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Yasunari Kawabata (11 June 1899 – 16 April 1972) was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly-shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award.<br/><br/> His works have enjoyed broad international appeal and are still widely read.
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. The eldest son of Barbara and George H. W. Bush, he was born in New Haven, Connecticut.
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October–11 November 1942) was a major battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein.<br/><br/> With the Allies victorious, it marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War.<br/><br/> Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC (17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed 'Monty' and the 'Spartan General', was a senior officer of the British Army and the victor at El-Alamein.
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin, respectively, for the purpose of discussing Europe's post-war reorganization. The conference convened in the Livadia Palace near Yalta in Crimea.<br/><br/> The meeting was intended mainly to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe. Within a few years, with the Cold War dividing the continent, Yalta became a subject of intense controversy. To some extent, it has remained controversial.
Masoud Barzani (Kurdish: Mesud Barzanî; born 16 August 1946) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who has been President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region since 2005, as well as leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979.<br/><br/> Masoud Barzani succeeded his father, the Kurdish nationalist leader Mustafa Barzani, as the leader of the KDP in 1979. Working closely with his brother Idris Barzani until Idriss' death, Barzani and various other Kurdish groups fought Baghdad during the Iran-Iraq War. For much of this time, the Kurdish leadership was exiled to Iran.
Masoud Barzani (Kurdish: Mesud Barzanî; born 16 August 1946) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who has been President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region since 2005, as well as leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979.<br/><br/> Masoud Barzani succeeded his father, the Kurdish nationalist leader Mustafa Barzani, as the leader of the KDP in 1979. Working closely with his brother Idris Barzani until Idris' death, Barzani and various other Kurdish groups fought Baghdad during the Iran-Iraq War. For much of this time, the Kurdish leadership was exiled to Iran.
Hồ Chí Minh, born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc (19 May 1890 – 3 September 1969) was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1946–1955) and president (1945–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).<br/><br/> He formed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and led the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War until his death. Hồ led the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.<br/><br/> He lost political power inside North Vietnam in the late 1950s, but remained as the highly visible figurehead president until his death.
Hồ Chí Minh, born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc (19 May 1890 – 3 September 1969) was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1946–1955) and president (1945–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).<br/><br/> He formed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and led the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War until his death. Hồ led the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.<br/><br/> He lost political power inside North Vietnam in the late 1950s, but remained as the highly visible figurehead president until his death.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (December 25, 1876 – September 11, 1948) was a 20th century lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam (Great Leader). <br/><br/> Jinnah died aged 71 in September 1948, just over a year after Pakistan gained independence from the British Empire.
Juan Domingo Peron ( 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and politician.<br/><br/> After serving in several government positions, including those of Minister of Labour and Vice President of the Republic, he was three times elected as President of Argentina, serving from June 1946 to September 1955, when he was overthrown in a coup d'etat, and from October 1973 until his death in July 1974.
Operation Crossroads was a pair of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity in July 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.<br/><br/> The purpose of the tests was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on warships.
The Allied occupation of Japan at the end of World War II was led by General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, with support from the British Commonwealth. Unlike in the occupation of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed little to no influence over Japan.<br/><br/> This foreign presence marked the only time in Japan's history that it had been occupied by a foreign power] It transformed the country into a parliamentary democracy that recalled American 'New Deal' priorities of the 1930s politics by Roosevelt.<br/><br/> The occupation, codenamed Operation Blacklist, was ended by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951 and effective from April 28, 1952, after which Japan's independence – with the exception, until 1972, of the Ryukyu Islands – was restored.
Juan Domingo Peron ( 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and politician.<br/><br/> After serving in several government positions, including those of Minister of Labour and Vice President of the Republic, he was three times elected as President of Argentina, serving from June 1946 to September 1955, when he was overthrown in a coup d'etat, and from October 1973 until his death in July 1974.
Ken Domon (25 October 1909 – 15 September 1990) is one of the most renowned Japanese photographers of the 20th century. He is most celebrated as a photojournalist, though he may have been most prolific as a photographer of Buddhist temples and statuary.
Hermann Wilhelm Goering (12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader, and leading member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP).<br/><br/> After helping Adolf Hitler take power in 1933, he became the second-most powerful man in Germany. He founded the Gestapo in 1933, and later gave command of it to Heinrich Himmler. Göring was appointed commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe (air force) in 1935, a position he held until the final days of World War II.<br/><br/> After World War II, Göring was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg trials. He was sentenced to death by hanging, but committed suicide by ingesting cyanide the night before the sentence was to be carried out.
Qin Bangxian was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu, in 1907. In his earlier years, Qin studied at the Suzhou Industrial School where he took an active role in activities against imperialism and the warlords tyrannizing China. In 1925 Qin entered Shanghai University, a university that was known for its impact on young revolutionaries s at the time. The ideas of Marxism and Leninism were taught there by early leaders of the Chinese Communist party.<br/><br/> After the end of World War II in 1945, Mao Zedong was invited by Chiang Kaishek to Chongqing for peace negotiation in order to avoid civil war between CPC and KMT. Qin was one of the delegates of the CPC with Mao, which indicated his closeness to Mao and prominence in the CPC. Qin attended the following Political Consulting Congress held in Chongqing as a delegate of the CPC in February 1946. When Qin was on his way back to Yan'an, he died in an airplane crash in Shanxi. Among the other victims were several senior CPC leaders such as General Ye Ting, secret police boss Deng Fa, and old CPC member Wang Ruofei.
The Eighth Route Army (<i>Balu Jun</i>), also known as the 18th Army Group of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, was a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party, nominally within the structure of the Chinese military headed by the Chinese Nationalist Party during the Second Sino-Japanese War.<br/><br/> The Eighth Route Army was created from the Chinese Red Army on September 22, 1937, when the Chinese Communists and Chinese Nationalist Party formed the Second United Front against Japan at the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, as World War II is known in China. Together with the New Fourth Army, the Eighth Route Army formed the main Communist fighting force during the war and was commanded by Communist party leader Mao Zedong and general Zhu De.
Juan Domingo Peron ( 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and politician.<br/><br/> After serving in several government positions, including those of Minister of Labour and Vice President of the Republic, he was three times elected as President of Argentina, serving from June 1946 to September 1955, when he was overthrown in a coup d'etat, and from October 1973 until his death in July 1974.<br/><br/> Maria Eva Duarte de Peron (7 May 1919 – 26 July 1952) was the second wife of Argentine President Juan Peron (1895–1974) and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952.<br/><br/> She is usually referred to as Eva Peron, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.
Gobulo Wan Rong ('Beautiful Countenance') was the daughter of Rong Yuan, the Minister of Domestic Affairs of the Qing Government and head of one of Manchuria's most prominent, richest families. At the age of 17, Wan Rong was selected from a series of photographs presented to the Xuan Tong Emperor (Puyi). The wedding took place when Puyi reached the age of 16. Wan Rong was the last Empress Consort of the Qing Dynasty in China, and later Empress of Manchukuo (also known as the Manchurian Empire). Empress Wan Rong died of malnutrition and opium addiction in prison in Jilin.<br/><br/> Sir Reginald Fleming Johnston, KCMG, CBE (13 October 1874–6 March 1938) was a Scottish academic and diplomat who served as the tutor and advisor to Puyi, the last Emperor of China and as the last colonial governor of Weihaiwei.<br/><br/> Isabel Ingram (Mayer) (1902–1988) was an American tutor of Wan Rong, Empress and wife of the last emperor of China.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He pioneered satyagraha. This is defined as resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa, or total non-violence. This concept helped India gain independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.<br/><br/> Gandhi is often referred to as Mahatma Gandhi or 'Great Soul', an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore. In India he is also called Bapu (Gujarati: 'Father') and officially honored in India as the Father of the Nation. His birthday, 2 October, is commemorated as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence. Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948 by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu Nationalist.<br/><br/> Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889–27 May 1964) was an Indian statesman who was the first (and to date longest-serving) prime minister of India, from 1947 until 1964. One of the leading figures in the Indian independence movement, Nehru was elected by the Congress Party to assume office as independent India's first Prime Minister, and re-elected when the Congress Party won India's first general election in 1952. As one of the founders of the Non-aligned Movement, he was also an important figure in the international politics of the post-war era.
'Nazi plunder' refers to art theft and other items stolen as a result of the organized looting of European countries during the time of the Third Reich by agents acting on behalf of the ruling Nazi Party of Germany. Plundering occurred from 1933 until the end of World War II, although most plunder was acquired during the war. In addition to gold, silver and currency, cultural items of great significance were stolen, including paintings, ceramics, books, and religious treasures.<br/><br/> Although most of these items were recovered by agents of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (MFAA), affectionately referred to as the Monuments Men, on behalf of the Allies immediately following the war, many are still missing.
Isaias Afwerki, sometimes spelled Afewerki (born February 2, 1946), is the first President of the State of Eritrea, a position he has held since its independence in 1993. He led the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) to victory in May 1991, thus ending the 30-year-old armed liberation struggle.<br/><br/> The EPLF adopted a new political party name, People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) to reflect its new responsibilities. The PFDJ, with Isaias as its leader, remains the only governing party of Eritrea as of 2015.
William Jefferson 'Bill' Clinton (born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Clinton was Governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and 1983 to 1992, and Arkansas Attorney General from 1977 to 1979.
Gobulo Wan Rong ('Beautiful Countenance') was the daughter of Rong Yuan, the Minister of Domestic Affairs of the Qing Government and head of one of Manchuria's most prominent, richest families. At the age of 17, Wan Rong was selected from a series of photographs presented to the Xuan Tong Emperor (Puyi). The wedding took place when Puyi reached the age of 16.<br/><br/> Wan Rong was the last Empress Consort of the Qing Dynasty in China, and later Empress of Manchukuo (also known as the Manchurian Empire). Empress Wan Rong died of malnutrition and opium addiction in prison in Jilin.<br/><br/>
Hu Die (1907-1989) had a career as a film actress from the late 1920s to the 1960s. She had her most brilliant period in the 1930s and the 1940s. Early in the 1930s, she played the leading role in China's first sound film, <i>The Singsong Girl</i>, in which she portrays a kindhearted but somewhat ignorant woman who endures her husband's mistreatment and oppression without the slightest resistance. In <i>The River Flows Rampant</i>, the first film made by left-wing dramatists, she plays the role of Xiujuan, a woman who is filled with the spirit of resistance and has a rich inner world in her heart.<br/><br/> Her performance won favorable comments. Hu Die played a full spectrum of characters, including a maidservant, a loving mother, a woman school teacher, an actress, a prostitute, a dancing girl, the daughter of a rich family, a laboring woman, and a factory worker. She had attractive, unconventional qualities, and her performances were gentle, honest, refined and sweet. Audiences call her a film queen. Hu Die lived both in the silent and sound film periods, and she was one of the most popular Chinese film actors and actresses in the 1930s and the 1940s.
Lady with an Ermine (Italian: Dama con l'ermellino) is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci from around 1489–1490. The subject of the portrait is Cecilia Gallerani, painted at a time when she was the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, and Leonardo was in the service of the duke.<br/><br/> The painting is displayed at Czartoryski Museum, Krakow, Poland.
Ananda Mahidol (20 September 1925–9 June 1946) was the eighth monarch of Thailand under the House of Chakri. He was recognized as king by the National Assembly in March 1935. He was a nine-year-old boy living in Switzerland at this time. He returned to Thailand in December 1945.<br/><br/> On 9 June 1946, the King was found dead in his bedroom in the Boromphiman Throne Hall, (a modern residential palace located within the Grand Palace), only four days before he was scheduled to return to Switzerland to finish his doctoral degree in Law at the University of Lausanne. His brother Bhumibol Adulyadej succeeded him. Ananda Mahidol was never crowned as king, but his brother posthumously gave him the full royal title of the ninefold umbrella.<br/><br/> King Bhumibol Adulyadej (5 December 1927 – 13 October 2016), 9th monarch of the Chakri Dynasty. He was known as Rama IX, and within the Thai royal family and to close associates simply as Lek. Having reigned since 9 June 1946, he was one of the world's longest-serving heads of state and the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history.
Ye Ting joined the Kuomintang when Sun Yat-sen founded it in 1919 (the Kuomintang existed prior to 1919 but was called the Chinese Revolutionary Party) and from 1921 was a battalion commander in the National Revolutionary Army.<br/><br/> In 1924 he studied in the Soviet Union and in December of that year joined the Communist Party of China. In September 1925 he returned to China to serve first as staff officer, then as independent regiment commander, in the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army.
Hồ Chí Minh, born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc (19 May 1890 – 3 September 1969) was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1946–1955) and president (1945–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).<br/><br/> He formed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and led the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War until his death. Hồ led the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.<br/><br/> He lost political power inside North Vietnam in the late 1950s, but remained as the highly visible figurehead president until his death.
Hồ Chí Minh, born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc (19 May 1890 – 3 September 1969) was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1946–1955) and president (1945–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).<br/><br/> He formed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and led the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War until his death. Hồ led the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.<br/><br/> He lost political power inside North Vietnam in the late 1950s, but remained as the highly visible figurehead president until his death.
Stilwell's caustic personality was reflected in his nickname 'Vinegar Joe'. Although distrustful of his allies Stilwell showed himself to be a capable and daring tactician in the field but a lack of resources meant he was continually forced to improvise.<br/><br/> He famously differed as to strategy, ground troops versus air power, with his subordinate, Claire Chennault, who had the ear of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. George Marshall acknowledged he had given Stilwell 'one of the most difficult' assignments of any theater commander.
The Adyghe or Adygs (Adyghe: Адыгэ or Adǝgă, Arabic: شركس/جركس‎, Jarkas/Sharkas, Persian: چرکس‎, Charkas), also often known as Circassians or Cherkess, were a North Caucasian ethnic group who were displaced in the course of the Russian conquest of the Caucasus in the 19th century, especially after the Russian–Circassian War of 1862.<br/><br/> Adyghe people mainly speak Circassian. Predominant religions include Sunni Islam and Russian Orthodox Christianity. There remain about two million speakers of Circassian in Adygea, and Karachay–Cherkessia & Kabrdinia Republic, as well as a number in the Russian Federation outside these republics.<br/><br/> The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization estimates that there are as many as 3.7 million ethnic Circassians in the diaspora outside the Circassian republics, of whom about 2 million live in the Republic of Turkey, 700,000 in the Russian Federation, about 150,000 in the Middle East, and about 50,000 in western countries (Europe and USA).
Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan [‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Husayn, عبد الله الأول بن الحسين], February 1882 – 20 July 1951, born in Mecca, Second Saudi State, (in modern-day Saudi Arabia) was the second of three sons of Sherif Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah (d. 1886). He was educated in Istanbul, Turkey and Hijaz. From 1909 to 1914, Abdullah sat in the Ottoman legislature, as deputy for Mecca, but allied with Britain during World War I. Between 1916 to 1918, working with the British guerrilla leader T. E. Lawrence, he played a key role as architect and planner of the Great Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule, leading guerrilla raids on garrisons. He was the ruler of Transjordan and its successor state, Jordan, from 1921 to 1951—first as Emir under a British Mandate from 1921 to 1946, then as King of an independent nation from 1946 until his assassination in 1951.
Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, CBE, DSO, FRAS, FRGS (3 June 1910 – 24 August 2003) was a British explorer and travel writer born in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.<br/><br/> In 1933 Thesiger mounted an expedition, funded in part by the Royal Geographical Society, to explore the course of the Awash River. During this expedition, he became the first European to enter the Aussa Sultanate and visit Lake Abbe.<br/><br/> Afterwards, in 1935, Thesiger joined the Sudan Political Service stationed in Darfur and the Upper Nile. He served in several desert campaigns with the Sudan Defence Force (SDF) and the Special Air Service (SAS) with the rank of major.<br/><br/> In World War II, Thesiger fought with Gideon Force in Ethiopia during the East African Campaign. He was awarded the DSO for capturing Agibar and its garrison of 2,500 Italian soldiers. Afterwards, Thesiger served in the Long Range Desert Group during the North African Campaign.<br/><br/> In 1945, Thesiger worked in Arabia with the Desert Locusts Research Organisation. Meanwhile, from 1945 to 1949, he explored the southern regions of the Arabian peninsula and twice crossed the Empty Quarter. His travels also took him to Iraq, Persia (now Iran), Kurdistan, French West Africa, Pakistan and Kenya. He returned to England in the 1990s and was knighted in 1995.
The First Indochina War (also known as the French Indochina War, Anti-French War, Franco-Vietnamese War, Franco-Vietminh War, Indochina War, Dirty War in France, and Anti-French Resistance War in contemporary Vietnam) was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps, led by France and supported by Emperor Bảo Đại's Vietnamese National Army against the Việt Minh, led by Hồ Chí Minh and Võ Nguyên Giáp.<br/><br/> Most of the fighting took place in Tonkin in Northern Vietnam, although the conflict engulfed the entire country and also extended into the neighboring French Indochina protectorates of Laos and Cambodia. The war ended in French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
Rear Admiral Thawal Thamrong Navaswadhi, also spelled Thawal Thamrongnavasawat, (November 21, 1901—December 3, 1988) was the 8th Prime Minister of Thailand from 1946-1947.<br/><br/> A career naval officer of Chinese ancestry, Admiral Thamrong was a leading member of the anti-Japanese Seri Thai resistance movement during World War II. He became Thailand's elected Prime Minister on August 23, 1946, replacing Khuang Abhaiwongse. However, he was removed from office by a military coup orchestrated by Field Marshall Plaek Pibulsonggram on November 8, 1947. Pibulsonggram then assumed the post of prime minister once more.
Major Luang Khuang Abhaiwongse (May 17, 1902 - March 15, 1968) was Prime Minister of Thailand three times. During World War II he received the title Major after joining the guard of King Prajadhipok (Rama VII). In the governments of Phraya Phahol Pholphayuhasena and Plaek Phibunsongkhram he became a minister, and was elected as Prime Minister on August 1, 1944, after Plaek's plans to move the capital to Phetchabun and to create the Phutthamonthon park failed to get enough approval from Parliament. On August 17, 1945 he resigned to make way for a new administration.<br/><br/> In 1946 he was one of the founders of the Democrat Party, and became its first leader. The fourth national elections on January 6, 1946 were won by the Democrat Party, which gained him a second term as Prime Minister starting on January 31. Only 45 days later, on March 24, his government lost an election in Parliament and he resigned.<br/><br/> He became Prime Minister a third time on November 10, 1947 following a coup d'état led by Phin Chunhawan. However, the coup leaders were not pleased with the performance of Khuang's government and forced him to resign on April 8, 1948. This also ensured Plaek Phibunsongkhram would become Prime Minister again. Khuang continued in politics as the opposition leader and leader of the Democrat Party.
Mom Rajawongse Seni Pramoj (May 26, 1905 – July 28, 1997) was Prime Minister of Thailand three times and a politician in the Democrat Party. A member of the Thai royal family, he was a descendant of King Rama II.<br/><br/> Seni's final term was a time of crisis in the nation. A rightwing backlash against leftist student demonstrators culminated in the Thammasat University massacre on October 6, 1976, and the military forced him out of office.<br/><br/> Seni decided to resign as the leader of the Democrat Party and left politics permanently. He worked as a lawyer until his retirement.
The First Indochina War (also known as the French Indochina War, Anti-French War, Franco-Vietnamese War, Franco-Vietminh War, Indochina War, Dirty War in France, and Anti-French Resistance War in contemporary Vietnam) was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps, led by France and supported by Emperor Bảo Đại's Vietnamese National Army against the Việt Minh, led by Hồ Chí Minh and Võ Nguyên Giáp.<br/><br/> Most of the fighting took place in Tonkin in Northern Vietnam, although the conflict engulfed the entire country and also extended into the neighboring French Indochina protectorates of Laos and Cambodia. The war ended following the decisive French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
Pridi Banomyong (May 11, 1900 – May 2, 1983) was a highly-revered Thai politician. He was a Prime Minister and Senior Statesman of Thailand, and was named one of the world's great personalities of the 20th century by UNESCO in 2000.
Ananda Mahidol (20 September 1925–9 June 1946) was the eighth monarch of Thailand under the House of Chakri. He was recognized as king by the National Assembly in March 1935. He was a nine-year-old boy living in Switzerland at this time. He returned to Thailand in December 1945, but died under mysterious circumstances in 1946.
Ananda Mahidol (20 September 1925–9 June 1946) was the eighth monarch of Thailand under the House of Chakri. He was recognized as king by the National Assembly in March 1935. He was a nine-year-old boy living in Switzerland at this time. He returned to Thailand in December 1945, but died under mysterious circumstances in 1946.
Mom Srinagarindra (née Sangvan Talapat; 21 October 1900 – 18 July 1995) was a member of the Thai Royal Family and was a member of the House of Mahidol, which is descended from the Chakri Dynasty. She was married to Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, the Prince of Songkla, son of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) and was the mother of Princess Galyani Vadhana, the Princess of Naradhiwas, King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII), and King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX).<br/><br/> Her given name was Sangwal, while her formal name and title were Somdej Phra Srinagarindra Boromarajajonani. In Thailand she was affectionately called Somdej Ya, 'the Royal Grandmother'. By the various hill tribe people, to whom she was a special patron, she was called Mae Fah Luang, 'Royal Mother from the Sky', or 'Heavenly Royal Mother'.
UK / Malaysia: Lord Louis Mountbatten inspects Malayan troops in Kensington Gardens, London. The men were in London to take part in the Victory Parade, which took place on 8 June, 1946.<br/><br/> Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS (né Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the name used by the United States Army for its forces operating in conjunction with British and Chinese Allied air and land forces in China, Burma, and India during World War II. Well-known US units in this theater included the Flying Tigers, transport and bomber units flying the Hump, the 1st Air Commando Group, the engineers who built Ledo Road, and the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), otherwise known as Merrill's Marauders.
Rear Admiral Thawal Thamrong Navaswadhi, also spelled Thawal Thamrongnavasawat, (November 21, 1901—December 3, 1988) was the 8th Prime Minister of Thailand from 1946-1947.<br/><br/> A career naval officer of Chinese ancestry, Admiral Thamrong was a leading member of the anti-Japanese Seri Thai resistance movement during World War II. He became Thailand's elected Prime Minister on August 23, 1946, replacing Khuang Abhaiwongse. However, he was removed from office by a military coup orchestrated by Field Marshall Plaek Pibulsonggram on November 8, 1947. Pibulsonggram then assumed the post of prime minister once more.
General Tomoyuki Yamashita was a general of the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. He was most famous for conquering the British colonies of Malaya and Singapore, earning the nickname 'The Tiger of Malaya'. He served in Manchuria and North China as well as the Philippines. In 1945 he was convicted of war crimes, and on 23 February 1946, at Los Baños, Laguna Prison Camp, 30 miles (48 km) south of Manila, Yamashita was hanged.
A ‘harem’ is not a bordello, seraglio or brothel, but refers to the women’s quarters, usually in a polygynous household, which are forbidden to men. It originated in the Near East and is typically associated in the Western world with the Ottoman Empire.<br/><br/> Female seclusion in Islam is emphasized to the extent that any unlawful breaking into that privacy is ḥarām ie, 'forbidden'. A Muslim harem does not necessarily consist solely of women with whom the head of the household has sexual relations (wives and concubines), but also their young offspring, other female relatives or odalisques, which are the concubines’ servants. The harem may either be a palatial complex, as in Romantic tales, in which case it includes staff (women and eunuchs), or simply their quarters, in the Ottoman tradition separated from the men's selamlık. A hammam is a common bath house.
The Second Indochina War, known in America as the Vietnam War, was a Cold War era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the U.S. and other anti-communist nations. The U.S. government viewed involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and part of their wider strategy of containment.<br/><br/> The North Vietnamese government viewed the war as a colonial war, fought initially against France, backed by the U.S., and later against South Vietnam, which it regarded as a U.S. puppet state. U.S. military advisors arrived beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with U.S. troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962. U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Operations spanned borders, with Laos and Cambodia heavily bombed. Involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive.<br/><br/> U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973. The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese army in April 1975 marked the end of the US-Vietnam War.
International attention to Shanghai grew in the 19th century due to its economic and trade potential at the Yangtze River. During the First Opium War (1839–1842), British forces temporarily held the city. The war ended with the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, opening Shanghai and other ports to international trade. In 1863, the British settlement, located to the south of Suzhou creek (Huangpu district), and the American settlement, to the north of Suzhou creek (Hongkou district), joined in order to form the International Settlement.<br/><br/>The French opted out of the Shanghai Municipal Council, and maintained its own French Concession. Citizens of many countries and all continents came to Shanghai to live and work during the ensuing decades; those who stayed for long periods called themselves 'Shanghailanders'. In the 1920s and 30s, some 20,000 so-called White Russians and Russian Jews fled the newly established Soviet Union and took up residence in Shanghai. By 1932, Shanghai had become the world's fifth largest city and home to 70,000 foreigners.
Gobulo Wan Rong ('Beautiful Countenance') was the daughter of Rong Yuan, the Minister of Domestic Affairs of the Qing Government and head of one of Manchuria's most prominent, richest families. At the age of 17, Wan Rong was selected from a series of photographs presented to the Xuan Tong Emperor (Puyi). The wedding took place when Puyi reached the age of 16. Wan Rong was the last Empress Consort of the Qing Dynasty in China, and later Empress of Manchukuo (also known as the Manchurian Empire). Empress Wan Rong died of malnutrition and opium addiction in prison in Jilin. She was portrayed memorably if somewhat inaccurately by Joan Chen in the 1987 picture 'The Last Emperor'.
Ananda Mahidol (20 September 1925–9 June 1946) was the eighth monarch of Thailand under the House of Chakri. He was recognized as king by the National Assembly in March 1935. He was a nine-year-old boy living in Switzerland at this time. He returned to Thailand in December 1945. He was found shot to death in his bed in June 1946. Medical examiners ruled it a murder and three servants were later executed. His killing has been the subject of much controversy.
A ‘harem’ is not a bordello, seraglio or brothel, but refers to the women’s quarters, usually in a polygynous household, which are forbidden to men. It originated in the Near East and is typically associated in the Western world with the Ottoman Empire.<br/><br/> Female seclusion in Islam is emphasized to the extent that any unlawful breaking into that privacy is ḥarām ie, 'forbidden'. A Muslim harem does not necessarily consist solely of women with whom the head of the household has sexual relations (wives and concubines), but also their young offspring, other female relatives or odalisques, which are the concubines’ servants. The harem may either be a palatial complex, as in Romantic tales, in which case it includes staff (women and eunuchs), or simply their quarters, in the Ottoman tradition separated from the men's selamlık. A hammam is a common bath house.
Stilwell's caustic personality was reflected in his nickname 'Vinegar Joe'. Although distrustful of his allies Stilwell showed himself to be a capable and daring tactician in the field but a lack of resources meant he was continually forced to improvise.<br/><br/> He famously differed as to strategy, ground troops versus air power, with his subordinate, Claire Chennault, who had the ear of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. George Marshall acknowledged he had given Stilwell 'one of the most difficult' assignments of any theater commander.
Gobulo Wan Rong ('Beautiful Countenance') was the daughter of Rong Yuan, the Minister of Domestic Affairs of the Qing Government and head of one of Manchuria's most prominent, richest families. At the age of 17, Wan Rong was selected from a series of photographs presented to the Xuan Tong Emperor (Puyi). The wedding took place when Puyi reached the age of 16. Wan Rong was the last Empress Consort of the Qing Dynasty in China, and later Empress of Manchukuo (also known as the Manchurian Empire). Empress Wan Rong died of malnutrition and opium addiction in prison in Jilin. She was portrayed memorably if somewhat inaccurately by Joan Chen in the 1987 picture 'The Last Emperor'.
A ‘harem’ is not a bordello, seraglio or brothel, but refers to the women’s quarters, usually in a polygynous household, which are forbidden to men. It originated in the Near East and is typically associated in the Western world with the Ottoman Empire.<br/><br/> Female seclusion in Islam is emphasized to the extent that any unlawful breaking into that privacy is ḥarām ie, 'forbidden'. A Muslim harem does not necessarily consist solely of women with whom the head of the household has sexual relations (wives and concubines), but also their young offspring, other female relatives or odalisques, which are the concubines’ servants. The harem may either be a palatial complex, as in Romantic tales, in which case it includes staff (women and eunuchs), or simply their quarters, in the Ottoman tradition separated from the men's selamlık. A hammam is a common bath house.
Hồ Chí Minh, born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc (19 May 1890 – 3 September 1969) was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1946–1955) and president (1945–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).<br/><br/> He formed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and led the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War until his death. Hồ led the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu.<br/><br/> He lost political power inside North Vietnam in the late 1950s, but remained as the highly visible figurehead president until his death.<br/><br/> Võ Nguyên Giáp (1911-2013) was a principal commander in two wars: the First Indochina War (1946–1954) and the Second Indochina War (1960–1975). He participated in the following historically significant battles: Lạng Sơn (1950); Hòa Bình (1951–1952); Điện Biên Phủ (1954); the Tết Offensive (1968); the Easter Offensive (1972); and the final Hồ Chí Minh Campaign (1975).<br/><br/> He was also a journalist, an interior minister in President Hồ Chí Minh’s Việt Minh government, the military commander of the Việt Minh, the commander of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), and defense minister. He also served as Politburo member of the Lao Động Party.
Kim Il-sung (15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a Korean communist politician who ruled North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death. He was also the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea from 1949 to 1994 (titled as chairman from 1949 to 1966 and as general secretary after 1966).<br/><br/> His tenure as leader of North Korea has often been described as autocratic, and he established an all-pervasive cult of personality. From the mid-1960s, he promoted his self-developed Juche variant of communist national organization. He outlived Joseph Stalin by four decades, Mao Zedong by two, and remained in power during the terms of office of six South Korean presidents, ten U.S. presidents, and twenty-one Japanese prime ministers.<br/><br/> Following his death in 1994, he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il, who in turn was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-un. North Korea officially refers to Kim Il-sung as the 'Great Leader' (Suryong in Korean 수령) and he is designated in the constitution as the country's 'Eternal President'.
A junk is an ancient Chinese sailing vessel design still in use today. Junks were developed during the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) and were used as sea-going vessels as early as the 2nd century AD. They evolved in the later dynasties, and were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean voyages. They were found, and in lesser numbers are still found, throughout South-East Asia and India, but primarily in China, perhaps most famously in Hong Kong. The etymology is somewhat obscure - Phonetic, from Chinese 'boat' (pinyin: chuan), also based on and pronounced as joong in Min Nan dialect. It entered English in the 17th century via Portuguese junco, from Malay jong.
A ‘harem’ is not a bordello, seraglio or brothel, but refers to the women’s quarters, usually in a polygynous household, which are forbidden to men. It originated in the Near East and is typically associated in the Western world with the Ottoman Empire.<br/><br/> Female seclusion in Islam is emphasized to the extent that any unlawful breaking into that privacy is ḥarām ie, 'forbidden'. A Muslim harem does not necessarily consist solely of women with whom the head of the household has sexual relations (wives and concubines), but also their young offspring, other female relatives or odalisques, which are the concubines’ servants. The harem may either be a palatial complex, as in Romantic tales, in which case it includes staff (women and eunuchs), or simply their quarters, in the Ottoman tradition separated from the men's selamlık. A hammam is a common bath house.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He pioneered satyagraha. This is defined as resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa, or total non-violence. This concept helped India gain independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.<br/><br/> Gandhi is often referred to as Mahatma Gandhi or 'Great Soul', an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore. In India he is also called Bapu (Gujarati: 'Father') and officially honored in India as the Father of the Nation. His birthday, 2 October, is commemorated as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence. Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948 by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu Nationalist.
International attention to Shanghai grew in the 19th century due to its economic and trade potential at the Yangtze River. During the First Opium War (1839–1842), British forces temporarily held the city. The war ended with the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, opening Shanghai and other ports to international trade. In 1863, the British settlement, located to the south of Suzhou creek (Huangpu district), and the American settlement, to the north of Suzhou creek (Hongkou district), joined in order to form the International Settlement.<br/><br/>The French opted out of the Shanghai Municipal Council, and maintained its own French Concession. Citizens of many countries and all continents came to Shanghai to live and work during the ensuing decades; those who stayed for long periods called themselves 'Shanghailanders'. In the 1920s and 30s, some 20,000 so-called White Russians and Russian Jews fled the newly established Soviet Union and took up residence in Shanghai. By 1932, Shanghai had become the world's fifth largest city and home to 70,000 foreigners.
Jiang Qing (Chiang Ch'ing, March 1914 – May 14, 1991) was the pseudonym that was used by Chinese leader Mao Zedong's last wife and major Communist Party of China power figure. She went by the stage name Lan Ping during her acting career, and was known by various other names during her life. She married Mao in Yan'an in November 1938, and is sometimes referred to as Madame Mao in Western literature, serving as Communist China's first first lady.<br/><br/> Jiang Qing was most well-known for playing a major role in the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) and for forming the radical political alliance known as the 'Gang of Four'. When Mao died in 1976, Jiang lost the support and justification for her political activities. She was arrested in October 1976 by Hua Guofeng and his allies, and was subsequently accused of being counter-revolutionary.<br/><br/> Though initially sentenced to death, her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1983, however, and in May 1991 she was released for medical treatment. Before returning to prison, she committed suicide.
Ye Ting joined the Kuomintang when Sun Yat-sen founded it in 1919 (the Kuomintang existed prior to 1919 but was called the Chinese Revolutionary Party) and from 1921 was a battalion commander in the National Revolutionary Army. In 1924 he studied in the Soviet Union and in December of that year joined the Communist Party of China. In September 1925 he returned to China to serve first as staff officer, then as independent regiment commander, in the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army.
Julius Robert Oppenheimer(April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is among the persons who are often called the 'father of the atomic bomb' for their role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II project that developed the first nuclear weapons. The first atomic bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945, in the Trinity test in New Mexico; Oppenheimer remarked later that it brought to mind words from the Bhagavad Gita: 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds'.<br/><br/> After the war he became a chief advisor to the newly created United States Atomic Energy Commission and used that position to lobby for international control of nuclear power to avert nuclear proliferation and an arms race with the Soviet Union. After provoking the ire of many politicians with his outspoken opinions during the Second Red Scare, he had his security clearance revoked in a much-publicized hearing in 1954, and was effectively stripped of his direct political influence; he continued to lecture, write and work in physics. Nine years later President John F. Kennedy awarded (and Lyndon B. Johnson presented) him with the Enrico Fermi Award as a gesture of political rehabilitation.
Tan Ting-pho (Chen Chengbo; Peh-oe-ji: Tan Teng-pho; February 2, 1895 – March 25, 1947), was a well-known Taiwanese painter. In 1926, his oil painting <i>Street of Chiayi</i> was featured in the seventh Empire Art Exhibition in Japan, which was the first time a Taiwanese artist's work was displayed at the exhibition.<br/><br/> Tan devoted his life to education and creation, and was greatly concerned about the development of humanist culture in Taiwan. He was not only devoted to the improvement of his own painting, but also to the promotion of the aesthetic education of the Taiwanese people. He was murdered as a result of the February 28 Incident, a 1947 popular uprising in Taiwan which was brutally repressed by the Kuomintang (KMT).
As the Chief of the Kuomintang (KMT) Army secret service in China, Dai Li helped to develop China's modern intelligence organization in 1928. He became one of the most powerful and feared men in China. Dai was also the head of the Blue Shirts Society, a fascist organization that did security and intelligence work for Chiang. In 1930s and 1940s, his agents from the Military-Statistics Bureau were very successful at penetrating the Chinese Communist and Imperial Japanese puppet organizations. Dai worked with the United States during World War II and was taught new methods of espionage, and his guerrilla force grew to 70,000 men. In return for this partnership, he made available maps of the South China coast, intelligence on Japanese maneuvers and a safe haven for downed Allied aircrew. After the signing of the SACO Treaty in 1942, Dai was placed as head of Sino-American intelligence activities. He died in a plane crash on March 17, 1946, possibly arranged by Dai's counterpart and rival in the Communist Party of China (CCP), the notorious security and intelligence chief Kang Sheng.
Masoud Barzani (Kurdish: Mesud Barzanî; born 16 August 1946) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who has been President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region since 2005, as well as leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979.<br/><br/> Masoud Barzani succeeded his father, the Kurdish nationalist leader Mustafa Barzani, as the leader of the KDP in 1979. Working closely with his brother Idris Barzani until Idris' death, Barzani and various other Kurdish groups fought Baghdad during the Iran-Iraq War. For much of this time, the Kurdish leadership was exiled to Iran.
Qin Bangxian was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu, in 1907. In his earlier years, Qin studied at the Suzhou Industrial School where he took an active role in activities against imperialism and the warlords tyrannizing China. In 1925 Qin entered Shanghai University, a university that was known for its impact on young revolutionaries s at the time. The ideas of Marxism and Leninism were taught there by early leaders of the Chinese Communist party.<br/><br/> After the end of World War II in 1945, Mao Zedong was invited by Chiang Kaishek to Chongqing for peace negotiation in order to avoid civil war between CPC and KMT. Qin was one of the delegates of the CPC with Mao, which indicated his closeness to Mao and prominence in the CPC. Qin attended the following Political Consulting Congress held in Chongqing as a delegate of the CPC in February 1946. When Qin was on his way back to Yan'an, he died in an airplane crash in Shanxi. Among the other victims were several senior CPC leaders such as General Ye Ting, secret police boss Deng Fa, and old CPC member Wang Ruofei.