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Ibn Warraq

Ibn Warraq

Ibn Warraq is a bestselling author and Islamic scholar currently living in the United States. He is an outspoken critic of Islam who has written extensively on what he views as the oppressive nature of Islam and religion in general. The name, Ibn Warraq, is a pseudonym that has traditionally been adopted by dissident authors throughout the history of Islam. Among the few personal details known about his life is that he was born in 1946 in Rajkot, India to Indian-Muslim parents who soon emigrated to Pakistan, and that he studied at the University of Edinburgh under the Orientalist scholar Montgomery Watt. Ibn Warraq has written several books, some of which are more scholarly and gather together critical research on such topics as the origins of the Qur'an and the life of Muhammad. Some of his books are polemical and strongly inveigh against Islam. There is much in his writings that contradicts orthodox Muslim belief. Ibn Warraq promotes secular humanist values among Muslims.

Books by Ibn Warraq


- Why I Am Not a Muslim, Ibn Warraq, foreword by R. Joseph Hoffmann, Prometheus Books, 1995, hardcover, 428 pages, ISBN 0879759844
- Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out, edited by Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books, 2003, hardcover, 320 pages, ISBN 1591020689
- What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary, edited and translated by, Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books, 2002, 600 pages, ISBN 157392945X
- Quest for the Historical Muhammed, edited and translated by Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books, 2000, hardcover, 554 pages, ISBN 1573927872
- Origins of the Koran: Classic Essays on Islam's Holy Book, edited by Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books, 1998, hardcover, 420 pages, ISBN 157392198X

Quote

One mustn’t forget the climate of fear in which many Muslims, even in the West (live)– may I read you a letter that was sent to the Observer in London at the time of the Rushdie affair? The writer from Pakistan wrote anonymously, stated that :Salman Rushdie speaks for me. Mine is a voice that has not yet found expression in newspaper columns, it is the voice of those who are born Muslims but wish to recant in adulthood, yet are not permitted to, on pain of death. Someone who does not live in an Islamic society cannot imagine the sanctions – both self-imposed and external – that militate against expressing religious disbelief. "I don’t believe in God" is an impossible public utterance, even among family and friends. So we hold our tongues, those of us who doubt. And this climate of fear continues even into the West. There was a remarkable article in The Washington Times by Julia Duin on October 13th 2002, where she talks of something like twenty thousand Muslims who convert to Christianity, but who are absolutely terrified of revealing this to friends and neighbours. And she gives examples of those who do reveal it, but who are then faced with ostracism, death threats, physical violence of various kinds. Those who do leave Islam, those who become apostates, keep it quiet. And churches who baptise ex-Muslims are very reluctant to release the figures, they don’t want to create a sensation and so on. But we do have – according to the figures in this article in The Washington Times, you do have at least twenty thousand in the United States converting to Christianity. And then you have some figures that I do quote: people in Algeria, for example in the Qabili, converting to Christianity. One particular church recorded fifty baptisms in one year, which is quite remarkable in that it doesn’t sound a lot, but in a country where you can have your throat cut just for wearing lipstick, this open avowal of apostasy is quite remarkable.

External links


- [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/relrpt/stories/s892009.htm The Religion Report]
- [http://www.secularislam.org Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society]
- Boston Globe: [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2003/08/17/losing_his_religion_boston_globe Losing His Religion]
- [http://www.city-net.com/~alimhaq/text/warraq.htm Trends and Flaws in Some Anti-Muslim Writing as Exemplified by Ibn Warraq ] Jeremiah D. McAuliffe, Jr., Ph.D. Warraq, Ibn Category:Islam and controversy Catgeory:Atheists



United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Foreign relations and military

sovereign] The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between. Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation. The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development. (For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:

Economy

The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. gross domestic product The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others. Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry. Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries. In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000. Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years. The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws. America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s. America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."

Transportation

Alan Greenspan ]] Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states. Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world. Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Society

Demographics

Hawaii The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]

Ethnicity and race

:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts. The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada. Russia Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans (Blacks). African Americans are spread throughout the country, but their presence is largest in the South. Asian Americans--including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders--are a third significant minority (3.7% of the population in 2000). Most Asian Americans are concentrated on the West Coast and Hawaii. The largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from the Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. Indigenous peoples in the United States, such as American Indians and Inuit, make up 0.9% of the population (2000 census). About 35% live on Indian reservations.

Religion

Polls estimate that just under 80 percent of Americans are Christians of various denominations. The other 20 percent comprises other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, other various faiths, and those without a specific religion. The United States is noteworthy among developed nations for its relatively high level of religiosity. According to a 2004 Gallup poll, about 44% of Americans attend a religious service at least once a week. However, this rate is not uniform across the country; attendance is more common in the Bible Belt—composed largely of Southern and Midwestern states—than in the Northeast and West Coast. In the Southern states, Baptists are the largest group, followed by Methodists; Roman Catholics are dominant in the Northeast and in large parts of the Midwest due to their being settled by descendants of Catholic immigrants from Europe (such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) or other parts of North America (mainly Quebec and Puerto Rico). The rest of the country for the most part has a complex mixture of various Christian groups.

Education

West Coast's home at Monticello and the University of Virginia (library building shown above, and designed by Jefferson), the only collegiate campus on the list. Both sites are located in Charlottesville, Virginia.]] In the United States, education is a state, not federal, responsibility, and the laws and standards vary considerably. However, the federal government, through the Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. In most states, all students must attend mandatory schooling starting with kindergarten, which children normally enter at age 5, and following through 12th grade, which is normally completed at age 18

Pseudonym

A pseudonym (Greek: false name) is a fictitious name used by an individual as an alternative to his or her legal name. A pseudonym is distinct from an allonym, which is the name of another actual person assumed by one person, usually historical, in authorship of a work of art; e.g., when ghostwriting a book or play, or in parody, or when using a front such as by screenwriters blacklisted in Hollywood in the '50s, '60s, and '70s. To be pseudonymous means that the person is using a pseudonym. In some cases, the pseudonym has become the legal name of the person using it.

Pseudonyms in print

When used by an author, a pseudonym is also called a pen name (or in French nom de plume.) Some authors use pseudonyms for a variety of reasons; for example, to experiment with a new genre without the risk of upsetting regular readers. One author may have several pseudonyms depending on the genre. This use of pseudonyms is especially common if the new genre is of a somewhat risqué nature; such was the case of Pauline Réage, the pseudonym under which an editorial secretary with a reputation of near-prudery published Histoire d'O (Story of O), an erotic novel of sadomasochism and sexual slavery. Occasionally, a pseudonym is employed to avoid overexposure. Prolific authors for pulp magazines often had two and sometimes three short stories appearing in one issue of a magazine; the editor would create several fictitious author names so that readers would not realize this. Popular authors also sometimes use pseudonyms to distinguish different types of writing. For instance, mathematician Charles Dodgson used Lewis Carroll for his fantastic fiction. Science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein set his early stories in a single future history; when he wrote stories not in this setting he used pseudonyms to avoid confusing readers. He also wrote stories under pseudonyms so that John W. Campbell could publish more of his work in his magazine at the same time. These stories were later reprinted under his real name. Pseudepigraphy, a particular form of pseudonym or pen name, is the technique of adopting the name of well-known figures as the publicly ascribed author on whom the actual writers attempt to pass off their work — typically to attain greater interest or credibility or pious tradition. It was traditionally employed in the Western world from Hellenistic times all the way up to the Middle Ages, particularly in theology and scripture. Examples include Pseudo-Dionysius and the author of the Book of Enoch, or, according to liberal scholars, the ascribed Solomonic authorship of the Song of Songs. A pseudonym may also be used to protect the writer, as in the case of Andy McNab the former SAS soldier famous for his book about a failed SAS mission titled Bravo Two Zero. (However, some critics have suggested that the primary motivation here may have been to boost the mystique of the SAS to help market McNab's books.) Ibn Warraq has been used by dissident Muslim authors.

Regnal name

In many monarchies, the prince starting his reign chooses his official name (regnal name) to be used hence, which may differ from his (birth) name till then; sometimes he selects one of his existing names, sometimes a completely different one. The same is true of the newly elected Pope, where it fits just as well in the monastic tradition of choosing a new religious name when entering orders. The choice of an existing name may simply be a matter of tradition or intend to honour a specific predecessor, and/or emphasize the hereditary legitimity of succession, or may actually convey a programme or intention.

Nom de guerre

Pseudonyms are adopted by resistance fighters, terrorists and guerrillas often to make enquiries more difficult, to seek and create an aura of mystery, and to protect their families from reprisal, although other reasons may often be included. The expression nom de guerre (IPA: /nɒm də gɛɹ/, "name of war") is often used for such pseudonyms (though this expression is rarely, if ever, actually used in French). It is occasionally used as a stylish substitute for nom de plume. Noms de guerre were frequently adopted by recruits in the French Foreign Legion as part of the break with their past lives. Pseudonyms used by some members of the French resistance were integrated into their last names after World War II; for instance, Jacques Delmas, alias Chaban, became Jacques Chaban-Delmas. Within Communist parties and Trotskyist organisations noms de guerre are usually known as party names. This took hold because revolutionaries were often persecuted by states (and also, in the case of Trotskyists, by pro-Soviet communist parties). Not only this, Athos, Porthos and Aramis in The Three Musketeers used those names instead of their real names: Le Comte de la Fère, M. du Vallon, and Chevalier d'Herblay, respectively. Some of the more famous noms de guerre include:
- Che Guevara
- Carlos the Jackal
- Abu Mazen is the nom de guerre of Mahmoud Abbas, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority
- Abu Ammar was PLO leader Yasser Arafat's nom de guerre
- Abu Ala is the nom de guerre of Ahmed Qurei
- Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Jordanian terrorist with the possible real name "Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh" Some famous party names include:
- Fahd
- Lenin
- Freddy Forrest (Raya Dunayevskaya) and Johnston CLR James.

The origin of "nom de guerre"

The assigning and adopting of noms de guerre was a long standing tradition in the French army, it certainly existed before 1651. In 1716 the practice became more formalised and the French army required all regular soldiers to have a nom de guerre. The names could be arrived at through the choice of the soldier, or perhaps the soldier’s company captain. Some of the naming practices adopted by particular companies enabled the men to be identifiable as members of their companies, much like a serial number: Practices such as assigning men the names of vegetables (the Company of Casaux of the Régiment de Boulonnois-infantrie, between 1764 to 1768). These names would be retained by the soldiers when they left service and would often be passed on to their wives and children. It is important to understand the old French practice of assigning Noms de guerre when tracing French family histories. Source: The Military Roots of the 'dit' Names by Luc Lépine (From December 2002 Connections © 2002 QFHS) Translated by Lorraine Gosselin. Sourced from: Quebec Family History Society website (http://www.cam.org/~qfhs/ main page) (http://www.cam.org/~qfhs/lib_connart4.html sourced page)

Pseudonyms in entertainment

When used by an actor, performer, or model, a pseudonym is a stage name or screen name. Actors — and others in show business — rarely use a pseudonym to disguise themselves. Actors who are members of a less-privileged ethnic or religious group have often adopted stage names, typically changing their surname or entire name to mask their original background — as has been done in other fields as well. This phenomenon was common in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, as ethnic minorities began to attain a greater role in acting and films, yet social trends had not yet reached the point where such minorities would be accepted with their original non-mainstream identity. Popular Jewish comedian and "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart was born Jonathan Stewart Leibowitz. When asked why he dropped Leibowitz in a "60 Minutes" interview, Stewart explained that it "sounded too Hollywood". John Wayne, building a reputation as a tough guy, felt that his given name, Marion Morrison, did not connote the image he sought to assume. Stan Laurel, born Arthur Stanley Jefferson, was apparently happy to be known as Stan Jefferson until he realised that it had thirteen letters. In many cases, a screen name was constructed simply because a studio executive did not like the actor's real name. Today, the most common reason for a performer to adopt a pseudonym is that someone else has already achieved fame with that name. Performing arts guilds (SAG, WGA, AFTRA, etc.) enforce rules on the use of names formerly registered for credits, generally refusing to allow an identical name to be used again. In some cases, a stage name is intended to separate the public persona from the private life. But while keeping a real name for private use may help one go unrecognized in public, it can rarely be kept entirely secret and may become an item of gossip in itself. In the music world, pseudonyms have been used to allow artists to collaborate with artists on other labels while avoiding the need to gain permission from their own labels. George Harrison, for example, played guitar on Cream's song "Badge" (which he also co-wrote with Eric Clapton). He was credited on the recording as "L'Angelo Mysterioso" ("The Mysterious Angel"). Most hip hop artists prefer to use a pseudonym that represents some variation of their name, personality, or interests. Prime examples include Ol' Dirty Bastard (who was known under at least six aliases), Diddy (formerly known as Sean Combs, P. Diddy, and Puff Daddy), Ludacris, LL Cool J, and Chingy. See List of hip hop musicians.

Other pseudonyms

Others in public life have adopted pseudonyms for many reasons. In the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries, it was established practice for political articles to be signed with pseudonyms, the most famous American example being the pen name Publius, used by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, in writing The Federalist Papers. Malcolm X, the civil rights campaigner, (born Malcolm Little), adopted the 'X' to represent his unknown African ancestral name. Many Jewish politicians re-adopted Hebrew family names on return to Israel, dropping westernized versions that may have been in the family for generations; Golda Meir, for example, was born Golda Mabovitz in Russia, and lived in USA before emigrating to Palestine; she adopted her Hebrew name on becoming a government minister in 1956. Famous pseudonyms of people who were neither authors nor actors include:
- Le Corbusier, the architect, was Charles Édouard Jeanneret.
- Aphex Twin, prolific techno artist Richard D. James, who uses up to 11 other different names on various releases.
- Alan Smithee is a name commonly used by directors who want to disown their own movie.
- George Spelvin and Georgina Spelvin are names used in American theater when the actor playing the part is unknown at printing time, wishes to remain anonymous, or the part is double cast or played by an actor who plays more than one character in the cast.
- Luther Blissett is a shared pseudonym often used for activist and artistic purposes, especially in the Italian art scene.
- David Agnew is used on BBC programmes where a writer's name cannot be used for contractual reasons.
- Nicolas Bourbaki was a famous pseudonym for a group of mathematicians.
- Student was William Sealey Gosset, discoverer of Student's t-distribution in statistics.
- Hambali is Riduan Isamuddin, the leader of Jemaah Islamiah, a terrorist group; he was born Encep Nurjaman On the internet, pseudonymous remailers utilising cryptography can be used to achieve persistent pseudonymity, so that two-way communication can be achieved, and reputations can be established without linking a physical identity to a pseudonym. Users on Namespaces such as Wikipedia also often use a pseudonym instead of their birth names.

See also


- -onym
- List of pseudonyms
- A. N. Other
- Anonymity
- John Doe
- Personally identifiable information
- Pseudonymity
- Nickname
- Secret identity
- Stage name

External links


- [http://www.famousfolk.com/ An extensive list of pseudonyms]
- [http://go.to/realnames List of pseudonyms]
- [http://www.trussel.com/books/pseudo.htm Another list of pseudonyms]
- [http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl101.html The U.S. copyright status of pseudonyms]
- Category:Semantics

Dissident

A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively opposes an established opinion, policy, or structure. The term is most often used to refer to political dissidents, usually against authoritarian regimes (although there are rare uses of the phrase philosophical dissident). Political dissidents usually use non-violent means of political dissent, including voicing criticism of the government, but dissidents can also attempt to displace or overthrow the established government by achieving popular support and sparking a revolution or rebellion. In totalitarian regimes these dissidents are often punished with lengthy prison sentences, execution or economic deprivation. It has been widely alleged that the USSR and China used or use involuntary commitment against dissidents. Dissidentes constantly face stalking and harrasment by authorities, who often record or keep a close watch on their activities, and gather incriminating evidence that would lead to their eventual imprisonment. Many dissidents, as a result, are forced into hiding, moving from one flat to another. Similarly, social dissidents openly oppose dominant social attitudes. In democratic societies political and social dissidents are supposed to be free from government pressure, but there have been notable instances of persecution, such as during the Palmer Raids. Militant dissidents are usually in the form of armed paramilitary groups whose aim is usually to overthrow a government or regime, or otherwise impose changes on the established order. Since militant dissidents are almost always militarily disadvantaged compared to the ruling power, such groups usually resort to asymmetric warfare, guerilla warfare, or in some cases, terrorism, to further their cause. Such groups are often denounced as terrorists by the ruling power regardless, though they often consider themselves freedom fighters or resistance movements.

Soviet dissidents

Dissidents, identified as such by the Soviet government, which tightly controlled the Soviet media, first appeared in a demonstration of 200 on Constitution Day, December 5 1965, in Pushkin Square, Moscow. The group was protesting the show trial of Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuri Daniel who were on trial for subversion for publishing their writings abroad. The English word "dissident" was chosen to imply foreign influence. Tracking down the identities of Sinyavsky and Daniel had proved quite difficult for the KGB; Sinyavsky had first published in the West in 1959 under the name "Abram Tertz"; Daniel in 1961 as "Nikolai Arzhak"; but only after years of surveillance of Soviet writers were they identified, their apartments bugged and they were brought to trial. Sinyavsky was given seven years, Daniel, five .

Noted dissidents

Noted dissidents include Andrei Sakharov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Sergei Kovalev, Vladimir Bukovsky, Harry Wu, Lech Wałęsa, Václav Havel, Aung San Suu Kyi, Armando Valladares, Francis Seow, Wei Jingsheng, and Nelson Mandela.

See also


- List of Chinese dissidents
- List of Singaporean dissidents Category:Dissent

1946

1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. (see link for calendar)

Events

January


- January 4 - Theodore Schurch becomes the last person to be executed for offences committed under the Treachery Act of 1940
- January 7 - Allied recognize Austrian republic with 1937 borders - the country is divided into four occupation zones
- January 10 - First meeting of the United Nations
- January 11 - Enver Hoxha declares the people's republic of Albania with himself as prime minister.
- January 11 - Porfirio Barba-Jacob's ashes go back to Colombia.
- January 16 - Charles de Gaulle resigns as a head of a French provisional government
- January 17
  - The UN Security Council holds its first session
  - Senator Dennis Chavez (D-NM) calls for a vote on an FEPC bill which called for the end to discrimination in the work place. A filibuster prevents it from passing.
- January 20 - Charles De Gaulle resigns as president of France
- January 25 - The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor
- January 28 - Bluenose founders on a Haitian reef
- January 29 - CIA established
- January 31 - Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).

February

February
- February 1 - Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary General.
- February 2 - Kingdom of Hungary becomes a republic.
- February 14 - The Bank of England nationalized
- February 14 - ENIAC (for "Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer"), the first general-purpose electronic computer, is unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania
- February 15 - Canada indicts 22 communist agents.
- February 24 - Juan Peron elected president of Argentina
- February 28 - In Philadelphia, strikers of General Electric and police clash

March


- March 2 - British troops withdraw from Iran according to treaty - Soviets do not.
- March 2 - Ho Chi Minh elected the President of North Vietnam
- March 4 - C.G.E. Mannerheim resigns from the post of president of Finland
- March 5 - In his speech in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill talks about Iron Curtain.
- March 6 - Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union. David Gilmour, the guitarist of Pink Floyd is born.
- March 9 - Juho Kusti Paasikivi becomes president of Finland
- March 10 - British troops begin withdrawal from Lebanon
- March 15 - Clement Attlee promises independence to India as soon as they can agree on constitution
- March 19 - Soviet Union and Switzerland reform diplomatic relations.
- March 19 - French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion become overseas départements of France
- March 22 - Transjordan gains independence
- March 29 - Gold Coast has an African majority in the parliament

April


- April 1 - 14-meter high tsunami strikes Hilo, Hawaii - 173 dead, thousands injured.
- April 1 - Formation of the Malayan Union.
- April 1 - Singapore becomes a Crown colony
- April 3 - Japanese Lt. General Masaharu Homma is executed outside Manila in the Philippines for leading the Bataan Death March.
- April 7 - Syria's independence from France is officially recognised
- April 10 - In Japan, women vote for the first time in parliamentarian elections
- April 18 - USA recognizes Josip Broz Tito's government in Yugoslavia
- April 18 - Last meeting of League of Nations – it transfers its mission to United Nations and disbands itself.
- April 29 - Trial against war criminals begin in Tokyo – accused include Hideki Tojo, Shigenori Togo and Hiroshi Oshima.

May


- May 4 - Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 revolutionizes wine world.
- May 2 - Six prisoners unsuccessfully try to escape from the Alcatraz prison island
- May 7 - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded with about 20 employees.
- May 9 - King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates, and is succeeded by his son Humbert II.
- May 10 - Nehru elected leader of the Congress Party in India
- May 20 - In Britain, the House of Commons decides to nationalize mines.
- May 21 - Radiation accident in Los Alamos laboratory; Dr Louis Slotin saves his coworkers but receives a fatal dose of radiation. Incident is initially classified
- May 22 - Kingdom of Transjordan founded.
- May 25 - The parliament of Transjordan makes emir Abdullah their king.
- May 31 - Greece referendum supports return of monarchy

June-July


- June 2 - In a referendum Italians decide to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After this referendum the king of Italy Umberto II di Savoia was exiled. Women vote for the first time.
- June 6 - The Basketball Association of America is formed in New York City.
- June 8 - In Indonesia, Sukarno incites his supporters to fight Dutch colonial occupation
- June 9 - In Thailand, king Rama IX accedes the throne.
- June 10 - Italy declared republic
- June 13 - Humbert II of Italy leaves the country and goes into exile in Portugal; Alcide de Gasperi becomes head of state.
- June 17 - Tornado on the Detroit river - 17 dead
- July 4 - After over 425 years of Western Dominance , the Philippines achieves full independence.
- July 5 - Bikinis go on sale in Paris
- July 7 - Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini becomes the first American saint to be canonized.
- July 21 - Irgun bomb explodes in Jerusalem.
- July 22 - King David Hotel bombing: Irgun bombs King David Hotel in Jerusalem, headquarters of the British civil and military administration killing 90.
- July 25 - Nuclear testing: In the first underwater test of the atomic bomb, the surplus USS Saratoga is sunk near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean when the United States detonates the "Baker Day" device.
- July 25 - At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team.

August-November

November
- August 19 - Violence between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta – 3000 dead.
- August 25 - Ben Hogan wins PGA Championship
- September 4 - Street violence between Muslims and Hindus in Bombay.
- September 8 - Bulgaria declared a People's Republic after a referendum – King Simeon II leaves.
- September 28 - George II of Greece returns to Athens
- October 2 - Communists take over in Bulgaria
- October 13 - France adopts the constitution of the Fourth Republic.
- October 15 - Nuremberg Trials: Founder of the Gestapo and recently convicted Nazi war criminal, Hermann Göring, poisons himself hours before his scheduled execution.
- October 23 - United Nations' first meeting in Long Island.
- November 8 - Vietnamese riot in Haiphong and clash with French troops. French cruiser Suffren opens fire. 6000 Vietnamese killed.
- November 12 - Truce between Indonesian nationalist troops and Dutch army in Indonesia.
- November 12 - A branch of the Exchange National Bank in Chicago, Illinois opens the first ten drive-up teller windows.
- November 15 - Netherlands recognized Republic of Indonesia.
- November 19 - Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden joins the United Nations
- November 27 - Cold War: Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appeals to the United States and the Soviet Union to end nuclear testing and to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster."

December


- December 11 - UNICEF founded.
- December 12 - United Nations severs relations with Franco's Spain and recommends the member countries to sever diplomatic relations
- December 12 - Leon Blum founds a government of socialist parties in France
- December 19 - Martial law in Vietnam
- December 22 - Havana Conference begins between US organized crime bosses in Havana, Cuba
- December 24 - France's Fourth Republic founded
- December 26 - Flamingo Hotel opens in Las Vegas.
- December 31 - President Harry Truman officially proclaims an end of hostilities in World War II.

Unknown dates


- The 20mm M61 Vulcan gatling gun is invented.
- Devil's Island penal colony closes permanently.
- Female suffrage in Belgium, Romania, Yugoslavia, Argentina and Canadian province of Quebec. First female police officers in Korea and Japan.
- Chinese Civil War intensifies between Kuomintang and Communist Party of China.
- First Tupperware sold in department and hardware stores.
- Grantley Adams becomes the premier of Barbados.
- Alcatraz Island prison riot.
- The British government takes emergency powers to deal with the balance-of-payments crisis.
- Eva Perón tours Spain, Italy and France on behalf of Argentina, a circuit called the Rainbow Tour.
- Breathalyzer machine for estimating blood alcohol concentration was invented.
- Howard Hyde Russell established the Anti-Saloon League.
- George Orwell writes Politics and the English Language

Births

January


- January 3 - John Paul Jones, English bassist (Led Zeppelin)
- January 5 - Diane Keaton, American actress
- January 6 - Syd Barrett, English guitarist and singer
- January 8 - Stanton Peele, American psychologist
- January 8 - Robby Krieger, American musician (The Doors)
- January 11 - Naomi Judd, American singer
- January 11 - John Piper, American theologian
- January 12 - George Duke, American musician
- January 14 - Harold Shipman, British serial killer
- January 16 - Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
- January 16 - Katia Ricciarelli, Italian singer
- January 18 - Joseph Deiss, Swiss Federal Councilor
- January 19 - Dolly Parton, American singer and actress
- January 20 - David Lynch, American film director
- January 21 - Johnny Oates, baseball player and manager (d. 2004)
- January 22 - Serge Savard, Canadian hockey player and executive
- January 24 - Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor
- January 26 - Gene Siskel, American film critic (d. 1999)
- January 31 - Terry Kath, American musician (d. 1978)

February-March


- February 6 - Jim Turner, American politician
- February 13 - Colin Matthews, British composer
- February 14 - Bernard Dowiyogo, President of Nauru (d. 2003)
- February 14 - Gregory Hines