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Abraham
: The first patriarch in the Bible. Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his son, Isaac, and was rewarded for being prepared to do so. He is considered by Jewish people as the father of the Israelites through his son Isaac, and by Muslims as the father of Arab peoples through his son Ishmael.
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Al-Qaeda
: Islamic terrorist organization led by Osama bin Laden. They are responsible for numerous terrorist attacks, including the destruction of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City.
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Chinese Communist Revolution
: A political revolution in China led by Mao Zedong. After several years of fighting the Kuomintang, the communists won control of the country in 1949.
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Christ, Jesus
: (8-4 BCE- 29? CE) Founder of Christianity. Considered by Christians to be the son of God and the Messiah. He is the central figure in the Christian Religion.
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communism
: A system of government in which a single, totalitarian, party holds power. It is characterized by state control of the economy, and restriction on personal freedoms. It was first proposed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in The Communist Manifesto.
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Declaration of the Rights of Man
: Revolutionary document of the French Revolution. Written in 1789, it spelled out certain rights believed to be universal to all mankind. Patterned on the American Declaration of Independence.
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Guevara, Che
: (1928-1967) Latin American guerilla leader. In the mid 20th century Guevara was instrumental in helping Fidel Castro lead the Cuban Revolution. He was later killed in Bolivia while trying to lead a revolution there.
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Hammurabis Code
: Oldest written system of laws. They were created by King Hammurabi of Babylonia in th mid 18th century BCE and placed on stones tablets for all to see.
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Hebrew
: Semitic language originating in ancient Palestine and spoken by the Israelites. Modern Hebrew was developed in the 19th and 20th centuries from the ancient written language.
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Holy Land
: Term given to lands in present day Israel that is significant to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
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International Court of Justice
: Headquartered at the Hague, the Court started work in April of 1946. The Court usually hears only cases brought before it by any of the 189 U.N. Member States, but has made several concessions over the years.
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Islam
: The word Islam, which when translated from Arabic, means "to submit to the will of Allah," is the youngest of the world's major religions. Worshippers of this monotheistic religion are known as Muslims, which means "one who submits to the will of Allah." The Islamic holy book is called the Qur’an. Islam is currently the second most practiced religion in the world, and experts predict that it will overtake Christianity as the most popular religion in the world sometime during the 21st century.
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Judaism
: Judaism is the oldest known monotheistic religion still practiced in the world today. Its fundamental teachings have been influential and are the basis for more recently developed religions such as Christianity and Islam. Judaism teaches that there is one God who is the creator of all things. after the Hebrew exodus from Egypt, many Hebrews began to lose their faith in God. During this time, Moses went atop Mount Sinai and returned with two stone tablets containing laws that all Hebrews needed to follow. These laws, recorded in the Exodus 20:3-17, became known as the Ten Commandments.
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Justinians Code
: A law code created by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian about 530 CE. It was a revision of the old Roman law system.
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Moses
: He is considered a founder of Judaism due to his role in the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt, and his delivery of the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai sometime around 2000 BCE.
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Nazi
: Name of German National Socialist Party, which gained control of Germany in 1933 under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.
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Pol Pot
: (1925-1998) Leader of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. Pol Pot is responsible for the deaths of almost 2 million of his own people due to starvation, execution, and beatings.
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Protestant
: Member of Christian relgious sect which formed during the Protestant Reformation. Protestants reject the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
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socialism
: A political system where the means of production are controlled by the workers and all things are shared evenly. Socialist policies provide for government funding of many basic needs such as food, shelter, and medical care.
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Ten Commandments
: The ten laws given to Moses by God, according to the Bible.
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William and Mary
: King and Queen of England from 1689 to 1702. They were placed on the throne as a result of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and ruled as limited monarchs.
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Wilson, Woodrow
: (1856-1924) President of the United States during World War I. He was one of the formulators of the Treaty of Versailles. He also proposed a regulating body of nations to avoid future conflicts through diplomacy in his 14 Points Speech.
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