was good as the consumption of alcohol was reduced, but it was bad in that the Mafia and other underground organizations took up rum-running. They became big and powerful and made trouble. Prohibition was repealed December 5, 1933 by the Twenty-first Amendment. Now states can regulate the selling of liquor by themselves.
Cobalt(II) oxide
Cobalt(II) oxide, also known as cobaltous oxide, is a chemical compound. Its chemical formula is CoO. It contains cobalt in its +2 oxidation state as an ion. It also contains oxide. It can be green or red crystals. It can also be a grey or brown powder.
Cobalt(II) chloride reacts with a base to get cobalt(II) hydroxide. Then the cobalt(II) hydroxide is heated to make cobalt(II) oxide. The reactions are written below:
It can react with acids to make salts containing cobalt. It is used to make blue glass.
Cobalt(II) hydroxide