March 12 in History

Vitiges (c. 480–542) was ruler of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy from 536 to 540 during the Gothic War between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantine Empire under Justinian I. Vitiges came from humble roots and had a respected military career under Theodoric the Great, later becoming one of the king's bodyguards and adviser to King Athalaric. Under King Theodahad, he became leader of the king's bodyguards and the Gothic forces in Rome. He rose to power after the overthrow of Theodahad, whose failure to counter the Byzantines at the onset of the Gothic War had angered the Gothic nobility. To strengthen his legitimacy, Vitiges forced a marriage to Mataswintha, the granddaughter of Theodoric and daughter of Amalaswintha. His reign began during a period of crisis, as the Byzantine general Belisarius had already conquered Sicily, much of southern Italy, and Rome in December 536. Vitiges attempted to halt the Byzantine advance by besieging Rome in 537 with superior numbers but the defenders under Belisarius resisted the assault. After a year-long siege, he withdrew from Rome and concentrated on defending northern Italy and the Gothic capital at Ravenna, while seeking allies against the Byzantines. In 540, Vitiges found himself trapped in the capital as Byzantine forces increased their control of the surrounding region. He agreed with the Gothic nobility to offer to Belisarius the crown of the Western Roman Empire. Belisarius pretended to accept, but once inside the city, took Vitiges captive, and brought him to Constantinople. Vitiges died there in 542 without heirs, marking the end of his reign.

The 1088 papal election subsequent to the death of Pope Victor III in 1087 was held on 12 March 1088. Six cardinal-bishops, assisted by two lower-ranking cardinals, elected Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia Odon de Lagery as the new Pope. He assumed the name Urban II.

Munich is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third most-populous city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is not a state of its own, and it ranks as the 11th-largest city in the European Union (EU). The metropolitan area has around 3 million inhabitants, and the broader Munich Metropolitan Region is home to about 6.2 million people. It is the third largest metropolitan region by GDP in the EU. Munich is located on the river Isar north of the Alps. It is the seat of the Upper Bavarian administrative region. With 4,800 people per km2, Munich is Germany's most densely populated municipality. It is also the second-largest city in the Bavarian dialect area after Vienna.

Konrad von Wallenrode (c. 1330s – 23 July 1393) was the 24th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1391 to 1393. Modern sources are friendly towards Konrad, although they claim he was hot-blooded, proud, and had tendencies to be cruel. Konrad was the inspiration for Adam Mickiewicz's poem Konrad Wallenrod.

The siege of Maastricht was a battle of the Eighty Years' War which lasted from March 12 to July 1, 1579. The Spanish were victorious.

Ignatius of Loyola (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; c. 23 October 1491 – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Basque Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), and became its first Superior General, in Paris in 1541. Ignatius envisioned the purpose of the Society of Jesus to be missionary work and teaching. In addition to the vows of chastity, obedience and poverty of other religious orders in the church, Loyola instituted a fourth vow for Jesuits of obedience to the Pope, to engage in projects ordained by the pontiff. Jesuits were instrumental in leading the Counter-Reformation. As a former soldier, Ignatius paid particular attention to the spiritual formation of his recruits and recorded his method in the Spiritual Exercises (1548). In time, the method has become known as Ignatian spirituality. He was beatified in 1609 and was canonized as a saint on 12 March 1622. His feast day is celebrated on 31 July. He is the patron saint of the Basque provinces of Gipuzkoa and Biscay as well as of the Society of Jesus. He was declared the patron saint of all spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922.

James II and VII (14 October 1633 O.S. – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from February 1685 until he was deposed in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. The last Catholic monarch of England, Scotland, and Ireland, his reign was marked by conflicts over religion, absolutism and the divine right of kings; his deposition ended a century of political and civil strife by confirming the primacy of the English Parliament over the Crown. James was the second surviving son of Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France, and was created Duke of York at birth. His conversion to Catholicism in the 1660s caused growing concern, particularly during the Exclusion Crisis of 1679–81, when attempts were made by Whigs to exclude him from the succession on religious grounds. However, the trauma of the brief republican Commonwealth of England 20 years earlier made the public reluctant to undermine the principle of hereditary succession. At the age of 51, James therefore succeeded to the throne with widespread support following the death of his elder brother, Charles II, with many believing that a Catholic monarchy would be temporary. However, tolerance of James's personal views did not extend to Catholicism in general, and both the English and Scottish parliaments refused to pass measures viewed as undermining the primacy of the Protestant religion. His attempts to impose them by absolutist decrees, as a matter of his perceived divine right, were met with opposition. In June 1688, two events turned dissent into a renewed crisis. Firstly, the birth of James's son and heir James Francis Edward Stuart on 10 June raised the prospect of a Catholic dynasty, displacing his Protestant daughter Mary, who had been heir presumptive. Secondly, the state prosecution of the Seven Bishops was seen as an assault on the Church of England, and their acquittal on 30 June heavily damaged his political authority. Ensuing anti-Catholic riots in England and Scotland led to a general feeling that only James's removal could prevent another civil war. Leading members of the English political class invited William of Orange, James's nephew and son-in-law, to assume the English throne. When William landed in Brixham on 5 November 1688, James's army deserted and he went into exile in France on 23 December. In February 1689, a special Convention Parliament held James had "vacated" the English throne and installed William and Mary as joint monarchs, thereby establishing the principle that sovereignty derived from Parliament, not birth. James landed in Ireland on 14 March 1689 in an attempt to recover his kingdoms, but, despite a simultaneous rising in Scotland, in April a Scottish Convention followed England in ruling that James had "forfeited" the throne, which was offered to William and Mary. After his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, James returned to France, where he spent the rest of his life in exile at Saint-Germain, protected by Louis XIV. While contemporary opponents often portrayed him as an absolutist tyrant, some 20th-century historians have praised James for advocating religious tolerance, although more recent scholarship has tended to take a middle ground between these views.

The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by the Iberian nations Spain and Portugal, along with the United Kingdom, against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, it is considered to overlap with the Spanish War of Independence. It overlapped with the War of the Fifth Coalition (1809) and the War of the Sixth Coalition (1812–1814).

Brother Jonathan was a paddle steamer that struck an uncharted rock near Point St. George, off the coast of Crescent City, California, on July 30, 1865. The ship was carrying 244 passengers and crew, with a large shipment of gold. Only 19 people survived, making it the deadliest shipwreck up to that time on the Pacific Coast of the United States. Based on the passenger and crew list, 225 people are believed to have died. Its location was not discovered until 1993 and a portion of the gold was recovered in 1996. The ship was also instrumental in setting off the 1862 smallpox epidemic in the Pacific Northwest, which killed thousands of Indigenous people in the region.

Girl Guides are organisations within the Scout Movement, originally and largely still for girls and women only, with distinct names, emblems, programs and other characteristics. The Girl Guides began in 1910 with the formation of The Girl Guides Association in the United Kingdom, following which, Girl Guide organisations were formed in other countries.

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a land area of 7,688,287 km2 (2,968,464 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest country in the world, and is the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, including deserts in the interior and tropical rainforests along the coast.

Moscow is the capital and largest city of Russia, situated on the Moskva River in Central Russia. The city has a population estimated at more than 13 million residents within city limits, more than 19.1 million residents in the urban area, and more than 21.5 million residents in the metropolitan area. The city covers an area of 2,511 square kilometers (970 sq mi); the urban area covers 5,891 square kilometers (2,275 sq mi); and the metropolitan area covers more than 26,000 square kilometers (10,000 sq mi). Moscow is among the world's largest cities: the most populous city entirely in Europe, the largest urban and metropolitan areas in Europe, and the largest city by land area on the European continent. First documented in 1147, Moscow became the capital of the Grand Principality of Moscow, which led the unification of Russian lands in the 15th century and became the center of a unified state. Following the proclamation of the Tsardom of Russia in 1547, Moscow remained the country's political and economic center for most of its history. During the reign of Peter the Great, the Russian capital was moved to the newly founded city of Saint Petersburg in 1712, leading to a decline in Moscow's importance throughout the imperial period. Following the Russian Revolution and the establishment of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR), the capital was moved back to Moscow in 1918. The city later became the political center of the Soviet Union and experienced significant population growth throughout the Soviet period. In the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Moscow remained the capital city of the newly reconstituted Russian Federation and has experienced continued growth. The northernmost and coldest megacity in the world, Moscow is governed as a federal city, where it serves as the political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe. Moscow has one of the world's largest urban economies. Moscow has the second-highest number of billionaires of any city (tied with Hong Kong). The Moscow International Business Center is one of the largest financial centers in the world and features the majority of Europe's tallest skyscrapers. Moscow hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics and co-hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The city contains several UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is known for its display of Russian architecture—particularly in areas such as Red Square, as well as buildings such as Saint Basil's Cathedral and the Moscow Kremlin, which serves as the seat of power of the Government of Russia. Russian companies in various industries are headquartered in Moscow, and the city is served by a comprehensive transit network; this includes four international airports, ten railway terminals, a tram system, a monorail system, and the Moscow Metro, which is the busiest metro system in Europe and one of the largest rapid transit systems in the world. More than 40% of the city's territory is covered by greenery, so it is one of the greenest cities in the world.

The Kapp Putsch (German pronunciation: [ˈkapˌpʊt͡ʃ] ), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (German pronunciation: [kapˈlʏtvɪt͡sˌpʊt͡ʃ] ), was an abortive coup d'état against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to undo the German Revolution of 1918–1919, overthrow the Weimar Republic, and establish an autocratic government. It was supported by parts of the Reichswehr, as well as nationalist and monarchist factions. Although the legitimate German government was forced to flee the city, the coup failed after a few days, when large sections of the German population joined a general strike called by the government. Most civil servants refused to cooperate with Kapp and his allies. Despite its failure, the Putsch had significant consequences for the future of the Weimar Republic. It was also one of the direct causes of the Ruhr uprising a few weeks later, which the government suppressed by military force, after having dealt leniently with leaders of the Kapp Putsch. These events polarised the German electorate, resulting in a shift in the majority after the June 1920 Reichstag election.

California is a state in the Western United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. With a population of over 39 million across an area of 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the most populous U.S. state and the third largest by land area.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule, which would later inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā (Sanskrit: "great-souled", "venerable"), first applied to him in 1914 in South Africa, is now used throughout the world. Born and raised in a Hindu family in coastal Gujarat, Gandhi was trained in the law at the Inner Temple in London and was called to the bar at the age of 22. After two uncertain years in India, where he was unable to start a successful law practice, Gandhi moved to South Africa in 1893 to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. He went on to live in South Africa for the next 21 years. Here, Gandhi raised a family and first employed nonviolent resistance in a campaign for civil rights. In 1915, aged 45, he returned to India and soon set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against discrimination and excessive land tax. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, and, above all, achieving swaraj or self-rule. Gandhi adopted the short dhoti woven with hand-spun yarn as a mark of identification with India's rural poor. He began to live in a self-sufficient residential community, to eat simple food, and undertake long fasts as a means of both introspection and political protest. Bringing anti-colonial nationalism to the common Indians, Gandhi led them in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930 and in calling for the British to quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned many times and for many years in both South Africa and India. Gandhi's vision of an independent India based on religious pluralism was challenged in the early 1940s by a Muslim nationalism which demanded a separate homeland for Muslims within British India. In August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan. As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out, especially in Punjab and Bengal. Abstaining from the official celebration of independence, Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting to alleviate distress. In the months following, he undertook several hunger strikes to stop the religious violence. The last of these was begun in Delhi on 12 January 1948, when Gandhi was 78. The belief that Gandhi had been too resolute in his defence of both Pakistan and Indian Muslims spread among some Hindus in India. Among these was Nathuram Godse, a militant Hindu nationalist from Pune, western India, who assassinated Gandhi by firing three bullets into his chest at an interfaith prayer meeting in Delhi on 30 January 1948. Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Nonviolence. Gandhi is considered to be the Father of the Nation in post-colonial India. During India's nationalist movement and in several decades immediately after, he was also commonly called Bapu, an endearment roughly meaning "father".

The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was marked by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and business failures around the world. The economic contagion began in 1929 in the United States, the largest economy in the world, with the devastating Wall Street crash of 1929 often considered the beginning of the Depression. Among the countries with the most unemployed were the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Germany.

The Anschluss (German: [ˈʔanʃlʊs] , or Anschluß, lit. 'joining' or 'connection'), also known as the Anschluß Österreichs (, English: Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an Anschluss (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Greater Germany") arose after the 1871 unification of Germany excluded Austria and the German Austrians from the Prussian-dominated German Empire. It gained support after the Austro-Hungarian Empire fell in 1918. The new Republic of German-Austria attempted to form a union with Germany, but the 1919 Treaty of Saint Germain and Treaty of Versailles forbade both the union and the continued use of the name "German-Austria" (Deutschösterreich); they also stripped Austria of some of its territories, such as the Sudetenland. This left Austria without most of the territories it had ruled for centuries amidst an economic crisis. By the 1920s, the Anschluss proposal had strong support in both Austria and Germany, particularly from many Austrian citizens of the political left and center. One vehement supporter was prominent Social Democrat leader Otto Bauer, who served as the Austrian foreign minister in 1918–1919. Support for unification with Germany came mainly from the belief that Austria, stripped of its imperial land, was not viable economically. Popular support for the unification faded with time, although it remained as a concept in the contemporary Austrian political discourse. On 30 January 1933, Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany. From then on, desire for unification could be identified with the Nazi regime, for whom it was an integral part of the Nazi "Heim ins Reich" ("back home to the realm") concept, which sought to incorporate as many Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans outside Germany) as possible into a "Greater Germany". Nazi Germany's agents cultivated pro-unification tendencies in Austria, and sought to undermine the Austrian government, which was controlled by the Fatherland Front, which opposed unification. During an attempted coup in July 1934, Austrian chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss was assassinated by Austrian Nazis. The defeat of the coup prompted many leading Austrian Nazis to go into exile in Germany, where they continued their efforts to unify the two countries. On 5 November 1937, Hitler informed his military aides that he would annex Austria and Czechoslovakia to the German Reich, and forced a meeting with Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg. Although Schuschnigg viewed Austria as a "German State", he fiercely opposed annexation into the Greater Germanic Reich. His commitment to Austrian sovereignty was pushed to the brink on February 12, 1938, during a tense meeting with Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden. Under the threat of military invasion, Schuschnigg accepted a devastating ultimatum: either appoint Arthur Seyss-Inquart, a prominent Austrian National Socialist, as Minister of the Interior and Security or face dire consequences. On the eve of 9 March 1938, Schuschnigg defiantly announced that there would be a referendum held on 13 March to decide between a possible union with Germany or the maintenance of Austria's sovereignty. Schuschnigg expected to win a clear majority to face the Nazi challenge, but on 11 March, Hitler, again under the threat of German occupation, issued a demand for cancellation of the referendum and Schuschnigg's immediate resignation. Bowing to pressure and unrest from both German and Austrian Nazi factions, Schuschnigg resigned, forcing Austrian president Wilhelm Miklas to reluctantly appoint Seyss-Inquart as Schuschnigg's successor. Within hours of taking office, Seyss-Inquart then "invited" Hitler and the German Army to cross the border to "restore order" in Austria on 12 March, unopposed by the Austrian military. A plebiscite was held on 10 April, resulting in 99.7% approval.

The Battle of Java (Invasion of Java, Operation J) was a battle of the Pacific theatre of World War II. It occurred on the island of Java from 28 February – 12 March 1942. It involved forces from the Empire of Japan, which invaded on 28 February 1942, and Allied personnel. Allied commanders signed a formal surrender at Japanese headquarters at Bandung on 12 March.

The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.

The Llandow air disaster was an aircraft accident in Wales in 1950. At that time it was the world's worst air disaster, with a total of 80 fatalities. The aircraft, an Avro Tudor V, had been privately hired to fly rugby union enthusiasts to and from an international game in Ireland. On the return flight the aircraft stalled and crashed on its approach to land.

Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian general and politician who served as the second and longest-serving president of Indonesia from 1967 to 1998. Suharto was born in Kemusuk, near the city of Yogyakarta, during the Dutch colonial era. He grew up in humble circumstances. His Javanese Muslim parents divorced not long after his birth, and he lived with foster parents for much of his childhood. During the Japanese occupation, Suharto served in the Japanese-organized Indonesian security forces. During Indonesia's independence struggle, he joined the newly formed Indonesian Army and rose to the rank of major general some time after full Indonesian independence was achieved. An attempted coup on 30 September and 1 October 1965 was countered by Suharto-led troops. The army subsequently led a nationwide violent anti-communist purge. In March 1967, the MPRS appointed Suharto as acting president, and he was appointed president the following year. When Suharto came to power, inflation was running at over 650%. He appointed an economic advisory group that implemented free market policies, and by 1969 the country entered a period of price stability. Suharto ordered an invasion of East Timor in 1975, followed by a 23-year occupation of the country and genocide. Under his "New Order" regime, Suharto established a strong, centralised government dominated by the military, evolving from an initial oligarchic military dictatorship into a deeply authoritarian state centred on a cult of personality that elevated him as the nation's undisputed leader. His staunch anti-communist stance and ability to maintain political stability across Indonesia's vast and diverse archipelago secured significant economic and diplomatic backing from Western powers, particularly the United States, during the Cold War. During much of his presidency, Indonesia underwent rapid industrialisation, sustained economic growth (with GDP growing at around 7% per annum) improved education, and a rise in domestic entrepreneurship, developments that led the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to name him "Father of Development" (Indonesian: Bapak Pembangunan) in 1982. In 1986, he was awarded the Ceres Medal by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for achieving self-sufficiency in rice production. However, by the 1990s, his regime's increasing authoritarianism and widespread corruption fueled public dissatisfaction, which reached a breaking point during the 1997 Asian financial crisis that plunged the country into economic turmoil and widespread unrest. Under immense pressure, Suharto resigned in May 1998 after more than three decades in power. Suharto died in January 2008 and received a state military funeral with full honors. The Indonesian government declared a week of national mourning. Suharto was widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers. His 32-year presidency and legacy are highly divisive, and he remains a controversial figure among the Indonesian general public. He has been praised for making Indonesia into an economic success story, bringing stability to the region particularly during the Cold War period, and leading Indonesia when it played a significant role in international affairs. Others denounce his authoritarian rule, widespread corruption, and extensive human rights violations. His 31-year dictatorship is considered one of the most brutal and corrupt of the 20th century: he was central to the perpetration of mass killings against alleged communists and subsequent persecution of ethnic Chinese, Islamists, irreligious people, and trade unionists.

Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, located about 1,100 nautical miles off the southeastern coast of Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island, as well as Rodrigues, Agaléga, and St. Brandon. The islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, along with nearby Réunion, are part of the Mascarene Islands. The main island of Mauritius, where the population is concentrated, hosts the capital and largest city, Port Louis. The country spans 2,040 square kilometres (790 sq mi) and has an exclusive economic zone covering approximately 580,000 square nautical miles.

Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web, HTML, the URL system, and HTTP. He is a professorial research fellow at the University of Oxford and a professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Berners-Lee proposed an information management system on 12 March 1989 and implemented the first successful communication between a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) client and server via the Internet in mid-November. He devised and implemented the first Web browser and Web server and helped foster the Web's subsequent development. He is the founder and emeritus director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which oversees the continued development of the Web. He co-founded (with Rosemary Leith) the World Wide Web Foundation. In 2009, he was elected Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences. Berners-Lee was previously a senior researcher and holder of the 3Com founder's chair at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). He is a director of the Web Science Research Initiative (WSRI) and a member of the advisory board of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence. In 2011, he was named a member of the board of trustees of the Ford Foundation. He is a founder and president of the Open Data Institute and is an advisor at social network MeWe. In 2004, Berners-Lee was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his pioneering work. He received the 2016 Turing Award "for inventing the World Wide Web, the first web browser, and the fundamental protocols and algorithms allowing the Web to scale". He was named in Time magazine's list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th century and has received a number of other accolades for his invention.

Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, located about 1,100 nautical miles off the southeastern coast of Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island, as well as Rodrigues, Agaléga, and St. Brandon. The islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, along with nearby Réunion, are part of the Mascarene Islands. The main island of Mauritius, where the population is concentrated, hosts the capital and largest city, Port Louis. The country spans 2,040 square kilometres (790 sq mi) and has an exclusive economic zone covering approximately 580,000 square nautical miles.

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen rivers, and South Korea to the south at the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The country's western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. Pyongyang is the capital and largest city.

The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a collective defence treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republics in Central and Eastern Europe in May 1955, during the Cold War. The term "Warsaw Pact" commonly refers to both the treaty itself and its resultant military alliance, the Warsaw Pact Organisation. The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), the economic organization for the Eastern Bloc states.

Zoran Đinđić (1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician and philosopher who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until his assassination in 2003. He was the mayor of Belgrade in 1997, becoming the first non-communist and first democratically elected official to hold both key positions after World War II. Đinđić was a long-time opposition politician and held a doctorate in philosophy. Đinđić was one of the original thirteen restorers of the modern day Democratic Party, becoming its president in 1994. During the 1990s, he was one of the co-leaders of the opposition to the administration of Slobodan Milošević, and became the Prime Minister of Serbia in 2001 after the overthrow of Milošević. As Prime Minister, he advocated pro-democratic reforms and the integration of Serbia into European structures. His government ratified the European Convention on Human Rights and implemented innovations in line with the Council of Europe recommendations, which led to the introduction of institutions for the protection of human rights and freedoms, as well as for Serbia and Montenegro to become a member state of the Council of Europe in 2003. His government strongly advocated cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Following the arrest of Special Operations Unit (JSO) members and extradition to the ICTY, the JSO organized an armed mutiny in November 2001 in Belgrade. Đinđić was assassinated in 2003 by Zvezdan Jovanović, a former JSO member operative with ties to the Zemun Clan.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has six regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide. Only sovereign states are eligible to join, and it is the largest intergovernmental health organization at the international level.

The president of the Republic of Korea, also known as the president of South Korea, is the head of state and head of government of South Korea. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.

Mahmoudiyah is a rural city south of Baghdad. Known as the "Gateway to Baghdad," the city's proximity to Baghdad made it central to the counterinsurgency campaign.

Bernard Lawrence Madoff was an American financier, con artist, and stock broker who was the admitted mastermind of the largest-known Ponzi scheme in history, worth an estimated $65 billion. He was at one time chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange. Madoff's firm had two basic units: a stock brokerage and an asset management business; the Ponzi scheme was centered in the asset management business.

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is a disabled nuclear power plant located on a 350-hectare (860-acre) site in the towns of Ōkuma and Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The plant suffered major damage from the magnitude 9.1 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. The chain of events caused meltdowns, radiation leaks and severely damaged several of its reactors, making them impossible to restart. The working reactors were not restarted after the events.

On March 12, 2014, an explosion occurred at 9:31 a.m. in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The explosion leveled two apartment buildings located just north of 116th Street at 1644 and 1646 Park Avenue, killing eight people, injuring at least 70 others, and displacing 100 families. City officials initially pointed to a gas leak as the cause of the blast. In June 2015, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) blamed the explosion on failures by Consolidated Edison and the city. The NTSB also agreed to review Whistleblower Gas Explosion Audit Findings from the 2009 Floral Park Queens gas explosion as part of their East Harlem Gas Explosion Investigation. The NTSB were unable to resolve these hazards found with merit by the New York State Public Service Commission (NYSPSC) and they remain a Public Safety Hazard today.

US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, that crashed on 12 March 2018 while landing, killing 51 of the 71 people aboard. The aircraft, a 76-seat Bombardier Q400 operated by US-Bangla Airlines, burst into flames after the crash. The 20 surviving passengers were badly injured from the impact and the fire. It remains the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Bangladeshi airline, and the deadliest incident involving a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400.

The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to repeal the European Communities Act 1972, and for parliamentary approval to be required for any withdrawal agreement negotiated between the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Union. Initially proposed as the Great Repeal Bill, its passage through both Houses of Parliament was completed on 20 June 2018 and it became law by Royal Assent on 26 June.

The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic consisting of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States also asserts sovereignty over five major island territories and various uninhabited islands in Oceania and the Caribbean. It is a megadiverse country, with the world's fourth-largest total area and third-largest population, exceeding 341 million.