recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Gay Rights

**Gay rights** is a human rights issue concerning the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Gay rights advocate the government recognition of same-sex marriages, allowing LGBT adoption, recognition of LGBT parenting, anti-bullying legislation, non-discrimination laws, immigration equality laws, hate crime laws, equal age of consent laws, access to sex change operations, legal recognition and accommodation of reassigned gender, laws related to military service, and allowing gay men to donate blood, among other causes.

n much of the western world, LGBT couples have the right to either marry or form civil unions, but LGBT people are persecuted - often violently - in continents such as Africa and Asia. In Mauritania, northern Nigeria, parts of Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the Islamic State, Iran, and parts of Afghanistan, same-sex intercourse is punishable by death, while other penalties (such as prison sentences) can be given out in Papua New Guinea and the rest of the Muslim world. The Gay rights movement took off in the United States during 1960s after the Stonewall riots of 1969, and the gay liberation movement spread to other Western countries such as the United Kingdom, which decriminalized homosexuality in 1967 and made the age of consent equal in 2000. In the United States, Harvey Milk became the first openly gay politician in 1978, only to be assassinated later that year. The Christian right opposed LGBT rights, and many gays joined the liberal Democratic Party with the goal of reforming society to be more permissive of their alternative lifestyles. During the 1990s and 2000s, the social conservative Republican Party opposed gay rights, passing laws such as the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law (which banned openly gay people from serving in the military), the North Carolina "bathroom bill" (which banned transgenders from using the bathrooms of their new identities), and the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" (which allowed for businesses to refuse service to gay people). It was not until 2015 that gay marriage was legalized nationwide as the result of *Obergefell v. Hodges*, and many Republicans claimed that the implementation of gay marriage laws across the USA was in violation of states' rights, an excuse used to "justify" their blatant homophobia and bigotry. In June of 2017, Germany legalized same-sex marriages, one of the more recent Western countries to do so.
1st California Infantry Regiment

The **1st California Infantry Regiment** was an infantry regiment of the United States that served in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.

## History

A man named James H. Carleton was appointed as the Colonel of the regiment, which was formed to fight for the Department of New Mexico. They fought against the Confederate States Army's Army of New Mexico in the 1862 New Mexico Campaign, engaging in the Battle of Picacho Pass, the westernmost engagement of the war. When the Union reached eastern New Mexico, the Confederates retreated into Texas and the Californians fought the Apache and Navajo in the Plains Indian Wars in the Utah Territory unti October 21, 1866, having served on garrison duty for most of the years 1862-1865.
Austria

The **Republic of Austria** is a country in Central Europe. Bordering Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west, Austria is a landlocked country, having lost its only outlets to the sea after World War II with the transfer of Trieste to Italy and the independence of Slovenia from Austria-Hungary as a part of Yugoslavia. Austria's capital is Vienna, and it consists of nine states. In 2015, the population was 8,662,588 people, with almost all of them speaking Bavarian German.
Aedile

**Aedile** was an office of the Roman Republic responsible for maintaining public buildings, regulating festivals, and maintaining public order. The title of *aedile* was usually bestowed upon young men after they held the title of *quaestor* but before they were *praetor*, and it allowed them to gain popularity and name recognition while holding events.
Great Recession

The **Great Recession** was a period of economic decline in world markets that lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, with the 2007-2008 financial crisis and 2007-2009 subprime mortgage crisis causing worldwide economic decline. From November 2007 to October 2009, the unemployment rate in the United States rose from 4.7% to 10%, with 8,700,000 jobs being shed. The crisis eventually abated in 2009, but the US unemployment rate was at 5%, still higher than before the recession occurred. The International Monetary Fund stated that it was the worst economic recession since World War II.
Central Park

**Central Park** is an urban park in Manhattan, New York City, the most visited urban park in the United States and one of the most filmed locations in the world. The park was built in 1857 on 778 acres of land, and it was expanded to 843 acres in 1873. In 1962, the park became a national historic landmark, and a 6.5-acre zoo was built in 1934; the naturalistic environments were built in 1988.
German Empire

The **German Empire** existed from 1871 to 1918, existing from the unification of Germany in 1871 by Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany until the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany at the end of World War I in 1918. The empire was formed in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War, and it succeeded the North German Confederation that had previously existed in the 1860s. The empire was centered around the dominant state of Prussia, inheriting its capital of Berlin and its military traditions. The empire unified the former German states and existed until the defeat of Germany by the Triple Entente in 1918 in World War I, and the November Revolution forced Kaiser Wilhelm to abdicate, followed by the establishment of the Weimar Republic.

## Culture

The German Empire was a culturally diverse nation, as it controlled lands in what is now Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Russia, and Poland during its existence.

In 1871, Germany had a population of 7,690,000 people, with 90.9% being North Germans, 7.5% Poles, and 1.5% others. 78.9% of the population was Protestant and 20.9% Catholic, with the Protestants living in the north and east of the country, while the Catholics lived in the south and west of the country.

In 1918, the empire had a population of 64,565,000, with 62% being Protestant (mostly North Germans), 36.5% Catholic (mostly South Germans), and 1.5% Jewish.
Europe

**Europe** is one of the seven continents of Earth, taking up 3,930,000 square miles (2% of Earth and 6.8% of its land area). The continent is the world's second-smallest continent after Oceania, and Russia takes up 39% of the continent, also having the largest population. Europe has a popualtion of 752,452,000, 11% of the world population, with its native inhabitants being Caucasians. Europe was the birthplace of Western civilization, seeing the civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, the Classical Era, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, the world wars, the Cold War, and the modern era. Today, much of the continent is united under the European Union, which has a common currency (the Euro), citizenship, and borders.
Brooklyn

**Brooklyn** is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located at the southwestern end of Long Island. The borough, named for Breukelen in the Netherlands, was founded by Dutch settlers in 1634, and it became a village on the outskirts of Manhattan under English rule during the late 17th and 18th centuries. In 1896, Brooklyn was incorporated into New York City, and it became the second-largest of the city's five boroughs. Brooklyn is known for its brownstone buildings, its ethnic enclaves (such as Italian Bensonhurst, Polish Greenpoint, Jewish Seagate, Russian Brighton Beach, and African-American Brownsville), its 21st century gentrification process, and its postmodern art and design. In 2015, Brooklyn had a population of 2,636,735 people.
Anne Boleyn

**Anne Boleyn** (1501-May 19, 1536) was Queen consort of England from May 28, 1533 to May 17, 1536 as the second wife of King Henry VIII of England. She was executed after being accused of adultery, incest, and plotting to kill the king.

## Biography

Anne Boleyn was born in Blicking Hall, Kent, England in 1501, the daughter of Thomas Boleyn and the sister of Mary Boleyn. She served as a maid of honor to Queen Claude of France after being educated in the Netherlands and France, and she returned to England in 1522 to become a maid of honor to Queen Catherine of Aragon. In 1526, King Henry VIII of England began his pursuit of Anne, whose previous betrothals had all gone awry. She resisted his attempts to seduce her, refused to become his mistress (which her sister Mary had been), and tempted Henry into divorcing his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Her father was complicit in this scheme, as he sought to be able to influence King Henry.

### Queen of England

On January 25, 1533, King Henry married Anne Boleyn, and Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer was forced, after five days of declaring the marriage void, to declare it valid. This marriage led to the break of the Church of England from the Catholic Church, and Henry became the head of English Christianity. On September 7, 1533, Boleyn gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I of England. However, she would have three miscarriages over the next three years, and she would fail to produce a male heir. Henry decided to instead court Jane Seymour, and he decided to get rid of Anne. He accused her of high treason, sending her to the Tower of London. She was found guilty of adultery, incest, and plotting to kill the king, and her own uncle, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, went against her in court. On 19 May 1536, she was beheaded.
Canada

**Canada** is a nation in North America. A land of vast distances and rich natural resources, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covers 9.98 million square kilometers (3.85 million square miles), making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Its southern and western border with the United States, stretching 8,891 kilometers (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Canada's capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Economically and technologically, the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across an unfortified border. Canada faces the political challenges of meeting public demands for quality improvements in health care, and education, social services, and economic competitiveness, as well as responding to the particular concerns of predominantly francophone Quebec. Canada also aims to develop its diverse energy resources while maintaining its commitment to the environment.
Army of Mississippi

The **Army of Mississippi**, also known as the **Army of the West**, was an army of the Confederate States Army that existed from March 1862 to June 1864 during the American Civil War. Albert Sidney Johnston commanded the army at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, in which the army suffered heavy losses and Johnston was killed. John C. Pemberton led the army in the defense of Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1863, and much of the army was forced to surrender in the battle. The army was recreated as III Corps of the Army of Tennessee under William J. Hardee in July 1863, and it existed until June 1864.
Alabama

**Alabama** is a US state located in the American South, with its capital at Montgomery. The state was a part of France's Louisiana Territory for over a hundred years, with the French founding the major port of Mobile in 1702. In 1803, the United States acquired Alabama from France under the Louisiana Purchase, and Alabama became a slave state, remaining one until the end of the American Civil War in 1865; Alabama had seceded and joined the Confederate States of America. After the Civil War, Alabama was a part of the Southern Democrats' "Solid South", resisting social change and advocating segregation and inequality. The major American city of Birmingham (now the largest in Alabama) was founded in 1871, and the cities of Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma would be centers of the Civil Rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s. Governor George Wallace and police chief Bull Connor attempted to enforce segregation in the state, but the Civil Rights movement would prevail after years of struggle; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation. Since the transformation of the US Republican Party into a conservative party and the US Democratic Party into a liberal party, Alabama has been a strong Republican state, as most of its working-class whites decided to continue their opposition to Civil Rights. In 2015, the state had a population of 4,858,990 people.
Emperor Meiji

**Emperor Meiji** (November 3, 1852 – July 30, 1912) was Emperor of Japan from 3 February 1867 to 30 July 1912, succeeding Emperor Komei and preceding Emperor Taisho. Meiji presided over a time of rapid change in his country, changing Japan from an isolated feudal state to a capitalist and imperial world power.

## Biography

Sachinomiya was born in Kyoto, Japan on 3 November 1852, the son of Emperor Komei and Nakayama Yoshiko. In 1860, he became the heir to the throne, and his personal name was changed to "Mutsuhito". In 1867, Komei died of smallpox, and Mutsuhito acceded the throne. During his early reign, the royalist Court Faction of politics fought against the powerful Shogunate Faction, which sought to preserve the power of the *shogun* (military leader) over the Emperor. Emperor Meiji's loyalists overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Boshin War, enabling Emperor Meiji to become the absolute ruler of Japan. In 1871, the *han* feudal system was abolished, bringing an end to Japanese feudalism and creating an absolute monarchy.

In 1889, he proclaimed the Meiji Constitution, creating a new constitutional monarchy, and he made other moves to Westernize Japan, including hiring foreign advisers to train the Imperial Japanese Army, forming an alliance with the United Kingdom in order to improve the Imperial Japanese Navy's quality (as well as to stave off Russia), and replaced traditional clothing with Western clothing. Emperor Meiji also fought a few wars to project Japan's power, the most notable of them being the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895 and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. These wars allowed for Japan to expand its colonial empire, adding Taiwan and some ports in China to Japanese control; Korea became a vassal of Japan, and it would be formally annexed in 1910. Meiji died in 1912, and his reign would be remembered as perhaps the most transformative period in Japanese history.

## Gallery

Young Emperor MeijiMeiji in 1876Meiji in 1877
Brownsville, Brooklyn

**Brownsville** is a residential neighborhood of eastern Brooklyn, New York City. Brownsville was founded in 1858 as a slum, and it was inhabited by Jewish factory workers from the 1880s until the 1950s; by 1920, 80% of the area's 100,000 residents were Russian Jewish immigrants. The neighborhood was the birthplace of the infamous Murder, Inc. gang during the 1930s, one of the most feared Jewish Mob organizations. During the 1950s, the area underwent a major demographic change, with African-Americans and Hispanics moving into new public housing developments as the Jews, now becoming middle- and upper-class citizens, moved into the suburbs or richer parts of Brooklyn. By 1970, 77% of the area's 130,00 residents were black and 19% Puerto Rican, and most of them were poor. Due to several arson attacks and a high concentration of burned-out buildings and empty lots during the 1970s, the area was nicknamed "Bombsville" by Mayor John Lindsay. However, the crime rate decreased during the 1980s. The neighborhood remained poor, with 39% of residents falling under the poverty line in 2013, and no gentrification took place in the area, as it was not a historic area, appealing to migrants, or near gentrified areas; instead, it was near Flatbush, East New York, and Ocean Hill. In 2010, Brownsville had a population of 58,300 people, with 76.1% being African-American, 20.6% Hispanic, .8% white, .3% Native American, .7% Asian, 1.2% multiracial. .3% other, and almost 0% (13 people) Pacific islander.
Atlantic Ocean

The **Atlantic Ocean** is the second largest ocean on Earth, second only to the Pacific Ocean. The Atlantic covers 20 percent of the world's population with an area of 106,400,000 square miles, and 29% of its water. The ocean was named for the Greek god Atlas, and its borders are typically defined as the Gulf of Mexico and the coast of the Americas to the west, the coast of Europe and Africa to the east, Scandinavia and Labrador to the north, and the southern tips of South America and Africa to the south.
Animism

**Animism** is the religious belief that all things in life are animated and alive, including animals, plants, rocks, rivers, the weather, human products, and even words. The system's inception predates paganism, making it the oldest religion in the world. Animism is a common belief among indigenous peoples across the world, and it was once the main religion in the Americas and the Pacific islands; however, its largest concentrations are in Africa and in parts of southern Asia.
Guam

**Guam** is an unincorporated, organized territory of the United States, located in the Pacific Ocean; its capital is Hagatna (Agana). The island was settled by Chamorros around 2000 BC, and the island was first explored by Europeans on 6 March 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan visited Guam. In 1668, Guam was colonized by Spain, which sent settlers and missionaries to the island. From the 1500s to the 1700s, Guam was an important stopover for "Manilla galleons", large treasure ships that travelled across the Spanish Empire to pick up and deliver hefty gold shipments. In 1898, the United States conquered Guam during the Spanish-American War, and Guam was occupied by Japan for thirty months during World War II until the USA recaptured the island in 1944. Today, Guam is a center of tourism and the United States Navy, and it had a population of 162,742 people in 2016.
French First Republic

The **French Republic**(1792-1799) was the government of France that existed from the passage of the new French constitution in 1792 to the Coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799, when Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the ruling French Directory and replaced it with the French Consulate triumvirate. The republic was formed during the French Revolution, replacing the old Kingdom of France, and it would be at war for all of its existence, fighting against the Austrian Empire, United Kingdom, Prussia, Netherlands, and several other reactionary European regimes during the French Revolutionary Wars.

## History

The French First Republic was founded after the National Convention of 1792 after a short-lived constitutional monarchy failed to serve the people well. Louis XVI of France was deposed and replaced by the National Convention, the parliament of the newly-declared French Republic. France was an extremist nationalist government, declaring war on the Austrian Empire and Prussia in 1792 to flex their military muscles and spread the revolution to the rest of Europe. The French Revolutionary Wars nearly resulted in the empire's destruction, had Lazare Carnot not introduced the *levee en masse* in 1793 to raise all young men to military service. This National Guard conscript army was led by officers who rose from Private to General in the matter of a year or two. The French Republic's reforms led to its takeover of northern Italy, the Rhineland, the Austrian Netherlands, and the United Provinces by the time of peace in late 1797.

The republic had hardly recovered from the First Coalition when, in 1798, a Second Coalition was formed. This alliance, consisting of Austria, the Russian Empire, Great Britain, and small German states managed to divert Napoleon from his Egypt Campaign and forced him to return to Europe. Rising general Napoleon Bonaparte, who had led the Egypt Campaign and the Italian Campaign, was also immensely popular in the government. His 18 Brumaire Coup of 9 November overthrew the ruling body and he became the President.

Napoleon managed France through the Second Coalition, defeating the Austrians and Russians in Italy in early 1800, winning the Battle of Marengo. Another defeat at the Battle of Hohenlinden in December forced Austria to sue for peace, and Russia also surrendered. Britain did not make peace until 1802.

In 1804, an ambitious Napoleon built up France's armed forces. He was proclaimed Emperor of the French Empire by the French Senate, and the republic fell.
British Parliament

The **British Parliament** is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, established on June 15, 1215 under the *Magna Carta*. The Parliament originally consisted solely of the House of Lords, but the elected House of Commons was created on January 20, 1265. Over the centuries, the Parliament progressively limited the power of the monarchy, culminating in the English Civil War of 1642-1651, during which the Parliamentarians rebelled against the royalist Cavaliers and briefly established the republican English Commonwealth under the brutal military dictator Oliver Cromwell. After the restoration of Charles II of England in 1660 and the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the supremacy of the Parliament was a settled principle, and all future British monarchs were forced to abide by a constitution. By the 21st century, power was vested in the hands of the House of Commons (the lower house), with the House of Lords upper house having delaying powers and the monarch being essentially forced to take the Prime Minister's advice. By 2017, Parliament had 1,452 seats, with 802 being Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual and 650 being Members of Parliament (MPs).
Earth

**Earth**, known as **Gaia** in Greek, is a planet in the solar system. Formed around 4.54 billion years ago when two planets collided, Earth originally consisted of the supercontinent of Pangea, but the continents would divide into North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and Antarctica. Over 7.3 billion humans live in Earth, with 14,000,000 confirmed species of wildlife, around a trillion species in total, and 200 countries, with the biodiversity constantly expanded.
Arnold Rothstein

**Arnold "the Brain" Rothstein** (January 17, 1882-November 6, 1928) was the boss of the Jewish Mob in New York City during the 1920s and the first man to take advantage of Prohibition; he was also famous for fixing the 1919 World Series. Rothstein was one of the richest criminals of all time, amassing a fortune of over $125 million through gambling, bootlegging, and racketeering. Ironically, Rothstein would fall into debt himself and be shot and killed by George McManus after refusing to pay McManus after losing a controversial poker game.

## Biography

### Gambler and businessman

Arnold Rothstein was born in New York City, New York on January 17, 1882, the son of Jewish immigrants. Rothstein was good at mathematics, but he was never interested in school, and he was jealous of the attention that his family gave to his brother, who was studying to become a rabbi. Rothstein began shooting dice when he was young, and he moved to the Tenderloin district of Manhattan to establish an important gambling casino in 1910. Rothstein also invested in the Havre de Grace, Maryland horse racing track, fixing several of the matches; by age 30, he was a billionaire. In 1919, he hired some men to bribe Chicago White Sox players to perform poorly during the 1919 World Series, fixing the game and winning $350,000 ($5,017,196 in 2016) in one day. In 1921, he won $500,000 ($6,096,005 in 2016) after fixing the Travers Stakes.

### Prohibition

When Prohibition began on January 16, 1920, Rothstein was one of the first criminals to plan out the smuggling of liquor into the United States. He invested in a number of speakeasies and brought in Canadian Club Whiskey as a partner of Lucky Luciano, an Italian criminal. His partnerships would later include Meyer Lansky, Legs Diamond, and Dutch Schultz, and he became a founding father of organized crime in America. Rothstein became an ally of Tammany Hall, and he mediated between rival gangsters as well as politicians. At the height of his power, he owned $10 million, which now totals up to over $125,145,502.

### Downfall

Rothstein let money get the better of him, however. On November 1, 1928, he lost a high-stakes poker game to George McManus, owing him $320,000 ($4,500,000 in 2016). Rothstein claimed that the game was fixed, and he refused to pay up. Three days later, McManus entered one of Rothstein's meetings at the Park Central Hotel and fatally shot him, and Rothstein died at Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital at the age of 46.
Federalist Party

The **Federalist Party** was the first American political party, formed in 1789 by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, John Adams, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, DeWitt Clinton, and Rufus King. The federalists agreed with a powerful federal government that would assume state debts and would establish a national bank, and the party sought to establish good relations with Great Britain during the French Revolutionary Wars. George Washington had a statement of neutrality passed at Hamilton's recommendation, leading to hostilities with the new First French Republic, which culminated in the naval Quasi-War of the late 1790s. The Federalists, which had support from New England and the North, opposed the Democratic-Republican Party of the South, but their leader John Adams' reputation was destroyed by Hamilton's arguments with him. The 1800 elections would see two Democratic-Republicans, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, run against each other with rival factions, and the Federalists never regained power. Their opposition to the War of 1812 allowed for them to have some power during the 1810s, but the Era of Good Feelings that followed the war led to the Federalists disappearing. The party disbanded in 1824.
Great Depression

The **Great Depression** was a severe worldwide economic depression which lasted from 29 October 1929 to around 1939, when the start of World War II led to the boom in the war industry of several countries. The crisis began with the United States stock market crash, and countries across the world were negatively affected; in America, a quarter of the population lost their jobs, and tens of thousands lived in shanty towns. President Herbert Hoover left the people to deal with their problems in his doctrine of "rugged individualism", which many saw as abandoning the people; bank failure led to people losing their savings. The crisis was healed when President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted the "New Deal", in which he put unemployed people to work by working on construction projects such as roads, dams, and trails, and much of America's infrastructure was built by his Civilian Conservation Corps. He gave inspiring messages to the people over the radio, and the Depression would end with the start of World War II in 1940.
Brazil

**Brazil** is the largest country in South America and Latin America, bordering every South American country except for Ecuador and Chile. Brazil was colonized by Portugal under Pedro Alvarez Cabral in 1500, and it remained a colony of Portugal until 1808, when the capital was moved from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1821, King Joao VI of Portugal returned to Portugal in reaction to the liberal revolution of 1820, and independence was achieved in 1822 with the proclamation of the formation of a "Brazilian Empire", a constitutional monarchy. In 1824, the bicameral National Congress was formed, and Brazil's monarchy was overthrown in 1889 and replaced by a republic. The politics of the country were unstable during the 20th century, leading to the rise of dictator Getulio Vargas during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, military rule from 1964 to 1985, and high crime rates into the 21st century. Brazil had the eighth-largest GDP and one of the world's fastest-growing economies in 2017, as well as being a breadbasket, an emerging global power, and the largest producer of coffee for 150 years. In 2017, Brazil had a population of 207,350,000 people, with 47.73% being white, 43.13% *pardo* (mixed race), 7.61% black, 1.09% Asian, and .43% Native American. 64.6% of the population is Catholic, 22.2% Protestant, 8% irreligious, 2% spiritual, and 3.2% others.
Allied Powers

The **Allied Powers** was an alliance of several countries that was formed in 1939 with the goal of containing the spread of Germany and its rival fascist Axis Powers alliance. France, the United Kingdom, and Poland formed an alliance in 1939 to prevent Nazi Germany from invading Poland, but the German invasion of Poland resulted in France, Poland, the UK, and its various colonies declaring war on Nazi Germany and beginning World War II. The ensuing conflict would see more countries enter the Allies as Adolf Hitler unwisely chose to make more enemies, and the Allies would soon be divided into the democratic Western Allies and the communist Comintern alliance, which was headed by the Soviet Union and manned by its puppets, mostly leftist partisans. The Allies would envelop the Axis Powers from two sides, and the war would result in an Allied victory after the fall of Berlin and Prague in May 1945 and the bombing of Japan in August-September of that same year. The Allied Powers would end along with the war, as the Western Allies formed NATO to combat the spread of communism while the USSR set up communist puppet governments in Eastern Europe. The end of the Allied Powers led to the start of the Cold War in 1947, and European cooperation would not be seen again until the creation of the European Union.
Florida

**Florida** is a state located in the American South region of the United States. Bordering the Gulf of Mexico to the southwest, Alabama to the northwest, the state of Georgia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Caribbean Sea to the south (Cuba is 90 miles away from Florida's southernmost point), Florida was first settled in 1513 by Juan Ponce de Leon and named for the flowers there. It has the longest coastline in the contiguous USA, and Jacksonville is the largest city in America by area. In 2015, Florida had a population of 20,271,272 people, having a significant population of Hispanics (mostly Cuban and Mexican refugees), making up 23.6% of the population in 2013. The state capital is Tallahassee, and major cities include Orlando, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami.
Finland

**Finland** is a country located in the Scandinavia region of Northern Europe. It is a parliamentary republic managed by both a President and a Prime Minister, and it has been considered to be the most progressive, most stable, and best-educated country in the world by many organizations.

## History

Finland declared independence from the Bolsheviks on 6 December 1917 after the Russian Revolution, with Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim leading the Finnish White Army against communist Red Finland in the south of **Finland**. The country's conservative "Whites", allied with the German Empire, won control over a united country that ruled both the modern-day boundaries of Finland as well as Karelia, becoming a parliamentary republic after the plan to make Finland a kingdom failed in 1918.

Like many other recently-independent former Russian Empire regions, Finland came under pressure from its communist neighbor the Soviet Union, whose leader Joseph Stalin sought to reconquer the lost lands of the Russian Empire and spread communism to the rest of Europe. In 1940, the USSR invaded Finland to retake Karelia, leading to the "Winter War". Mannerheim had a reluctant alliance with Nazi Germany, with the Finns receiving support from both the Nazis and the Allied Powers against the Comintern; a Swedish Volunteer Corps was formed to assist the Finnish in their struggle with the Soviets. Finland bravely resisted the Soviets, but they were eventually forced to cede Karelia to the Soviets and make peace. President Risto Ryti saw an opportunity for revenge when Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa in 1941, invading the USSR, and Finland provided troops to help the Germans in the Continuation War. The Finns took part in the Siege of Leningrad and other battles on the frontier of the USSR with Finland, but in 1944 the Soviets launched a counterattack and the war reached Finnish soil. Eventually, Ryti resigned and Mannerheim became the new President, signing an armistice with the Soviet Union and declaring war on Germany in the Lapland War. The result of the ensuing war was the defeat of the Germans in Finland, and after World War II's end the Soviets allied with the Finns as a part of the Eastern Bloc.

During the Cold War, Finland decided to join the Non-Aligned Movement and remain neutral, avoiding being drawn into either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. In the 1950s, Finland began a process of industrialization to replace its agrarian past, and it joined the United Nations in 1955. In 1995, the country joined the European Union, being the most sparsely-populated country in the EU. In 2015, it was ranked the most stable country in the Failed States Index, while its educational system of no homework and the ability to pursue career-focused classes made it the best-educated in the world. In November 2015, Finland had a population of 5,486,125, with 73.9% of the population being Protestant, 1.1% being Orthodox, 23.5% being atheist or agnostic, and 1.5% Muslim, Jewish, or animist.
Egypt

The **Arab Republic of Egypt** is an Afro-Asiatic country located on the border of Asia with Africa; the Sinai Peninsula links Africa to the Middle East. Its capital is Cairo, and it has 87,269,564 people.

## History

On 18 June 1953, the Kingdom of Egypt was overthrown by the Free Officers Movement of Gamal Abdel Nasser and Egypt became a republic.

Nasser was the dictator of Egypt from 1953 until his death in 1970, ruling Egypt as his own country. Egypt attempted to form an Arab nation by creating the United Arab Republic union with Syria, but this quickly failed due to Egypt's dominance in the alliance. Nasser's rule saw Egypt repel a British, French, and Israeli invasion in 1956 in the Suez Crisis, but they lost the 1967 Six-Day War and the West Bank was taken over by Israel.

After the death of Nasser in 1970, Vice-President Anwar Sadat took power without elections; there were no terms for Nasser's power, as he was a dictator. Egypt resumed its violent campaigns against Israel in the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War, but the latter defeat in 1973 led to Egypt recognizing Israel's sovereignty in the 1977 Camp David Accords in the United States. That same year, Sadat defeated an invasion by Libya.

Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981 by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad due to his recognition of Israel and Hosni Mubarak became the new dictator of Egypt, killing all of the collaborators in the assassination and taking power himself. Egypt's population grew to 72,798,000 in 2006, and Egypt's government remained strong. However, the Muslim Brotherhood party rose in influence over the Egyptian Conservative Party.

## Government

From 1953 to 2013, Egypt was ruled by the Egyptian Conservative Party/Urabist Faction. In January of 2001, the Conservative Party had a 41.42% majority; the Egyptian Fascist Party had 6.21%, the Muslim Brotherhood had 4.1%, the Egyptian Reactionary Party had 7.97%, the Egyptian Socialist Party had 11.39%, the Egyptian Communist Party had 1 percent, the Egyptian Liberal Party had 9.88%, and the Egyptian Anarcho-Liberal Party had 1%.
Autodefensas

The **Grupos de Autodefensa Comunitaria** ("Community Self-Defense Groups"), often known simply as the **Autodefensas**, were vigilante self-defense groups that arose in southern and east coastal Mexico in 2012 and 2013 with the goal of fighting back against the terrorist drug cartels that ruled over swathes of land and murdered thousands of people. On 15 April 2011, the first self-defense group was formed in Cheran, Michoacan to fight off illegal loggers affiliated with La Familia Michoacana, and more groups would be formed in Michoacan to fight the Knights Templar Cartel after the LFM's fall. Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde, a medical doctor, formed his own militia to fight against the Templars, and the Mexican government was eventually forced to regularize militias in order to distinguish them from the cartels. Some groups registered with the Mexican Army and received weapons from them, while other groups did not trust the government, which they feared would disarm them.
Jimmy D. Nakayama

**Jimmy D. Nakayama** (November 19, 1943 – November 17, 1965) was a United States Army Private First Class during the Vietnam War. He was killed in a friendly fire incident at the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965.

## Biography

Jimmy D. Nakayama was born in Rigby, Idaho in 1943 to a family of Japanese descent, and he later joined the United States Army, serving in Charlie Company, 8th Engineer Battalion, US 1st Cavalry Division during the Vietnam War. On November 15, 1965, he and another US soldier were severely burned when a misplaced napalm bomb fell on their positions (where they had attempted to dig holes to escape the bomb), and Nakayama died two days later, two days shy of his 22nd birthday.
Indian Ocean

The **Indian Ocean** is the third-largest ocean on Earth, covering 27,240,000 square miles (20% of Earth's water). The Indian Ocean was named for India to the north, and it is located between Africa to the west, Asia to the north, Oceania to the east, and Antarctica and the Southern Ocean to the south.
India

**India** is a country located in the Indian Subcontinent region of South Asia. India has had a rich and long history that has seen various princely states and rajas rule over small states until the formation of India in 1947, and it currently has the world's second-largest population, with 1,200,000,000 inhabitants. India is the home to many major South Asian beliefs, including its main religion of Hinduism as well as the other major religions of Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Christianity. India's capital is New Delhi.

## History

India gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947 due to the activism of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and many other leaders of the Indian National Congress. India consisted of much of the former British Raj, but a power-sharing deal between Nehru and the Muslim League leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah failed and led to the formation of the independent Muslim state of Pakistan, the eastern half of which would later become independent as Bangladesh. Since the partition of India, India has been historical rivals with Pakistan, waging several wars against them, starting with a war over Kashmir immediately after independence - to this day, Kashmir is still disputed between the two countries. In addition, India fought a border war with China in 1962 over the Aksai Chin mountains, and China was victorious over India in the short Sino-Indian War. Today, India still has conflicts with Pakistan and Pakistani-supported Muslim militant groups in Pakistan, as well as radical Sikh groups that seek to achieve the independence of the state of Khalistan in the Punjab.

Ever since the start of civilization in India, the country has been home to many beliefs and cultures, with Hinduism being the dominant religion of the country. Its caste system has been in control of society since the start of Indian history, and women are still forced into arranged marriages in the country as a part of tradition. Under Jawaharlal Nehru, India instituted a policy of secularism to allow followers of the other main religions - Islam, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Christianity - to practice their beliefs without being oppressed by the government. Today, 79.8% of Indians are Hindu, 14.2% Muslim, 2.3% Christian, 1.72% Sikh, and .24% other religions. Hindi is the main language of the Indian people, but the official language is English, a language spoken by politicians, businesspeople, and upper-class people; there is no "national language".
Louisiana Purchase

The **Louisiana Purchase** occurred in 1803 when the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of mostly-uncolonized land (the "Louisiana Territory") from the French Consulate for $15 million ($250 million by 2017). French leader Napoleon Bonaparte decided that he could not defend Louisiana in the case of a rebellion or a war with Great Britain, and he decided to fund his upcoming war with the British by selling the region to America. President Thomas Jefferson successfully negotiated the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, which now includes Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska and parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana, and parts of southern Canada (later ceded to the United Kingdom). The Federalist Party opposed the purchase on the grounds that it was unconstitutional to acquire a territory, but Jefferson successfully argued that the US Constitution allowed for him to negotiate treaties. The Americans inherited 60 thousand people, half of them African-American slaves and the others French, Mexican, and Spanish settlers, and the Missouri Compromise of 1820 would decide the slavery issue in the newly-acquired territories.
Mannlicher M1895

The **Steyr Mannlicher M1895** was a bolt-action rifle created in 1895 by Austria-Hungary. The rifle could fire 35 rounds per minute, and the weapon saw action in almost every Austrian, German, or Hungarian conflict from the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 to World War II in 1945. The weapon left mainstream Austro-Hungarian and German service between World War I and the Second World War, but the Royal Hungarian Army used it until 1945.
Midwest

**The Midwest** is a region located in the central United States, consisting of the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Illinois is the most populous of the states, with North Dakota being the least-populated. In 2012, the region had a population of 65,377,684, and the state consists mostly of agricultural states along the "Corn Belt"; in politics, the Midwestern states are often swing states, making them important political backgrounds. Many rural areas of the Midwest are predominantly white (especially of descent from German-speaking countries, the Low Countries, and Scandinavia). However, most urban areas such as Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Cleveland are much more diverse.
J. Edgar Hoover

**John Edgar Hoover** (January 1, 1895- May 2, 1972) was Director of the FBI from March 10, 1924 to May 2, 1972, succeeding William J. Burns and preceding Pat Gray. Hoover was known for his abuse of power, his transformation of the FBI into the United States government's Gestapo-like secret police force, and his use of blackmail and surveillance to fight against "enemies of the state". He is also infamous for his rumored homosexuality or Bisexuality with Clyde Tolson.

## Biography

### Rise to power

John Edgar Hoover was born in Washington DC, United States on January 1, 1895, and he obtained a law degree from the George Washington University Law School in 1916. Hoover worked for the Library of Congress, and he later entered the Bureau of Investigation, the predecessor to the modern FBI. In August 1919, he took over the General Intelligence Division of the BOI, and one of his first assignments was the Palmer Raids under Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Hoover targeted foreign radicals, and he managed to secure the deportation of anarchist leader Emma Goldman, making him a celebrity. Hoover became Director of the BOI in 1924, and he became known for his fickleness, firing FBI members who looked unsuited for their job, or firing them because they were "pinheads". Hoover recruiting another young agent, Clyde Tolson, as his right-hand man, and its believe that the two of them became homosexual lovers while also being coworkers. The two of them took part in the investigation of the Lindbergh kidnapping and the raids launched against gangsters during the 1930s, and his powers were broadened after taking down America's "public enemies".

### War against subversives

During World War II, Hoover attempted to root out and destroy Nazi spies in America, and he also listened in on suspected Soviet spies in the "Venona project". In 1956, as the US Supreme Court made it tougher to persecute people based on their political beliefs, Hoover decided to start the COINTELPRO program, which allowed for him to blackmail, surveil, and infiltrate organizations and people deemed "subversive"; these elements ranged from Communist Party USA members to Civil Rights organization leaders, Puerto Rican nationalists, and feminists. Hoover denied that the American Mafia existed until 1957, when the discovery of a meeting of crime bosses at Apalachin led to Hoover and the FBI cracking down on the Mafia. In 1964, Hoover attempted to blackmail Martin Luther King Jr. into turning down his Nobel Peace Prize by threatening to reveal his extramarital affairs, but King refused to back down. Hoover would gain the backing of several members of the US Congress and would become a powerful man, running the government's secret police force and spying on all of those whom the government believed were threats. When Richard Nixon was elected president, Hoover asked for his secretary Helen Gandy to destroy all of his files, but he refused to resign as FBI director. Hoover died of a heart attack on May 2, 1972 at the age of 77, and stacks of his files were destroyed shortly after his death.
Massachusetts Bay Colony

The **Massachusetts Bay Colony** was a colony of England located in New England, with Boston and Salem being its two centers. It existed from 1628 to 1691, when it was incorporated into the crown colony of Massachusetts, which included both the present-day states of Massachusetts and Maine. The colony was founded by John Winthrop after he landed at Boston, and the colony would later be united with Plymouth Colony and other regions in 1691 to become the "Province of Massachusetts".
Plessy v. Ferguson

***Plessy v. Ferguson*** was a landmark constitutional law passed by the US Supreme Court in 1896 that upheld racial segregation in the United States under the "separate but equal" doctrine. The case originated when Homer Plessy, a biracial man from Louisiana, sat on the white car of a segregated train and was subsequently arrested. The "separate but equal" doctrine of the law led to African-Americans being granted inferior versions of white facilities, including poor schools and broken-down water fountains and home equipment. The Civil Rights movement was born in response to the passage of the law, and *Plessy v. Ferguson* was overturned by *Brown v. Board of Education* in 1954 with support from the NAACP.
Panzer IV

The **Panzer IV** was a medium tank built by Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945 during World War II, later used by Syria from 1954 to 1967. It replaced the Panzer III in battle with the Soviet Union's T-34 tanks, and 8,553 Panzer IV tanks were built, the most-produced German tank of the war. It saw combat in all theaters of World War II, and Syria went on to use the tank in the Arab-Israeli War and Six-Day War.