International Organizations, Defence, Books & Authors, World History

Notes:
Boxer Rebellionwas a violent anti-foreign, anti-colonial and anti-Christian uprising that took place in China in 1900. It attempted to drive all foreigners who had a privileged position in China. “Boxers” was a name that foreigners gave to a Chinese secret society known as the Yihequan (Righteous and Harmonious Fists) that practiced certain boxing and calisthenic rituals.

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On 4th July 1776, the American Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress. It was prepared by a committee of five led by Thomas Jefferson who included the ideals of human freedom in it.

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In 1776 the British forces led by Sir William Howe defeated Washington in the battle of Long Island. However, the army of American colonies commanded by General Gates defeated British troops at Saratoga in October, 1777. The victory at Saratoga marked a turning point in the war. The French troops under Lafayette came to the help of the American colonies.

Notes:
The Second World War was over. At the end of the war, some 13 million Europeans were killed and 17 million civilians had died as a result of the fighting. All major cities were in ruins. Agriculture was ruined. People of the entire world had to face untold miseries, directly or indirectly. Results of the Second World War:

• In this war, about 15 Million soldiers and 10 million civilians lost their lives.
• An important result of the Second World War was that it brought to an end the colonial Empire of the European countries in Asia and Africa.
• Multi-polar world became bi-polar world.
• The USA and USSR emerged as Super Powers.
• Cold War started as an ideological war between USA and USSR.

Notes:
The Security Council is the chief executive body of the U.N.O. It consists of fifteen members – five permanent and ten temporary. Russia, China, U.S.A., France and Great Britain are the permanent members of the Security Council of the U.N.O. Its main function is to preserve peace and security in the world. It can take diplomatic and economic steps against those nations who violate the constitution of the U.N.O. Each of the five permanent members has a powerful vote known as veto.

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The U.S.A., Canada, Britain, France, Holland, Belgium and Luxemburg, Portugal, Denmark, Italy and Norway became NATO’s members. They had agreed to mutually extend military help in case of an attack on any one of them. It was formed against the Soviet Union.

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The PNG attained independence from Australia on 16 september , 1975. It remained under Australia from 1906 as a British Possession until 1975. Britain, Australia , Germany occupied PNG until 1975.

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Selman Waksman was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1952 “for his discovery of streptomycin, the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis.” He was called “one of the greatest benefactors to mankind,” as the result of the discovery of streptomycin. Waksman was a Russian-born, Jewish-American inventor, biochemist and microbiologist.

Notes:
A planimeter, also known as a platometer, is a measuring instrument used to determine the area of an arbitrary two-dimensional shape. They were once common, but have now largely been replaced by digital tools. The Swiss mathematician Jakob Amsler-Laffon built the first modern planimeter in 1854.

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Dynamite was invented by Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel as a safe way of using nitroglycerin as a demolition agent. He obtained patents for his invention in England on 7 May, 1867 and in Sweden on 19 October, 1867. Dynamite rapidly gained wide-scale use as a safer alternative to gun powder and nitroglycerin.