10 people who died in 2017 who reshaped the world by Ben Brimelow on Dec 28, 2017, 4:39 PM Advertisement
 2017 saw a number of people who made a massive impact in world history, in both good ways and bad, pass away. "Each made a mark on history. Some were heroes; some were villains," Lindsay writes. "And for some, which they were is your call to make." Check out who they are and how they changed the world: SEE ALSO: The 50 most incredible photos of 2017 Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of Germany  Helmut Kohl oversaw some of the greatest transitions of post-war Germany. A member of the Hitler Youth during the war, he became a politician and rose through the ranks to become the Chancellor of West Germany in 1982 and Chancellor of the reunited Germany in 1990. During his tenure, he mended relations with France and helped end the Cold War by pursuing diplomatic goals with East Germany's Erich Honecker and the Soviet Union's Mikhail Gorbachev. After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Kohl oversaw the reunification of Germany. Kohl was also the architect of the Maastricht Treaty, which established the European Union and the Euro. For this, he received the first ever EU state funeral.
Martin McGuinness, Irish leader  Martin McGuinness was a former commander of the Irish Republican Army who eventually became the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was an instrumental negotiator of the Good Friday Agreement, which helped end The Troubles, a period in Northern Ireland that saw bombings and assassinations between the IRA, British, and Loyalist factions. Following the Good Friday Agreement, McGuinness was elected to the House of Commons, a seat he held until 2013. He also served as the leader of Sinn Fein, an Irish nationalist party, and was elected to Northern Ireland's Assembly. In a historic moment for the British Isles, McGuinness shook hands with Queen Elizabeth during an official visit by the monarch to Northern Ireland in 2012 — something that was unimaginable years earlier.
Manuel Noriega, Panamanian dictator  Manuel Noriega was the dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989. Noriega, who took power in a coup with General Omar Torrijos in 1968, was originally an ally of the US. However, he began to get involved in Panama's drug trade, and sold sensitive information to US adversaries. His popularity among his people deteriorated, and when a Panamanian soldier killed a US Marine, the US launched Operation Just Cause, an invasion of Panama “to protect American lives, restore the democratic process, preserve the integrity of the Panama Canal treaties and apprehend Manuel Noriega." Noriega was arrested and spent 18 years in a US prison. He was extradited to France in 2010 to face money laundering charges, but was sent back to Panama, where he had been convicted of human rights abuses in absentia.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
| 
0 comments:
Post a Comment