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The term “9/11” is shorthand for the events of 11 September 2001. On that date, four U.S. planes were hijacked by nineteen members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group. The surprisingly low-tech hijackings—relying largely on boxcutters and pepper spray—were the product of years of careful preparation and surveillance, much of it in the United States. Leaders of the group, for instance, received flight training at American schools. In the early morning, three of the hijacked planes were used as blunt-force missiles loaded with jet fuel. Two of these struck the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, a symbol of American financial might and long a target of international terrorism. The third struck the side of the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C., which houses the Department of Defense. The fourth jet crashed into the rural Pennsylvania countryside—brought down, it seems, during a fight between the hijackers and passengers who had been in communication with friends and family on the ground by cell phone and were thus aware of the broader significance of their plane's takeover. At the World Trade Center the heat from burning jet fuel ultimately led to the complete and catastrophic collapse of the towers. At the Pentagon, where hundreds died, the secretary of defense, ...

Some 6,500 islands in the Gulf of Bothnia, between Finland and Sweden. They were part of Sweden until 1809, when, together with Finland, they were annexed by Russia. After the collapse of the Russian Empire in ...

Born in northern Nigeria of the Hausa people, he was educated at the local government college before entering the army in ...

A student of chemistry, he founded a Muslim students' association in 1924. Abbas fought in the French army from 1939...

Born in a town near the Sea of Galilee, he fled to Syria in 1948, and studied both in Damascus and in Moscow. After his return he co-founded ...

Born in the UK, he arrived in Australia with his parents in 1960. He studied economics and law at the University of Sydney, and then, as a Rhodes scholar, went to Oxford University and graduated in philosophy, politics, and economics in ...

Educated at Gordon College, Khartoum, he became a soldier and, after distinguished service with the British army in World War II, became a general in ...

The grandson of *Hussein ibn Ali, he became regent of Iraq for his 4-year-old cousin *Faisal II, after the death of his brother-in-law, King Ghazi in ...

Educated at Fes, he became a teacher and journalist, and then rose through the ranks of the Spanish administration of northern Morocco to become chief justice for Mellila district in ...

This crisis in the British establishment was provoked by King *Edward VIII's desire to marry a twice-divorced American, ...

The son of *Ibn Saud, he was educated at the court. In 1962 he became commander of the National Guard, and in ...

Son of *Hussein ibn Ali, Sharif of Mecca, with his father and brother *Faisal, he led the *...

The oldest son of King *Hussein and his second, English-born wife, he was educated at Sandhurst, Oxford, and Georgetown University before joining the Jordanian army. In ...

A son of the Sultan of Kedah, the Tunku was educated at schools in Bangkok and Alor Setar, and then at the Penang Free School and St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He entered Kedah government service in ...

The grandson of Prime Minister *Kishi Nobusuke, he graduated in political sciences from Seikei University and took up a position at Kobe Steel Company. He became an assistant to his father, ...

A Yoruba, he studied at the University of Glasgow (1961–3) before becoming a business manager, advancing to become vice-president of ITT Africa and Middle East, as well as chairperson of ITT Nigeria, ...

A Caucasian territory which was part of the Soviet Union as an Autonomous Soviet Republic within *Georgia. In April 1991...

Indigenous occupation of the Australian continent dates back to 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, with full occupation, across all environmental zones, occurring between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago. Current estimates of the population at the point of British colonization in ...

The original inhabitants of Australia, whose existence there is thought to go back some 40,000 years. They were semi-nomadic hunters whose value systems included common use, and a spiritual appreciation of the land. Their population is estimated to have been between 300,000 and 700,000 before white settlement began in ...

[This entry includes two subentries, an overview and a discussion of abortion in the United States. See also Birth Control...