Which future President made the famous Checkers Speech in 1952?

The History Place - Great Speeches Collection: Richard Nixon Checkers Speech At the 1952 Republican national convention, a young Senator from California, Richard M.     Nixon, was chosen to be the running mate of presidential candidate Dwight     D. Eisenhower. Nixon had enjoyed a spectacular rise in national politics. Elected to     Congress in 1946, he quickly made a name for himself as a militant anti-Communist     while serving on the House Un-American Activities Committee. In 1950, at     age 38, he was elected to the Senate and became an outspoken critic     of President Truman's conduct of the Korean War. He also cited wasteful spending by the     Democrats, and alleged that Communists had infiltrated the U.S. government. But Nixon's rapid rise in American politics nearly came to a crashing halt     after a sensational headline appeared in the New York Post stating, "Secret     Rich Men's Trust Fund Keeps Nixon in Style Far Beyond His Salary." The headline appeared just a few days after Eisenhower had chosen him as     his running mate. Amid the shock and outrage that followed, many Republicans     urged Eisenhower to dump Nixon from the ticket before it was too late. Nixon, however, in a brilliant political maneuver, took his case directly     to the American people via the new medium of television. During a nationwide     broadcast, with his wife Pat sitting stoically nearby, Nixon offered an apologetic     explanation of his finances, including the now-famous lines regarding     his wife's "respectable Republican cloth coat." Additionally, he told of     a little dog named Checkers that was given as a present to his young daughters. "I want to say right now that regardless of what they say, we're     going to keep it." He turned the last section of his address into a political attack, making     veiled accusations about the finances of his political opponents and challenging     them to provide the same kind of open explanation. Although it would forever be known as Nixon's "Checkers Speech," it was actually a political triumph for Nixon at the time it was given.     Eisenhower requested Nixon to come to West Virginia where he was campaigning     and greeted Nixon at the airport with, "Dick, you're my boy." The Republicans went on to win the election by a landslide. My Fellow Americans, I come before you tonight as a candidate for the Vice-presidency and as a man whose honesty and integrity has been questioned. Now, the usual political thing to do when charges are made against you is to either ignore them or to deny them without giving details. I believe we have had enough of that in the United States, particularly with the present administration in Washington D.C. To me, the office of the Vice-presidency of the United States is a great office, and I feel that the people have got to have confidence in the integrity of the men who run for that office and who might attain them. I have a theory, too, that the best and only answer to a smear or an honest misunderstanding of the facts is to tell the truth. And that is why I am here tonight. I want to tell you my side of the case. I am sure that you have read the charges, and you have heard it, that I, Senator Nixon, took $18,000 from a group of my supporters. Now, was that wrong? And let me say that it was wrong. I am saying it, incidentally, that it was wrong, just not illegal, because it isn't a question of whether it was legal or illegal, that isn't enough. The question is, was it morally wrong? I say that it was morally wrong if any of that $18,000 went to Senator Nixon, for my personal use. I say that it was morally wrong if it was secretly given and secretly handled. And I say that it was morally wrong if any of the contributors got special favors for the contributions that they made. And to answer those questions let me say this--not a cent of the $18,000 or any other money of that type ever went to me for my personal use. Every penny of it was used to pay for political


Who succeeded Lal Bahadur Shasrtri as Prime Minister of India?

Lal Bahadur Shastri | prime minister of India | Britannica.com prime minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri, (born Oct. 2, 1904, Mughalsarai, India—died Jan. 11, 1966, Tashkent , Uzbekistan , U.S.S.R.), Indian statesman, prime minister of India (1964–66) after Jawaharlal Nehru . Lal Bahadur Shastri. Camera Press/Globe Photos A member of Mahatma Gandhi ’s noncooperation movement against British government in India, he was imprisoned for a short time (1921). Upon release he studied in the Kashi Vidyapitha, a nationalist university, where he graduated with the title of shastri (“learned in the scriptures”). He then returned to politics as a follower of Gandhi, was imprisoned several more times, and attained influential positions in the Congress Party of the state of the United Provinces , now Uttar Pradesh state. Shastri was elected to the legislature of the United Provinces in 1937 and 1946. After Indian independence, Shastri gained experience as minister for home affairs and transport in Uttar Pradesh. He was elected to the central Indian legislature in 1952 and became union minister for railways and transport. He gained a reputation as a skillful mediator after his appointment to the influential post of minister for home affairs in 1961. Three years later, on Jawaharlal Nehru’s illness, Shastri was appointed minister without portfolio, and after Nehru’s death he became prime minister in June 1964. Shastri was criticized for failing to deal effectively with India’s economic problems, but he won great popularity for his firmness on the outbreak of hostilities with neighbouring Pakistan (1965) over the disputed Kashmir region. He died of a heart attack after signing a “no-war” agreement with Pres. Ayub Khan of Pakistan and was succeeded as prime minister by Indira Gandhi , Nehru’s daughter. Learn More in these related articles:


Which Russian imposed a reign of terror during the 30s and 40s?

Russian History Michael Report 1600s-1700s Russian General Overview of Seventeenth Century [RU06] By Michael Johnathan McDonald RUS 17th  CENTURY Background: People, Culture, Cites, Towns, Expansion, Foreigners, Slavery,  Art, Thought, Expression, government, and whatever else makes up an  energizing civilization. Imperialism: Subjugation of Siberia For the 1600s Imperialism of the former Khanates, and Ivan The  Fearsome, see RU01. Religious Battles: Russian was not modern bureaucracy, the service was to the severing the tsar ( the king), not the state-like in the west. But this would change at the close of the century and the pubic body of the office of the ruler will become more like the west. Do not pick a date in the 17th century as a turning point ; the whole 17th century is a turning point? Professor J. Kollman: There were continuity and changes going back and forth. Rus (Russian) Background PART I pomest'e (or pomestie) system: Service tenure land given by the central authorities to servitors in return for service to the state. It was conditional, an economic base for the aristocracy,  and tied all strata of servitors in varying degrees to the sovereign. It could be revoked if the service tenure landholder (pomeshchik) failed to render service. Increasingly, from the fifteenth to the sixteenth centuries, it replaced or operated alongside the patrimonial land (votchina) owned outright by its lord who could will it to descendants without approval. [1] Begun toward end of fifteenth century, becoming widespread after the annexation of Novgorod, Ivan III confiscated Novgorod boyar’s votchiny and extensive church landholdings.  By the time of Ivan IV onward (decree 10/3/1550), deti boiarskie made up the majority responsible for rendering military service to the sovereign.  It contributed to a single integrated army for a newly unified Russian state. It acted like a system of rewarding a noble’s work for a state with land. As it grew, it played a major factor in the seventeenth century diminishing differences between landlords and service class gentry as the Ulozhenie code indicated. Peter I’s reforms founded a permanent army and a civil service and this system was no longer needed.   Mestnichestvo: system of places, was part of the honor and shame society and ceremonial role-playing that determined the relative standing of each prince, boyar and upper servitor in the Muscovite system: record keeping determined an importance of whom had served where, and when in wars.   Restricted during regimental service in 1550s (decree 10/3/1550), during campaigns against Kazan and Astrakhan with the objective of improving discipline, [2] this system in general lasted until 1682. The Tsar was constrained by custom to observe this hierarchy when appointing military commanders, administrators and other officials. In social relevance this system created lawsuits, and disagreements among its members. This led to clans in the sixteenth century onward keeping extensive genealogy books, therefore becoming part of the evidence in the litigations. Another weakness was a rigidity of assignments in military commands which kept the best men from filling those positions. This ultimately led to poor performance on the battlefield.  On the other hand, mestnichestvo may have helped knit together a large, widely dispersed servitor elite.   Boyar Duma: Boyars developed in the eleventh century in Kievan Rus’ and wielded considerable power through their military and support of the Kievan princes. They received extensive grants of land and, as members of the Boyars' Duma (by Muscovite times, in the sixteenth century, there were four ranks of Duma status, and boyars were at the top) they represented more than mere councilors to the grand prince/tsar.  The boyar elite, closely intermarried with each other's clans and with the royal family, constituted the government in Muscovy (15th-17th cc.). They formed concentric circles of power around the grand prince/tsar, and their objective was to position themselves to be


In the 60s Queen Elizabeth II dedicated an acre of ground in memory of which American?

Queen Elizabeth II dedicates John F. Kennedy Memorial at Runnymede - YouTube Queen Elizabeth II dedicates John F. Kennedy Memorial at Runnymede Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Sep 17, 2009 The memorial was dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II in May, 1965. Jacqueline Kennedy, John Jr., Caroline, Robert and Edward Kennedy were all present for the ceremony. As a major part of the dedication, the Queen handed over one acre of land containing the memorial to then-Secretary of State Dean Rusk. It became American soil to symbolize the close association between the U.K. and the U.S. The site is truly awe-inspiring - very peaceful - and it contains several elements not to be missed: The memorial site itself was designed by famed landscape artist Geoffrey A. Jellicoe. Sculptor Alan Collins inscribed text on a 7-ton block of Portland white stone that is the highlight of the memorial. The stone is from the same quarry that provided material for St. Paul's Cathedral more than 300 years ago. On the stone is the dedication "This acre of English Ground was Given to the United States of America by the People of Britain in Memory of John F. Kennedy." Also inscribed are his birth and death dates and a passage from his 1961 inaugural address. Getting to the memorial stone is an impressive part of the experience. Visitors first pass through a wicket gate leading to a set of steps and a stone path. The design is based on the theme of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress - life, death and spirit. The path has more than 60,000 granite stones representing the multitude of pilgrims (people of the U.S.) and winds gently up a small hill. The surface is rough, representing life's challenges. The shallow steps running beside the path are numbered to represent each of President Kennedy's years of life. At the top of the steps there are larger platforms for viewing the memorial stone. Category


Who led India to overthrow British rule by non-violent means?

Non-Violence | The Story of India - Photo Gallery | PBS The Story of India The reclining statue of the Buddha in the Mahaparinirvana Temple at Kushinagar, in Uttar Pradesh Explore the Topic For many today, non-violence is a concept only associated with Mahatma Gandhi and India's freedom struggle during the early 20th century. However, Gandhi's championing of non-violent resistance, or satyagraha , to bring about political change relied on principles that were already deeply ingrained in Indian thought and culture. Non-violence or non-injury (ahimsa in Sanskrit) is a precept common to three faiths that originated in the Indian subcontinent—Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. Ahimsa is identified as an essential virtue in the ancient Hindu treatises the Upanishads. In Hinduism , adherents to the proscription against violence toward living things can escape from the cycle of rebirth and the doctrine also forms a basis for vegetarianism. In Buddhism , non-violence is manifest in the Buddha 's emphasis on compassion and is also part of the faith's moral codes. Buddhist principles of non-violence became part of the administrative policy of the Mauryan Empire during the reign of Ashoka in the third century, and reminders of these principles, such as this reclining Buddha , can still be found throughout India. In Jainism , non-violence is a core religious duty and followed so strictly that the most orthodox devotees cover their faces with masks to prevent accidentally harming insects. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), known as Mahatma ("Great Soul"), was the great political leader and social reformer who founded India's nonviolent movement against British colonial rule. Born the son of a state minister in Gujarat in 1869, Gandhi moved to South Africa after studying law in London. While practicing law in South Africa, between 1893 and 1914, he became a social reformer and mobilized diverse South African communities to protest British laws, such as the poll tax, that discriminated against Indians. While in Africa, he developed the practice of satyagraha , or nonviolent protest, based on the ethical ideal of ahimsa ("no-harm" or non-violence) a precept deeply rooted in the three faiths that originated in India— Hinduism , Buddhism , and Jainism . In 1909, he wrote his landmark work, Hind Swaraj, or Freedom of India, that discussed nonviolent non-cooperation as a means to end British colonial rule. After returning to India in 1915, Gandhi organized satyagrahas against poverty and unfair taxes, championing boycotts and peaceful strikes.  In the 1920s, Gandhi reorganized the Indian National Congress and wrote its constitution that prioritized Congressional representation for rural India and created a permanent committee to agitate for independence. He also adopted a simpler way of life, eschewing European clothes for the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, which he spun on a charkha; adhering to a strictly vegetarian diet; and undertaking fasts that he also employed in social protest. From 1920 to 1948, Gandhi organized a series of campaigns that successfully mobilized Indians across the country against British rule. A non-cooperation movement in the early 1920s that urged citizens to boycott civic services and withhold tax revenues led to thousands of arrests and a government ban on public meetings. In 1930, he led a satyagraha against the British salt tax, marching 240 miles from his Sabarmati ashram to Dandi beach, in Gujarat. After picking up a lump of sea salt on the beach, Gandhi was arrested for breaking the law and 60,000 to 90,000 others would be arrested over the next few months. Before Gandhi could organize a "Quit India" campaign against British rule in 1942, he was arrested and detained in jail for the duration of World War II. On January 30, 1948, Gandhi was assassinated in Delhi by a radical Hindu nationalist, Naturam Godse. India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru famously said after Gandhi's assassination: "The light has gone out of our lives." His methods of nonvi


In which Sydney cathedral sis Michael Hutchence's funeral take place?

INXS Leader Michael Hutchence's Final Hours - MTV mtv archive-Nick-Corr 11/27/1997 AUSTRALIA -- Although it's likely no one will ever know the exact sequence of events leading up to the death of INXS leader Michael Hutchence, who was found hanging from his leather belt last Saturday in his suite at Sydney, Australia's Ritz-Carlton, based on that country's media reports, Addicted to Noise police interviews and research, here is a chronology of Hutchence's final hours. FRIDAY, Nov. 21 (local time): Daytime -- Hutchence rehearses with INXS for the band's 20th anniversary tour. A crew from the Australian news show "A Current Affair" film the band for a segment on the tour. Frances Georgeson, national promotions manager for Mercury Records, who visited with Hutchence that night, said, "He was in great spirits. He was going out for dinner with his father, making jokes, looking forward to the tour." 7:45 p.m. -- Hutchence dines with his father, Kel, and step-mother at The Taste of India, a popular restaurant in Edgecliff, a five-minute drive from the Ritz-Carlton. The mood, according to restaurant manager Ashley Notani, was warm and relaxed. The singer nibbled at his dinner, chain-smoking throughout the meal, planting a kiss on Notani's lips and baring his belly when a staff member suggested he eat more. The restaurant's assistant manager, Susan Murtagh, told journalists that at one point in the evening, Hutchence's father placed his hand over his son's and asked if everything was all right. Conflicting reports suggest that Hutchence replied either by shrugging his shoulders, or said "Dad, I'm fine." The restaurant yesterday refused to take several bookings for the "Hutchence table." 10:30 p.m. -- Kel Hutchence takes Michael back to the Ritz-Carlton, where he had several drinks in the hotel bar. 11 p.m. -- Tanya Turnball, 29, of Sydney, and Tamara Brachmanis, 26, of Manly, share an elevator with Hutchence at the hotel, saying he seemed relaxed and happy. The pair see Hutchence again soon after, chatting with actress Kym Wilson and her boyfriend, Christopher Stollery. Hutchence leaves the bar alone, returning to his room. Staff at the hotel confirm that several calls for room service are made during the night. Time Unknown -- Hutchence's girlfriend, Paula Yates, phones to say that, due to a delayed custody hearing, neither she nor the couple's daughter, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, will be able to join INXS in Australia for the 20th Anniversary tour. Yates said a furious Hutchence then phoned Yates' former husband, ex-Boomtown Rat Bob Geldof and, according to Britain's Sun newspaper, shouted: "She's not your wife anymore." "The last words [Yates] heard Michael say were, 'I love you. I'm going to phone Bob right now and beg him, beg him to allow them to come,' " according to British television journalist Martin Frizell. SATURDAY, Nov. 22 (local time): Midnight to dawn -- Police confirm that hotel staff deliver room service to Hutchence's fifth floor suite (524) on several occasions throughout the night. They refuse to comment if Hutchence was alone at these times or what he ordered. Staff tell police the singer seemed fine. 9 to 9:30 a.m. -- Police say Hutchence phones a former girlfriend, Michelle Bennett, in nearby Bellevue Hill around 9 a.m., leaving a message on her answering machine saying, "I need to see you." Bennett tells police that Hutchence's voice sounded "normal," neither distressed nor angry. 11 a.m. -- Bennett hears the message and goes to the hotel. There is no reply, so she slips a note under the door and leaves. 11:55 a.m. -- Hotel staff try to wake Hutchence by telephone. When this fails, a maid is sent up to his room. She uses a spare keycard to open the door but there is resistance, so she forces it and finds Hutchence there dead, hanging by his leather belt. A senior Rose Bay police investigator says it appears the singer could have been dead for two to three hours. 12:30 p.m. -- Police arrive at the scene, by which time news of the death has already started to leak to the media. Prescription drug bottles


Who's best-known stage role was as Regina in The Little Foxes?

The Little Foxes, a Curtainup review A CurtainUp Review By Elyse Sommer There are people who eat the earth and eat all the people on it like in the Bible with the Locusts. Then there are people who watch them do it. . . Sometimes I think it ain't right to stand and watch them do it. — Addie. Tina Benko (in red) and Elizabeth Marvel              (Photo: Jan Versweyveld) If you had to sum up  Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes in a tweet: It's a story about money and how to use it or how to acquire more of it through deceit and greed. If  ever a play  seems  ripe for a revival, it's certainly this  saga of the  rapacious Hubbards, Hellman's  symbols of  the merchant  under class  clawing its way up the social ladder after the Civil War to usurp the wealth and power of  top bananas.   The  greedy and deceitful Hubbards  can easily be seen as the  forbears of  the financial  wizards whose reckless, self-serving practices have  left not just the poor blacks of the Hubbard's small Alabama town behind , but  workers and home owners all over America. With its  ever timely theme, The Little Foxes is Hellman's best known and most popular plays. Its numerous productions  have included  three on  Broadway. Tthe 1939 premiere is best remembered for   Tallulah Bankhead's Regina.  The viper-in-chief was played by  Elizabeth Taylor in 1981 and Stockard Channing  in 1997. There was also a 1941 movie that starred Bette Davis.   While these productions were helmed by the likes of Mike Nichols on stage and William Wyler in Hollywood, all surrounded the actors with lavishly detailed period costumes and sets,  a  grand staircase being something of a de rigueur scenic centerpiece for all. But park your expectations  of  a comfortable,  period appointed  living room  and that dramatic  grand, curved stairway at the door of the New York Theatre Workshop. That's  where Flemish director and cutting edge theater wunderkind Ivo Van Hove  is once again  imposing his own auteur-director's  vision  on that of the playwright's.  Instead of  sitting on chairs, the actors  sit or lie on the floor or  stand and stomp around a wide open  prop-less  stage. As for the text, actually  Van Hove is true to the script  (even the reference to the levees being built in New Orleans is not a trendy insert to tie this into Katrina). But his way of  overcoming  the so-called tyranny of the text and foxily turning  this from Hellman's into Van Hove's Little Foxes, is to  put his own spin on the  playwright's stage directions and  to push  his actors to  play their characters so that their  interactions and reactions are not just dysfunctional but  dangerously demented.  Violence is everywhere, most shockingly  so when  a scene in which the younger Hubbard brother, Oscar, slaps his alcoholic and aptly named wife  Birdie turns into  full-fledged  criminal abuse. So what does this latest VanHovian landscape look like?  Despite the lack of convenional props, the director and  production designer Jan Versweyveld, who was also aboard for Hedda Gabler , A Streetcar Named Desire and More Stately    Mansions .  have created  a very artfully designed production.  Traditionalists, especially  this play's many fans, might not like it.  I suspect, if she were still with us, neither would the playwright whose penchant for luxury was epitomized by her famous outing as a mink coat model. There IS a staircase, but it's straight up, without a railing and rather unimposingly tucked into a boxy center piece. It  leads into a room where the actors not actively engaged in what's happening on the main playing area below are seen courtesy of Tal Yarden's  video screen.  The most striking of these second tier images are of Regina's husband Horace going through the phases


Who became chief designer at Givenchy in 1996?

FASHION is not a CRIME | Alexander McQueen FASHION is not a CRIME This blog is all about fashion, leaders and its followers! High, Low, Mixed or Matched fashion! Candid or not! Pictures posted here are not mine it all comes from different websites i go to. Credits will also appear for you to know where to find it. Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen was a British fashion designer and couturier best known for his in-depth knowledge of bespoke British tailoring, his tendency to juxtapose female strength and sensuality with fragility in his collections, as well as the emotional power and raw energy of his provocative fashion shows. He is also known for having worked as chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001 and for founding his own label under the name Alexander McQueen. His achievements in fashion earned him four British Designer of the Year awards (1996, 1997, 2001 and 2003), as well as the CFDA’s International Designer of the Year award in 2003.  While on Savile Row, McQueen’s clients included Mikhail Gorbachev and Prince Charles. At the age of 20 he spent a period of time working for Koji Tatsuno before travelling to Milan, Italy and working for Romeo Gigli. McQueen returned to London in 1994 and applied to Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, to work as a pattern cutter tutor. Because of the strength of his portfolio he was persuaded by the Head of the Masters course to enroll in the course as a student. He received his masters degree in fashion design and his graduation collection was bought in its entirety by influential fashion stylist Isabella Blow, who was said to have persuaded McQueen to become known as Alexander (his middle name) when he subsequently launched his fashion career. Icelandic singer Björk sought McQueen’s work for the cover of her album Homogenic in 1997. McQueen also directed the music video for her song “Alarm Call” from the same album. McQueen’s early runway collections developed his reputation for controversy and shock tactics (earning the title “l'enfant terrible” and “the hooligan of English fashion”), with trousers aptly named “bumsters” and a collection entitled “Highland Rape”. In 2004, journalist Caroline Evans also wrote of McQueen’s “theatrical staging of cruelty,” in 032c magazine, referring to his dark and tortured renderings of Scottish History. McQueen was known for his lavish, unconventional runway shows: a recreation of a shipwreck for his spring 2003 collection; spring 2005’s human chess game; and his fall 2006 show “Widows of Culloden,” which featured a life-sized hologram of supermodel Kate Moss dressed in yards of rippling fabric. McQueen’s “bumsters” spawned a trend in low rise jeans; on their debut they attracted many comments and debate. Michael Oliveira-Salac, the director of Blow PR and a friend of McQueen’s said that “The bumster for me is what defined McQueen." McQueen also became known for using skulls in his designs. A scarf bearing the motif became a celebrity must-have and was copied around the world. McQueen has been credited with bringing drama and extravagance to the catwalk. He used new technology and innovation to add a different twist to his shows and often shocked and surprised audiences. The silhouettes that he created have been credited for adding a sense of fantasy and rebellion to fashion. McQueen became one of the first designers to use Indian models in London. McQueen also designed a range of dresses under the name of "manta”, priced at around £2800. The line, named after the manta ray, was inspired by a holiday McQueen took in the Maldives in 2009. The designs have been worn by various models and celebrities, including Lily Cole. The president of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, caused a stir when he appointed McQueen head designer at Givenchy in 1996, succeeding John Galliano. Upon arrival at Givenchy, McQueen insulted the founder by calling him “irrelevant”. His first couture collection with Givenchy was unsuccessful, with even McQueen telling Vogue in October 1997 that the collection was “crap”. McQueen toned down his designs at Givenchy


By 1999 how may times had Jane Fonda been Oscar nominated?

Jane Fonda Movies on iTunes Open iTunes to buy and download movies Biography Ranking at number 21 in Empire magazine's 100 Sexiest Stars in Film History, Jane Fonda, fitness expert and veteran actress, has a long list of hit movies to her name, including: Klute, Barefoot in the Park, Barbarella, They Shoot Horses Don't They?, and On Golden Pond (each breakthrough movies in their own right). The latter starred Fonda with her father, Henry Fonda (12 Angry Men, The Grapes of Wrath), the only movie the famous pair ever made together, for which she was nominated for an Oscar. All in all, she has been nominated for seven Oscars and won two of them -- but perhaps her biggest feat came in hunting down some of the more interesting roles for women in Hollywood. That, and the ten Golden Globes for which she was nominated. (She won half of them.) In the later part of her acting career, she starred in Julia, Coming Home, Agnes of God, 9 to 5, and Stanley and Iris. This generation may not remember this brilliant leading lady who graduated from Vassar (labeled a radical in the '60s and '70s for her political and feminist points of view) for her acting ability -- but for her workout tapes. Jane Fonda helped start a fitness craze in the '80s, selling tapes on everything from aerobics to working-out-while-you're-pregnant to yoga. Fonda has made a reported $670 million from her fitness tapes and merchandising -- a sum equaling more than all of her movies put together. Jane Fonda got her start just by being a Fonda. She didn't show much interest in acting as child, but when she was 17, she performed in a community theater production with her father in The Country Girl (1954) and showed real talent. She then joined the Actor's Studio after meeting Lee Strasberg. The Broadway production of Tall Story, which Jane Fonda had a role in, was remade into a movie, and this became her screen debut. Jane Fonda's father is famous actor Henry Fonda, and her brother is actor Peter Fonda. The Fonda children had a notably troubled relationship with their father. Their mother committed suicide when Jane was only 13. From the time she was in high school until she was 36, Jane struggled with bulimia. She has been married and divorced three times, the last time to CNN's network founder, conservative Ted Turner. She has four children and is also aunt to Bridget Fonda. As expected, the press has kept a watchful, and not always kind, eye upon her throughout her life. Fonda came out of semi-retirement from acting in 2001 for a benefit performance of The Vagina Monologues. The year before, she made a film in Nigeria to promote stopping female genital mutilation. She has also written several books. ~ Sandy Lawson Top Movies


Which former central American dictator was born on exactly the same day as singer Gene Vincent?

The Out of Bounds Moon The Out of Bounds Moon The Out of Bounds Moon Forrest Astrology Originally appeared in The Mountain Astrologer magazine, June 2010. Reprinted with permission. The familiar circle of twelve signs is a useful fiction. Like time, space, gender and money, it helps us organize our particular, parochial sense of reality. We watch our transits or progressions as they speed or plod along this imaginary line in the sky that we call the ecliptic, as if it were a narrow highway with hard curbs in the vastness of starry space. In our ephemerides, for example, we see Mercury zipping merrily along, 1° Capricorn, then 2° then 3˜. We see Pluto passing the same mileposts—little knowing that Pluto might actually lie thirty degrees from Mercury, way above or below it in the sky, even though we say they are “in conjunction.” In actuality, the only moving astrological point that sticks exactly to the ecliptic is the Sun. Its path, in fact, is what defines the term. Everything else follows it only approximately. Ever wonder why we don’t have a total solar eclipse every month? Sure enough, there on your computer screen you plainly see the transiting Sun and the transiting Moon aligned in 15° 24'—but no total eclipse of the Sun. The reason is that the Moon is usually a little above the Sun or a little below it. They are “conjunct,” but only in the context of our imaginary celestial railroad track, the zodiac. They are lined up in the two-dimensional framework of the ecliptic, but not in the three dimensional framework of the heavens as they actually meet our eyes. (1) When a planet gets far enough from the ecliptic, it begins to produce some very curious effects. It is said to be “ Out of Bounds .” The fact that it is behaving strangely in the sky gives us a broad hint as to its astrological meaning. We will get to that very soon. The point is that looking at the zodiac in the familiar sign-and-degree way, we would not even notice this condition. The planet’s position would just seem to be a normal zodiacal degree, nothing more. But, conventional astrology aside, we would definitely notice the practical impact of this Out of Bounds planet on our lives. Of all the planets, the Moon is most dramatic in it effects when Out of Bounds, in my experience. In fact of all the astronomical loose ends that are basically ignored in mainstream astrological practice, this Out of Bounds Moon is one of the most astonishing in its repercussions. But to understand it precisely, we need to think outside the box—rather literally—of our fiction that planets all move along one narrow track in the sky. And to escape that trap we must begin with a meditation upon the four seasons. SEASONS, EQUINOXES, SOLSTICES Back in school, most of us learned about why Earth has seasons. In summer, our planet is tilted toward the Sun. The visual effect is that the Sun rises higher in the sky and the days last longer. The opposite happens in winter—Earth is tilted away, so the Sun is lower and the daylight is briefer—and the weather cools down. Earth’s angle of tilt varies over very long scales of time, but it is currently at about 23°28' according to the Solar Fire Help files. Wikipedia gives 23°26'. (2). In this article, I am going to go with Solar Fire’s value. Visualize it like this: say you are sitting in spaceship about a zillion miles above the Earth’s equator—you are way off to the “side” of the Earth, so to speak. You are far enough out in space that you can see the Sun too, with Earth orbiting it. From your point of view, at one moment the top of the Earth seems to be tilted 23°28' to the left. Six months later, with Earth halfway around the Sun, it is still tilted 23°28' to the left (see image below). So at first, with the top half the Earth pointed sunward, the northern hemisphere would be getting most of the sunlight. Six months later, with Earth still tilted the same way but on the other side of the Sun, the top half of the Earth is now tilted away from the Sun. It’s Australia’s turn for a suntan. (3) That is the first critical link in our cha


Which kidnap victim was involved in a bank raid, brandishing a gun?

The Trial of Patty Hearst: An Account Patty Hearst Trial (1976) by Douglas O. Linder (2007) The security camera of the Sunset District branch of Hibernia Bank in San Francisco showed Patricia Hearst holding an assault rifle as members of the Symbionese Liberation Army carried out the midday robbery.  Was the rich heiress, kidnapped two months earlier, acting in fear of her life?  Was she brainwashed?  Or did she participate in the robbery as a loyal soldier in "the revolution"?  That was the issue a California jury had to decide in the 1976 trial of Patty Hearst. On the evening of February 4, 1974, three armed members of a group calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) burst into the Berkeley, California apartment shared by Patty Hearst and her fiance, Steven Weed.  Hearst, the daughter of Randolph Hearst (managing editor of the San Francisco Examiner) and the granddaughter of the legendary William Randolph Hearst, screamed when the men assaulting Weed with a wine bottle.  The SLA members carried Hearst, clothed in a nightgown, out of her apartment and forced her into the trunk of a white car.  Hearst's abductors fired a round of bullets as they sped away, followed by a second vehicle.  The SLA released a communique in which it called the kidnapping the "serving of an arrest warrant on Patricia Campbell Hearst."  The communique warned that any attempt to rescue Hearst would result in the prisoner being "executed."  The statement ended with the capital letters: "DEATH TO THE FASCIST INSECT THAT PREYS UPON THE LIFE OF THE PEOPLE." Eight days later, the SLA sent a audiotape to a local radio station, KPFA, tape recording from "General Field Marshall Cinque" demanding that Randolph Hearst fund a multi-million dollar food giveaway "as a good faith gesture."  "Cinque" was actually Donald DeFreeze, who--following his escape from a California prison in March 1973--organized a group of Berkeley area activists that hoped to spur a revolution.  The SLA established as  its goals closing prisons, ending monogamy, and eliminating "all other institutions that have made and sustained capitalism." The tape included the frightened voice of Patty Hearst.  She is heard telling her parents: "Mom, Dad, I'm okay.  I'm with a combat unit with automatic weapons.  And these people aren't just a bunch of nuts....I want to get out of here but the only way I'm going to do it is if we do it their way.  And I just hope that you'll do what they say, Dad, and do it quickly..."  The package received by the radio station also included a photograph showing Hearst, brandishing a carbine and wearing a beret, in front of the SLA's seven-headed cobra symbol. In response to the SLA demands, Randolph Hearst created the People in Need program and donated about $2 million.  The food giveaway program was fraught with problems.  In some distribution locations, rioting and fraud hampered efforts,  On February 22 at a distribution site in West Oakland, rioting led to dozens of injuries and arrests.  In a March audiotape released by the SLA, Patty criticized her father's food distribution efforts: "So far it sounds like you and your advisers managed to turn it into a real disaster." The public heard the most shocking audiotape from the SLA in April, fifty-nine days after Patty's kidnapping.  On the tape, Hearst says: "I have been given the choice of being released...or joining the forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army and fighting for my freedom and the freedom of all oppressed people.  I have chosen to stay and fight."  Hearst further announced that she had accepted the name "Tania," after a "comrade who fought alongside Che in Bolivia." The Hibernia Bank robbery occurred shortly afterward, on April 15.  The robbery, which netted the SLA $10,692, resulted in two bystanders being shot, one fatally.  Security camera tapes of the robbery were played on television and closely analyzed by authorities.  Different conclusions were drawn from the tapes as to whether Hearst seemed to be a completely willing participant.  She can be seen announcing, "I am Tania" an


Who was the only 20th century President to get stuck in the White House bath tub as he was so big?

William Howard Taft | whitehouse.gov Air Force One William Howard Taft William Howard Taft was elected the 27th President of the United States (1909-1913) and later became the tenth Chief Justice of the United States (1921-1930), the only person to have served in both of these offices. Distinguished jurist, effective administrator, but poor politician, William Howard Taft spent four uncomfortable years in the White House. Large, jovial, conscientious, he was caught in the intense battles between Progressives and conservatives, and got scant credit for the achievements of his administration. Born in 1857, the son of a distinguished judge, he graduated from Yale, and returned to Cincinnati to study and practice law. He rose in politics through Republican judiciary appointments, through his own competence and availability, and because, as he once wrote facetiously, he always had his "plate the right side up when offices were falling." But Taft much preferred law to politics. He was appointed a Federal circuit judge at 34. He aspired to be a member of the Supreme Court, but his wife, Helen Herron Taft, held other ambitions for him. His route to the White House was via administrative posts. President McKinley sent him to the Philippines in 1900 as chief civil administrator. Sympathetic toward the Filipinos, he improved the economy, built roads and schools, and gave the people at least some participation in government. President Roosevelt made him Secretary of War, and by 1907 had decided that Taft should be his successor. The Republican Convention nominated him the next year. Taft disliked the campaign--"one of the most uncomfortable four months of my life." But he pledged his loyalty to the Roosevelt program, popular in the West, while his brother Charles reassured eastern Republicans. William Jennings Bryan, running on the Democratic ticket for a third time, complained that he was having to oppose two candidates, a western progressive Taft and an eastern conservative Taft. Progressives were pleased with Taft's election. "Roosevelt has cut enough hay," they said; "Taft is the man to put it into the barn." Conservatives were delighted to be rid of Roosevelt--the "mad messiah." Taft recognized that his techniques would differ from those of his predecessor. Unlike Roosevelt, Taft did not believe in the stretching of Presidential powers. He once commented that Roosevelt "ought more often to have admitted the legal way of reaching the same ends." Taft alienated many liberal Republicans who later formed the Progressive Party, by defending the Payne-Aldrich Act which unexpectedly continued high tariff rates. A trade agreement with Canada, which Taft pushed through Congress, would have pleased eastern advocates of a low tariff, but the Canadians rejected it. He further antagonized Progressives by upholding his Secretary of the Interior, accused of failing to carry out Roosevelt's conservation policies. In the angry Progressive onslaught against him, little attention was paid to the fact that his administration initiated 80 antitrust suits and that Congress submitted to the states amendments for a Federal income tax and the direct election of Senators. A postal savings system was established, and the Interstate Commerce Commission was directed to set railroad rates. In 1912, when the Republicans renominated Taft, Roosevelt bolted the party to lead the Progressives, thus guaranteeing the election of Woodrow Wilson. Taft, free of the Presidency, served as Professor of Law at Yale until President Harding made him Chief Justice of the United States, a position he held until just before his death in 1930. To Taft, the appointment was his greatest honor; he wrote: "I don't remember that I ever was President." The Presidential biographies on WhiteHouse.gov are from “The Presidents of the United States of America,” by Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey. Copyright 2006 by the White House Historical Association. Learn more about William Howard Taft 's spouse, Helen Herron Taft .


Who led a government in Italy in the 20s and later became its dictator?>

Mussolini founds the Fascist party - Mar 23, 1919 - HISTORY.com Mussolini founds the Fascist party Share this: Mussolini founds the Fascist party Author Mussolini founds the Fascist party URL Publisher A+E Networks Benito Mussolini, an Italian World War I veteran and publisher of Socialist newspapers, breaks with the Italian Socialists and establishes the nationalist Fasci di Combattimento, named after the Italian peasant revolutionaries, or “Fighting Bands,” from the 19th century. Commonly known as the Fascist Party, Mussolini’s new right-wing organization advocated Italian nationalism, had black shirts for uniforms, and launched a program of terrorism and intimidation against its leftist opponents. In October 1922, Mussolini led the Fascists on a march on Rome, and King Emmanuel III, who had little faith in Italy’s parliamentary government, asked Mussolini to form a new government. Initially, Mussolini, who was appointed prime minister at the head of a three-member Fascist cabinet, cooperated with the Italian parliament, but aided by his brutal police organization he soon became the effective dictator of Italy. In 1924, a Socialist backlash was suppressed, and in January 1925 a Fascist state was officially proclaimed, with Mussolini as Il Duce, or “The Leader.” Mussolini appealed to Italy’s former Western allies for new treaties, but his brutal 1935 invasion of Ethiopia ended all hope of alliance with the Western democracies. In 1936, Mussolini joined Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in his support of Francisco Franco’s Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, prompting the signing of a treaty of cooperation in foreign policy between Italy and Nazi Germany in 1937. Although Adolf Hitler’s Nazi revolution was modeled after the rise of Mussolini and the Italian Fascist Party, Fascist Italy and Il Duce proved overwhelmingly the weaker partner in the Berlin-Rome Axis during World War II. In July 1943, the failure of the Italian war effort and the imminent invasion of the Italian mainland by the Allies led to a rebellion within the Fascist Party. Two days after the fall of Palermo on July 24, the Fascist Grand Council rejected the policy dictated by Hitler through Mussolini, and on July 25 Il Duce was arrested. Fascist Marshal Pietro Badoglio took over the reins of the Italian government, and in September Italy surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. Eight days later, German commandos freed Mussolini from his prison in the Abruzzi Mountains, and he was later made the puppet leader of German-controlled northern Italy. With the collapse of Nazi Germany in April 1945, Mussolini was captured by Italian partisans and on April 29 was executed by firing squad with his mistress, Clara Petacci, after a brief court-martial. Their bodies, brought to Milan, were hanged by the feet in a public square for all the world to see. More on This Topic


Who was Axle Rose's famous singer father-in-law?

Axl Rose | Biography, Life, Facts, Family and Songs Tweet Introduction and Early Life: Axl Rose is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of the heavy rock band Guns N’ Roses. He is widely regarded as one of the most iconic and controversial performers in rock history. Born on February 6, 1962 in Lafayette, Indiana to William and Sharon Rose, he had a difficult childhood and his parents divorced when he was only two years old. Rose has openly declared that he was sexually abused by his father and physically abused by his mother’s new husband, Stephen Bailey. He became interested in music from an early age and started singing in church and learning to play piano while still in grade school. Rose left home at a young age and moved to Los Angeles in 1982. Career and Musical Achievements: After coming to Los Angeles, Axl Rose initially sang for a number of bands, including Rapidfire and L.A. Guns, before forming Hollywood Rose with his childhood friend Izzy Stradlin. Rose co-founded Guns N’ Roses in 1985 with his former band mate Tracii Guns by combining Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns. The band’s lineup at that time consisted of Axl, Tracii Guns, Ole Beich and Duff McKagan. Guns N’ Roses underwent a number of line-up changes, and lead guitarist Slash and drummer Steven Adler were eventually recruited in 1985. They played their first concert at the Troubadour club in Hollywood. The band, after establishing a loyal audience by playing regularly on the L.A. club circuit, signed with Geffen Records in 1986. Guns N’ Roses released their debut album, Appetite for Destruction, in 1987. The band achieved worldwide fame with the tremendous commercial success of the single “Sweet Child O’ Mine”. The album has sold more than 30 million copies to date. The band followed it up with Appetite for Destruction (1987), G N’ R Lies (1988), Use Your Illusion I & Use Your Illusion II (1991), and “The Spaghetti Incident?” (1993). From the early 90s, bitter rivalries began to develop in Guns N’ Roses, but Rose managed to obtain the sole ownership of the band’s name. Consequently, Slash, McKagan and Sorum all decided to leave the band. The long-rumored album, Chinese Democracy, was released in 2008 and Duff McKagan made a surprise appearance during their performance at London’s The O2 Arena in October 2010. Awards and Accolades: Axl Rose was awarded the Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. Personal Life: Axl Rose married Erin Everly, the daughter of singer Don Everly , in 1990. The couple annulled their marriage in 1991. He started dating supermodel Stephanie Seymour and they got engaged for a brief period of time. Rose is a controversial rock star whose contentious lyrics and erratic behavior have often provoked public outcry.


Richard Gere won a scholarship to the University of Massachusetts in which sport?

Richard Gere Attended The University Of Massachusetts Amherst On A Gymnastics Scholarship Majoring | Richard Gere Richard Gere Attended The University Of Massachusetts Amherst On A Gymnastics Scholarship Majoring Oct 29th, 2012 His mother, Doris Ann (née Tiffany, born 1924), was a homemaker. in 1967, he graduated from North Syracuse Central High School, where he excelled at gymnastics and music, playing the trumpet. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship, majoring in philosophy, but did not graduate, leaving after two years. Richard Gere Attended The University Of Massachusetts Amherst On A Gymnastics Scholarship Majoring Apr 16th, 2012 Richard Tiffany Gere ( /’???r/ GEER; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol. Gere’s mother, Doris Ann (née Tiffany, born 1924), was a homemaker, and his father, Homer George Gere (born 1922), was an insurance agent for the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and had originally intended to become a minister. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship, majoring in philosophy, but did not graduate, leaving after two years. Richard Gere Attended The University Of Massachusetts Amherst On A Gymnastics Scholarship Majoring Apr 1st, 2012 He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship, majoring in philosophy, but did not graduate, leaving after two years. His first major acting role was in the original London stage version of Grease in 1973. He became a major star that year with the film American Gigolo, followed by the romantic drama An Officer and a Gentleman, which grossed almost $130 million in 1982. His career was somewhat resurrected after the release of both Internal Affairs and Pretty Woman in 1990. Richard Gere Attended The University Of Massachusetts Amherst On A Gymnastics Scholarship Majoring Mar 27th, 2012 Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gere is a descendant of Mayflower Pilgrims Francis Eaton, John Billington, George Soule, Richard Warren, Degory Priest, William Brewster, and Francis Cooke. Gere is their eldest son and second child. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship, majoring in philosophy, but did not graduate, leaving after two years. Richard Gere Attended The University Of Massachusetts Amherst On A Gymnastics Scholarship Majoring Mar 10th, 2012 Richard Tiffany Gere ( /’???r/ GEER; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. Gere is their eldest son and second child. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship, majoring in philosophy, but did not graduate, leaving after two years. Gere’s 2004 ballroom dancing drama Shall We Dance. Gere was raised by Methodist parents; his interest in Buddhism began when he traveled to Nepal in 1978 with the Brazilian painter, Sylvia Martins. Richard Gere Attended The University Of Massachusetts Amherst On A Gymnastics Scholarship Majoring Oct 25th, 2011 Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gere is a descendant of Mayflower Pilgrims Francis Eaton, John Billington, George Soule, Richard Warren, Degory Priest, William Brewster and Francis Cooke. Gere is their eldest son and second child. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship, majoring in philosophy, but did not graduate, leaving after two years. Richard Gere Attended The University Of Massachusetts Amherst On A Gymnastics Scholarship Majoring Sep 3rd, 2011 He went on to star in several hit films including An Officer and a Gentleman, Pretty Woman, Primal Fear, and Chicago, for which he won a Golden Globe Award as Best Actor, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the Best Cast. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst on a gymnastics scholarship, majoring in philosophy, but did not gradua


Which golfer announced he was leaving his wife and three children for Brenna Cepalak in 1996?

GOLF Magazine Interview: Nick Faldo - Peter Kessler – The Voice of Golf GOLF Magazine Interview: Nick Faldo Posted on: September 28th, 2011 by Peter Kessler No Comments Faldo won the Open Championship in 1987. It was his first of three claret jugs and six total major championships. By Peter Kessler – This interview appeared in the August, 2003 issue of GOLF Magazine. When Nick Faldo walked the legendary courses where he evidenced his brilliance, his head down in deep concentration, he was criticized for being a cold fish. When he practiced relentlessly on the range, seeking perfection, he was tabbed a selfish loner. When he won with brilliant golf and stunning emotional control, he was told he had no feeling for his fellow man. That’s not the Nick Faldo I know, and now that he is 45 and no longer grinding to be number one, the rest of the world is seeing a more relaxed Faldo, too. When I arrived for our interview at the Faldo Golf Institute by Marriott in Orlando, Florida, Nick was happily mugging for the camera and cooperating with the photographer. When I returned home afterward, I found that Nick had called, leaving a message to say thanks and to wish me a happy weekend. Typical Faldo. GOLF Magazine: How successfully has the new, funny, affectionate, warm Nick Faldo been playing out? NICK FALDO: It’s always been in me. It’s a bit more in evidence lately. I was a serious golfer, obviously, and then the last five or six years I’ve been through serious ups and downs. When I met Valerie [his wife of two years] the transformation began, and I’m still learning to unwind. Our baby is due in August and our life together is incredible. I know what stage I’m at in my career, what my playing capabilities are. I have to let go of the level golfer I was a little but to be happy with what I’ve got. GOLF: Is there anything you’re going to do differently this go-around as a husband and father? FALDO: Totally. It is a massive and difficult job handling a woman. When they say, “no,” do they really mean no? When they say, “yes,” what kind of yes is it? And when they ask a question, you can’t just answer it. You have to work out in a split second what kind of answer they want. I’m getting better at it thanks to a fantastic guy, Kjell Enhager, who has become one of my truest and closest friends. He is a sports and corporate psychologist who has been working with me on the golf course for almost four years. We go off for a session on golf and the first half is really about how to handle the wives. It’s much more complicated and exhausting than the golf. It’s reassuring to see that I’m not the only guy who is lost sometimes about human and marital relationships. The bottom line is that I care for her so much and I just want to make sure I do everything I can to make her happy. GOLF: What do you want to try to do differently as a dad? FALDO: Well, that has been a tough one. Unfortunately, being a professional golfer is not the best career if you want to spend a lot of time at home with your children. You have to be away from them for what sometimes seems like an eternity. But it’s your job. So, yes, I missed an awful lot of things with my first three children. Then going through a divorce [from his second wife, Gill] didn’t help at all. They grow up so fast. Now I have to fit into their busy schedule. But when I spend time with them, they get absolute priority. I’ll do what any other dad does: the school runs, the rugby or cricket matches, the school plays. If I have to get up at 4 o’clock in the morning to work on my grips in order to be there for them at 7 o’clock, I’ll do it. With our new baby, everything will be easier. My whole life is changing now. I have a better balance between golf, business and family life. I lived in London when Faldo was starting out and remember well the treatment he received from a cruel and unfair press corps. “El Foldo” they called him. They openly rooted against him. GOLF: The British press targeted you in your early days. It was particularly ugly. FALDO: Right. “How can we get the blood to drip out onto the


Madeleine Gurdon is the third wife of which millionaire?

Madeleine Gurdon - iSnare Free Encyclopedia Madeleine Gurdon (1962-11-30) 30 November 1962 (age 54) [1] Sport Madeleine Astrid Gurdon, Baroness Lloyd-Webber, (born 30 November 1962) is an English former equestrian sportswoman, and the third and current wife of musical theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber . Early life Madeleine "Gurtie" Gurdon was born in 1962 to a British Army officer, and his wife, who later retired as a Brigadier . Gurtie was educated at a convent, and [2] was an equestrian competitor for nearly a decade, riding in three-day events in Princess Anne's set. [2] To supplement her riding career, Gurdon designed an exclusive country wear company, featuring leather-and-suede clothing, [2] called The Done Thing, after her favourite dun horse. Gurdon met Lloyd Webber through his Watership Down neighbours, who loved horses.  [3] Personal life Gurdon married Lloyd Webber at his Hampshire home on 9 February 1991. They have three children together; Alastair (born 1992), William (born 1993) and Isabella (born 1996). The family currently resides in London [4] and Hampshire . [5] References   ^


Who led Argentina through most of the 1990s?

A century of decline | The Economist A century of decline One hundred years ago Argentina was the future. What went wrong? Feb 15th 2014 Tweet Yesterday’s news WHEN the residents of Buenos Aires want to change the pesos they do not trust into the dollars they do, they go to a cueva, or “cave”, an office that acts as a front for a thriving illegal exchange market. In one cueva near Florida Street, a pedestrian thoroughfare in the centre of the city, piles of pesos from previous transactions lie on a table. A courier is getting ready to carry the notes to safety-deposit boxes. This smallish cueva handles transactions worth $50,000-75,000 a day. Fear of inflation and of further depreciation of the peso, which fell by more than 20% in January, will keep demand for dollars high. Few other ways of making money are this good. “Modern Argentina does not offer what you could call an institutional career,” says one cueva owner. As the couriers carry their bundles around Buenos Aires, they pass grand buildings like the Teatro Colón, an opera house that opened in 1908, and the Retiro railway station, completed in 1915. These are emblems of Argentina’s Belle Époque, the period before the outbreak of the first world war when the country could claim to be the world’s true land of opportunity. In the 43 years leading up to 1914, GDP had grown at an annual rate of 6%, the fastest recorded in the world. The country was a magnet for European immigrants, who flocked to find work on the fertile pampas, where crops and cattle were propelling Argentina’s expansion. In 1914 half of Buenos Aires’s population was foreign-born. The country ranked among the ten richest in the world, after the likes of Australia, Britain and the United States, but ahead of France, Germany and Italy. Its income per head was 92% of the average of 16 rich economies. From this vantage point, it looked down its nose at its neighbours: Brazil’s population was less than a quarter as well-off. It never got better than this. Although Argentina has had periods of robust growth in the past century—not least during the commodity boom of the past ten years—and its people remain wealthier than most Latin Americans, its standing as one of the world’s most vibrant economies is a distant memory (see chart 1). Its income per head is now 43% of those same 16 rich economies; it trails Chile and Uruguay in its own back yard. The political symptoms of decline are also clear. If Argentina appeared to enjoy stability in the pre-war era, its history since then has been marked by a succession of military coups. The first came in 1930; others followed in 1943, 1955, 1962, 1966 and 1976. The election of 1989 marked the first time in more than 60 years that a civilian president had handed power to an elected successor. Yesterday’s news It is now more than 30 years since the end of military dictatorship, but democracy has not yet led to stability. Argentines reach for the metaphor of the “pendulum” to describe the swings of the past three decades: from loose economic policies in the 1980s to Washington-consensus liberalisation in the 1990s and back again under the presidency of Néstor Kirchner and now his widow, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. But the image of a pendulum does not do justice to the whiplashing of the economy (see charts 2 and 3)—the repeated recessions of the 1970s and 1980s, the hyperinflation of 1989-90, the economic crisis of 2001 and now the possibility of another crisis to come. Argentina is a long way from the turmoil of 2001 but today’s mix of rising prices, wage pressures and the mistrust of the peso have nasty echoes of the past. Internationally, too, Argentina has lost its way. It has shut itself out of global capital markets, although negotiations are under way to restructure its debts with the Paris Club of international creditors. Brazil, hardly a free-trade paragon, is pressing Argentina to open its borders; once it would have been the other way round. “Only people this sophisticated could create a mess this big,” runs a Brazilian joke that plays on Argentines’ endu


What relation was Henry Ford II to Henry Ford?

Henry Ford - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Google Henry Ford: Early Life & Engineering Career Born in 1863, Henry Ford was the first surviving son of William and Mary Ford, who owned a prosperous farm in Dearborn, Michigan . At 16, he left home for the nearby city of Detroit, where he found apprentice work as a machinist. He returned to Dearborn and work on the family farm after three years, but continued to operate and service steam engines and work occasional stints in Detroit factories. In 1888, he married Clara Bryant, who had grown up on a nearby farm. Did You Know? The mass production techniques Henry Ford championed eventually allowed Ford Motor Company to turn out one Model T every 24 seconds. In the first several years of their marriage, Ford supported himself and his new wife by running a sawmill. In 1891, he returned with Clara to Detroit, where he was hired as an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company. Rising quickly through the ranks, he was promoted to chief engineer two years later. Around the same time, Clara gave birth to the couple’s only son, Edsel Bryant Ford. On call 24 hours a day for his job at Edison, Ford spent his irregular hours on his efforts to build a gasoline-powered horseless carriage, or automobile. In 1896, he completed what he called the “Quadricycle,” which consisted of a light metal frame fitted with four bicycle wheels and powered by a two-cylinder, four-horsepower gasoline engine. Henry Ford: Birth of Ford Motor Company and the Model T Determined to improve upon his prototype, Ford sold the Quadricycle in order to continue building other vehicles. He received backing from various investors over the next seven years, some of whom formed the Detroit Automobile Company (later the Henry Ford Company) in 1899. His partners, eager to put a passenger car on the market, grew frustrated with Ford’s constant need to improve, and Ford left his namesake company in 1902. (After his departure, it was reorganized as the Cadillac Motor Car Company.) The following year, Ford established the Ford Motor Company. A month after the Ford Motor Company was established, the first Ford car—the two-cylinder, eight-horsepower Model A—was assembled at a plant on Mack Avenue in Detroit. At the time, only a few cars were assembled per day, and groups of two or three workers built them by hand from parts that were ordered from other companies. Ford was dedicated to the production of an efficient and reliable automobile that would be affordable for everyone; the result was the Model T , which made its debut in October 1908. Henry Ford: Production & Labor Innovations The “Tin Lizzie,” as the Model T was known, was an immediate success, and Ford soon had more orders than the company could satisfy. As a result, he put into practice techniques of mass production that would revolutionize American industry, including the use of large production plants; standardized, interchangeable parts; and the moving assembly line. Mass production significantly cut down on the time required to produce an automobile, which allowed costs to stay low. In 1914, Ford also increased the daily wage for an eight-hour day for his workers to $5 (up from $2.34 for nine hours), setting a standard for the industry. Even as production went up, demand for the Tin Lizzie remained high, and by 1918, half of all cars in America were Model Ts. In 1919, Ford named his son Edsel as president of Ford Motor Company, but he retained full control of the company’s operations. After a court battle with his stockholders, led by brothers Horace and John Dodge, Henry Ford bought out all minority stockholders by 1920. In 1927, Ford moved production to a massive industrial complex he had built along the banks of the River Rouge in Dearborn, Michigan. The plant included a glass factory, steel mill, assembly line and all other necessary components of automotive production. That same year, Ford ceased production of the Model T, and introduced the new Model A, which featured better horsepower and brakes, among other improvements. By that time, the company had pro


Which world leader married Graca Machel in 1998?

BBC News | Africa | Graca Machel - profile Saturday, July 18, 1998 Published at 23:22 GMT 00:22 UK World: Africa Graca Machel - profile Graca Machel has a long political record Although Graca Machel has married one of the world's best known statesmen, at 52 she has a record as a political heavy weight in her own right. The widow of the founding president of Mozambique, Samora Machel, she joined the independence struggle, later rising to become a government minister. Since the death of her husband in a mysterious plane crash in 1986, she has campaigned vigorously on behalf of the world's children and for human rights. At ease in the gaze of the world's media Last December she gave her support to a commemorative programme marking the 50th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights. She defined her support as a part of lifetime commitment: "It is the meaning of what my life has been since a youth - to try to fight for the dignity and the freedom of my own people." She is at ease on the world stage and, since stories of their romantic involvement was confirmed two years ago, has accompanied Mr Mandela on official visits abroad. Nelson Mandela: "She changed my life" Wedding plans have been a constant line of inquiry for the world's media on these occasions, but Graca Machel had a way of deflecting enquiries with a smile leaving Mr Mandela to comment. On a recent visit to Britain he joked: "It is not something you discuss with journalists." Now, with marriage apparently sealing Mr Mandela's commitment to retire from South African politics, it may be that Graca Machel takes on the role as the high profile partner.


What is the first name of Charles' brother of Saatchi & Saatchi?

The Saatchi Brothers’ Breakup | Vanity Fair The Saatchi Brothers’ Breakup SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTER The Saatchi Brothers’ Breakup Maurice and Charles Saatchi sold Margaret Thatcher to Britain and the Concorde to the world; by the mid-1980s their advertising company was the biggest on the planet. Then Charles was eased out, and Maurice was ousted in a boardroom coup. Fiammetta Rocco traces the story behind the brothers’ tempestuous departure, including a $38 million revelation, a battle for revenge, and the birth of the New Saatchi Agency. Twitter ‘Make no mistake,” said a Saatchi & Saatchi senior staffer in the wake of recent events which have threatened the company’s future and shaken the entire advertising world, “all of this, every single move the company makes, is revenge. Revenge! Revenge! Revenge!” This tale of vengeance begins with a man at a window. The view from Maurice Saatchi’s old office is surprisingly ordinary. Hardly what you’d expect for the co-founder of an upstart advertising agency that became a vast creative giant, the most famous name in the field. Still, there is something soothing about the sooty skyline of London, and Saatchi needed soothing last December 16, when his board of directors kept him waiting for seven hours in the purgatory of his bright bunker with its white desk and white walls. Within days, he would join Elvis, Madonna, Charles and Diana as a British tabloid icon recognizable by only his first name: Maurice Versus the Beancounters. Or Maurice Stages a Talent Raid. But on that December day, there was only the skyline for distraction, the city lights, and the company of his older brother Charles, with whom Maurice has shared a business partnership and a fraternal rivalry that reminds public-relations maestro Sir Tim Bell of Cain and Abel. “The level of rage,” says Bell, “is extraordinary.” On that December day, however, Cain and Abel spoke in quiet tones. And what did they discuss? “I don’t know,” Maurice says. “I just remember being there a very long time.” Down the hall, the Saatchi board was sequestered behind closed doors. Their topic was ostensibly confidential, though such was the company’s fame that speculation about the outcome of the meeting was splashed over the morning papers. Maurice Saatchi was under siege. For nearly 25 years, he had ruled a company defined by the phrase “Nothing is impossible” and an attitude of gunslinging self-assurance so profound that insiders called it “the virus.” He had stood at the center of his company’s every victory: the momentous occasion when a handful of brazen campaign posters won the undying loyalty of Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives; the day when Saatchi’s seemingly life-size poster of the Concorde ascending was installed near the Queens Midtown Tunnel in Manhattan; the time in 1986 when the agency’s London share price hit a high of $78 (an increase of more than 10,000 percent on the launch price); the premiere of the hugely successful “Tastes Great, Less Filling” campaign for Miller Lite; the opening of the agency’s landmark Manhattan fortress, with its rooftop running track; the 43rd corporate acquisition, when Saatchi became the largest advertising company on the face of the globe. That was then. Saatchi & Saatchi’s current offices, at 83–89 Whitfield Street in Fitzrovia, a rather drab London neighborhood, now seem emblematic of a frailer spirit. The sixth-floor boardroom is functional, devoid of expensive canvases, representative of a style the Italians call meschino, or “mean.” The table is large, but not imposing. It makes no claims. The chairs do merely the job they were made for. It’s a far cry from the days before the company’s financial comeuppance, when art filled the Saatchi suites at the company’s global headquarters. The vast immeuble stretched across one entire side of Berkeley Square, anchoring a neighborhood where Lord Lucan once played back-gammon at the Clermont Club and Prince Charles danced the night away at Annabel’s. Yet even before the battle of December 16, the spirit of Saatchi & Saatchi had been broken by


Salvador Allende was elected president of which country in 1970?

Salvador Allende's Leftist Regime, 1970-73 - Chilean Intelligence Agencies FAS | Intelligence | World Agencies | Chile ||||| Index | Search | Allende's Leftist Regime "I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people." Henry Kissinger By the end of the 1960s, the polarization of Chilean politics had overwhelmed the traditional civility of Chile's vaunted democratic institutions. The centrist agreements of the past, which had enabled presidents to navigate a difficult course of compromise and conciliation, became more difficult to attain. The American Central Intelligence Agency had influenced elections in Chile dating back to 1958, but in 1970 the socialist candidate, a physician named Salvador Allende, was elected president. In a reflection of Chile's increased ideological polarization, Allende was elected president with 36.2 percent of the vote in 1970. Unable or unwilling to form coalitions, the left, center, and right had all nominated their own candidates in the mistaken hope of obtaining a majority. President Nixon directed CIA to prevent Allende's inauguration through a military coup. One of the opponents of a coup, Army Chief of Staff General Rene Schneider was assassinated, but Allende took office as scheduled. The Allende experiment enjoyed a triumphant first year, followed by two disastrous final years. According to the Popular Unity [ Unidad Popular - UP] coalition , Chile was being exploited by parasitic foreign and domestic capitalists. The government therefore moved quickly to socialize the economy, taking over the copper mines, other foreign firms, oligopolistic industries, banks, and large estates. By a unanimous vote of Congress in 1971, the government totally nationalized the foreign copper firms, which were mainly owned by two United States companies, Kennecott and Anaconda. The nationalization measure was one of the few bills Allende ever got through the opposition- controlled legislature, where the Christian Democrats constituted the largest single party. Socialization of the means of production spread rapidly and widely. The government took over virtually all the great estates. It turned the lands over to the resident workers, who benefited far more than the owners of tiny plots or the numerous migrant laborers. By 1972 food production had fallen and food imports had risen. Also during 1971-72, the government dusted off emergency legislation from the 1932 Socialist Republic to allow it to expropriate industries without congressional approval. It turned many factories over to management by the workers and the state. In his first year, Allende also employed Keynesian measures to hike salaries and wages, thus pumping up the purchasing power of the middle and working classes. This "consumer revolution" benefited 95 percent of the population in the short run because prices were held down and employment went up. Producers responded to rising demand by employing previously underused capacity. Politically, Allende faced problems holding his Popular Unity coalition together, pacifying the more leftist elements inside and outside Popular Unity and, above all, coping with the increasingly implacable opposition. Within Popular Unity, the largest party was the Socialist Party. Although composed of multiple factions, the Socialist Party mainly pressed Allende to accelerate the transition toward socialism. The second most important element was the PCCh, which favored a more gradual, legalistic approach. Outside the Popular Unity, the most significant left-wing organization was the MIR, a tiny but provocative group that admired the Cuban Revolution and encouraged peasants and workers to take property and the revolutionary process into their own hands, much faster than Allende preferred. The most important opposition party was the PDC. As it and the middle sectors gradually shifted to the right, they came to form an anti-Allende bloc in combination with the Natinal Party and the propertied class. Even farther to the right were minuscule, paramilitary, qu


Fitness trainer Carlos Leon was the father of which singer/actress's child?

CARLOS LEÓN, Actor, Father of Madonna’s child “Lola”. (Born: Havana) *** Carlos León, Actor, Padre de la hija de Madonna “Lola”. (Nacido en La Habana) | The History, Culture and Legacy of the People of Cuba CARLOS LEÓN, Actor, Father of Madonna’s child “Lola”. (Born: Havana) *** Carlos León, Actor, Padre de la hija de Madonna “Lola”. (Nacido en La Habana) Posted on by admin Carlos León, actor, father of Madonna’s Child “Lola”. VIDEO. Carlos León was born on July 10, 1966 in La Habana, Cuba. He has been a resident of New York for quiet a few years. Former celebrity as a personal trainer of the star Madonna whom the Queen of Pop met while jogging in Central Park in New York. The actor had a passionate affair with Madonna in the 1990s which resulted in their daughter Lourdes, 14, who he says is the love of his life. Carlos Leon a Cuban who lives in the United States. Although their relationship did not last, Carlos said in an interview: ‘I’m forever grateful to [Madonna]’. Leon and Madonna were together in the mid-1990s and split in 1997, after the October 1996 birth of Lourdes. Father with Madonna of Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon (Lourdes Leon), born 14 October 1996. Lourdes comes from the Marian shrine in France which Madonna’s mother was very devout and Mary by the name of the mother of his dad. Carlos León has turned to be an accomplished actor. Has also appeared on- and off-Broadway, including “Aunt Dan and Lemon”. As of Summer, 2006 he can be seen nightly on Broadway in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of “The Three Penny Opera” opposite Alan Cumming, Jim Dale, Ana Gasteyer, Cyndi Lauper and Nellie McKay. [April 2006] Lourdes “Lola” as is known clearly bears no ill will towards the 47-year-old personal trainer. The 16-year-old was seen attending Carlos’ wedding to Zac Posen designer Betina Holte in Denmark. After Madonna. All in the family! Madonna may have split from her ex Carlos Leon more than 15 years ago, but she met him for dinner with their daughter Lourdes just this week. The trio reunited in New York City on Thursday, June 19, dining at Manhattan’s trendy downtown lounge and restaurant, Beauty & Essex. Madonna, 56, arrived in a NYC-chic look, an onlooker tells Us, wearing a black top, black pants, and horn-rimmed glasses. An observer tells Us that the modern family “looked like they were having a great time,” and spent the evening “laughing, joking, and enjoying each other’s company.” During their Beauty & Essex feast, the trio dined on basil pesto ravioli, the restaurant’s take on a New York pretzel, salt & vinegar fries, kale and apple salad, and a crispy eggplant pizzetta. “Lola” and Carlos. Carlos and Lourdes have a famously close relationship, with Carlos calling her the love of his life ‘I have no regrets. I wouldn’t change anything. I got the best thing out of that relationship, and that’s my daughter. My daughter is everything to me’, he added. Carlos and Madonna’s eldest child Lourdes, 17, graduated from LaGuardia High School few months ago. Speaking to People magazine, he admitted that he finds it difficult to be strict with his daughter. ‘I’m a lenient dad. I’m very empathetic, and I’m good at listening to my daughter. I’m probably a bad dad when it comes to disciplining her’, Carlos shared. Rebellious, attractive and controversial, Lourdes Maria Ciccone is becoming more like her mother, get to know thoroughly at his young age, Lola has already debuted as designer collection “Material girl”‘. Personal life. Madonna’s ex Carlos Leon in July 2013 wed designer Betina Holte in Gillelje, Denmark, and his daughter Lourdes attended the ceremony. The couple lives in New York. Agencies/Various/Wiki/InternetPhotos/youtube/thecubanhistory.com Arnoldo Varona, Editor. CARLOS LEÓN, Actor, el padre de la hija de Madonna “Lola”. (Nacido: La Habana) Carlos León nació el 10 de julio de 1966 en La Habana, Cuba. Ha sido un residente de Nueva York por algunos años ya. El ex celebridad como un entrenador personal de la estrella Madonna a quien la Reina del Pop se encontró cuando ambos salían a correr en el Parqu


What was the profession of President Jean Bertrand Aristide of Haiti?

Jean Bertrand Aristide Profession - Jean Bertrand Aristide Net Worth Jean Bertrand Aristide Profession Read more... Jean Bertrand Aristide Jean Bertrand Aristide Net Worth is $800 Million. Jean Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian politician with a net worth of $800 million. Jean Bertrand Aristide built his net worth in politics and as the President of Haiti. He was born in Port-Salut, Hait. Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born... Jean Bertrand Aristide Net Worth is $800 Million. Jean Bertrand Aristide Net Worth is $800 Million. Jean Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian politician with a net worth of $800 million. Jean Bertrand Aristide built his net worth in politics and as the President of Haiti. He was born in Port-Salut, Hait Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Catholic priest and politician who served as Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies. He became a focal point for the pro-democracy movement first under Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier and then under the military transition regime which followed. He won the Haitian general election, 1990-1991 with 67% of the vote and was briefly President of Haiti, until a September 1991 military coup. The coup regime collapsed in 1994 under US pressure and threat of force after Aristide agreed to roll back several reforms. Aristide was then President again from 1994 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2004. Aristide was unexpectedly ousted in a 29 February 2004 coup d''etat, in which former soldiers participated. He accused the United States of orchestrating the coup d''etat against him ...


What was the name of Frank Sinatra's last wife?

Cele|bitchy | Frank Sinatra’s last wife: he showered 12x/day, romanced her away from her husband Frank Sinatra’s last wife: he showered 12x/day, romanced her away from her husband Books , Frank Sinatra , Photos You may have heard this news yesterday, but I couldn’t resist commenting on it. Frank Sinatra’s last ex wife, Barbara Sinatra, has a new memoir out in which she writes of her 22 year marriage to Old Blue Eyes, ending when he passed away in 1998 at the age of 82. Barbara is now 84 and is ready to reveal what it was like to be married to the famous crooner. While she remembers plenty of romantic moments it wasn’t always easy going. Frank would sometimes drink gin and she said she avoided him then, but she didn’t get into the details too much. I saw an interview with Barbara on ABC News (below) and I found her story really fascinating. It’s clear that she loved Frank up until the end, and that she misses him terrible. ABC reports that her memoir doesn’t have any details of Frank’s troubled relationship with his daughters at all, and that she steered clear of that topic. Frank Sinatra had an interesting quirk that he managed to keep hidden from the public for his entire life: He was obsessed with being clean. “He was a guy who took about 12 showers a day,” his widow, Barbara Sinatra, said in an interview with ABC News. The singer, who died in 1998 at age 82 following a heart attack, was “neat” and “always smelled like lavender,” she added. Barbara, his fourth and last wife, is promoting her new memoir titled, “Lady Blue Eyes: My Life with Frank,” which delves into the couple’s romantic, but oftentimes difficult, 22-year marriage…. “He made me feel special,” she told ABC, adding that “he would think of every little thing to make it romantic.” But alcohol often affected the nature of their relationship. “I didn’t want to be around him if he drank gin,” Barbara admitted. “Gin, I think, made him mean. So when I’d come out of my room and see the gin bottle on the bar, I’d turn right around, go back in my room, lock the door, because I didn’t want to deal with it.” Still, when Frank was on what would turn out to be his deathbed, she was convinced they would still be together for years to come. “I kept saying, ‘You’ve beaten tougher things than this. I think you can beat this, too,’ ” she recounted. “He just looked up at me and he said, ‘I can’t.’ That was it.” [From NY Daily News ] Showering 12 times a day sounds like an obsessive compulsive disorder to be sure. Twice a day is understandable, but anything more than that is excessive. I wonder how else Frank’s obsessiveness came though and if he had any other bizarre repetitive behavior. In an excerpt of Barbara’s memoir posted on ABC News, Barbara details how Frank, her then-neighbor, wooed her away from her husband of 12 years, who had been cheating on her anyway. Having been nothing but courteous for months, Frank first came looking for it my way at a gin rummy party he hosted at his house across the fairway from ours in Palm Springs, California. My husband, Zeppo, sat a few feet away, oblivious to the drama that was about to unfold. Our twelve-year marriage had long been dead. Twenty-six years older than me, Zeppo had been successful in vaudeville and manufacturing, but once he retired he preferred a routine of golf or sailing followed by early nights. Unable to relinquish the swinging lifestyle of his fraternal youth, he also dated other women. The Marx name and financial security he’d offered me and my son, Bobby, were all that was left of our once promising romance. I was bored and lonely by the time Mr. Sinatra aimed those eyes in my direction. The spark he ignited inside jerked me from my slumbers. Frank had been watching me all night as if he was seeing me for the first time. Sitting close, he called me “Barbara, baby” in that killer voice and flashed me a lopsided smile. He asked if anyone wanted “more gasoline” and offered to fix me a fresh martini. Taking my arm, he led me to the den. It was my turn to watch as he swirled vodka around a glass, reached for an oli


Idi Amin - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com A+E Networks Introduction In 1971, General Idi Amin overthrew the elected government of Milton Obote and declared himself president of Uganda, launching a ruthless eight-year regime in which an estimated 300,000 civilians were massacred. His expulsion of all Indian and Pakistani citizens in 1972—along with increasing military expenditures—brought about the country’s economic decline, the impact of which lasted decades. In 1979 his reign of terror came to an end as Ugandan exiles and Tanzanians took control of the capital of Kampala, forcing Amin to flee. Never brought to justice for his heinous crimes, Amin lived out the remainder of his life in Saudi Arabia. ‹ › Google Idi Amin: Early Life and Military Career Idi Amin Dada was born c. 1925 in Koboko, in northwestern Uganda, to a Kakwa father and Lugbara mother, who separated shortly afterwards. In 1946, after receiving only a rudimentary education, Amin joined the King’s African Rifles (KAR), a regiment of the British colonial army, and quickly rose through the ranks. He was deployed to Somalia in 1949 to fight the Shifta rebels and later fought with the British during the suppression of the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya (1952-56). In 1959 he attained the rank of effendi—the highest position for a black African soldier within the KAR—and, by 1966, he had been appointed commander of the armed forces. Did You Know? During his time in the army, Amin became the light heavyweight boxing champion of Uganda, a title he held for nine years between 1951 and 1960. Amin Commandeers Control of Uganda’s Government After more than 70 years under British rule, Uganda gained its independence on October 9, 1962, and Milton Obote became the nation’s first prime minister. By 1964, Obote had forged an alliance with Amin, who helped expand the size and power of the Ugandan Army. In February 1966, following accusations that the pair was responsible for smuggling gold and ivory from Congo that were subsequently traded for arms, Obote suspended the constitution and proclaimed himself executive president. Shortly thereafter, Obote sent Amin to dethrone King Mutesa II, also known as “King Freddie,” who ruled the powerful kingdom of Buganda in south-central Uganda. A few years and two failed—but unidentified—assassination attempts later, Obote began to question Amin’s loyalty and ordered his arrest while en route to Singapore for a Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference. During his absence, Amin took the offensive and staged a coup on January 25, 1971, seizing control of the government and forcing Obote into exile. Amin’s Regime of Terror Once in power, Amin began mass executions upon the Acholi and Lango, Christian tribes that had been loyal to Obote and therefore perceived as a threat. He also began terrorizing the general public through the various internal security forces he organized, such as the State Research Bureau (SRB) and Public Safety Unity (PSU), whose main purpose was to eliminate those who opposed his regime. In 1972, Amin expelled Uganda’s Asian population, which numbered between 50,000 and 70,000, resulting in a collapse of the economy as manufacturing, agriculture and commerce came to a screeching halt without the appropriate resources to support them. When the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked an Air France flight from Israel to Paris on June 27, 1976, Idi Amin welcomed the terrorists and supplied them with troops and weapons, but was humiliated when Israeli commandos subsequently rescued the hostages in a surprise raid on the Entebbe airport. In the aftermath, Amin ordered the execution of several airport personnel, hundreds of Kenyans whom were believed to have conspired with Israel and an elderly British hostage who had previously been escorted to a nearby hospital. Throughout his oppressive rule, Amin was estimated to have been responsible for the deaths of roughly 300,000 civilians. Amin Loses Control and Enters Exile Over time, the number of Amin’s intimate allies dwindled and formerly loyal troops beg


Hafez al Assad was the first democratically elected President of which country?

| Middle East The European Union condemned the vote as illegitimate [AFP] Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has won a landslide victory in presidential poll securing 88.7 percent of the vote, parliament speaker Mohammad al-Laham has said. The two other candidates, Hassan al-Nouri and Maher Hajjar, won 4.3 percent and 3.2 percent respectively. The victory gives Assad a third seven-year term in office despite a raging civil war which grew out of protests against his rule. The head of the Supreme Constitutional Court said on Wednesday that the turnout in the country's presidential election this week was 73.42 percent. Live Box 2012108933861442 "I declare the victory of Dr Bashar Hafez al-Assad as president of the Syrian Arab Republic with an absolute majority of the votes cast in the election," Laham said in a televised address from his office in the Syrian parliament. The opposition and its international backers have denounced the election as a farce, saying the two relatively unknown and state-approved challengers offered no real alternative to Assad. Voting was held only in government-controlled areas, excluding vast chunks of northern and eastern Syria that are in rebel hands. 'Committed allies' Fawas Gerges, a Middle East expert based in London, called the election win a "culmination of Assad's accumulated victories" since his opponents took up weapons against his regime in 2011. "The opposition does not seem to be able to genuinely change the balance of power on the ground," he told Al Jazeera. "The opposition's allies - the US and others - have not been as solid and committed as Assad's allies. Assad's allies - Iran, Russia, Hezbollah - have fought tooth and nail to keep Assad in place."


Which Russian leader was buried in 1998 in his family's vault?

LAST CZAR BURIED: TALE OF 2 RUSSIAS - The New York Times The New York Times World |LAST CZAR BURIED: TALE OF 2 RUSSIAS Search Continue reading the main story The Russians buried Czar Nicholas II today in true imperial fashion, beneath a ceiling of cherubim peeking from clouds, in a cathedral of mountainous oak and linden carvings sheathed in gold, among the white marble tombs of the czars who bestrode his empire for three centuries. And they buried him in the style of modern Russia, too: under imitation marble markers because there is no money for genuine stone; in a cathedral plundered by revolutionaries decades ago and half-restored today; at the center of enduring conflicts over whether the nation was venerating a monarch, a tyrant or even a fraud. President Boris N. Yeltsin had planned the ceremony in the hope that it would bury those conflicts too, and reunite the present with a past that its old Soviet rulers had suppressed and rewritten for 75 years. By its end, he had scored a personal triumph with a brief but powerful speech about reconciliation in a Russia forever split into ''us and them'' -- czars and peasants, Communists and workers, haves and have-nots. But his ultimate goal seemed still out of reach. The two Russias briefly came together inside a thick-walled fortress on the bank of the Neva River here, where the remains of Nicholas, most of his family and four of his servants were lowered into a single white crypt in SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral. Continue reading the main story It was 80 years to the day since the imperial family and its retinue had been shot, doused with acid and dumped into a pit on a Ural Mountains road on the personal order of Lenin, the Communist leader who had seized the Czar's kingdom. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The town where they died -- Yekaterinburg, named after Nicholas's ancestor Catherine I -- was renamed Sverdlovsk, after Yakov M. Sverdlov, the Bolshevik who signed the telegram ordering the deaths. The whereabouts of the bodies was tantamount to a state secret until the Soviet Union collapsed and Mr. Yeltsin ordered them exhumed in 1991. Today's somber service laid to rest all but two of the executed Romanovs, the Czar's heir, Alexei, and a daughter, Marie. Their bodies are believed to have been burned and buried near their parents, but have not been found. Mr. Yeltsin was first among 400 dignitaries and members of the Romanov family, the imperial dynasty that ended with Nicholas, who watched silently from among the tombs of past czars and czarinas during the 90-minute service. Beneath enormous chandeliers in the brick-and-stone church, a choir sang as Russian Orthodox priests, robed in gold, waved censers of burning incense over the oak coffins topped with crosses, which were arranged on a pedestal in the building's center. Then, one by one, the undersized coffins were carried into an adjacent room and stacked in the freshly dug vault -- the remains of the servants on the bottom, then the family, and finally the Czar himself atop them. They were nine in all: Alouzy Tropp, the Czar's valet; Eugene Botkin, the royal physician; Ivan Kharitonov, a cook; Anna Demidova, a lady-in-waiting; then three of the Czar's four daughters -- Anastasia, Olga and Tatiana -- and Czar Nicholas and his wife, Alexandra. The final two coffins were draped in yellow banners bearing the imperial spread eagle, which were removed for historical safekeeping. More than 50 surviving members of the Romanov family slowly entered the room, each throwing a handful of white sand on the coffins in a traditional gesture of farewell. To the peal of cathedral bells that Czar Nicholas had ordered installed 95 years ago, cannon fired 19 ear-splitting blasts -- two short of the normal 21-gun salute, because Nicholas had abdicated his throne before his death -- and the service ended. Mr. Yeltsin's appearance was both an act of repentance and a moment of supreme irony. As the Communist Party boss in Sverdlovsk, Mr. Yeltsin issued an order in July 1977 to raze the house in whose cellar the executions