in History
Islam's first civil war reaches its climax
Along the banks of the Euphrates River at Siffin, the armies of Ali ibn Abu Talib and Muawiyah I clashed in a battle that would define the course of Islamic history. The First Fitna reached its bloody apex as thousands fell on both sides. The inconclusive result led to an arbitration that ultimately split Islam into its Sunni and Shia branches.
A teacher who helped build a young nation
Sarah Kafrit was born in Eastern Europe and would emigrate to Palestine, where she became a teacher and political figure in the newly established State of Israel. Serving as a member of the Knesset for the Mapai party from 1951 to 1959, she helped shape the educational and political institutions of a young democracy forging its identity in a turbulent region.
Cold War: U.
The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.