recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Muhammad

**Muhammad** (26 April 570-8 June 632) was the founder of the religion of Islam and the last prophet according to Muslims. Muhammad was not just an inspirational religious leader, but he was also a brave military commander who defeated the people of Mecca and established an *ummah* in Arabia. Muhammad died shortly after unifying Arabia under Islam, and he was succeeded by Abu Bakr as leader of Islam, with Abu Bakr becoming the first Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.

## Biography

Muhammad was the son of Abdullah ibn Shaiba and Aminah bint Wahb. His father died when he was born, and he was raised under the care of his uncle Abu Talib ibn Shaiba. Muhammad worked as a merchant after his childhood, and he would seclude himself and pray in a cave for several nights. At the age of 40, he claimed that the archangel Gabriel visited him and gave him his first revelation from Allah. He engaged in *dawah*, proselytizing people to his beliefs three years later. He preached that surrender (Islam) to Allah was the only way acceptable to Allah, and that he was a prophet and messenger of God like Isa, Ibrahim, Musa, and the other prophets of Islam. He gained some early followers, but when some tribes of Mecca acted with hostility towards the Muslims, Muhammad sent some of his followers to the Kingdom of Axum while he migrated to Medina in 622 in the *hijra*. He united the tribes in the Constitution of Medina, and he led the tribes of Medina against the Quraysh of Mecca. He first won the Battle of Badr in 624, and despite a setback at the Battle of Uhud in 625, he won the Battle of the Trench in 627 and conquered Mecca with 10,000 converts in 629. He destroyed the 360 pagan idols at the Ka'aba in the city and made Mecca and Medina into the two holiest cities of Islam, as well as sending out expeditions to the rest of Arabia to spread Islam through conquest. He united the Muslims of Arabia into the *ummah*, a single Islamic state. The belief became a large religion that would spread to the rest of the Middle East soon after.
Peru

**Peru** is a country in western South America, bordering Colombia and Ecuador to the north, Brazil and Bolivia to the east, and Chile to the south. The country gained its independence from Spain in 1821, and the 1824 Battle of Ayacucho confirmed Peruvian independence. The country had a low military profile and was in recession until the mid-19th century, when an economic boom due to the exploitation of natural resources led to the country becoming stronger. Peru's military was destroyed in the War of the Pacific, and the country moved from oligarchy to democracy after the defeat in the War of the Pacific. Since then, Peru has gone through periods of political unrest and internal conflict in addition to economic successes and stability, with the 20th century seeing Peru become involved in the Cold War. Juan Velasco Alvarado briefly led Peru towards socialism, but a United States-supported coup toppled him and spread American imperialism to Peru once more. Since then, the Shining Path revolutionary movement has waged guerrilla warfare against the government, whose leader Alberto Fujimori was corrupt. Eventually, Ollanta Humala's socialist Peruvian Nationalist Party took power, and the Peruvian government renewed peace negotiations with the Shining Path movement. In 2015, Peru had a population of 31,151,643 people, with 45% being Native Americans, 37% mestizo, 15% white, and 2% others.

## Gallery

Location of PeruPeru population 1946.pngPopulation in 1946
Hojo

The **Hojo clan** was a family that controlled the title of regent in the Kamakura Shogunate from 1203 till it ended in 1333. The Hojo clan was given power by the Minamoto shoguns, who wanted regents for the shoguns themselves, and the Hojo served as *shikken*s until Emperor Go-Daigo led a rebellion in 1333 and toppled the Kamakura Shogunate. The clan was decimated in the Nanboku-cho period, but the *daimyo* Ise Moritoki changed his name to "Hojo Soun" in the late 1400s to have an illustrious name; his wife was descended from the Hojo clan. The Late Hojo would rule over Sagami Province from the 1400s until the Siege of Odawara in 1590 during the Sengoku Jidai, ended in Japan.
International Brigades

The **International Brigades** were volunteer military units that served with the Second Spanish Republic's armed forces during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. 35,000 fighters from 35 nations flocked to the cause of republican Spain against the fascist Falange party and its Nazi and Italian allies; it is estimated that 30,000 were leftists from the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Germany. The brigades attracted adventuers, socialists, communists, anarchists, and liberals, and the brigades became a legendary formation after the war's end.
French North Africa

**French North Africa** was a collection of territories owned by France in the region of North Africa, consisting of present-day Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The formation of French North Africa began with the invasion of Algeria in 1830, and by 1912 the three countries were protectorates of France, with Morocco and Tunisia being ruled by local monarchs loyal to France and Algeria being governed as a French colony. French North Africa was a minor battleground of World War II, being easily overwhelmed in Operation Torch in November 1942, and it would dissolve after the war. In 1955, Morocco fained full independence, followed by Tunisia in 1956 and Algeria in 1962.
John Taglioni

**John Taglioni** was an NYPD detective who investigated the Central Park jogger case in 1989. He took Yusef Salaam in for questioning, and he decided to say that he was 16 (in accordance with Salaam's falsified bus pass) instead of 15; he also convinced his friend Korey Wise to go to the station to support his friend, but Wise would instead be treated as a suspect and tried.
Maurice Catesby

**Maurice Catesby** (1724-11 May 1745) was an English soldier who served in the British Army's 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot during the War of the Austrian Succession. Denton fought under the Duke of Cumberland in the Austrian Netherlands before being killed at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745.
31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot

The **31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot** was a British Army regiment which was active from 1702 to 1881. The regiment originated as **Sir Richard Atkins' Regiment of Foot** during the War of the Grand Alliance before the historical regiment was founded in 1702 and deployed to Gibraltar during the War of the Spanish Succession. The regiment served in Spain during that war, in Flanders and Germany during the War of the Austrian Succession, in Florida and the Caribbean in the aftermath of the Seven Years' War, in Quebec and New York during the American Revolutionary War, in the Caribbean, Holland, and Spain during the Napoleonic Wars and the Peninsular War, in the First Anglo-Afghan War, in the British conquest of India, the Second Opium War, and the Taiping Rebellion before being merged into the East Surrey Regiment.
Michal I of Poland

**Michal I of Poland** was the Grand Duke of Warsaw from 1806 to 1813. He was an ally of Napoleon I of France and the French Empire, who gave Poland its independence after liberating Warsaw from Prussia. Michal's Poland grew in size as France handed over formerly-Polish territories to their Warsawian allies.

## Biography

Michal was a high-ranking nobleman of Polish aristocracy in the Kingdom of Prussia, and was installed as the leader of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw in 1806 when the French Empire liberated the city from the Prussians. Michal I was initially feeble and his wealth meagre, but Poland grew into a nation of over 7,000,000 people, and Michal I was persuaded to declare war on the strong empires of Austria and Russia by French emperor Napoleon I. Michal reigned as the puppet leader of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw until its occupation by Prussian and Russian forces in 1813.
Neo-Nazism

**Neo-Nazism** is a global phenomenon seeking to revive far-right tenets of Nazism, including xenophobia, homophobia, ultranationalism, racism, anti-Roma sentiment, anti-Semitism, and anti-disability sentiment. Neo-Nazism originated with the HIAG lobby group of former Waffen-SS officers, who sought the legal, economic, and historical rehabilitation of their former group. Some Nazi war criminals fled to South America, forming colonies that revived Nazi ideas, and the rise of migrant workers in the mid-20th century and the European refugee crisis of the 21st century led to neo-Nazism becoming more popular with elements of society who wanted to prevent immigrants from "stealing their jobs". In the 1990s, the reunification of Germany led to National Socialist Underground and other hate groups launching anti-Semitic and anti-Turkish terror campaigns, while France's refusal to assimilate Muslims into society led to conflict between Muslim immigrants and neo-Nazis led by Marine Le Pen. Neo-Nazism and neo-fascism have often been associated with one another in recent years.

## Gallery

An American teenager dressed as an SS officer for Halloween, 2006A National Socialist Movement rally on the US Capitol's West Lawn, 2008
Liberal Democratic Party of Japan

The **Liberal Democratic Party** (**LDP**), also known as **Jiminto**, is a national conservative political party in Japan, founded on 15 November 1955. The party was founded as a merger of the right-wing Liberal Party of Japan and Japan Democratic Party, which banded together in order to form a strong opponent to the leftist Social Democratic Party of Japan and the Japanese Communist Party; the CIA sent the LDP millions of dollars to influence Japanese elections from the 1950s to the 1970s. During the 1980s, the LDP presided over unprecedented economic growth and a successful economy, but Japan's economic bubble burst in 1993, leading to the LDP losing control of the government. In 1998, the powerful Democratic Party of Japan was formed, proving to be a major opposition party in the country. The party's support declined during the 2000s, losing its House of Representatives majority in 2009. In 2012, however, the LDP and Komeito won power by forming a coalition government with Shinzo Abe as Prime Minister, and the LDP regained its majority in 2016, doing so for the first time since 1989.

The Liberal Democratic Party is a fiscally conservative party with national conservative, socially liberal, and moderate factions. The party's main support bases include farmers, big businesses, small businesses, professional groups, and elite bureaucrats, and the party made up for its lack of a coherent ideology by providing economic growth and stability for a middle-class Japan through a strong bureaucracy. The LDP remained in power for decades as a result of the stability which its rule provided, but internal factionalism occasionally resulted in the formation of splintergroups such as the Japan New Party, Japan Renewal Party, and New Party Sakigake during the 1990s, the People's New Party, New Party Daichi, and Your Party during the 2000s, and the Osaka Restoration Association, Japan Restoration Party, Party for Japanese Kokoro, and Nippon Ishin no Kai during the 2010s. The inability of the fragmented opposition to unify and form a strong anti-LDP coalition resulted in the LDP always returning to power after brief, isolated spells in opposition.
Paul the Apostle

**Saint Paul the Apostle** (5-67 AD) was an apostle of the early Christian Church. Originally known as **Saul of Tarsus**, he was once involved in the persecution of Christians, but he later converted after seeing a resurrected Jesus near Antioch, and he became the early Church's greatest missionary. Paul wrote a collection of open letters termed the "Pauline epistles", which contained doctrinal points as well as instructions, greetings, and commendations to bishops or local congregations. Along with Saint Peter, he was martyred by Emperor Nero in 67 after being blamed for starting the Great Fire of Rome.

## Biography

]Saul of Tarsus was born to a devout Jewish family in Tarsus, Cilicia in 5 AD, and he belonged to the Pharisees. He was educated in Jerusalem, and he took an active part in the 34 AD stoning of Saint Stephen, the first martyr of Christianity. He persecuted other disciples in the Jerusalem area until, while traveling on the Jerusalem-Damascus road, he had a vision of Jesus, who blinded him for three days. After his sight was restored by Ananias of Damascus, he preached that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God, and he went on to found several churches in Asia Minor and Europe from the mid-30s to the mid-50s AD. Paul was said by some to be the most important figure in the spread of Christianity, taking part in hazardous journeys across both land and sea (surviving several shipwrecks and walking for several hundred miles across the Roman world). Paul, a tentmaker by trade, would often spread the word of Christianity to his customers, and he converted many pagans to his religion through stories of miracles and salvation; when he went to synagogues, the Jews there were less enthusiastic about his teachings.

After seven days in Jerusalem in 57 AD, he was accused of blasphemy for bringing gentiles into the Temple, and he was arrested by Roman soldiers. He was imprisoned in Caesarea Maritima for two years, and he sailed to Rome to stand trial. He arrived in 60 AD, and he spent two more years under house arrest. In 64 AD, following the Great Fire of Rome, Emperor Nero blamed the Christians for it and had Paul decapitated three years later. His head was said to have rebounded three times, giving a source to a water fountain each time it touched the ground.

## Gallery

Paul at Saint Stephen's martyrdomPaul in 64 AD
NATO

The **North Atlantic Treaty Organization** (**NATO**) is a military alliance that was formed on April 4, 1949 by the former Western Allies of World War II, with the United States, United Kingdom, and France being the main original members. It was formed to counteract the Soviet Union's extension of influence to Eastern Europe, and the Warsaw Pact in the Eastern Bloc was formed in reaction to NATO. 28 states were members of NATO after Albania and Croatia joined in 2009, and NATO is one of the longest-lasting military alliances in recent history. It survived the Cold War unlike the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, and its refusal to disband has led to continued tensions between Russia and the West, with Russia seeing the continuation of NATO as an organization as a sign that the West still did not trust Russia.
Choshu Domain

The **Choshu Domain**(1600-1871) was a feudal domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate from Yamaguchi Prefecture (the westernmost province of Honshu in the Chugoku region), ruled by the Mori clan. The Choshu supported the Emperor during the Boshin War of 1864-1868, and later crushed the Satsuma Domain's rebellion in 1877.

## History

By the time of the Boshin War, in which the Choshu became the leading clan in all of Japan, the Mori clan resented the shogunate for 250 years. They agreed to keep their forces out of the Battle of Sekigahara and subsequently gave up Osaka Castle without a fight. Their reward for neutrality was not preferment. Indeed, they were stripped of their possessions and given Choshu domain, hardly a prize. Eventually, they rose against the shogunate, and were among those wanting to "expel the barbarians" at sword point.
Juan Manuel de Rosas

**Juan Manuel de Rosas** (30 March 1793-14 March 1877) was Governor of Buenos Aires from 6 December 1829 to 5 December 1832 (succeeding Juan Jose Viamonte and preceding Juan Ramon Balcarce) and from 7 March 1835 to 3 February 1852 (succeeding Manuel Vicente Maza and preceding Vicente Lopez y Planes). Rosas was formerly a bluff *gaucho* (landowner) from Buenos Aires, but after the downfall of Facundo Quiroga's government in 1835, he seized power as dictator of the new Argentine Confederation and became the head of a cult of personality; all men wore red in his honor, and portraits of him were adorned in churches and public places. Eventually, Justo de Urquiza overthrew him at the Battle of Caseroes, and he fled in exile to the United Kingdom.

## Biography

Rosas was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 30 March 1793 to a wealthy *criollo*family, and he fought for independence from Spain in the South American Wars of Liberation from 1810 to 1816. From 1816 to 1830 he fought the liberal Colorados and Unitarios in the Argentine Civil Wars, and in 1830 he became the Governor of Buenos Aires. By 1835, he had made himself the ruler of the collapsing United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata and had founded the Argentine Confederation, which allied with Pampas Indians to create a large Argentinian nation.

However, Argentina was thrown into turmoil because of the ongoing civil wars. All opposition was crushed through the Mazorca secret police that Rosas set up and he censored newspapers, and ruled Argentina as a military dictator after the death of Facundo Quiroga. In the 1840s he fought Bolivia and Uruguay with mixed success; eventually in 1845 Bolivia made serious gains and became his biggest enemy. However, his largest threat was also his downfall: in 1852, the Brazilian Empire, Uruguay, and his former friend and confidant Justo de Urquiza allied against him and defeated him in the Battle of Caseros. Overthrown by the coalition, he fled to Britain and lived the rest of his life in exile. He died at the age of 83 in Southampton.
Karl Marx

**Karl Marx** (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, journalist, and economist whose social, economic, and political theories would become known as Marxist socialism. Marx argued that the working class ("proletariat") would eventually overthrow the greedy capitalist ruling class and create a socialist society, with people sharing wealth and owning the means of production. Marx and fellow journalist Friedrich Engels outlined the theory of Marxism with *The Communist Manifesto*, published in 1848 for the Communist League, and they are often seen as the first socialists and communists.

## Biography

Karl Marx was born on 5 May 1818 in Trier, Prussia, the son of a Protestant father of Jewish ancestry and a Jewish mother; his father had converted to Christianity and changed his first name from "Herschel" to "Heinrich" to avoid anti-Semitism. Marx studied in Berlin and Bonn and wrote for the radical newspaper *Rheinische Zeitung* in Cologne, becoming involved with the revolutionary movement in Germany. In 1843, he moved to Paris to write for another revolutionary newspaper, and he was forced to move again in 1845, this time to Belgium. While in Brussels, he wrote *The Communist Manifesto* with fellow revolutionary Friedrich Engels, outlining the views and demands of the Communist League of Germany. Marx's views included the abolition of capitalism and wage labor, the establishment of a workers' state, giving workers control of the means of production, using surplus value to increase workers' pay rather than keep it for profit, and putting an end to nationalism and racism. These goals could only be achieved through revolution, according to Marx; he immediately became a threat to every monarchy and conservative government in Europe. Marx would move to London in 1850, and he made London a home for himself and his family; there, he became involved in workers' movements and spread socialist messages to the laborers of the city. Marx was not finished writing his second major work, *Das Kapital*, when he died in 1883 from bronchitis.
East Africa

**East Africa** is a region located in eastern Africa. Stretching from Eritrea down the Somali Coast to Mozambique, East Africa was a trading hub for gold and ivory, and the Portuguese first colonized the area. Later, Italians and British traded goods with the indigenous people, whose first contact with outsiders had been with the Arabs and had shaped their culture.
Lutheranism

**Lutheranism** is a major branch of Protestant Christianity, founded in 1516 by the German monk and priest Martin Luther. Luther disagreed with transsubstantiation (the wine and bread of a church convert to Jesus' blood and wine, respectively, when a priest blesses them), arguing for consubstantiation (the body and bread coexist together, and the wine and blood coexist together). He also opposed the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church, the sale of church offices to wealthy priests, the corruption in the church, and the infallibility of the Pope and the priests, arguing that every baptized Christian was a member of the priesthood. Lutheranism would become a very popular religion in northern Germany, Scandinavia, Britain, and Bohemia, and it is currently one of the largest Protestant denominations.
Monarchism

**Monarchism** is a right-wing political ideology that advocates the creation of a monarch or the implementation of monarchical rule. Historically, monarchists were mostly reactionary or conservative politicians who believed that a single, apolitical ruler could lead a country to greatness by virtue of his/her power and leadership, and monarchists were divided between absolutists and supporters of a constitutional monarchy. During the 19th century, most monarchists were either reactionary nostalgists or conservatives who sought to maintain a state of monarchy, and they were rivals with the republican movements, which were predominantly liberal. Monarchism declined during the 20th century as the monarchies of the world fell, but there are still powerful monarchies in the Arab World and parts of Asia.
Marcus Garvey

**Marcus Moziah Garvey** (August 17, 1887-June 10 1940) was a Jamaican and African-American activist who founded and led the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) during the 1910s and 1920s. Garvey was a supporter of racial segregation and was condemned by many American black leaders, and he would be convicted of attempted fraud in 1923, deported to Jamaica, and died of two strokes in London.

## Biography

Marcus Garvey was born in Saint Ann's Bay, Jamaica on 17 August 1887. He was born and educated in Jamaica, and he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in 1914. He aimed to encourage racial pride and black unity through the slogan "Africa for the Africans at Home and Abroad". He failed to attract a following and in 1916 went to New York to campaign for the repatriation of African-Americans who could take over and govern former German colonies.

By 1919 UNIA claimed a membership of 2 million, and had founded a newspaper, *Negro World*, a Negro Factories Corporation, and a shipping line called Black Star Line. Deeply resented by W.E.B. Du Bois, Garvey's followers clashed with more moderate blacks in the 1920s. Garvey believed that he and his followers were the "first fascists", and that Benito Mussolini had copied fascism from him, but that black reactionaries had sabotaged it; he supported the breeding-out of mixed-race people and supported the creation of a one-party and authoritarian state in Africa.

Although personally honest and sincere, he mismanaged his movement's finances and was convicted of attempted fraud in 1923. After serving part of a prison sentence, he was deported to Jamaica, and he died of two strokes in London.
Ottoman Army

The **Ottoman Army** was the military forces of the Ottoman Empire and the forerunner of the Turkish Army. The Ottoman Turks were originally steppe nomads, and these horse raiders became irregulars and shock troops who were granted fiefs (*timars*) in exchange for their service in battle. Under Sultan Orhan I, the Ottoman Empire established a salaried army, replacing looting or fiefs as forms of payment for the Ottoman soldiers. Along with Safavid Persia and Mughal India, Ottoman Turkey was one of the Islamic powers to utilize gunpowder effectively, beginning to use guns in the late 14th century. The 1422-1430 Ottoman Siege of Thessalonica proved the worth of cannons to the Ottoman Army, and, under Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, the Ottoman Janissaries replaced their bows with firearms. Mehmed's reorganization of the army led to the formation of the "Classical Army" in 1451, and the Ottoman Army was the most organized army in the world during its heyday from the 15th to 16th centuries. The Ottomans enlisted the help of French advisors in modernizing the Ottoman military during the mid-18th century, and Sultan Selim III reformed the army as the Nizam-i Djedid Army ("new order" army). In 1826, the reactionary Janissary corps was purged as the Ottoman military once again underwent modernization. During the 19th century, the Ottomans replaced their French advisors with German ones, but the Ottoman Army was defeated in the Balkan Wars and World War I. After World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Army was replaced by the Turkish Land Forces.

## Gallery

Ottoman riflemanOttoman officersOttoman Army troops on the Macedonian front of World War IOttoman troops guarding a train at Balikesir, 1922
Michigan

**Michigan** is a state in the Midwest region of the United States, located along the Great Lakes. Its name means "large lake" in Ojibwe, and it covers both the "Lower Peninsula" in addition to the "Upper Peninsula", which is linked to the Lower Peninsula only by the Mackinac Bridge. In 1762, Great Britain seized Michigan from France after the French and Indian War, and it became a territory of the United States in 1783 after the American Revolutionary War; in 1805, the Michigan Territory was formed, and on January 26, 1837 Michigan was admitted to the union as the 26th state. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler were all based out of Michigan, turning it into a center of the automobile business (its largest city of Detroit prospered from this), while Lansing is more administrative. In 2015, the state had a population of 9,922,576 people.
Luxembourg

**Luxembourg**, officially the **Grand Duchy of Luxembourg**, is a small country located in Western Europe, bordering France, Germany, and Belgium. It has existed in its present form since the Congress of Vienna in 1815, up until which it was occupied by Revolutionary France, establishing Luxembourg as an independent duchy in a personal union with the Netherlands. Due to its location between France and Germany, Luxembourger culture has been heavily impacted by French and German culture, and the country has three official languages: Luxembourgish, German, and French. It was occupied by Germany during World War I and World War II. Since then, it has greatly developed its economy to being among the richest countries in the world. As of 2017, the country has a population of around a half a million people, nearly half of which are foreigners. Luxembourg has a high standard of living and an advanced economy.
Noah

**Noah** (2948 BC-1998 BC) was the tenth and last of the pre-Great Flood patriarchs. The son of Lamech, his father said that he would rise from the cursed ground and relieve humanity from work and toil. At the age of 500, he fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth with Emzara. One hundred years later, God decided to destroy all life on Earth with a great flood, having seen humanity's evil. However, he favored Noah, and told him to build an ark and to bring his family and two of every living species on the ark with him. After a 40-day flood and months of waiting for the waters to recede, the inhabitants of the Ark were able to return to dry land, and Noah made a covenant with God, who swore that he would never again attempt to kill humanity. Noah would go on to become the first tiller of the soil and a drunkard, and, as he lay naked while passed out, his sons covered him with a garment after Ham told his brothers of their father's nakedness. Noah decided to curse Ham's son Canaan by making him a slave to his brothers, and he lived for 350 more years before dying at 950 years.
Panama

**Panama** is a country located in Central America, with Panama City serving as its capital. Panama is an isthmus located on the border of Central/North America and South America. In 1538, Spain conquered and settled Panama as a part of New Spain, and Panama was ruled by Spain until 1821, when it joined Gran Colombia after breaking away from Spain. After the 1831 dissolution of Gran Colombia, Panama remained a part of Colombia, but Panama seceded in 1903 amidst a civil war in Colombia. The United States built the Panama Canal through the nascent country with the goal of facilitating travel from the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and a 1977 agreement between the USA and Panama led to Panama regaining control over the canal in 1999. During the 1980s, Panama was ruled by the military dictator Manuel Noriega, who trafficked cocaine through the Americas and was also known for his anti-communism. In 1989, during Operation Just Cause, the US government ousted Noriega and his government from power, supposedly because he had committed human rights violations. Panama is known for its large jungles and its canal, and it had the second most competitive economy in Latin America. In 2016, Panama had a population of 4,058,374 people, with 65% being *mestizo*, 12.3% Native American, 9.2% Afro-Panamanian, 6.8% *mulatto*, and 6.7% white.
Kamchatka

**Kamchatka** is a peninsula located in eastern Russia, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the east. The peninsula has a population of 322,079 people, with over half of the population living in the cities of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Yelizovo. The region was explored from 1695 to 1699, and Petropavlovsk was founded in 1740. From 1945 to 1989, Kamchatka was designated a military area and closed to Soviet citizens, as it was the location of a rocket site used against Japan during World War II. Today, Petropavlovsk is an important naval base for the Russian Navy in the Russian Far East, although not as important as Vladivostok.
Malay Peninsula

The **Malay Peninsula** is a peninsula in Southeast Asia that contains parts of Burma, Thailand, and Malaysia. The region is full of hills and mountains, and it is separated from Borneo and Sumatra by the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea, respectively. The majority of the inhabitants are Muslim Malays.
Leonidas I

**Leonidas I** (540 BC-11 August 480 BC) was King of Sparta from the Agid dynasty, right from 491 to 480 BC, succeeding Cleomenes I and preceding Pleistarchus. He had a notable participation in the Greco-Persian Wars, during which he and the famed "300 Spartans" died while covering the retreat of the main Greek army at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.

## Biography

Leonidas was born in Sparta in 540 BC, the son of Anaxandridas II and his first wife Kineska. He is also a direct descendant of the Isu, and wielded a Spear of Eden in battle; the same spear that his daughter and later granddaughter would possess. His half-brother Cleomenes succeeded to the throne on Anaxandridas' death in 520 BC, and Leonidas married Cleomenes' daughter Gorgo and became the heir to the Spartan throne. In 491 BC, Leonidas himself succeeded to the throne, and he was chosen to lead the combined Greek forces against the second Persian invasion of Greece in 481 BC.

### Death at Thermopylae

Leonidas consulted the Oracle of Delphi, who prophesied that either Sparta would be destroyed by the Persians, or the Spartans would mourn the loss of a king, foreshadowing Leonidas' own death in battle. Leonidas brought 900 helots and 300 hoplites with him to join the 7,000-strong Greek army, and, on August 11, 480 BC, they met the 300,000-strong Persian army in battle at Thermopylae Pass. The Persians offered to spare the Spartans if they would give up their arms, but Leonidas replied "Come and take them," and he rallied his 300 hoplites with the promise that they would "dine in hell" that night. Leonidas and his men proceeded to make a brave last stand against the Persians, and they held out until they were attacked from both sides and massacred. Leonidas' body was recaptured by the Spartans after the Spartans repulsed the Persians four times, and he was celebrated as a hero for centuries.
Heer

The ***Heer*** was the land forces component of Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht armed forces, founded in 1935. The *Heer* reached 36 divisions shortly after it was formed in 1935 in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, and the *Heer* was bolstered by the addition of five divisions from Austria to the army after the 1938 *Anschluss* and the mobilization during World War II. The *Heer* had a strength of over 13,000,000 troops during the war, with 6,550,000 serving in 1943. The army's motorized infantry units were responsible for the *blitzkrieg* victories enjoyed by Germany from 1939 to 1941, but the *Heer* would later be defeated due to supply problems. The Heer was managed by the OKH high command, which was subordinated to the OKW command.
New Model Army

The **New Model Army** was the army of the Commonwealth of England from 1645 to 1660. Parliament formed the New Model Army in 1645 to centralize its forces - previously raised and organized on a regional basis. It was to be a disciplined army with uniforms, regular pay, and a reliable supply system. Its first commander, Thomas Fairfax, ensured that its officers were appointed on merit, and he assembled an effective staff. Oliver Cromwell, appointed second-in-command, had responsibility for the cavalry, while other competent officers were in charge of supply, intelligence, military justice, and artillery and engineering. Although many of the infantry were reluctant conscripts, a core of dedicated veterans made sure the New Model Army became an ideologically motivated force. In 1647, soldier representatives asserted that they were "not a mere mercenary army", but fighting for "the defense of our own and the people's just rights and liberties." Successful in battle and siege, the army gained a decisive political influence, forcing the execution of King Charles I of England in 1649 and permitting Cromwell's assumption of power as Lord Protector in 1653.
Imperial German Navy

The **Imperial German Navy**, also known as the **Kaiserliche Marine**, was the navy of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The navy's original goal was to defend the German coast, but Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany rapidly increased the size of the navy and enlarged its mission. The navy became the second-largest navy in the world, closely following the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The navy would be destroyed during World War I, with many of its ships being scuttled at Scapa Flow in 1919 after the navy suffered a crippling defeat at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. The navy would be replaced by the Reichsmarine in 1918.
Kingdom of Italy

The **Kingdom of Italy** may refer to three kingdoms:

* Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy or Italy - Venice: two nations founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1805.
* Kingdom of Sardinia: ruled Sardinia and Piedmont from 1324 to 1861, ruled Italy from 1861 to 1946.
* Italian Empire: ruled Italy from 1861 to 1946, latter stage of the Kingdom of Sardinia.
Missouri

**Missouri** is one of the fifty states of the United States, located in the Midwest - its capital is Jefferson City, while its largest city is St. Louis. Missouri was settled by the Kingdom of France as a part of the Louisiana Territory, and in 1803 it was purchased by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, for whom the capital is named. On 10 August 1821, it became the 24th state, and its location on the frontier made it the starting point for the Santa Fe Trail, Oregon Trail, and Pony Express; today, it is an agricultural state. In 2015, the state had a population of 6,083,672, with 81% being whites, 3% Hispanics, 11.7% African-Americans, .5% Native Americans, 1.7% Asians, .1% Pacific Islanders, 1.9% multiracial, and .1% other races. 27.4% of Missourians are descended from Germans, 14.8% from Irish, 10.2% English, 3.7% French, and 8.5% simply identifying as "American" (mostly English).
North Yorkshire

**North Yorkshire** is a county in northern England, bordering the East Riding of Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria, and County Durham. Northallerton was the county town of North Yorkshire, and other major settlements include York, Middlesbrough, Harrogate, and Scarborough. In 2016, North Yorkshire had a population of 1,145,700 people.
Franco-Mexican War

The **French Intervention**, also called the **Franco-Mexican War**, was a war between the Second French Empire and Mexico that lasted from 1862 to 1867. In 1862, Conservative Mexicans begged for France to intervene in Mexico to drive out the Liberals, and Napoleon III of France, seeking colonies in the Americas, provided a large army to fight. The French installed Maximilian von Hapsburg on the throne, but he was unrecognized by the people and the Mexican revolutionaries overthrew the government after a long guerrilla war.

## Background

Mexico was a relatively new country in the world, having been founded in 1821 in a revolution from New Spain. It was originally an empire, but in 1823 it became a republic, inheriting Spain's vast lands in North America: all of the American West, the Southwest, and Texas. The weak Mexicans lost Texas to Texan rebels led by Sam Houston in 1836, and ten years later the United States, who had incorporated Texas into their country, invaded Mexico and took over all of their North American possessions. In 1853 Mexico sold more land in New Mexico to the USA in the Gadsden Purchase.

In the 1850s, Mexico devolved into a politically unstable country as a series of coups overthrew president after president, and in 1860 it faced a civil war between Conservatives and Liberals, the latter of which wanted to change Mexico's government. The Mexican Conservatives were defeated in the civil war, and they pleaded for help from any country willing. Fortunately, the French emperor Napoleon III of France responded positively, as he claimed that Mexico's president Benito Juarez owned him debts in money; he really wanted to overthrow the government and take over Mexico to add some North American colonies. France allied with the Kingdom of Spain and Great Britain, and they took over Veracruz. Juarez gave the port's treasury to Britain, France, and Spain, and the British and Spanish left with the money. However, the French wanted more, and General Lorencez set out with 7,300 French troops to take Mexico City.

## War

The French were victorious against Ignacio Zaragoza at Fortin on 19 April 1862, and defeated the Mexicans many more times. However, on May 5 (Cinco de Mayo), the Mexican rebels trapped the experienced French troops in a canyon and eliminated them in the famed Battle of Puebla. The French were pushed back with heavy losses, but they would replenish their numbers and capture Ciudad Mexico. Napoleon installed Maximilian von Osterreich-Hapsburg as Maximilian I of Mexico, and gained the support of an Austrian Legion from Maximilian's lands as well as a Belgian Legion representing his wife and her country.

From 1862 to 1867 the Mexican rebels fought a series of guerrilla campaigns against the French and Mexican "Imperial" units loyal to Maximilian. Although they lost most of their battles, the Mexicans did not give up and on 20 June 1867 liberated Ciudad Mexico. Maximilian and many of his cabinet were killed, and the French were evicted. Benito Juarez became the new President of Mexico, without the influence of the French or Austrians.
Compromise of 1850

he he **Compromise of 1850** occurred in September 1850 when American Whig Party senator Henry Clay of Kentucky and US Democratic Party senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois passed a package of new laws aimed at reducing conflict over slavery between the North and South of the United States. California was admitted to the union as a free state, the territories of Utah and New Mexico were allowed to choose if they were free or slave states, the slave trade was blocked in Washington DC, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed, and Texas gave up some claimed lands to New Mexico.
Azores

The **Azores** is an autonomous region of Portugal, an archipelago consisting of nine volcanic islands in the northern Atlantic Ocean (This is 850 miles west of Portugal). In 1427, the Portuguese explorer Goncalo Velho Cabral claimed the Azores for Portugal, and settlers arrived on the islands from 1433 to 1436. Ponta Delgada became the largest settlement in the islands, and the Spanish-led Portuguese monarchy recaptured the city from the armies of France, England, the United Provinces, and the Portuguese forces led by Antonio, Prior of Cato in 1583 during the Anglo-Spanish War and War of the Portuguese Succession. Today, the Portuguese government is responsible for the economy of the islands, with much of the population having farming-related jobs. In 2012, the Azores had a population of 245,746 people.
East Prussia

**East Prussia**, known in German as **Ostpreussen**, was a province of Prussia, the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, and Nazi Germany from 1772 to 1945, granted to Prussia by Poland in 1525. East Prussia was a part of Prussia from 1525 until 1945, becoming a part of the German Empire upon German unification in 1871 and remaining a part of Germany until World War II. The region was an enclave of German settlers, with the cities being made up of Protestant Baltic Germans who had settled in the region during the 1300s during the Northern Crusades. In 1945, the Soviet Union conquered East Prussia from Nazi Germany at the end of World War II, and it became known as "Kaliningrad Oblast" under Russia.
Luftwaffe

The **Luftwaffe** was the aerial warfare branch of Nazi Germany's military. It was formed on February 26, 1935 with 2,500 planes - defying the 1919 Treaty of Versailles - and its planes were gloriously paraded over Berlin as the people of Germany watched the powerful air force's debut. Adolf Hitler made his close ally Herman Goering the Luftwaffe's chief, and he oversaw its development into one of the best air forces in Europe. During the Spanish Civil War, its Condor Legion showed its fearsome power in its support of Nationalist Spain's forces, and it was infamous for its bombing of Guernica.

World War II was its finest hour, when it fought in the greatest air battle of all time, the Battle of Britain, from 1940 to 1941 after bombing the United Kingdom in the infamous "The Blitz" period. Germany's offensives into Poland, France, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union were all assisted by the Luftwaffe's bombing of enemy targets in Germany's *Blitzkrieg* strategy, and it had 119,871 planes and 3,400,000 personnel during the war. After the Battle of the Bulge, its attempts at gaining air superiority were forever thwarted, and it was disbanded after the end of the war in May 1945. Goering and many of its other generals were charged with war crimes such as the bombing of Rotterdam and strafing refugee camps a result of its brutal tactics, and Goering would kill himself before he could face trial; other generals were executed by firing squad.

## Gallery

Luftwaffe planes flying over Germany in 1935
North Caucasians

The **North Caucasians** are a cultural group native to the northern parts of the Caucasus region, including Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Adygea. The culture includes Chechens, Lezgians, Dargins, Avars, Abkhazians, and Circassians, and most of them are Sunni Muslims.
Jim Crow

**Jim Crow** laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the American South from 1890 to 1965, succeeding the "Black Codes". All public facilities in the former Confederate States of America were segregated under the "separate but equal" ideology, with African-Americans and whites being given separate bathrooms, water fountains, school buses, public transportation, restaurants, public schools, and other public facilities. African-Americans were subjected to economic, educational, and social disadvantages, and they were by no means "equal"; all of their facilities were in disrepair and were inferior to those used by whites. In the conservative Democratic Party administration of American president Woodrow Wilson, the United States Army and federal workplaces were segregated, and he instituted racial discrimination in hiring by requiring for photo identification to be submitted by job applicants. The 1954 *Brown v. Board of Education* led to public schools being desegregated, and the Jim Crow laws were generally overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Desegregation would take years to achieve due to opposition from the reactionary Southern Democrats (and later, the conservative US Republican Party), but the liberal factions of the Democratic Party and Republican Party would enforce civil rights.
Jalisco

**Jalisco** is a state of western Mexico, with Guadalajara serving as its capital. The state borders Nayarit, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Michoacan, and Colima, and it is known as the home of mariachi, ranchera music, the famous *birria* stew, tequila, and *jaripeo* bull riding, as well as for being rich with natural resources. In 2015, Jalisco had a population of 7,844,830 people.
Long Island

**Long Island** is an island located off the coast of the United States, located in the state of New York. It is separated from Connecticut by the Long Island Sound, and the island's eastern boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn are considered to be a part of the New York City metropolitan area, including Manhattan island, The Bronx, and Staten Island. The island has a population of 7,838,722, 40% of the state population. 54.7% of the population are whites, 20.4% African-Americans, .49% Native Americans, 12.3% Asians, .05% Pacific islanders, 8.8% other races, and 3.2% multiracial; 20.5% are Hispanics of any race.

## Gallery

A view of Brooklyn and Queens from the Empire State Building, 2008
La Dama Negra

***La Dama Negra*** was a man-of-war of the Spanish Navy that was active in the Caribbean from 1715 to 1722. The vessel was infamous for its thick armor and near-invincibility, but it was sunk by the pirate brig *Jackdaw* in 1722 by Edward Kenway.

## Biography

*La Dama Negra* was constructed by King Felipe V of Spain in the dockyards of Havana, Cuba as the flagship of the Spanish Navy in the Caribbean Sea. Meaning "The Black Lady", *La Dama Negra* was used in the destruction of several pirate and Great Britain's Royal Navy ships. The ship was engaged in the southern Caribbean off Serranilla by pirate Edward Kenway and his brig *Jackdaw* in 1722 in an intense battle, during which *Jackdaw* suffered heavy lossess. *La Dama Negra* was targeted from the rear by *Jackdaw*, which avoided its broadsides and mortar fire. The ship was destroyed by *Jackdaw*, and its reign of terror ended.
P.G.T. Beauregard

**Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard** (May 28, 1818-February 20, 1893) was a General of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Beauregard was the first Brigadier-General in the Confederate army during the war, and he was best-known for his capture of Fort Sumter and his victory at Bull Run at the start of the war in 1861.

## Biography

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was born in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana on May 28, 1818 to a French Creole and Welsh father and an Italian mother. He graduated from West Point and became a United States Army engineer, fighting in the Mexican-American War. In 1861, Beauregard briefly served as superintendent of West Point, only to resign and join the Confederate States Army at the start of the American Civil War, remaining loyal to his home state. He became the first Brigadier-General in the CSA, and he commanded the garrison of Charleston, South Carolina; he presided over the capture of Fort Sumter in April 1861 before leading the victory at the First Battle of Bull Run. Beauregard would then be transferred to the western theater of the war, being defeated by Ulysses S. Grant at Shiloh in Tennessee and Corinth in Mississippi. In 1863, Beauregard arrived in Charleston to defend the port city from Union assaults during the intense Union siege, and he saved Petersburg, Virginia from a Union assault in June 1864 by reinforcing Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. After the end of the Civil War in 1865, Beauregard became a railroad executive and lottery promoter, and he died in 1893 at the age of 74.