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15 February 1952 – King George VI of the United Kingdom is buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

George VI

King of the United Kingdom from 1936 to 1952

For other uses, see George VI (disambiguation).

George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death on 6 February 1952. He was also the last Emperor of India from 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved in August 1947, and the first head of the Commonwealth following the London Declaration of 1949.

The future George VI was born during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria; he was named Albert at birth after his great-grandfather Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and was known as "Bertie" to his family and close friends. His father ascended the throne as George V in 1910. As the second son of the king, Albert was not expected to inherit the throne. He spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward, the heir apparent. Albert attended naval college as a teenager and served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War. In 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. In the mid-1920s, he engaged speech therapist Lionel Logue to treat his stutter, which he learned to manage to some degree. His elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII after their father died in 1936, but Edward abdicated later that year to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. As heir presumptive to Edward VIII, Albert became king, taking the regnal name George VI.

In September 1939, the British Empire and most Commonwealth countries—but not Ireland—declared war on Nazi Germany, following the invasion of Poland. War with the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively. George VI was seen as sharing the hardships of the common people and his popularity soared. Buckingham Palace was bombed during the Blitz while the King and Queen were there, and his younger brother the Duke of Kent was killed on active service. George became known as a symbol of British determination to win the war. Britain and its allies were victorious in 1945, but the British Empire declined. Ireland had largely broken away, followed by the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. George relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948 and instead adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. He was beset by smoking-related health problems in the later years of his reign and died at Sandringham House, aged 56, of a coronary thrombosis in 1952. He was succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth II.
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16 February 1985 – Hezbollah is founded.

Hezbollah

Lebanese political party and militant group

For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation).

Hezbollah (/ˌhɛzbəˈlɑː/,^[44] /ˌxɛz-/; Arabic: حزب الله, romanized: Ḥizbu 'llāh, lit. 'Party of Allah' or 'Party of God')^[45] is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group,^[46][47] led since 1992 by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council,^[48] and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. Its armed strength is assessed to be equivalent to that of a medium-sized army.^[49]

Hezbollah was established by Lebanese clerics primarily to fight the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.^[14] It adopted the model set out by Ayatollah Khomeini after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, and the party's founders adopted the name "Hezbollah" as chosen by Khomeini. Since then, close ties have developed between Iran and Hezbollah.^[50] The organization was created with the support of 1,500 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) instructors,^[51] and aggregated a variety of Lebanese Shia groups into a unified organization to resist the former Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon.^{[52][53][14][54]} During the Lebanese Civil War, Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto listed its objectives as the expulsion of "the Americans, the French and their allies definitely from Lebanon, putting an end to any colonialist entity on our land".^[55] From 1985 to 2000, Hezbollah also participated in the 1985–2000 South Lebanon conflict against the South Lebanon Army (SLA) and Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and fought again with the IDF in the 2006 Lebanon War. During the 1990s, Hezbollah also organized volunteers to fight for the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War.^[56]

Since 1990, Hezbollah has participated in Lebanese politics, in a process which is described as the Lebanonisation of Hezbollah, and it later participated in the government of Lebanon and joined political alliances. After the 2006–08 Lebanese protests^[57] and clashes,^[58] a national unity government was formed in 2008, with Hezbollah and its opposition allies obtaining 11 of 30 cabinet seats, enough to give them veto power.^[59] In August 2008, Lebanon's new cabinet unanimously approved a draft policy statement that recognizes Hezbollah's existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to "liberate or recover occupied lands" (such as the Shebaa Farms). Hezbollah is part of Lebanon's March 8 Alliance, in opposition to the March 14 Alliance. It maintains strong support among Lebanese Shia Muslims,^[60] while Sunnis have disagreed with its agenda.^[61][62] Hezbollah also has support in some Christian areas of Lebanon.^[63] Since 2012, Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian civil war has seen it join the Syrian government in its fight against the Syrian opposition, which Hezbollah has described as a Zionist plot and a "Wahhabi-Zionist conspiracy" to destroy its alliance with Bashar al-Assad against Israel.^[64][65] Between 2013 and 2015, the organisation deployed its militia in both Syria and Iraq to fight or train local militias to fight against the Islamic State.^[66][67] In the 2018 Lebanese general election, Hezbollah held 12 seats and its alliance won the election by gaining 70 out of 128 seats in the Parliament of Lebanon.^[68][69]

Hezbollah did not disarm after the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, in contravention of the UN Security Council resolution 1701.^[70] From 2006, the group's military strength grew significantly,^[71][72] to the extent that its paramilitary wing became more powerful than the Lebanese Army.^[73][74] Hezbollah has been described as a "state within a state",^[75] and has grown into an organization with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite TV station, social services and large-scale military deployment of fighters beyond Lebanon's borders.^[76][77][78] The group currently receives military training, weapons, and financial support from Iran and political support from Syria,^[79] although the sectarian nature of the Syrian war has damaged the group's legitimacy.^[76][80][81] In 2021, Nasrallah said the group had 100,000 fighters.^[82] Either the entire organization or only its military wing has been designated a terrorist organization by several countries, including by the European Union^[83] and, since 2017, also by most member states of the Arab League, with two exceptions – Lebanon, where Hezbollah is one of the country's most influential political parties, and Iraq.^[84] Russia does not view Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization" but as a "legitimate socio-political force".^[85]

1. ^ "Fadlallah Hits Back at March 14 over Karam Release, Marouni Slams 'Treason Accusations'". Naharnet. 18 April 2013.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Dalacoura, Katerina (2012). "Islamist Terrorism and National Liberation: Hamas and Hizbullah". Islamist Terrorism and Democracy in the Middle East. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 66–96. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511977367.004. ISBN 978-0-511-97736-7. LCCN 2010047275. S2CID 150958046.
3. ^ Stepanova, Ekaterina (2008). Terrorism in Asymmetrical Conflict: Ideological and Structural Aspects (PDF). Oxford University Press. p. 113. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2016.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Philip Smyth (February 2015). The Shiite Jihad in Syria and Its Regional Effects (PDF) (Report). The Washington Institute for Near East Studies. pp. 7–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
5. ^ "Hezbollah, the Lebanese Sectarian State, and Sectarianism". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
6. ^ Bassel F, Salloukh (2015). "The Sectarian Image Reversed: The Role of Geopolitics in Hezbollah's Domestic Politics". Middle East political science.
7. ^ "Hezbollah and the Lebanese Popular Movement".
8. ^ Salamey, Imad; Pearson, Frederic (2007). "Hezbollah: A Proletarian Party with an Islamic Manifesto – A Sociopolitical Analysis of Islamist Populism in Lebanon and the Middle East". Small Wars & Insurgencies. 18 (3): 416–438. doi:10.1080/09592310701674358. S2CID 143896155.
9. ^ Elie Alagha, Joseph (2011). Hizbullah's Documents: From the 1985 Open Letter to the 2009 Manifesto. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 15, 20. ISBN 978-90-8555-037-2.
   Shehata, Samer (2012). Islamist Politics in the Middle East: Movements and Change. Routledge. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-415-78361-3.
10. ^ Husseinia, Rola El (2010). "Hezbollah and the Axis of Refusal: Hamas, Iran and Syria". Third World Quarterly. 31 (5): 803–815. doi:10.1080/01436597.2010.502695. S2CID 219628295.
11. ^ Levitt, Matthew (2013). Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God. Hurst Publishers. p. 356. ISBN 978-1-84904-333-5. 'Hezbollah's anti-Western militancy began with attacks against Western targets in Lebanon, then expanded to attacks abroad intended to exact revenge for actions threatening its or Iran's interests, or to press foreign governments to release captured operatives.'
12. ^ Hanhimäki, Jussi M.; Blumenau, Bernhard (2013). An International History of Terrorism: Western and Non-Western Experiences. Routledge. p. 267. ISBN 978-0-415-63540-0. Based upon these beliefs, Hezbollah became vehemently anti-West and anti-Israel.
13. ^ Siegel, Larry J. (2012). Criminology: Theories, Patterns & Typology. Cengage Learning. p. 396. ISBN 978-1-133-04964-7. Hezbollah is anti-West and anti-Israel and has engaged in a series of terrorist actions including kidnappings, car bombings, and airline hijackings.
14. ^ ^{a b c} "Who Are Hezbollah?". BBC News. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
15. ^ Julius, Anthony (2015). Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-929705-4 – via Google Books.
16. ^ Michael, Robert; Rosen, Philip (2015). Dictionary of Antisemitism from the Earliest Times to the Present. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5868-8 – via Google Books.
17. ^ Perry, Mark (2015). Talking to Terrorists: Why America Must Engage with Its Enemies. Basic Books. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-465-01117-9.
18. ^ "Analysis: Hezbollah's lethal anti-Semitism". The Jerusalem Post. 12 November 2012.
19. ^ Joshua L. Gleis; Benedetta Berti (2012). Hezbollah and Hamas: A Comparative Study. JHU Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-0671-8.
20. ^ "JCPA Middle East Briefing: Hezbollah" Archived 4 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine. United Jewish Communities. 14 February 2008.
21. ^ "Hezbollah chief in new attack on same-sex relations". France 24. 29 July 2023.
22. ^ Revolutions: A Worldwide Introduction to Political and Social Change. Routledge. 2015. ISBN 978-1-317-26457-6.
23. ^ "Interior Ministry releases numbers of votes for new MPs". The Daily Star. 9 May 2018. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
24. ^ ^{a b} "Hezbollah fighters train Iraqi Shiite militants near Mosul". longwarjournal.org – FDD's Long War Journal. 5 November 2016.
25. ^ "Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Nasrallah says group has never been stronger". Reuters. 18 October 2021.
26. ^ Agencies, The New Arab Staff & (18 October 2021). "Hassan Nasrallah says Hezbollah has 100,000 fighters". english.alaraby.co.uk/.
27. ^ "Lebanon Hezbollah chief says movement has 100,000 fighters". France 24. 18 October 2021.
28. ^ "Hezbollah is the Long Arm of Iran – Factsheet 5". 20 September 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
29. ^ "Why Assad's alliance with Iran and Hezbollah will endure". 8 February 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
30. ^ Pardo, Ramon Pacheco (February 2011). "Beyond Iran" (PDF). The Majalla. 1561: 12–14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
31. ^ ^{a b} "Iraq admits Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian RG fight alongside Iraqi security forces". 9 November 2014. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
32. ^ "Hezbollah Fights Alongside LAF Demonstrating its Continuing Control over Lebanon". The Tower. 21 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
33. ^ "New Experience of Hezbollah with Russian Military". 2 February 2016. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018.
34. ^ Rosenfeld, Jesse (11 January 2016). "Russia is Arming Hezbollah, Say Two of the Group's Field Commanders". The Daily Beast.
35. ^ "Yemeni FM slams Hezbollah's Houthi support: report". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
36. ^ "Lebanon's Hezbollah denies sending weapons to Yemen". Reuters. 20 November 2017.
37. ^ "Wagner Group 'tasked to deliver Russian weapons to Hezbollah' – US intelligence". 4 November 2023.
38. ^ "Hezbollah – International terrorist organization". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 22 July 2013.
39. ^ Francis, Xavier (21 May 2020). "Israel Impressed How Turkish Army Crushed Hezbollah In Idlib, Syria". Latest Asian, Middle-East, EurAsian, Indian News.
40. ^ "Israel learned from Hezbollah's defeat at the hands of Turkey". The Jerusalem Post.
41. ^ "Turkish strike in Syria kills nine Hezbollah members, according to source". Haaretz.
42. ^ "Beware Iran's 'Axis of Resistance' | People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK)". Archived from the original on 31 October 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
43. ^ Nimrod Raphaeli (11 February 2009). "The Iranian Roots of Hizbullah". MEMRI. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009.
44. ^
    • "Hezbollah". The Collins English Dictionary. Glasgow: HarperCollins. 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
    • "Hezbollah". Webster's New World College Dictionary. Cleveland: Wiley Publishing, Inc. 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
45. ^ Other transliterations include Hizbullah, Hizballah, Hizbollah, Hezbolla, Hezballah, Hisbollah, Hizbu'llah and Hizb Allah.
46. ^ "Hezbollah | Meaning, History, & Ideology | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
47. ^ "What Is Hezbollah?". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
48. ^ Levitt, Matthew (2013). Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God. Hurst Publishers. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-84904-333-5. ... the Jihad Council coordinates 'resistance activity'.
    Ghattas Saab, Antoine (15 May 2014). "Hezbollah cutting costs as Iranian aid dries up". The Daily Star. Retrieved 1 June 2014. ... Hezbollah's military wing ... Known as the 'Jihad Council'
49. ^ "Hezbollah: Not a terror group but a midsized army". Haaretz. August 2016. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022.
50. ^ Hirst, David (2010) Beware of Small States. Lebanon, battleground of the Middle East. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-23741-8 p. 189
51. ^ Adam Shatz (29 April 2004). "In Search of Hezbollah". The New York Review of Books. Archived from the original on 22 August 2006. Retrieved 14 August 2006.
52. ^ Dominique Avon, Anaïs-Trissa Khatchadourian, Hezbollah: A History of the "Party of God", Harvard University Press, 2012 ISBN 978-0-674-07031-8 pp. 21ff.
53. ^ E. Azani, Hezbollah: The Story of the Party of God: From Revolution to Institutionalization, Springer, 2011 ISBN 978-0-230-11629-0 pp. 59–63
54. ^ Mariam Farida, Religion and Hezbollah: Political Ideology and Legitimacy, Routledge, 2019 ISBN 978-1-000-45857-2 pp. 1–3.
55. ^ Itamar Rabinovich (2008). Israel in the Middle East. UPNE. ISBN 978-0-87451-962-4. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
56. ^ Fisk, Robert (7 September 2014). "After the atrocities committed against Muslims in Bosnia, it is no wonder today's jihadis have set out on the path to war in Syria". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
57. ^ Ghattas, Kim (1 December 2006). "Political ferment in Lebanon". BBC News. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
58. ^ Stern, Yoav; Issacharoff, Avi (10 May 2008). "Hezbollah fighters retreat from Beirut after 37 die in clashes". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
59. ^ "Hezbollah (a.k.a. Hizbollah, Hizbu'llah)". Council on Foreign Relations. 13 September 2008. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
60. ^ "Huge Beirut protest backs Syria". BBC News. 8 March 2005. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
61. ^ "Hariri: Sunnis 'refuse' to join Hezbollah-Al Qaida war". AFP, 25 January 2014.
62. ^ Blanford & Salim 2013.
63. ^ Zirulnick 2012.
64. ^ Barnard, Anne (3 January 2014). "Mystery in Hezbollah Operatives Life and Death". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022.
65. ^ Barnard, Anne (9 July 2013). "Car Bombing Injures Dozens in Hezbollah Section of Beirut". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2013. Hezbollah has portrayed the Syrian uprising as an Israeli-backed plot to destroy its alliance with Mr. Assad against Israel.
66. ^ Liz Sly and Suzan Haidamous 'Lebanon's Hezbollah acknowledges battling the Islamic State in Iraq,' Washington Post 16 February 2015.
67. ^ Ali Hashem, arrives in Iraq Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Al Monitor 25 November 2014
68. ^ "Factbox: Hezbollah and allies gain sway in Lebanon parliament". Reuters. 22 May 2018.
69. ^ Ajroudi, Asma. "Hezbollah and allies biggest winners in Lebanon polls". Al Jazeera.
70. ^ "Fears grow of all-out Israel-Hezbollah war as fighting escalates". The Guardian. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
71. ^ "UN: Hezbollah has increased military strength since 2006 war". Haaretz. 25 October 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
72. ^ Frykberg, Mel (29 August 2008). "Mideast Powers, Proxies and Paymasters Bluster and Rearm". Middle East Times. Retrieved 31 May 2011. And if there is one thing that ideologically and diametrically opposed Hezbollah and Israel agree on, it is Hezbollah's growing military strength.
73. ^ Barnard, Anne (20 May 2013). "Hezbollah's Role in Syria War Shakes the Lebanese". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 June 2013. Hezbollah, stronger than the Lebanese Army, has the power to drag the country into war without a government decision, as in 2006, when it set off the war by capturing two Israeli soldiers
74. ^ Morris, Loveday (12 June 2013). "For Lebanon's Sunnis, growing rage at Hezbollah over role in Syria". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013. ... Hezbollah, which has a fighting force generally considered more powerful than the Lebanese army.
75. ^ "Iran-Syria vs. Israel, Round 1: Assessments & Lessons Learned". Defense Industry Daily. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
76. ^ ^{a b} Hubbard, Ben (20 March 2014). "Syrian Fighting Gives Hezbollah New but Diffuse Purpose". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2014. ... the fighting has also diluted the resources that used to go exclusively to facing Israel, exacerbated sectarian divisions in the region, and alienated large segments of the majority Sunni population who once embraced Hezbollah as a liberation force... Never before have Hezbollah guerrillas fought alongside a formal army, waged war outside Lebanon or initiated broad offensives aimed at seizing territory.
77. ^ Deeb, Lara (31 July 2006). "Hizballah: A Primer". Middle East Report. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
78. ^ Goldman, Adam (28 May 2014). "Hezbollah operative wanted by FBI dies in fighting in Syria". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 May 2014. ... Hasan Nasrallah has called the deployment of his fighters to Syria a 'new phase' for the movement, and it marks the first time the group has sent significant numbers of men outside Lebanon's borders.
79. ^ Filkins, Dexter (30 September 2013). "The Shadow Commander". The New Yorker. Retrieved 4 October 2013. From 2000 to 2006, Iran contributed a hundred million dollars a year to Hezbollah. Its fighters are attractive proxies: unlike the Iranians, they speak Arabic, making them better equipped to operate in Syria and elsewhere in the Arab world.
80. ^ "Hezbollah's Syrian Quagmires" (PDF). The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014. By siding with the Assad regime, the regime's Alawite supporters, and Iran, and taking up arms against Sunni rebels, Hezbollah has placed itself at the epicenter of a sectarian conflict that has nothing to do with the group's purported raison d'être: 'resistance' to Israeli occupation.
81. ^ Kershner, Isabel (10 March 2014). "Israel Watches Warily as Hezbollah Gains Battle Skills in Syria". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 May 2014. ... the Lebanese group's image at home and in the broader Arab world has been severely damaged because it is fighting Sunni rebels in Syria while its legitimacy rested on its role in fighting Israel.
82. ^ El Deeb, Sarah (18 October 2021). "Hezbollah leader declares his group has 100,000 fighters". Associated Press. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
83. ^ Cite error: The named reference auto4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
84. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wedeman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
85. ^ Maria Kiselyova. Greg Mahlich (ed.). "Russia says Hezbollah not a terrorist group: Ifax". Reuters. Retrieved 19 February 2021.

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17 February 2006 – A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.

2006 Southern Leyte mudslide

Major landslide in the Philippines

On February 17, 2006, a massive rock slide-debris avalanche occurred in the Philippine province of Southern Leyte, causing widespread damage and loss of life. The deadly landslide (or debris flow) followed a 10-day period of heavy rain and a minor earthquake (magnitude 2.6 on the Richter scale). The official death toll was 1,126.^[1]

1. ^ "Philippine Landslide and Flood Operations Update #7" Archived August 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, red, Red Cross, Appeal #MDRPH00107, update August 7, 31, 2007

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18 February 1954 – The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles.

Church of Scientology

American organization and business

This article is about the institution behind Scientology. For the ideology itself, see Scientology.

The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement.^[7] The movement has been the subject of a number of controversies, and the Church of Scientology has been described by government inquiries, international parliamentary bodies, scholars, law lords, and numerous superior court judgements as both a dangerous cult and a manipulative profit-making business.^[13] In 1979, several executives of the organization were convicted and imprisoned for multiple offenses by a U.S. Federal Court.^{[14][15]: 168} The Church of Scientology itself was convicted of fraud by a French court in 2009, a decision upheld by the supreme Court of Cassation in 2013.^[16] The German government classifies Scientology as an unconstitutional sect.^[17][18] In France, it has been classified as a dangerous cult.^[19] In some countries, it has attained legal recognition as a religion.^[20]

The Church of Scientology International (CSI) is officially the "Mother Church", and is responsible for guiding the other Scientology centers.^[15]: 172 Its international headquarters are located at the Gold Base in Riverside County, California.^[21]: 275 The Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) is the organization that owns all the copyrights of the estate of L. Ron Hubbard.^[6]

All Scientology management organizations are controlled exclusively by members of the Sea Org, which is a legally nonexistent paramilitary organization for the "elite, innermost dedicated core of Scientologists".^[6][22] David Miscavige is described by the Scientology organization as the highest-ranking Sea Org officer, and is referred to by the organization as its captain.

1. ^ ^{a b} Behar, Richard (May 6, 1991). "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power". Time. Archived from the original on June 18, 2019. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
2. ^ Kent, Stephen (2001). "Brainwashing Programs in The Family/Children of God and Scientology". In Zablocki, Benjamin; Robbins, Thomas (eds.). Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field. University of Toronto Press. pp. 349–358. ISBN 9780802081889.
3. ^ ^{a b} Anderson, Kevin Victor (1965). Report of the Board of Enquiry into Scientology (Report). State of Victoria, Australia. p. 179. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2019. In reality it is a dangerous medical cult. Alternative link
4. ^ ^{a b} Edge, Peter W. (2006). Religion and law: an introduction. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-3048-7.
5. ^ ^{a b} Hunt, John; de Puig, Luis; Espersen, Ole (February 5, 1992). European Council, Recommendation 1178: Sects and New Religious Movements (Report). Council of Europe. Retrieved June 30, 2019. It is a cool, cynical, manipulating business and nothing else.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Urban, Hugh B. (2015). New Age, Neopagan, and New Religious Movements: Alternative Spirituality in Contemporary America. Univ of California Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0520281172.
7. ^ ^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}
8. ^ "Scientology (Written answer)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. July 25, 1968. col. 189–191W.
9. ^ Cottrell, Richard (1999). Recommendation 1412: Concernant les activités illégales des sectes (Report). Conseil d'Europe.
10. ^ "Church of Scientology". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Lords. December 17, 1996. col. 1392–1394.
11. ^ Hubbard and another v. Vosper and another, 1 All ER 1023 (Court of Appeal November 19, 1971).
12. ^ RE B & G (Minors: Custody), F.L.R. 493 (Court of Appeal September 19, 1984).
13. ^ ^{[1][3][4][5][8][9][10][11][12]}
14. ^ United States v. Heldt, 668 F.2d 1238 (United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit October 2, 1981).
15. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference urban was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
16. ^ "Scientology's fraud conviction upheld in France". The Daily Telegraph. London. AFP. October 17, 2013. Archived from the original on May 30, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
17. ^ "Hubbard's Church 'Unconstitutional': Germany Prepares to Ban Scientology – SPIEGEL ONLINE". Der Spiegel. December 7, 2007. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
18. ^ "National Assembly of France report No. 2468". assemblee-nationale.fr. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
19. ^ Cite error: The named reference lobs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
20. ^ Weird, Sure. A Cult, No. Archived November 7, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Washington Post By Mark Oppenheimer, August 5, 2007
21. ^ Cite error: The named reference reitman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
22. ^ Cite error: The named reference nrmarlia2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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19 February 1949 – Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.

Ezra Pound

American poet and critic (1885–1972)

"William Atheling" redirects here. For the author who wrote under the pen name William Atheling Jr., see James Blish.

Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a collaborator in Fascist Italy and the Salò Republic during World War II. His works include Ripostes (1912), Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (1920), and his 800-page epic poem, The Cantos (c. 1917–1962).^[1]

Pound's contribution to poetry began in the early 20th century with his role in developing Imagism, a movement stressing precision and economy of language. Working in London as foreign editor of several American literary magazines, he helped discover and shape the work of contemporaries such as Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, and James Joyce. He was responsible for the 1914 serialization of Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the 1915 publication of Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", and the serialization from 1918 of Joyce's Ulysses. Hemingway wrote in 1932 that, for poets born in the late 19th or early 20th century, not to be influenced by Pound would be "like passing through a great blizzard and not feeling its cold."^[a]

Angered by the carnage of World War I, Pound blamed the war on finance capitalism, which he called "usury".^[3] He moved to Italy in 1924 and through the 1930s and 1940s promoted an economic theory known as social credit, wrote for publications owned by the British fascist Sir Oswald Mosley, embraced Benito Mussolini's fascism, and expressed support for Adolf Hitler. During World War II, Pound recorded hundreds of paid radio propaganda broadcasts for the fascist Italian government and its later incarnation as a German puppet state, in which he attacked the United States federal government, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Great Britain, international finance, munitions makers, arms dealers, Jews, and others, as abettors and prolongers of the war. He also praised both Eugenics and the Holocaust in Italy, while urging American GIs to throw down their rifles and surrender. In 1945, Pound was captured by the Italian Resistance and handed over to the U.S. Army's Counterintelligence Corps, who held him pending extradition and prosecution based on an indictment for treason. He spent months in a U.S. military detention camp near Pisa, including three weeks in an outdoor steel cage. Ruled mentally unfit to stand trial, Pound was incarcerated for over 12 years at St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital in Washington, D.C., whose doctors viewed Pound as a narcissist and a psychopath, but otherwise completely sane.

While in custody in Italy, Pound began work on sections of The Cantos, which were published as The Pisan Cantos (1948), for which he was awarded the Bollingen Prize for Poetry in 1949 by the Library of Congress, causing enormous controversy. After a campaign by his fellow writers, he was released from St. Elizabeth's in 1958 and returned to Italy, where he posed for the press giving the Fascist salute and called America "an insane asylum". Pound remained in Italy until his death in 1972. His economic and political views have ensured that his life and literary legacy remain highly controversial.

1. ^ Stoicheff (1995), 6; Beach (2003), 32. The first cantos were published in 1917, and the final complete canto was first published in 1962.
2. ^ Hemingway (2006), 24–25
3. ^ Preda (2005b), 90

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20 February 1877 – Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake receives its premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

Swan Lake

1877 ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

This article is about the ballet. For other uses, see Swan Lake (disambiguation).

Swan Lake (Russian: Лебеди́ное о́зеро, tr. Lebedínoje ózero, IPA: [lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə] listen^ⓘ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failure, it is now one of the most popular ballets of all time.^[1]

The scenario, initially in two acts, was fashioned from Russian and German folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger (Václav Reisinger). The ballet was premiered by the Bolshoi Ballet on 4 March [O.S. 20 February] 1877^[2][3] at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Although it is presented in many different versions, most ballet companies base their stagings both choreographically and musically on the 1895 revival of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, first staged for the Imperial Ballet on 15 January 1895, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. For this revival, Tchaikovsky's score was revised by the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatre's chief conductor and composer Riccardo Drigo.^[4]

1. ^ "Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Years of fame". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
2. ^ Kant, Marion, ed. (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Ballet. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-521-53986-9.; 'Old style' date 4 March
3. ^ Chaĭkovskiĭ, Modest Ilʹich; Newmarch, Jeaffreson; Rosa Harriet (1906). The life & letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky. J Lane. p. 735.
4. ^ "Swan Lake Ballet 2018 India". BookMyShow. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018.

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21 February 1848 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.

The Communist Manifesto

1848 political publication by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

The Communist Manifesto (German: Das Kommunistische Manifest), originally the Manifesto of the Communist Party (Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei), is a political pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, commissioned by the Communist League and originally published in London in 1848. The text is the first and most systematic attempt by Marx and Engels to codify for wide consumption the historical materialist idea that "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles", in which social classes are defined by the relationship of people to the means of production. Published amid the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe, the Manifesto remains one of the world's most influential political documents.

Marx and Engels combine philosophical materialism with the Hegelian dialectical method in order to analyze the development of European society through its modes of production, including primitive communism, antiquity, feudalism, and capitalism, noting the emergence of a new, dominant class at each stage. The text outlines the relationship between the means of production, relations of production, forces of production, and the mode of production, and posits that changes in society's economic "base" effect changes in its "superstructure". Marx and Engels assert that capitalism is marked by the exploitation of the proletariat (working class of wage labourers) by the ruling bourgeoisie, which is "constantly revolutionising the instruments [and] relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society". They argue that capital's need for a flexible labour force dissolves the old relations, and that its global expansion in search of new markets creates "a world after its own image".

The Manifesto concludes that capitalism does not offer humanity the possibility of self-realization, instead ensuring that humans are perpetually stunted and alienated. It theorizes that capitalism will bring about its own destruction by polarizing and unifying the proletariat, and predicts that a revolution will lead to the emergence of communism, a classless society in which "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all". Marx and Engels propose the following transitional policies: the abolition of private property in land and inheritance; introduction of a progressive income tax; confiscation of rebels' property; nationalisation of credit, communication and transport; expansion and integration of industry and agriculture; enforcement of universal obligation of labour; and provision of universal education and abolition of child labour. The text ends with a decisive and famous call for solidarity, popularized as the slogan "Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains".

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22 February 1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.

Lee Petty

American racing driver (1914–2000)

NASCAR driver

Lee Arnold Petty (March 14, 1914 – April 5, 2000)^[2] was an American stock car racing driver who competed during the 1950s and 1960s. He is the patriarch of the Petty racing family. He was one of the early pioneers of NASCAR and one of its first superstars. He was NASCAR's first three-time Cup champion. He is the father of Richard Petty, who went on to become the winningest driver in NASCAR Cup Series history and one of the most successful stock car racing drivers of all time. He is also the grandfather of Kyle Petty and great grandfather of Adam Petty.^[3]

1. ^ Lee Petty Archived March 24, 2019, at the Wayback Machine at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
2. ^ White, Ben (2009). NASCAR Racers. Motorbooks. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-7603-3577-2. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
3. ^ McGee, Ryan (October 26, 2023). "Top-5s: 75 things for NASCAR's 75th anniversary: Five greatest pre-Modern Era drivers". NASCAR. ESPN. Retrieved October 27, 2023.

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23 February 1941 – Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.

Glenn T. Seaborg

American chemist (1912–1999)

Glenn Theodore Seaborg (/ˈsiːbɔːrɡ/ SEE-borg; April 19, 1912 – February 25, 1999) was an American chemist whose involvement in the synthesis, discovery and investigation of ten transuranium elements earned him a share of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.^[3] His work in this area also led to his development of the actinide concept and the arrangement of the actinide series in the periodic table of the elements.

Seaborg spent most of his career as an educator and research scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, serving as a professor, and, between 1958 and 1961, as the university's second chancellor.^[4] He advised ten US presidents—from Harry S. Truman to Bill Clinton—on nuclear policy and was Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission from 1961 to 1971, where he pushed for commercial nuclear energy and the peaceful applications of nuclear science. Throughout his career, Seaborg worked for arms control. He was a signatory to the Franck Report and contributed to the Limited Test Ban Treaty, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. He was a well-known advocate of science education and federal funding for pure research. Toward the end of the Eisenhower administration, he was the principal author of the Seaborg Report on academic science, and, as a member of President Ronald Reagan's National Commission on Excellence in Education, he was a key contributor to its 1983 report "A Nation at Risk".

Seaborg was the principal or co-discoverer of ten elements: plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, fermium, mendelevium, nobelium and element 106, which, while he was still living, was named seaborgium in his honor. He said about this naming, "This is the greatest honor ever bestowed upon me--even better, I think, than winning the Nobel Prize. Future students of chemistry, in learning about the periodic table, may have reason to ask why the element was named for me, and thereby learn more about my work."^[5] He also discovered more than 100 isotopes of transuranium elements and is credited with important contributions to the chemistry of plutonium, originally as part of the Manhattan Project where he developed the extraction process used to isolate the plutonium fuel for the implosion-type atomic bomb. Early in his career, he was a pioneer in nuclear medicine and discovered isotopes of elements with important applications in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, including iodine-131, which is used in the treatment of thyroid disease. In addition to his theoretical work in the development of the actinide concept, which placed the actinide series beneath the lanthanide series on the periodic table, he postulated the existence of super-heavy elements in the transactinide and superactinide series.

After sharing the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Edwin McMillan, he received approximately 50 honorary doctorates and numerous other awards and honors. The list of things named after Seaborg ranges from the chemical element seaborgium to the asteroid 4856 Seaborg. He was a prolific author, penning numerous books and 500 journal articles, often in collaboration with others. He was once listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the person with the longest entry in Who's Who in America.^[5]

1. ^ "SCI Perkin Medal". Science History Institute. May 31, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference formemrs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1951". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
4. ^ Office of the Chancellor. "Past Chancellors". University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
5. ^ ^{a b} "UCLA Glenn T. Seaborg Symposium – Biography". www.seaborg.ucla.edu. Retrieved April 25, 2022.

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24 February 1942 – The Battle of Los Angeles: A false alarm led to an anti-aircraft barrage that lasted into the early hours of February 25.

Battle of Los Angeles

Anti-aircraft shelling during WWII against an imagined invader

For the armed civilian resistance to the 1846 invasion of Los Angeles, California by United States Marines, see Siege of Los Angeles. For the studio album by Rage Against the Machine, see The Battle of Los Angeles (album). For other uses, see Battle of Los Angeles (disambiguation).

The Battle of Los Angeles, also known as the Great Los Angeles Air Raid, is the name given by contemporary sources to a rumored attack on the continental United States by Imperial Japan and the subsequent anti-aircraft artillery barrage which took place from late 24 February to early 25 February 1942, over Los Angeles, California.^[1][2][3] The incident occurred less than three months after the U.S. entered World War II in response to the Imperial Japanese Navy's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and one day after the bombardment of Ellwood near Santa Barbara on 23 February. Initially, the target of the aerial barrage was thought to be an attacking force from Japan, but speaking at a press conference shortly afterward, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox called the purported attack a "false alarm". Newspapers of the time published a number of reports and speculations of a cover-up to conceal an actual invasion by enemy airplanes.

When documenting the incident in 1949, the United States Coast Artillery Association identified a meteorological balloon sent aloft at 1:00 am as having "started all the shooting" and concluded that "once the firing started, imagination created all kinds of targets in the sky and everyone joined in".^[4] In 1983, the U.S. Office of Air Force History attributed the event to a case of "war nerves" triggered by a lost weather balloon and exacerbated by stray flares and shell bursts from adjoining batteries. As an example of incompetence, the incident was derisively referred to as the "Battle of Los Angeles" or the "Great Los Angeles Air Raid".^[5]

1. ^ "The Battle of Los Angeles". Military Museum. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
2. ^ Caughey, John; Caughey, LaRee (1977). Los Angeles: biography of a city. University of California Press. p. 364. ISBN 978-0-520-03410-5. great los angeles air raid.
3. ^ Farley, John E. (1998). Earthquake fears, predictions, and preparations in mid-America. Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-2201-5. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
4. ^ Murphy, Col. John G. (May–June 1949). "Activities of The Ninth Army AAA – L.A. 'Attacked'" (PDF). Antiaircraft Journal, the United States Coast Artillery Association. LXXXII (3): 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lotchin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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25 February 1947 – The formal abolition of Prussia is proclaimed by the Allied Control Council, the Prussian government having already been abolished by the Preußenschlag of 1932

Abolition of Prussia

1947 dissolution of Prussia

Not to be confused with Dissolution of the Russian Empire.

The abolition of Prussia took place on 25 February 1947 through a decree of the Allied Control Council, the governing body of post-World War II occupied Germany and Austria. The rationale was that by doing away with the state that had been at the center of German militarism and reaction, it would be easier to preserve the peace and for Germany to develop democratically.

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26 February 1980 – Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.

Egypt–Israel relations

Bilateral relations

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Egypt–Israel relations are foreign relations between Egypt and Israel. The state of war between both countries which dated back to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War culminated in the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and was followed by the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty a year after the Camp David Accords, mediated by U.S. president Jimmy Carter. Full diplomatic relations were established on January 26, 1980, and the formal exchange of ambassadors took place one month later, on February 26, 1980, with Eliyahu Ben-Elissar serving as the first Israeli Ambassador to Egypt, and Saad Mortada as the first Egyptian Ambassador to Israel. Egypt has an embassy in Tel Aviv and a consulate in Eilat. Israel has an embassy in Cairo and a consulate in Alexandria. Their shared border has two official crossings, one at Taba and one at Nitzana. The crossing at Nitzana is for commercial and tourist traffic only. The two countries' borders also meet at the shoreline of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea.

Peace between Egypt and Israel has lasted for more than forty years and Egypt has become an important strategic partner of Israel. In January 2011, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a former defense minister known for his close ties to Egyptian officials, stated that "Egypt is not only our closest friend in the region, the co-operation between us goes beyond the strategic."^[1] Nevertheless, the relationship is sometimes described as a "cold peace",^[1][2] with many in Egypt skeptical about its effectiveness.^[3][4] According to the 2019–2020 survey, 13% of Egyptians support diplomatic recognition of Israel while 85% oppose.^[5] The Arab-Israeli conflict kept relations cool and anti-Israeli incitement is prevalent in the Egyptian media.^[6][7][8]

1. ^ ^{a b} Kershner, Isabel (27 January 2011). "Israeli concern for peace partner". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 4 February 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
2. ^ "Egypt–Israel 'cold peace' suffers a further chill". BBC News. 10 September 2011.
3. ^ Kasinof, Laura. "An uneasy Egyptian-Israeli peace".
4. ^ "Egyptians ponder 30-year peace with Israel". BBC News. 26 March 2009.
5. ^ "The 2019–2020 Arab Opinion Index" (PDF). Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies.
6. ^ Al-Ahram Weekly | Egypt | Protocols, politics and Palestine Archived 2011-04-01 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ Clark, Kate (10 August 2003). "Interpreting Egypt's anti-semitic cartoons". BBC News.
8. ^ www.memri.org. "Columnist for Egyptian Government Daily to Hitler: 'If Only You Had Done It, Brother'".

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27 February 1881 – First Boer War: The Battle of Majuba Hill takes place.

Battle of Majuba Hill

1881 final battle of the First Boer War

The Battle of Majuba Hill on 27 February 1881 was the final and decisive battle of the First Boer War that was a resounding victory for the Boers. The British Major General Sir George Pomeroy Colley occupied the summit of the hill on the night of 26–27 February 1881. Colley's motive for occupying Majuba Hill, near Volksrust, now in South Africa, may have been anxiety that the Boers would soon occupy it themselves, since he had witnessed their trenches being dug in the direction of the hill.^[1]

The Boers believed that he might have been attempting to outflank their positions at Laing's Nek. The hill was not considered to be scalable by the Boers for military purposes and so it may have been Colley's attempt to emphasise British power and strike fear into the Boer camp.

The battle is considered by some to have been one of the "most humiliating" defeats suffered by the British in their military history.^[2][3]

1. ^ "The rapid strides that had been made by the Boers in throwing up entrenchments on the right flank of their position, and the continuance of these works in the same direction upon the lower slopes on the Majuba hill during the days subsequent to his return, induced him to believe that if the hill was to be seized before it was occupied and probably fortified by the Boers that this must be done at once." – The National Archives, WO 32/7827, "From Lt. Col. H. Stewart, A.A.G., to the General Officer Commanding, Natal and Transvaal, Newcastle, Natal, 4th April 1881. Report of the action on Majuba Hill, 27th February."
2. ^ "It can hardly be denied that the Dutch raid on the Medway vies with the Battle of Majuba in 1881 and the Fall of Singapore in 1942 for the unenviable distinctor of being the most humiliating defeat suffered by British arms." – Charles Ralph Boxer: The Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th Century, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London (1974), p.39
3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Little Wars was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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28 February 2013 – Pope Benedict XVI resigns as the pope of the Catholic Church, becoming the first pope to do so since Pope Gregory XII, in 1415

Pope Benedict XVI

Head of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013

Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus PP. XVI; Italian: Benedetto XVI; German: Benedikt XVI; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as pope occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. Benedict chose to be known as "Pope emeritus" upon his resignation, and he retained this title until his death in 2022.^[9][10]

Ordained as a priest in 1951 in his native Bavaria, Ratzinger embarked on an academic career and established himself as a highly regarded theologian by the late 1950s. He was appointed a full professor in 1958 at the age of 31. After a long career as a professor of theology at several German universities, he was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising and created a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1977, an unusual promotion for someone with little pastoral experience. In 1981, he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one of the most important dicasteries of the Roman Curia. From 2002 until he was elected pope, he was also Dean of the College of Cardinals. Before becoming pope, he had been "a major figure on the Vatican stage for a quarter of a century"; he had had an influence "second to none when it came to setting church priorities and directions" as one of John Paul II's closest confidants.^[11]

Benedict's writings were prolific and generally defended traditional Catholic doctrine, values, and liturgy.^[12] He was originally a liberal theologian but adopted conservative views after 1968.^[13] During his papacy, Benedict advocated a return to fundamental Christian values to counter the increased secularisation of many Western countries. He viewed relativism's denial of objective truth, and the denial of moral truths in particular, as the central problem of the 21st century. Benedict also revived several traditions and permitted greater use of the Tridentine Mass.^[14] He strengthened the relationship between the Catholic Church and art, promoted the use of Latin,^[15] and reintroduced traditional papal vestments, for which reason he was called "the pope of aesthetics".^[16] Benedict's handling of sexual abuse cases within the Catholic Church and opposition to usage of condoms in areas of high HIV transmission led to substantial criticism from public health officials, anti-AIDS activists, and victim's rights organizations.^[17][18]

On 11 February 2013, Benedict announced his (effective 28 February 2013) resignation, citing a "lack of strength of mind and body" due to his advanced age. His resignation was the first by a pope since Gregory XII in 1415, and the first on a pope's initiative since Celestine V in 1294. He was succeeded by Francis on 13 March 2013 and moved into the newly renovated Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City for his retirement. In addition to his native German language, Benedict had some level of proficiency in French, Italian, English, and Spanish. He also knew Portuguese, Latin, Biblical Hebrew, and Biblical Greek.^[19][20][21] He was a member of several social science academies, such as the French Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. He played the piano and had a preference for Mozart and Bach.^[22]

1. ^ Pope Benedict XVI (12 March 2008), Boethius and Cassiodorus, archived from the original on 28 December 2008, retrieved 4 November 2009
2. ^ "Udienza Generale del 18 aprile 2007: Clemente Alessandrino | Benedetto XVI". w2.vatican.va.
3. ^ "General Audience of 14 May 2008: Pseudo-Dionysius, the Areopagite | Benedict XVI". w2.vatican.va.
4. ^ "General Audience, 23 August 2006: John, "the Seer of Patmos" | Benedict XVI". w2.vatican.va.
5. ^ "General Audience of 4 May 2011: Man in Prayer (1) | Benedict XVI". w2.vatican.va.
6. ^ "Benedict XVI, General Audience: Saint Teresa of Avila". Vatican.va. Vatican Publishing House. 2 February 2011.
7. ^ Pope Benedict XVI 2007, pp. 24–27.
8. ^ "Vladimir Soloviev, the Mystic Admired by Popes". NCR. 24 February 2017.
9. ^ Cite error: The named reference pope emeritus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
10. ^ Petin, Edward (26 February 2013). "Benedict's New Name: Pope Emeritus, His Holiness Benedict XVI, Roman Pontiff Emeritus". Retrieved 23 June 2018.
11. ^ Walsh, Mary Ann (2005). From Pope John Paul II to Benedict XVI: an inside look at the end of an era, the beginning of a new one, and the future of the church. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 135. ISBN 1-58051-202-X.
12. ^ Owen, Richard (6 June 2008). "Vatican to publish entire work by bestselling author Pope Benedict XVI". The Times. London. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
13. ^ "Disillusioned German Catholics: From Liberal to Conservative". Der Spiegel. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
14. ^ Gledhill, Ruth "Pope set to bring back Latin Mass that divided the Church", The Times, 11 October 2006. Retrieved 21 November 2010 WebCitation archive
15. ^ Tom Kington in Rome (31 August 2012). "Pope Benedict to open new Latin academy in the Vatican". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
16. ^ Allen, Charlotte (17 February 2013). "Pope Benedict XVI, the pontiff of aesthetics". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
17. ^ Parker, Claire (31 December 2022). "The significant – and controversial – statements that shaped Pope Benedict XVI's legacy". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
18. ^ Winfield, Nicole (31 December 2022). "Benedict XVI, pope who resigned to spend final years in quiet, dies at 95". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
19. ^ "In 6 Languages, Benedict XVI Gets Comfortable With His Audience". The New York Times. 27 April 2005. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
20. ^ Babbel.com; GmbH, Lesson Nine. "The Tale of the Polyglot Pope". Babbel Magazine. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
21. ^ "Pope Benedict XVI: Quick Facts". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2007.
22. ^ Willey, David (13 May 2005). "Pope Benedict's creature comforts". BBC News. Archived from the original on 24 March 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2010.

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29 February 1796 – The Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain comes into force, facilitating ten years of peaceful trade between the two nations.

Jay Treaty

1794 treaty between the U.S. and Great Britain to relieve post-war tension

The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, commonly known as the Jay Treaty, and also as Jay's Treaty, was a 1794 treaty between the United States and Great Britain that averted war, resolved issues remaining since the Treaty of Paris of 1783 (which ended the American Revolutionary War),^[1] and facilitated ten years of peaceful trade between the United States and Britain in the midst of the French Revolutionary Wars, which began in 1792.^[2] The Treaty was designed by Alexander Hamilton and supported by President George Washington. It angered France and bitterly divided Americans. It inflamed the new growth of two opposing parties in every state, the pro-Treaty Federalists and the anti-Treaty Jeffersonian Republicans.

The Treaty was negotiated by John Jay and gained several of the primary American goals. This included the withdrawal of British Army units from forts in the Northwest Territory that it had refused to relinquish under the Paris Peace Treaty. The British were retaliating for the United States reneging on Articles 4 and 6 of the 1783 treaty; American state courts impeded the collection of debts owed British creditors and upheld the continued confiscation of Loyalist estates in spite of an explicit understanding that the prosecutions would be immediately discontinued.^[3] The parties agreed that disputes over wartime debts and the American–Canadian boundary were to be sent to arbitration—one of the first major uses of arbitration in modern diplomatic history. This set a precedent used by other nations. The Americans were granted limited rights to trade with British colonies in the Caribbean in exchange for some limits on the American export of cotton.

The Jay Treaty was signed on November 19, 1794,^[4] during the Thermidorian Reaction in France, and submitted to the United States Senate for its advice and consent the following June. It was ratified by the Senate on June 24, 1795, by a two-thirds majority vote of 20–10 (exactly the minimum number necessary for concurrence). It was also ratified by the British government, and took effect February 29, 1796, the day when ratifications were officially exchanged.

The treaty was hotly contested by Jeffersonians in each state. An effort was made to block it in the House, which ultimately failed. The Jeffersonians feared that closer economic or political ties with Great Britain would strengthen Hamilton's Federalist Party, promote aristocracy, and undercut republicanism. This debate crystallized the emerging partisan divisions and shaped the new "First Party System", with the Federalists favoring the British and the Jeffersonian republicans favoring France. The treaty was for ten years' duration. Efforts failed to agree on a replacement treaty in 1806 when Jefferson rejected the Monroe–Pinkney Treaty, as tensions escalated toward the War of 1812.^[5]

1. ^ Estes, 2006, p. 15
2. ^ Jean Edward Smith, John Marshall: Definer of a Nation (1998) p. 177
3. ^ Gregory Fremont-Barnes, ed., Encyclopedia of the Age of Political Revolutions and New Ideologies, 1760–1815 (2007) p. 438
4. ^ "Jay Treaty". Britannica.com. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
5. ^ Marshall Smelser, The Democratic Republic: 1801–1815 (1968) pp. 139, 145, 155–56.

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1 March 1932 – Aviator Charles Lindbergh's 20-month-old son Charles Jr is kidnapped from his home in East Amwell, New Jersey. His body would not be found until May 12.

Charles Lindbergh

American aviator and activist (1902–1974)

Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator and military officer. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance of 3,600 miles (5,800 km), flying alone for 33.5 hours. His aircraft, the Spirit of St. Louis, was designed and built by the Ryan Airline Company specifically to compete for the Orteig Prize for the first flight between the two cities. Although not the first transatlantic flight, it was the first solo transatlantic flight and the longest at the time by nearly 2,000 miles (3,200 km). It became known as one of the most consequential flights in history and ushered in a new era of air transportation between parts of the globe.

Lindbergh was raised mostly in Little Falls, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C., the son of prominent U.S. Congressman Charles August Lindbergh. He became a U.S. Army Air Service cadet in 1924, earning the rank of second lieutenant in 1925. Later that year, he was hired as a U.S. Air Mail pilot in the Greater St. Louis area, where he started to prepare for his historic 1927 transatlantic flight. For his flight, President Calvin Coolidge presented Lindbergh both the Distinguished Flying Cross and Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military award.^[4] He also earned the highest French order of merit, the Legion of Honor.^[5] In July 1927, he was promoted to the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve. His achievement spurred significant global interest in both commercial aviation and air mail, which revolutionized the aviation industry worldwide (a phenomenon dubbed the "Lindbergh boom"), and he spent much time promoting these industries.

Time magazine honored Lindbergh as its first Man of the Year in 1928, President Herbert Hoover appointed him to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in 1929, and he received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1930. In 1931, he and French surgeon Alexis Carrel began work on inventing the first perfusion pump, a device credited with making future heart surgeries and organ transplantation possible.

On March 1, 1932, Lindbergh's first-born infant child, Charles Jr., was kidnapped and murdered in what the American media called the "Crime of the Century". The case prompted the United States Congress to establish kidnapping as a federal crime if a kidnapper crosses state lines with a victim. By late 1935, the press and hysteria surrounding the case had driven the Lindbergh family into exile in Europe, from where they returned in 1939.

In the months before the United States entered World War II, Lindbergh's non-interventionist stance and statements about Jews and race led some to believe he was a Nazi sympathizer, although Lindbergh never publicly stated support for the Nazis and condemned them several times in both his public speeches and personal diary. However, like many Americans before the attack on Pearl Harbor, he opposed not only the military intervention of the U.S. but also the provision of military supplies to the British.^[6] He supported the isolationist America First Committee and resigned from the U.S. Army Air Corps in April 1941 after President Franklin Roosevelt publicly rebuked him for his views.^[7] In September 1941, Lindbergh gave a significant address, titled "Speech on Neutrality", outlining his position and arguments against greater American involvement in the war.^[8]

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and German declaration of war against the U.S., Lindbergh avidly supported the American war effort but was rejected for active duty, as Roosevelt refused to restore his Air Corps colonel's commission.^[9] Instead he flew 50 combat missions in the Pacific Theater as a civilian consultant and was unofficially credited with shooting down an enemy aircraft.^[10][11] In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower restored his commission and promoted him to brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.^[12] In his later years, he became a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, international explorer and environmentalist, helping to establish national parks in the U.S. and protect certain endangered species and tribal people in both the Philippines and east Africa.^[13] In 1974, Lindbergh died of lymphoma at age 72.

1. ^ Every and Tracy 1927, pp. 60, 84, 99, 208.
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Schröck was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ "Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. | Interim 1920 - 1940 | U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve | Medal of Honor Recipient". Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021. Highest Rank: Brigadier General
4. ^ Bryson 2013, pp. 25–104.
5. ^ Cite error: The named reference CriticalPast-1927 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ "Charles Lindbergh's Noninterventionist Efforts & America First Committee". www.charleslindbergh.com. Archived from the original on April 19, 2005. Retrieved February 3, 2006.
7. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT-1941 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
8. ^ "Charles Lindbergh's Sept 1 1941 Speech". www.historyonthenet.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
9. ^ A. Scott Berg, Lindbergh (1998), pp 431-437.
10. ^ "Colonel Lindbergh On Combat Missions". The San Bernardino Daily Sun. Vol. 51. Associated Press. October 23, 1944. p. 1.
11. ^ Cite error: The named reference 475thFighterGroup was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
12. ^ "Lindbergh Is Named A Brigadier General; Lindbergh Named Reserve General". The New York Times. February 16, 1954. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
13. ^ "Environmentalist". Minnesota Historical Society - Charles Lindbergh House and Museum. Retrieved November 7, 2022.

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2 March 1859 – The two-day Great Slave Auction, the largest such auction in United States history, begins.

Great Slave Auction

1859 record-setting slave auction in the US

The Great Slave Auction (also called the Weeping Time^[1]) was an auction of enslaved Americans of African descent held at Ten Broeck Race Course, near Savannah, Georgia, United States, on March 2 and 3, 1859. Slaveholder and absentee plantation owner Pierce Mease Butler authorized the sale of approximately 436 men, women, children, and infants to be sold over the course of two days. The sale's proceeds went to satisfy Butler's significant debt, much from gambling.^[2] The auction was considered the largest single sale of slaves in U.S. history until the 2022 discovery of an even larger auction of 600 slaves in Charleston, South Carolina.^[3]

1. ^ Kwesi, DeGraft-Hanson (January 1, 2010). "Unearthing the Weeping Time: Savannah's Ten Broeck Race Course and 1859 Slave Sale". Southern Spaces. 2010. doi:10.18737/M76K6J. ISSN 1551-2754.
2. ^ Bailey, Anne C. (2017). The Weeping Time: Memory and the Largest Slave Auction in American History (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 3. doi:10.1017/9781108140393. ISBN 978-1-108-14039-3. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
3. ^ Hawes, Jennifer Berry (June 16, 2023). "How a Grad Student Uncovered the Largest Known Slave Auction in the U.S." ProPublica. Retrieved June 19, 2023.

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3 March 1857 – Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.

Second Opium War

1856–1860 war between allied British–French forces and Imperial China

"Arrow War" redirects here. For the Korean film, see War of the Arrows.

The Second Opium War (simplified Chinese: 第二次鸦片战争; traditional Chinese: 第二次鴉片戰爭), also known as the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, (simplified Chinese: 英法联军之役; traditional Chinese: 英法聯軍之役) ^{[4][full citation needed]} was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted Great Britain, France, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China.

It was the second major conflict in the Opium Wars, which were fought over the right to import opium to China, and resulted in a second defeat for the Qing dynasty and the forced legalisation of the opium trade. It caused many Chinese officials to believe that conflicts with the Western powers were no longer traditional wars, but part of a looming national crisis.^[5]

In 1860, British and French troops landed near Beijing at the Taku Forts, where they had fought for control twice before, and fought their way into the city. Peace negotiations quickly broke down and the British High Commissioner to China ordered the foreign troops to loot and destroy the Imperial Summer Palace, a complex of palaces and gardens at which Qing Dynasty emperors handled affairs of state.

During and after the Second Opium War, the Qing government was also forced to sign treaties with Russia, such as the Treaty of Aigun and the Convention of Peking. As a result, China ceded more than 1.5 million square kilometers of territory to Russia in its north-east and north-west. With the conclusion of the war, the Qing government was able to concentrate on countering the Taiping Rebellion and maintaining its rule.^[6] Among other things, the Convention of Peking ceded the Kowloon Peninsula to the British as part of Hong Kong.

1. ^ Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India. Volume 6. Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing. 1911. p. 446.
2. ^ Wolseley, G. J. (1862). Narrative of the War with China in 1860. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts. p. 1.
3. ^ Magoc, Chris J.; Bernstein, David (2016). Imperialism and Expansionism in American History. Volume 1. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 295. ISBN 978-1-61069-430-8.
4. ^ Michel Vié, Histoire du Japon des origines a Meiji, PUF, p. 99. ISBN 2-13-052893-7.
5. ^ Canada, Asia Pacific Foundation of. "The Opium Wars in China". Asia Pacific Curriculum. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
6. ^ "The Second Opium War". Historic UK. Retrieved 28 November 2021.

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4 March 1794 – The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.S. Congress.

Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

1795 amendment restricting ability to sue states in federal courts

The Eleventh Amendment (Amendment XI) is an amendment to the United States Constitution which was passed by Congress on March 4, 1794, and ratified by the states on February 7, 1795. The Eleventh Amendment restricts the ability of individuals to bring suit against states of which they are not citizens in federal court.

The Eleventh Amendment was adopted to overrule the Supreme Court's decision in Chisholm v. Georgia (1793). In that case, the Court held that states did not enjoy sovereign immunity from suits made by citizens of other states in federal court. Although the Eleventh Amendment established that federal courts do not have the authority to hear cases brought by private parties against a state of which they are not citizens, the Supreme Court has ruled the amendment to apply to all federal suits against states brought by private parties. The Supreme Court has also held that Congress can abrogate state sovereign immunity when using its authority under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Other recent cases (Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety, Central Virginia Community College v. Katz, PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey) have identified further exceptions to the general sovereign immunity of States when Congress acts pursuant to its Article I powers, which have alternatively been referred to as "waivers in the plan of the Convention." The Supreme Court has also held that federal courts can enjoin state officials from violating federal law.

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5 March 1970 – The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

International treaty

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.^[3] Between 1965 and 1968, the treaty was negotiated by the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament, a United Nations-sponsored organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Opened for signature in 1968, the treaty entered into force in 1970. As required by the text, after twenty-five years, NPT parties met in May 1995 and agreed to extend the treaty indefinitely.^[4] More countries are parties to the NPT than any other arms limitation and disarmament agreement, a testament to the treaty's significance.^[3] As of August 2016, 191 states have become parties to the treaty, though North Korea, which acceded in 1985 but never came into compliance, announced its withdrawal from the NPT in 2003, following detonation of nuclear devices in violation of core obligations.^[5] Four UN member states have never accepted the NPT, three of which possess or are thought to possess nuclear weapons: India, Israel, and Pakistan. In addition, South Sudan, founded in 2011, has not joined.

The treaty defines nuclear-weapon states as those that have built and tested a nuclear explosive device before 1 January 1967; these are the United States (1945), Russia (1949), the United Kingdom (1952), France (1960), and China (1964). Four other states are known or believed to possess nuclear weapons: India, Pakistan, and North Korea have openly tested and declared that they possess nuclear weapons, while Israel is deliberately ambiguous regarding its nuclear weapons status.

The NPT is often seen to be based on a central bargain:

the NPT non-nuclear-weapon states agree never to acquire nuclear weapons and the NPT nuclear-weapon states in exchange agree to share the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology and to pursue nuclear disarmament aimed at the ultimate elimination of their nuclear arsenals.^[6]

The treaty is reviewed every five years in meetings called Review Conferences. Even though the treaty was originally conceived with a limited duration of 25 years, the signing parties decided, by consensus, to unconditionally extend the treaty indefinitely during the Review Conference in New York City on 11 May 1995, in the culmination of U.S. government efforts led by Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr.

At the time the NPT was proposed, there were predictions of 25–30 nuclear weapon states within 20 years. Instead, over forty years later, five states are not parties to the NPT, and they include the only four additional states believed to possess nuclear weapons.^[6] Several additional measures have been adopted to strengthen the NPT and the broader nuclear nonproliferation regime and make it difficult for states to acquire the capability to produce nuclear weapons, including the export controls of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the enhanced verification measures of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Additional Protocol.

Critics argue that the NPT cannot stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons or the motivation to acquire them. They express disappointment with the limited progress on nuclear disarmament, where the five authorized nuclear weapons states still have 13,400 warheads in their combined stockpile. Several high-ranking officials within the United Nations have said that they can do little to stop states using nuclear reactors to produce nuclear weapons.^[7][8]

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "UK Depositary Status List;Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons" (PDF). Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
2. ^ "Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons". United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
3. ^ ^{a b} "UNODA - Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)". un.org. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
4. ^ "Decisions Adopted at the 1995 NPT Review & Extension Conference - Acronym Institute". Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
5. ^ "Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)" (PDF). Defense Treaty Inspection Readiness Program - United States Department of Defense. Defense Treaty Inspection Readiness Program. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 March 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
6. ^ ^{a b} Graham, Thomas Jr. (November 2004). "Avoiding the Tipping Point". Arms Control Association.
7. ^ Benjamin K. Sovacool (2011). Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power: A Critical Global Assessment of Atomic Energy, World Scientific, pp. 187–190.
8. ^ Cite error: The named reference tcr2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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6 March 1869 – Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society.

Dmitri Mendeleev

Russian chemist (1834–1907)

"Mendeleev" redirects here. For other uses, see Mendeleyev (disambiguation).

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Ivanovich and the family name is Mendeleev.

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (sometimes romanized as Mendeleyev, Mendeleiev, or Mendeleef; English: /ˌmɛndəlˈeɪəf/ MEN-dəl-AY-əf;^[2] Russian: Дмитрий Иванович Менделеев, romanized: Dmitriy Ivanovich Mendeleyev,^[a] IPA: [ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ mʲɪnʲdʲɪˈlʲejɪf] ^ⓘ; 8 February [O.S. 27 January] 1834 – 2 February [O.S. 20 January] 1907) was a Russian chemist and inventor. He is best known for formulating the Periodic Law and creating a version of the periodic table of elements. He used the Periodic Law not only to correct the then-accepted properties of some known elements, such as the valence and atomic weight of uranium, but also to predict the properties of three elements that were yet to be discovered (germanium, gallium and scandium).

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference formemrs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ "Mendeleev". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.

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7 March 1968 – Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnamese military begin Operation Truong Cong Dinh to root out Viet Cong forces from the area surrounding Mỹ Tho.

Operation Truong Cong Dinh

1968 US and ARVN military offensive in the Mekong Delta, as part of the Vietnam War

Operation Truong Cong Dinh (also known as Operation People's Road), was a United States and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) security operation to reestablish South Vietnamese control over the northern Mekong Delta in the aftermath of the Tet Offensive. The operation aimed to root out Viet Cong (VC) forces in the area, and to stop them from attacking traffic on the nearby Highway 4.

The operation started on 7 March 1968 and lasted until August 1968, involving the 1st and 2nd brigades of the US 9th Infantry Division and the ARVN 7th Division backed by South Vietnamese Regional Forces. Operations were supported by an American artillery battalion, which established a fire support base on the north bank of the Mỹ Tho River and the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) which conducted a series of riverine and airmobile operations.

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8 March 2017 – The Azure Window, a natural arch on the Maltese island of Gozo, collapses in stormy weather.

Azure Window

Not to be confused with Windows Azure.

Former natural arch in Gozo, Malta

The Azure Window (Maltese: it-Tieqa Żerqa), also known as the Dwejra Window (Maltese: it-Tieqa tad-Dwejra), was a 28-metre-tall (92 ft) natural arch on the island of Gozo, located just off the shores of Malta. The limestone feature, which was in Dwejra Bay close to the Inland Sea and Fungus Rock, was one of the island's major tourist attractions until it collapsed in stormy weather on 8 March 2017. The arch, together with other natural features in the area, has appeared in a number of international films and media productions.

The rock formation, which consisted of a pillar rising from the sea joined to the cliff by a horizontal slab, was created by the collapse of a sea cave, probably during the 19th century. The final collapse followed a century of natural erosion, during which large sections of the limestone arch had broken off and fallen into the sea.

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9 March 1959 – The Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York

Barbie

Fashion doll brand by Mattel

This article is about the fashion doll and brand. For other uses, see Barbie (disambiguation).

Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll which Handler had purchased while in Europe. The figurehead of an eponymous brand that includes a range of fashion dolls and accessories, Barbie has been an important part of the toy fashion doll market for over six decades. Mattel has sold over a billion Barbie dolls, making it the company's largest and most profitable line.^[1] The brand has expanded into a multimedia franchise since 1984, including video games, animated films, television/web series, and a live-action film.

Barbie and her male counterpart, Ken, have been described as the two most popular dolls in the world.^[2] Mattel generates a large portion of Barbie revenue though related merchandise — accessories, clothes, friends, and relatives of Barbie. Writing for Journal of Popular Culture in 1977, Don Richard Cox noted that Barbie has a significant impact on social values by conveying characteristics of female independence, and with her multitude of accessories, an idealized upscale lifestyle that can be shared with affluent friends.^[3]

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference wsj.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ Norton, Kevin I.; Olds, Timothy S.; Olive, Scott; Dank, Stephen (February 1, 1996). "Ken and Barbie at life size". Sex Roles. 34 (3): 287–294. doi:10.1007/BF01544300. ISSN 1573-2762. S2CID 143568530.
3. ^ Don Richard Cox, "Barbie and her playmates." Journal of Popular Culture 11.2 (1977): 303-307.

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10 March 1977 – Astronomers discover the rings of Uranus.

Rings of Uranus

Planetary ring system of Uranus

The rings of Uranus are intermediate in complexity between the more extensive set around Saturn and the simpler systems around Jupiter and Neptune. The rings of Uranus were discovered on March 10, 1977, by James L. Elliot, Edward W. Dunham, and Jessica Mink. William Herschel had also reported observing rings in 1789; modern astronomers are divided on whether he could have seen them, as they are very dark and faint.^[1]

By 1977, nine distinct rings were identified. Two additional rings were discovered in 1986 in images taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, and two outer rings were found in 2003–2005 in Hubble Space Telescope photos. In the order of increasing distance from the planet the 13 known rings are designated 1986U2R/ζ, 6, 5, 4, α, β, η, γ, δ, λ, ε, ν and μ. Their radii range from about 38,000 km for the 1986U2R/ζ ring to about 98,000 km for the μ ring. Additional faint dust bands and incomplete arcs may exist between the main rings. The rings are extremely dark—the Bond albedo of the rings' particles does not exceed 2%. They are probably composed of water ice with the addition of some dark radiation-processed organics.

The majority of Uranus' rings are opaque and only a few kilometres wide. The ring system contains little dust overall; it consists mostly of large bodies 20 cm to 20 m in diameter. Some rings are optically thin: the broad and faint 1986U2R/ζ, μ and ν rings are made of small dust particles, while the narrow and faint λ ring also contains larger bodies. The relative lack of dust in the ring system may be due to aerodynamic drag from the extended Uranian exosphere.

The rings of Uranus are thought to be relatively young, and not more than 600 million years old. The Uranian ring system probably originated from the collisional fragmentation of several moons that once existed around the planet. After colliding, the moons probably broke up into many particles, which survived as narrow and optically dense rings only in strictly confined zones of maximum stability.

The mechanism that confines the narrow rings is not well understood. Initially it was assumed that every narrow ring had a pair of nearby shepherd moons corralling it into shape. In 1986 Voyager 2 discovered only one such shepherd pair (Cordelia and Ophelia) around the brightest ring (ε), though the faint ν would later be discovered shepherded between Portia and Rosalind.^[2]

1. ^ Rincon, Paul (Apr 18, 2007). "Uranus rings 'were seen in 1700s'". BBC News. Retrieved 23 January 2012.(re study by Stuart Eves)
2. ^ Filacchione & Ciarniello (2021) "Rings", Encyclopedia of Geology, 2nd edition, INAF-IAPS, Rome

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11 March 222 – Roman emperor Elagabalus is murdered alongside his mother, Julia Soaemias. He is replaced by his 14-year old cousin, Severus Alexander

Elagabalus

Roman emperor from 218 to 222

For the god with the same name, see Elagabalus (deity).

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, c. 204 – 11/12 March 222), better known by his nicknames Elagabalus (/ˌɛləˈɡæbələs/, EL-ə-GAB-ə-ləs) and Heliogabalus (/ˌhiːliə-, -lioʊ-/ HEE-lee-ə-, -⁠lee-oh-^[3]), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was notorious for sex scandals and religious controversy. A close relative to the Severan dynasty, he came from a prominent Arab family in Emesa (Homs), Syria, where since his early youth he served as head priest of the sun god Elagabal. After the death of his cousin, the emperor Caracalla, Elagabalus was raised to the principate at 14 years of age in an army revolt instigated by his grandmother Julia Maesa against Caracalla's short-lived successor, Macrinus. He only posthumously became known by the Latinised name of his god.^[a]

Later historians suggest Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions and sexual taboos. He replaced the traditional head of the Roman pantheon, Jupiter, with the deity Elagabal, of whom he had been high priest. He forced leading members of Rome's government to participate in religious rites celebrating this deity, presiding over them in person. He married four women, including a Vestal Virgin, in addition to lavishing favours on male courtiers thought to have been his lovers.^[5][6] He was also reported to have prostituted himself.^[7] His behavior estranged the Praetorian Guard, the Senate and the common people alike. Amidst growing opposition, at just 18 years of age he was assassinated and replaced by his cousin Severus Alexander in March 222. The assassination plot against Elagabalus was devised by Julia Maesa and carried out by disaffected members of the Praetorian Guard.

Elagabalus developed a reputation among his contemporaries for extreme eccentricity, decadence, zealotry and sexual promiscuity. This tradition has persisted; among writers of the early modern age he endured one of the worst reputations among Roman emperors. Edward Gibbon, notably, wrote that Elagabalus "abandoned himself to the grossest pleasures with ungoverned fury".^[8] According to Barthold Georg Niebuhr, "“the name of Elagabalus is branded in history above all others; [...] "Elagabus had nothing at all to make up for his vices, which are of such a kind that it is too disgusting even to allude to them."^[9] An example of a modern historian's assessment is Adrian Goldsworthy's: "Elagabalus was not a tyrant, but he was an incompetent, probably the least able emperor Rome had ever had."^[10] Despite near-universal condemnation of his reign, some scholars write warmly about his religious innovations, including the 6th-century Byzantine chronicler John Malalas, as well as Warwick Ball, a modern historian who described him as "a tragic enigma lost behind centuries of prejudice".^[11]

1. ^ de Arrizabalaga y Prado 2010, p. 231.
2. ^ Arrizabalaga 2010, p. 27.
3. ^ "Heliogabalus". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
4. ^ "The Chronography of 354 AD. Part 16: Chronicle of the City of Rome". tertullian.org (in Latin and English). Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
5. ^ Scott 2018, pp. 129–130, 135–137.
6. ^ Zanghellini 2015, p. 59.
7. ^ Campanile, Carlà-Uhink & Facella 2017, p. 113.
8. ^ Gibbon, Edward. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter VI.
9. ^ Niebuhr, Barthold Georg (1844). The History of Rome: From the First Punic War to the Death of Constantine. Vol. 2. S. Bentley. p. 306.
10. ^ Goldsworthy 2009, p. 81.
11. ^ Ball 2016, p. 464.

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12 March - 2003 – The World Health Organization officially release a global warning of outbreaks of Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)

SARS

Disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus

This article is about the disease. For other uses, see SARS (disambiguation).

Medical condition

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus.^[3] The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the syndrome caused the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak. In the 2010s, Chinese scientists traced the virus through the intermediary of Asian palm civets to cave-dwelling horseshoe bats in Xiyang Yi Ethnic Township, Yunnan.^[4]

SARS was a relatively rare disease; at the end of the epidemic in June 2003, the incidence was 8,469 cases with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 11%.^[5] No cases of SARS-CoV-1 have been reported worldwide since 2004.^[6]

In December 2019, a second strain of SARS-CoV was identified: SARS-CoV-2.^[7] This strain causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease behind the COVID-19 pandemic.^[8]

1. ^ Likhacheva A (April 2006). "SARS Revisited". The Virtual Mentor. 8 (4): 219–22. doi:10.1001/virtualmentor.2006.8.4.jdsc1-0604. PMID 23241619. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020. SARS—the acronym for sudden acute respiratory syndrome
2. ^ Walker, C. M.; Ko, G. (2007). "Effect of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation on viral aerosols". Environmental Science & Technology. 41 (15): 5460–5465. Bibcode:2007EnST...41.5460W. doi:10.1021/es070056u. PMID 17822117. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
3. ^ Al-Juhaishi, Atheer Majid Rashid; Aziz, Noor D. (12 September 2022). "Safety and Efficacy of antiviral drugs against covid-19 infection: an updated systemic review". Medical and Pharmaceutical Journal. 1 (2): 45–55. doi:10.55940/medphar20226. ISSN 2957-6067. S2CID 252960321. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
4. ^ The locality was referred to be "a cave in Kunming" in earlier sources because the Xiyang Yi Ethnic Township is administratively part of Kunming, though 70 km apart. Xiyang was identified on Wang N, Li SY, Yang XL, Huang HM, Zhang YJ, Guo H, et al. (February 2018). "Serological Evidence of Bat SARS-Related Coronavirus Infection in Humans, China" (PDF). Virologica Sinica. 33 (1): 104–107. doi:10.1007/s12250-018-0012-7. PMC 6178078. PMID 29500691. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
   • For an earlier interview of the researchers about the locality of the caves, see: 吴跃伟 (8 December 2017). "专访"病毒猎人"：在昆明一蝙蝠洞发现SARS病毒所有基因". 澎湃新闻. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chan2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ "SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome)". NHS Choices. UK National Health Service. 3 October 2014. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016. Since 2004, there haven't been any known cases of SARS reported anywhere in the world.
7. ^ "New coronavirus stable for hours on surfaces". National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH.gov. 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
8. ^ "Myth busters". WHO.int. World Health Organization. 2019. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.

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13 March 1848 – The German revolutions of 1848–1849 begin in Vienna.

German revolutions of 1848–1849

German part of the Revolutions of 1848

For other revolutions in Germany, see German revolution (disambiguation).

The German revolutions of 1848–1849 (German: Deutsche Revolution 1848/1849), the opening phase of which was also called the March Revolution (German: Märzrevolution), were initially part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many European countries. They were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire. The revolutions, which stressed pan-Germanism, demonstrated popular discontent with the traditional, largely autocratic political structure of the thirty-nine independent states of the Confederation that inherited the German territory of the former Holy Roman Empire after its dismantlement as a result of the Napoleonic Wars. This process began in the mid-1840s.

The middle-class elements were committed to liberal principles, while the working class sought radical improvements to their working and living conditions. As the middle class and working class components of the Revolution split, the conservative aristocracy defeated it. Liberals were forced into exile to escape political persecution, where they became known as Forty-Eighters. Many emigrated to the United States, settling from Wisconsin to Texas.

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14 March 1647 – Thirty Years' War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden sign the Truce of Ulm

Truce of Ulm (1647)

War treaty

The Truce of Ulm (German: Waffenstillstand von Ulm) (also known as the Treaty of Ulm) was signed in Ulm on 14 March 1647 between France, Sweden, and Bavaria. This truce was developed after France and Sweden invaded Bavaria during the Thirty Years' War. Both invading nations forced Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, to conclude the truce and renounce his alliance with Emperor Ferdinand III. However, Maximilian broke the truce on 14 September and returned to his alliance with Ferdinand. ^{[1] [2]}

1. ^ "Maximilian I., Bayern, Kurfürst". Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
2. ^ "Ferdinand III". Deutsche Biographie. Retrieved June 1, 2019.

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15 March 1672 – King Charles II of England issues the Royal Declaration of Indulgence, granting limited religious freedom to all Christians

Declaration of Indulgence (1672)

Decree by King Charles II of England granting liberty to all Christians

The Declaration of Indulgence was Charles II of England's attempt to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics in his realms, by suspending the execution of the Penal Laws that punished recusants from the Church of England. Charles issued the Declaration on 15 March 1672.

It was highly controversial and Sir Orlando Bridgeman, son of a bishop, resigned as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, because he refused to apply the Great Seal to it, regarding it as too generous to Catholics.

In 1673 the Cavalier Parliament compelled Charles to withdraw the declaration and implement, in its place, the first of the Test Acts (1673), which required anyone entering public service in England to deny the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and to take Anglican communion.^[1] When Charles II's openly Catholic successor James II attempted to issue a similar Declaration of Indulgence, an order for general religious tolerance, it became one of the grievances that led to the Glorious Revolution which ousted him from the throne.

1. ^ Ergang, Robert (1939). Europe: From the Renaissance to Waterloo. D. C. Heath and Company. p. 416.

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16 March 1978 – Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped; he is later murdered by his captors

Aldo Moro

Italian politician (1916–1978)

Aldo Romeo Luigi Moro (Italian pronunciation: [ˈaldo ˈmɔːro]; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and prominent member of Christian Democracy (DC) and its centre-left wing.^[1] He served as prime minister of Italy in five terms from December 1963 to June 1968 and from November 1974 to July 1976.^[2][3]

Moro served as Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs from May 1969 to July 1972 and again from July 1973 to November 1974. During his ministry, he implemented a pro-Arab policy. Moreover, he was appointed Italy's Minister of Justice and of Public Education during the 1950s. From March 1959 until January 1964, he served as secretary of the DC.^[4] On 16 March 1978, the kidnapping of Moro by the far-left armed group Red Brigades took place; he was killed after 55 days of captivity.^[5]

Moro was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war prime ministers, leading the country for more than six years. Moro implemented a series of social and economic reforms that modernized the country.^[6] Due to his accommodation with the Italian Communist Party leader Enrico Berlinguer, known as the Historic Compromise,^[7] Moro is widely considered to be one of the most prominent fathers of the modern Italian centre-left. He governed Italy through the Organic centre-left.^[8][9]

1. ^ Pirro, Deirdre (6 September 2007). "Aldo Moro". The Florentine. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
2. ^ "Aldo Moro | Italian Prime Minister & Political Leader | Britannica". Britannica.com. 20 July 1998. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
3. ^ "Mòro, Aldo nell'Enciclopedia Treccani". Treccani (in Italian). 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
4. ^ "Biografia: Aldo Moro – Almanacco". Mondi.it (in Italian). 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
5. ^ "Il rapimento Moro". Rai Scuola (in Italian). 31 January 2012. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
6. ^ "[Pillole di storia italiana] Le riforme del primo centrosinistra: Moro tessitore d'Italia". Tooby (in Italian). 29 November 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
7. ^ Broder, David (9 May 2018). "Historically Compromised". Jacobin. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
8. ^ Panzarino, Pietro (2014). Il centro-sinistra di Aldo Moro (1958–1968) (in Italian). Marsilio. ISBN 978-88-317-1789-2. Retrieved 6 August 2023 – via Google Books.
9. ^ Rolandi, Luca (15 March 2018). "La lezione di Aldo Moro, quarant'anni dopo". La Voce e il Tempo (in Italian). Retrieved 6 August 2023.

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17 March 1969 – Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.

Golda Meir

Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974

Golda Meir^{[nb 1]} (née Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government and the first in the Middle East.^[5]

Born into a Ukrainian-Jewish family in Kiev in what was then the Russian Empire, Meir immigrated with her family to the United States in 1906. She graduated from the Milwaukee State Normal School and found work as a teacher. While in Milwaukee, she embraced the Labor Zionist movement. In 1921, Meir and her husband immigrated to Mandatory Palestine, settling in Merhavia, later becoming the kibbutz's representative to the Histadrut. In 1934, she was elevated to the executive committee of the trade union. Meir held several key roles in the Jewish Agency during and after World War II. She was a signatory of the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. Meir was elected to the Knesset in 1949 and served as Labor Minister until 1956, when she was appointed Foreign Minister by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. She retired from the ministry in 1966 due to ill health.

In 1969, Meir assumed the role of prime minister following the death of Levi Eshkol. Early in her tenure, she made multiple diplomatic visits to western leaders to promote her vision of peace in the region. The outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 caught Israel off guard and inflicted severe early losses on the army. The resulting public anger damaged Meir's reputation and led to an inquiry into the failings. Her Alignment coalition was denied a majority in the subsequent legislative election; she resigned the following year and was succeeded as prime minister by Yitzhak Rabin. Meir died in 1978 of lymphoma and was buried on Mount Herzl.

A controversial figure in Israel, Meir has been lionized as a founder of the state and described as the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics, but also widely blamed for the country being caught by surprise during the war of 1973. In addition, her dismissive statements towards the Palestinians were widely scorned.^[6] Most historians believe Meir was more successful as Secretary of Labor and Housing than as Premier.^[7]

1. ^ "Meir". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
2. ^ "Meir, Golda". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021.
3. ^ "Meir". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
4. ^ "Golda Meir: An Outline of a Unique Life: A Chronological Survey of Gola Meir's Life and Legacy". The Golda Meir Center for Political Leadership (Metropolitan State University of Denver). Retrieved February 20, 2014. Reference on name pronunciation (see "1956").
5. ^ Kort, Michael (2002). The Handbook of the Middle East. Lerner Publishing Group. p. 76. ISBN 9781315170688.
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference TOIGM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. ^ Cite error: The named reference GMFYP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).

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18 March 1942 – The War Relocation Authority is established in the United States to take Japanese Americans into custody.

War Relocation Authority

U.S. government agency created to intern Japanese Americans during WWII

The War Relocation Authority (WRA) was a United States government agency established to handle the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. It also operated the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, New York, which was the only refugee camp set up in the United States for refugees from Europe.^[1] The agency was created by Executive Order 9102 on March 18, 1942, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and was terminated June 26, 1946, by order of President Harry S. Truman.^[2]

1. ^ Marks, Edward B. "Token Shipment: The Story of America's War Refugee Shelter." (Washington, D.C.: United States Department of the Interior, War Relocation Authority; 1946.)
2. ^ Starr, Kevin. (2005). California : a history (1st ed.). New York: Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-64240-4. OCLC 59360288.

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19 March 1861 – The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand.

First Taranaki War

1860s war between Māori and the New Zealand government

The First Taranaki War (also known as the North Taranaki War) was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori and the New Zealand government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand's North Island from March 1860 to March 1861.

The war was sparked by a dispute between the government and Māori landowners over the sale of a property at Waitara, but spread throughout the region. It was fought by more than 3,500 imperial troops brought in from Australia, as well as volunteer soldiers and militia, against Māori forces that fluctuated between a few hundred and about 1,500.^[1] Total losses among the imperial, volunteer and militia troops are estimated to have been 238, while Māori casualties totalled about 200, although the proportion of Māori casualties was higher.

The war ended in a ceasefire, with neither side explicitly accepting the peace terms of the other. Although there were claims by the British that they had won the war, there were widely held views at the time they had suffered an unfavourable and humiliating result. Historians have also been divided on the result.^[2] Historian James Belich has claimed that the Māori succeeded in thwarting the British bid to impose sovereignty over them, and had therefore been victorious. But he said the Māori victory was a hollow one, leading to the invasion of the Waikato.

In its 1996 report to the Government on Taranaki land claims, the Waitangi Tribunal observed that the war was begun by the Government, which had been the aggressor and unlawful in its actions in launching an attack by its armed forces. An opinion sought by the tribunal from a senior constitutional lawyer stated that the Governor, Thomas Gore Browne, and certain officers were liable for criminal and civil charges for their actions.^[3] The term "First Taranaki War" is opposed by some historians, who refer only to the Taranaki Wars, rejecting suggestions that post-1861 conflict was a second war.^[4] The 1927 Royal Commission on Confiscated Land also referred to the hostilities between 1864 and 1866 as a continuation of the initial Taranaki war.^[5]

1. ^ Michael King (2003). The Penguin History of New Zealand. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-301867-1.
2. ^ Belich, James (1986). The New Zealand Wars and the Victorian Interpretation of Racial Conflict (1st ed.). Auckland: Penguin. pp. 115–116. ISBN 0-14-011162-X.
3. ^ "The Taranaki Report: Kaupapa Tuatahi by the Waitangi Tribunal, chapter 3" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
4. ^ James Belich, in "The New Zealand Wars" (1986) dismisses as "inappropriate" the description of later conflict as a second Taranaki war (pp. 120).
5. ^ "The Taranaki Report: Kaupapa Tuatahi by the Waitangi Tribunal, chapter 4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.

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20 March 1883 – The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.

Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property

1883 intellectual property treaty still in force today

The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, signed in Paris, France, on 20 March 1883, was one of the first intellectual property treaties. It established a Union for the protection of industrial property. The convention is still in force in 2024. The substantive provisions of the Convention fall into three main categories: national treatment, priority right and common rules.^[1]

1. ^ "Summary of the Paris Convention". WIPO. Retrieved 6 December 2014.

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21 March 1871 – Otto von Bismarck is appointed as the first Chancellor of the German Empire.

Otto von Bismarck

First Chancellor of the German Empire

Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (German: Otto, Fürst von Bismarck, Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen, Herzog zu Lauenburg, pronounced [ˈɔtoː fɔn ˈbɪsmaʁk] ^ⓘ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898; born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck) was a Prussian and later German statesman and diplomat. Bismarck's Realpolitik and powerful rule led to him being called the Iron Chancellor.

From Junker landowner origins, Bismarck rose rapidly in Prussian politics under King Wilhelm I of Prussia. He served as the Prussian ambassador to Russia and France and in both houses of the Prussian parliament. From 1862 to 1890, he was the minister president and foreign minister of Prussia. He dominated European affairs after he masterminded the unification of Germany in 1871 and served as the first chancellor of the German Empire until 1890. Bismarck provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark, Austria, and France. After Austria's defeat, he replaced the German Confederation with the North German Confederation and served as its chancellor. This aligned the smaller North German states with Prussia, but excluded Austria. After France's defeat with support from the independent South German states, he formed the German Empire and united Germany. With Prussian dominance accomplished by 1871, Bismarck used balance of power diplomacy to maintain Germany's position in a peaceful Europe. However, the annexation of Alsace–Lorraine caused French revanchism and Germanophobia. Juggling an interlocking series of conferences, negotiations, and alliances, he used his diplomatic skills to maintain Germany's position. Bismarck was averse to maritime colonialism, as he thought it a waste of German resources, but acquiesced to elite and mass opinion and built an overseas empire.

In his domestic political maneuvering, Bismarck created the first modern welfare state, with the goal of undermining his socialist opponents. In the 1870s, he allied himself with the anti-tariff, anti-Catholic Liberals and fought the Catholic Church in the Kulturkampf ("culture struggle"). This failed, as the Catholics responded by forming the powerful German Centre Party and using universal male suffrage to gain a bloc of seats. Bismarck responded by ending the Kulturkampf, breaking with the Liberals, enacting the Prussian deportations and forming an alliance with the Centre Party to fight the socialists. Bismarck was loyal to German Emperor Wilhelm I, who argued with Bismarck but supported him against the advice of Wilhelm's wife and son. While the Imperial Reichstag was elected by universal male suffrage, it did not control government policy. Bismarck distrusted democracy and ruled through a strong, well-trained bureaucracy with power in the hands of the traditional Junker elite. Wilhelm II dismissed Bismarck from office in 1890, and he retired to write his memoirs.

Bismarck is best remembered for his role in German unification. As head of Prussia and later Germany, Bismarck possessed not only a long-term national and international vision, but the short-term ability to juggle complex developments. He became a hero to German nationalists, who built monuments honouring him. He is praised as a visionary who kept the peace in Europe through adroit diplomacy, but he is criticized for persecution of Poles and Catholics and the centralization of executive power, which some describe as Caesarist. He is criticized by opponents of German nationalism, as nationalism became engrained in German culture, galvanizing the country to aggressively pursue nationalistic policies in both World Wars.

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22 March 1784 – The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current location in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand.

Emerald Buddha

Buddha statue in Bangkok, Thailand

The Emerald Buddha (Thai: พระแก้วมรกต Phra Kaeo Morakot, or พระพุทธมหามณีรัตนปฏิมากร Phra Phuttha Maha Mani Rattana Patimakon) is an image of the meditating Gautama Buddha seated in a meditative posture, made of a semi-precious green stone (jasper rather than emerald or jade), clothed in gold.^[1] and about 66 centimetres (26 in) tall.^[2] The image is considered the sacred palladium of Thailand.^[3][4] It is housed in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew) on the grounds of the Grand Palace in Bangkok.^[1]

1. ^ ^{a b} Kleiner, Fred S. (1 January 2015). Fred S Kleiner (ed.). Gardner's Art through the Ages: Backpack Edition, Book F: Non-Western Art Since 1300 (15th ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 1045. ISBN 978-1-305-54494-9. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
2. ^ "Chapel of the Emerald Buddha". Asia for Visitors – Your complete online travel resource for Southeast Asia. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
3. ^ Cite error: The named reference bicentennial was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ Roeder, Eric (1999). "The Origin and Significance of the Emerald Buddha" (PDF). Explorations in Southeast Asian Studies. 3. Honolulu: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa: 1, 18. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2014.

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23 March 1848 – The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.

John Wickliffe (ship)

19th-century Scottish ship

The John Wickliffe was the first ship to arrive carrying Scottish settlers, including Otago settlement founder Captain William Cargill, in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand.^[1] The ship was named after the religious reformer, John Wycliffe.

Departing with 97 passengers from Gravesend, near London, on 22 November 1847,^[2] and from Portsmouth on 14 December 1847, she arrived at Port Chalmers on 23 March 1848. Her sister ship, the Philip Laing, arrived three weeks later on 15 April.

23 March is now observed as Otago Anniversary Day, although the anniversary actually celebrates the establishment of the Otago provincial government on the same day in 1852,^[3] and the day of the observance varies from year to year: it is usually observed on the Monday closest to 23 March.

1. ^ NZ History Online: 23 March
2. ^ "History Scots". Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2010. Visit Dunedin: The Settlement of 'New Edinburgh'
3. ^ Lewis, John (19 March 2011). "Anniversary Day: variety in observance". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 22 March 2012.

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24 March 1882 – Robert Koch announces the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis.

Robert Koch

German physician and bacteriologist (1843–1910)

For other people named Robert Koch, see Robert Koch (disambiguation).

Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch (English: /kɒx/ KOKH,^[1][2] German: [ˈʁoːbɛʁt ˈkɔx] ^ⓘ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax, he is regarded as one of the main founders of modern bacteriology. As such he is popularly nicknamed the father of microbiology (with Louis Pasteur^[3]), and as the father of medical bacteriology.^[4][5] His discovery of the anthrax bacterium (Bacillus anthracis) in 1876 is considered as the birth of modern bacteriology.^[6] Koch used his discoveries to establish that germs "could cause a specific disease"^[7] and directly provided proofs for the germ theory of diseases, therefore creating the scientific basis of public health,^[8] saving millions of lives.^[9] For his life's work Koch is seen as one of the founders of modern medicine.^[10][11]

While working as a private physician, Koch developed many innovative techniques in microbiology. He was the first to use the oil immersion lens, condenser, and microphotography in microscopy. His invention of the bacterial culture method using agar and glass plates (later developed as the Petri dish by his assistant Julius Richard Petri) made him the first to grow bacteria in the laboratory. In appreciation of his work, he was appointed to government advisor at the Imperial Health Office in 1880, promoted to a senior executive position (Geheimer Regierungsrat) in 1882, Director of Hygienic Institute and Chair (Professor of hygiene) of the Faculty of Medicine at Berlin University in 1885, and the Royal Prussian Institute for Infectious Diseases (later renamed Robert Koch Institute after his death) in 1891.

The methods Koch used in bacteriology led to establishment of a medical concept known as Koch's postulates, four generalized medical principles to ascertain the relationship of pathogens with specific diseases. The concept is still in use in most situations and influences subsequent epidemiological principles such as the Bradford Hill criteria.^[12] A major controversy followed when Koch discovered tuberculin as a medication for tuberculosis which was proven to be ineffective, but developed for diagnosis of tuberculosis after his death. For his research on tuberculosis, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1905.^[13] The day he announced the discovery of the tuberculosis bacterium, 24 March 1882, has been observed by the World Health Organization as "World Tuberculosis Day" every year since 1982.

1. ^ "Koch". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
2. ^ "Koch". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ Fleming, Alexander (1952). "Freelance of Science". British Medical Journal. 2 (4778): 269. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.4778.269. PMC 2020971.
4. ^ Tan, S. Y.; Berman, E. (2008). "Robert Koch (1843-1910): father of microbiology and Nobel laureate". Singapore Medical Journal. 49 (11): 854–855. PMID 19037548.
5. ^ Gradmann, Christoph (2006). "Robert Koch and the white death: from tuberculosis to tuberculin". Microbes and Infection. 8 (1): 294–301. doi:10.1016/j.micinf.2005.06.004. PMID 16126424.
6. ^ Lakhani, S. R. (1993). "Early clinical pathologists: Robert Koch (1843-1910)". Journal of Clinical Pathology. 46 (7): 596–598. doi:10.1136/jcp.46.7.596. PMC 501383. PMID 8157741.
7. ^ "A Theory of Germs". Science, Medicine, and Animals. National Academies Press (US). 2023-10-20.
8. ^ Lakhtakia, Ritu (2014). "The Legacy of Robert Koch: Surmise, search, substantiate". Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal. 14 (1): e37–41. doi:10.12816/0003334. PMC 3916274. PMID 24516751.
9. ^ https://history.info/on-this-day/1843-robert-koch-man-saved-millions-lives/
10. ^ https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=245261433654285
11. ^ "Louis Pasteur vs Robert Koch: The History of Germ Theory". YouTube.
12. ^ Margo, Curtis E. (2011-04-11). "From Robert Koch to Bradford Hill: Chronic Infection and the Origins of Ocular Adnexal Cancers". Archives of Ophthalmology. 129 (4): 498–500. doi:10.1001/archophthalmol.2011.53. ISSN 0003-9950. PMID 21482875.
13. ^ Brock, Thomas. Robert Koch: A life in medicine and bacteriology. ASM Press: Washington DC, 1999. Print.

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25 March 1931 – The Scottsboro Boys are arrested in Alabama and charged with rape.

Scottsboro Boys

Racism-based miscarriage of justice

For the musical, see The Scottsboro Boys (musical).

The Scottsboro Boys were nine African American male teenagers accused in Alabama of raping two white women in 1931. The landmark set of legal cases from this incident dealt with racism and the right to a fair trial. The cases included a lynch mob before the suspects had been indicted, all-white juries, rushed trials, and disruptive mobs. It is commonly cited as an example of a legal injustice in the United States legal system.

On March 25, 1931, two dozen people were "hoboing" on a freight train traveling between Chattanooga and Memphis, Tennessee. The hoboes were an equal mix of blacks and whites. A group of white teenage boys saw 18-year-old Haywood Patterson on the train and attempted to push him off, claiming that it was "a white man's train".^[1] A group of whites then gathered rocks and attempted to force all of the black teenagers from the train. Patterson and the other black teenagers were able to ward off the group. The humiliated white teenagers jumped or were forced off the train and reported to a nearby train master that they had been attacked by a group of black teenage boys. Shortly thereafter, the police stopped and searched the train at Paint Rock, Alabama and arrested the black teenage boys.^[2] Two young white women were also taken to the jail, where they accused the African-American teenage boys of rape. The case was first heard in Scottsboro, Alabama, in three rushed trials, in which the defendants received poor legal representation. All but 13-year-old Roy Wright were convicted of rape and sentenced to death (the common sentence in Alabama at the time for black men convicted of raping white females), even though there was no medical evidence indicating that rape had taken place.^[3]

With help from the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the case was appealed. The Alabama Supreme Court affirmed seven of the eight convictions, and granted 13-year-old Eugene Williams a new trial because he was a minor. Chief Justice John C. Anderson dissented, ruling that the defendants had been denied an impartial jury, fair trial, fair sentencing, and effective counsel. While waiting for their trials, eight of the nine defendants were held in Kilby Prison. The cases were twice appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which led to landmark decisions on the conduct of trials. In Powell v. Alabama (1932), the US Supreme Court ordered new trials.^[4]

The case was first returned to the lower court and the judge allowed a change of venue, moving the retrials to Decatur, Alabama. Judge Horton was appointed. During the retrials, one of the alleged victims admitted to fabricating the rape story and asserted that none of the Scottsboro Boys touched either of the white women. The jury still found the defendants guilty, but the judge set aside the verdict and granted a new trial.

The judge was replaced and the case retried. The new judge ruled frequently against the defense. For the third time a jury—now with one African-American member—returned a guilty verdict. The case was sent to the US Supreme Court on appeal. It ruled that African Americans had to be included on juries, and ordered retrials.^[5] Charges were finally dropped for four of the nine defendants. The other five were convicted and received sentences ranging from 75 years to death. Three served prison sentences. In 1936 one of the Scottsboro Boys, Ozie Powell, was shot in the face and permanently disabled during an altercation with a sheriff's deputy in prison. He later pleaded guilty to assaulting the deputy. Clarence Norris, the oldest defendant and the only one sentenced to death in the final trial, "jumped parole" in 1946 and went into hiding. He was found in 1976 and pardoned by Governor George Wallace. Norris later wrote a book about his experiences. He died in 1989 as the last surviving defendant.

The individuals involved and the case have been thoroughly analyzed. It is widely considered a legal injustice, highlighted by the state's use of all-white juries. Black Americans in Alabama had been disenfranchised since the Reconstruction era and thus were not allowed on juries because jurors were selected from voter rolls. The case has also been explored in many works of literature, music, theatre, film and television. On November 21, 2013, Alabama's parole board voted to grant posthumous pardons to the three Scottsboro Boys who had not been pardoned or had their convictions overturned.^[6]

1. ^ "Scottsboro: An American Tragedy Transcript". PBS. Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
2. ^ "A Miscarriage of Justice: The True Story of the Scottsboro Boys". www.sigtheatre.org. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
3. ^ Cite error: The named reference UMKC-SB_acct was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ Powell v. Alabama, 1932, 287 U.S. 45.
5. ^ Norris v. Alabama (1935), 294 U.S. 587, 595–596. (PDF)
6. ^ Bentley, Robert J. (November 21, 2013). "Governor Bentley's Statement on the Pardoning of the Scottsboro Boys". Office of Alabama Governor. Archived from the original on January 17, 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2013.

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