Factsheet: Indonesia's Election June 7th, 1999 by Borgna Brunner This article was posted on June 4, 1999.On the eve of Indonesia's first free parliamentary election since 1955, 48 political…
(Encyclopedia) MuawiyaMuawiyam&oomacr;äˈwēä [key], d. 680, 1st Umayyad caliph (661–80), one of the greatest Muslim statesmen; son of Abu Sufyan, a Koreish tribesman of Mecca. He submitted to…
(Encyclopedia) BedouinBedouinbĕdˈ&oomacr;ĭn [key] [Arab.,=desert dwellers], primarily nomad Arab peoples of the Middle East, where they form about 10% of the population. They are of the same…
(Encyclopedia) UmarUmar&oomacr;märˈ [key] or OmarUmarōˈmär [key], c.581–644, 2d caliph (see caliphate). At first hostile to Islam, he was converted by 618, becoming an adviser to Muhammad. He…
Who are the world's leading public intellectuals? The October 2005 cover of Prospect Foreign Policy and Britain's Prospect magazine selected their top 100, and invited readers to…
WHY WAS THE FIRST CRUSADE CALLED? WHAT DID THE CRUSADERS BRING BACK TO EUROPE? FIND OUT MOREIn 1095, Pope Urban II called for a war against the Muslim rulers of Jerusalem. This was the First…
compiled by Borgna Brunner Pope John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyla) 1920–2005, pope (1978–2005) Birthplace: Wadowice, Poland Update: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger becomes…
(Encyclopedia) ShiitesShiitesshēˈītz [key] [Arab., shiat Ali,=the party of Ali], the second largest branch of Islam, Shiites currently account for 10%–15% of all Muslims. Shiite Islam originated as a…
WHAT HAPPENED IN 1066? WHY WAS NORMAN SICILY SO REMARKABLE? FIND OUT MOREThe Normans were descended from Viking warriors who settled in Normandy, northwest France, in AD 912. They conquered large…
