Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes VI (Do Not Post Current Politics or Political Figures Here)

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Use PicPick. The scrolling window function lets you capture an entire window, and then you can select and crop to your infobox.
I used PicPick in the past, but it had a habit of cutting out tiny strips of the wikibox, making it hard to read. Since then, I've just stitched together the wikibox in paint.net.
 

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I used PicPick in the past, but it had a habit of cutting out tiny strips of the wikibox, making it hard to read. Since then, I've just stitched together the wikibox in paint.net.
I think that happens if you scroll through the page rather than letting the app scroll by itself. That's what I did the one time I had that happen to me, anyhow. Not sure. It shouldn't be a problem if you let it scroll past the part you want to capture, and then zip through the rest once it's done with that, I think.
 
Here's a pilot's nightmare: an emergency landing that has to take place in Area 51. Text adapted from the first paragraph of the article 1973 Nantes mid-air collision.

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The 2015 Nevada mid-air collision occurred when two airliners hit each other over Rachel, Nevada on 16 August 2015. They were an WestJet Boeing 737 flying from Edmonton to Las Vegas and a American Airlines Airbus A321 from Dallas to San Francisco. All 115 people on board the Boeing 737 were killed. Despite severe damage to its horizontal stabilizer, the A321 was able to make a successful emergency landing at Area 51.
 
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In 1969, the grand coalition between the CDU and the SPD was on its last legs, and Willy Brandt had already been planning to ditch Kiesinger in exchange for a coalition with the FDP when he got the chance. He believed that this chance would be available that very year, as with the student protests that had been in full swing last year, many people had begun to grow weary of the uninterrupted CDU governance of the country. And Brandt was quite a likeable personality himself. So when Election Day finally came, Brandt had cast his vote early and retreated to his residence in Bonn, waiting in anticipation for his confirmation as the first post-war social democratic chancellor.

But then some kooky far-right party managed to break 5%.

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The National Democratic Party of Germany, which had only been formed in 1964, had shocked the nation by breaking the 5% barrier and gaining 27 seats in one sweep, landing only 3 seats behind the traditional third party, the FDP. Its leader, Adolf von Thadden, energetically proclaimed "a victory for the patriotic German folk" and announced that he would be willing to enter negotiations with the CDU. But Kiesinger was absolutely not willing to work with the NPD. As if getting slapped in the face and being called a Nazi at his own party's convention wasn't enough.

The ball was in Kiesinger's court to form a government, after all, so he then rang up Walter Scheel. Scheel demanded that Kiesinger abandon his initiative to introduce FPTP, to which Kiesinger agreed. But then Scheel, believing that a CDU-FDP was the only possible coalition, then demanded that Kiesinger soften the controversial Emergency Acts that had just been passed last year, claiming that it was the "antithesis of a functional liberal democracy". But for Kiesinger, to do so would have been the antithesis to the "law and order" message he had so carefully crafted, and also to kicking the NPD back out of the Bundestag. The next day the newspaper headlines screamed "TALKS WITH FDP FAIL: KIESINGER CITES LACK OF CONSENSUS", and the Frankfurt stock market slumped.

But if there was something like a national consensus in post-war Germany, it was that far-right parties should not be allowed to govern at any cost. So shortly after, Brandt appeared at the SPD headquarters in Bonn and announced that his party had agreed to renew the grand coalition in view of national unity. Noticeably, he stressed the words "his party", as if he was trying to distance himself from the decision. This turned out to be prescient: shortly after Kurt Georg Kiesinger had been elected for a second term as Chancellor on October 21st, Willy Brandt stepped down as the leader of the SPD.

(first post please be gentle)
 
Justin Trudeau became Leader of the Opposition in America after being elected Leader of the Liberal Party on 13 April 2019. Trudeau appointed his Shadow Cabinet on 29 April.

Following the Liberal Party's defeat in the 2018 federal election, its leader Tim Kaine stepped down and triggered a leadership election that would elect a new party leader and a new Leader of the Opposition. Eight candidates declared for the election, with four receiving sufficient nominations to advance to the ballot. Justin Trudeau, Representative from Papineau and Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs, was elected over Amy Klobuchar, Robert O'Rourke and Cory Booker.

The Shadow Cabinet consists of 12 male, 8 female members and 5 members of ethnic minorities. Maryam Monsef is the youngest and Richard Blumenthal is the oldest member of the Shadow Cabinet. The average age of the cabinet is 53 years old. Four shadow cabinet members (Ed Markey, Deborah Stabenow, Patricia Murray and Charles Schumer) served in the cabinets of Harry Reid and Tim Kaine, while a further two members (Amy Klobuchar and Lord Holder) served as junior ministers.

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In February 2020, Seven Shadow Cabinet members are also part of a new Shadow COVID-19 Task Force, tasked with responding to the current coronavirus outbreak. Chaired by party leader Justin Trideau, the committee includes:
  • Justin Trudeau, Leader of the Liberal Party
  • Tammy Baldwin, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, Shadow Postmaster General, Shadow Paymaster General, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Chair of the Liberal National Committee
  • Deborah Stabenow, Shadow Health Minister
  • Robert O'Rourke, Shadow Finance Minister
  • Amy Klobuchar, Shadow Foreign Minister
  • Martin Heinrich, Shadow Interior Minister
  • Chrystia Freeland, Shadow Intergovernmental Minister
 
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It's a really, really good first post!

Just to clarify - how would Kiesinger have dealt with East Germany and the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, and would the NPD grow in popularity during his second term?
The invasion of Czechoslovakia ended before this election, so I'd say OTL. I think we'd see some sort of Ostpolitik-lite (detente was popular then).

As for the NPD, it's likely that it would get more popular as the APO would be much more active due to the continued Grand Coalition and actual fascists being in the Bundestag, so enlisting a reactionary boost for the NPD as well. A major reason why the NPD did do quite well in the OTL election (4.3%) was because of the student protests anyway.
 
Wikibending:
Seige of Ba Sing Se
The Five Wisdoms
Bumi
Metalbending

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In the late summer of 0 AG, all of the Air Nomads, typically dispersed far and wide across the world, returned to the Air Temples for the great Kurultai. Every 10 years the Air Nomads gathered to discuss and debate the management of their nation, in particular selecting new Abbots for the Temples. This year was especially special, as the Great Comet would bless the skies during the Kurultai. Perhaps this was a good omen, and help the abbots of the Southern Temple find the Avatar before word got out that he was missing.

It was not a good omen.

The Fire Nation struck with speed and fury. Powered by the comet they reached the temples with ease, and burned or chased off all of the bison. Then they set to the grisly work of commiting the Genocide. The grisly details are a story for another day, but suffice to say the once proud Air Nomads were reduced to a single boy, frozen in an iceberg.

The Earth Kings and Chiefs of the Water Tribes were not always paragons of morality, but they were horrified by the attacks. They sent a Delegation to the Caldera, demanding an explanation. The High Chief of the North’s second son, several prominent Southern Leaders, the Grand Chancellor of Ba Sing Se, and the crown prince of Omashu all joined this delegation. And all perished in fire.

Sozin promised a quick and easy war, over before the next Avatar was of age. The Water Tribes were divided and the Earth Kingdom had always teetered on the edge of chaos. Similarly the “Allies” as they came to be known, thought they needed to hold out until the new Water Avatar (who would hopefully not be another Kuruk) could be found and trained. Twenty years at most, they said.

The Fire Nation initially made landings in the Northwestern Earth Kingdom, near earlier sites of attempted colonization. Their new metal ships and well trained crews, along with a sluggish mobilization from High Chief Tuuq allowed them to establish beachheads. Attacks in the South were repelled by Omashu and the Southern Tribes, including a major defeat for Sozin himself at Mu. For now, the fight remained in the North.

The early years were characterized by back and forth warfare, mostly in what is now the United Republic of Nations. The Fire Nation controlled the sea lanes to their landing areas, but little else. Sozin’s old age limited his effectiveness as a leader, whereas King Yahui proved a vigorous leader, able to contain the Fire Nation advances. High Chief Tuuq, despite some early missteps, was able to find a balance between creating a unified Water Tribe war effort and not alienating the sometimes proud Southern Chiefs. Several times during the early years, it seemed as though the Fire Nation might be expelled from the Earth Kingdom, notably after the Battle of Tao when Sozin supposedly seriously considered surging for peace. But the Fire Nation held.

However, at the same time it was becoming apparent that the Water Tribes were not in possession of the next Avatar. Despite frenzied efforts from Sages at the North and South Poles, no one could find them. The traditional scrying method was not producing any results whatsoever. Fear began to spread through the allies that Avatar Roku (or the then-unknown Air Avatar) had not been reborn for any reason. Hope sprang eternal in the Fire Nation that this was the case.

The 20s AG were a time of continued stagnation on the front, but important changes were happening internally, as all of the nations received a new leader in a five year time span. Tuuq died in 19, and was succeeded by his nephew Anik as High Chief. Anik was a competent administrator, and a decent tactician, but proved ill-equipped to inspire confidence. He was high handed, provoking dissent from both Southerners and some of the more independent minded Northern Clans, resulting in an at times dangerous lack of coordination among the allied fleets.

In 20 AG Sozin passed away in his sleep, trawling the seas searching for the Avatar. His son Azulon ascended to the throne. Azulon was ruthless and cunning, and a soldier by education unlike his brother. He was perhaps the first man to anticipate the possible length of the war, and made long-term plans accordingly. In war he was aggressive.

Yahui’s untimely death following a fall from his Ostrichhorse in 24 would prove disastrous for the allies in the long term. His son Kun was a drunkard who cared more for women than for fighting a war to preserve his kingdom. Initially he at least made an effort, but as time went on he became less and less engaged with day to day affairs.

Azulon adopted an aggressive posture towards the enemy, favoring bold attacks and massed assaults. In this he proved largely successful. By the late 30s the Fire Nation felt secure enough to begin a formal colonization process in the Earth Kingdom, as the front had been pushed far enough inland that civilian colonies would not be immediately threatened.

Meanwhile he promoted newer, bolder, captains into the Fire Navy and began attacking the Water Tribes in the Polar Seas, even raiding the homelands of the tribes. The battles were fierce and back and forth. To defeat waterbenders at sea is a difficult thing, even for the pride of the Fire Navy, and the seas remained a battleground.

Around this time it became apparent that the Avatar was not going to return anytime soon. Fire Nation propaganda stated that Agni had judged the Avatar unworthy and so had prevented his rebirth. Allied forces alternated between panicked denials and accusing the Fire Nation’s ambitions as having imbalanced the world so much the Avatar spirit had withdrawn from the world.

In the year 42 Anik passed away from what is believed to be stomach cancer, a reoccurring bane of Northern Water Tribe leader, and was replaced by his son Nilak. Nilak was a powerful bender, but with little mind for proper tactics. He wished the respond with boldness to Azulon’s boldness, but lacked the skills to back him up in such a fight. The Water Tribe’s fleet was smashed several times under his personal command, including at the crucial Battle of Whaleantelope Strait in 44, where the Fire Lord personally commanded the Fire Navy to victory over both the Northern and Southern fleets. The Fire Navy was now the most powerful force on the waves, although the days of unparalleled dominance were yet to come.

For a while the competent commanders Yahui had promoted were able to keep the Earth Kingdom’s ship afloat, so to speak. But they aged and died with time, and Kun simply did not care enough to replace them carefully. Soon the Earth Kingdom was backed against two great rivers, the Huang in the north, and the Jiantau further south.

In 51 Nilak was killed in battle, the only world leader who died in such a way save the Abbots killed in the Genocide. His advisers had suggested not attacking several Fire Nation ships at once, but the hot headed chief did not listen and perished for his trouble. His younger brother, Illuq, succeeded him and took a far more conservative approach to the war. The Water Tribes, he announced in 57, would no longer undertake any offensives. Instead they would defend their homelands and that alone

Accusations of cowardice were quick to follow. Even the normally apathetic King Kun sent angry messages. The strategy was, in truth, ill-advised. It totally conceded the seas to the enemy, and left both Water Tribes open to direct raids, which would have disastrous consequences for the South in particular. In addition the Fire Nation could now harry the Earth Kingdom forces beyond the western seas. The realities of logistics prevented anything more than seizing some islands, and occasional raids, but it still stretched the Kingdom’s forces even further.

The decision also inevitably cut the Southern Water Tribe off from the North. The long growing separation of the two had actually been halted by the war initially, since military operations demanded unity. But within a few years of the withdrawal orders, contact had been lost. The Southern Chiefs met in an assembly to select a new Commander-in-Chief. This was not an easy task, as the various tribes of the South were quite defensive of their independence. The chiefdom of the North was as much about keeping power far far away as much as it was about respect for the ancient lineages. Eventually however, the tribes selected Tuktu, Chief of the Aput Tribe, as war leader “until such a time as contact was restored”. Tuktu fought well, but the Southern Tribe was not as well suited to defense as their Northern cousins, and soon the Tribe was collapsing. The Fire Nation Policy of kidnapping or killing any waterbenders they found entered full swing.

In 62, Earth King Kun died aged 67, surrounded by women and wine. His son Jie took the throne. Initially this was met with celebration, particularly when Jie removed several incompetent generals, and ordered a new strategy of aggression against the Fire Nation. However his replacements were little better, and as Crown Prince Iroh, Dragon of the West, proved himself perhaps the most capable general of the war, Jie’s strategy proved inept. In addition, he revealed himself to be a terrible ruler. His father had been lazy and weak, but amiable nonetheless. Jie was cruel in a way that crossed the line into madness. Men were boiled alive for insulting him. Failed generals were thrown to the eelhounds.

The Fire Nation thus secured control of all the land behind the Huang and Jiantau, and soon two great armies were dispatched in 71. Across the Huang went Iroh and General Zhizo was sent across the Jiantau. Iroh would fight a long and hard in the Mountains, having to face Earthbenders in their natural element. Zhizo meanwhile, faced General Tian and proved woefully unprepared. Tian completely obliterated the Fire Nation army both themes Zhizo tried to ford the Jiantau.

This, however, raised the ire of King Jie, who grew paranoid about Tian’s ambitions, fearing a coup was in the works. In 73 he summoned Tian to Ba Sing Se to face trial for his ‘treason.’ However when he arrived, Jie had been killed by an impromptu alliance of the Dai Li, Council of 5, and Palace Guards, and the Crown was offered to Tian, who accepted. Debate still rages about just how much General Tian was involved in this conspiracy. He of course claimed ignorance and issued reprimands to the killers, but at the same time issued no substantive punishments and reportedly was wholly unsurprised when he entered the city to claims of “Hail King Tian!”

After his coronation Tian would cross the Dashe River and fight Prince Iroh amongst the great mountains of the north. Military historians consider this brief window the period of finest generalship in the war,a flurry of manoeuvre and counter-manoeuvre dominated by two generals at the top of their prowess. A grudging respect was formed between the two, and the two would even occasionally exchange tea recipes.

In 75 Tuktu of the Southern Water Tribe was captured by the Fire Nation in a daring nighttime raid led by Commander Jeong Jeong who was later promoted to Admrial for his efforts. Tuktu eventually died in prison in 98 after years of mistreatment. His removal fractured the already precarious unity of the South Water Tribe. The following years would see the once proud nation reduced to a string of villages desperately fighting raids, and see Waterbending nearly eradicated around the South Pole.

The late 70s would also see a change in leadership in the North, as Illuq was succeeded by his non-bender son Arnook. Arnook would mostly follow his father’s example, battering down the hatches in the north to make his tribe an unappealing target for the Fire Nation.

However the duel of armies between Iroh and Tian could not continue forever. Azulon, feeling Iroh needed proper training to become Fire Lord and perhaps fearful that losing the close fought campaign might discredit his favored son, recalled Iroh to the Fire Nation. This was a marked departure from his traditional strategy of aggression. It had might have been a disaster for the Fire Nation, had Tian not suddenly died a few months later in 79. Officially a spideradder bit is too blame, although some suspect fowl play from ambitious officials.

Tian left behind a 4 year-old son, Kuei, and the the various generals and Sages of the Earth Kingdom naturally squabbled over the regency. Eventually it was agreed that the new head of the Dai Li, Long Feng, would be regent as it was generally agreed he had no ambition. This was a mistake.

Long Feng did have a limited scale of ambition, wanting only control over Ba Sing Se, and focused more on preventing any General from replicating Tian’s feat. To this end he gave more discretion to local officials, while limiting the influence of the Council of 5.

Somewhat surprisingly, this worked well initially, and Long Feng continued the policy as he retained control over Kuei long after the regency officially ended. Over the course of his brief reign Tian had encouraged the promotion of commanders who took the initiative and struck hard and fast. Increased familiarity with Fire Nation technology was also a boon.

The 80s were a time of renewed vigor for the Earth Kingdom. General Ye in the South continued to stymie the Fire Nation’s efforts to reach Omashu. Meanwhile renewed offenses in the North led to the reversal of many of Iroh’s gains. By 92, there was serious talk of crossing the rivers again, and taking the fight to the colonies. Thus Azulon redispatched Iroh.

Crossing the Huang and Jiantau however would require more coordination between riverine and army forces, and the lack of a central authority to coordinate them severely hampered any efforts. Fire Nation commanders in the South began using the same roving terror tactics that had worked against the Southern Water Tribe, preventing any force from assembling. Meanwhile Iroh again entered the Northern Mountains, and found that with Tian dead he no longer had a worthy opponent. Within a few years, he had completely occupied the territory between the Huang and the Dashe Rivers.

He then famously crossed the Dashe in 94 and besieged Ba Sing Se for 600 Days. General Ye made an equally daring march and barely beat Iroh to the city, temporarily displacing Long Feng as master of the capital, although the Dai Li head maintained control of Kuei. Ye would perish during the seige, and Iroh would take the outer wall. However the death of his son and supply issues would eventually lead to his withdrawal without conquering Ba Sing Se.

This retreat, and Iroh’s long mourning period for his son, opened the door for his younger brother Ozai to take the throne when Azulon died in 95. Much controversy surrounds the death of the Fire Lord. Some claim Ozai or his wife Ursa poisoned Azulon, others point out that Azulon was 95 years old. Most however dismiss Ozai’s claim that Azulon declared him heir on his deathbed.

The demoralizing retreat from Ba Sing Se and the suspicious succession of Ozai might have provided an opportunity for the Earth Kingdom, had Long Feng not remained in control of Ba Sing Se. His temporary loss of control during the Siege had sent him deeper into paranoia. He now officially banned any discussion of the war inside the city, and further devolved powers to local leaders to prevent any more challenges. He also ceased giving any sort of orders, leaving the Earth Kingdom’s forces rudderless. This allowed for more expansive Fire Nation raiding, and a rapid string of successes for the newly crowned Fire Lord Ozai.

Early efforts were focused on the South, where a new push south of the Jiantau was accompanied by ambitious landings for the sea, which proved a deadly combination. Even in areas where occupation proved impossible, raiding was a powerful weapon for the Fire Lord’s army.

In 93 a Fire Nation raid aimed at further eliminating waterbending in the Southern Water Tribe occured. This alone would not bear noting, save for the impact this raid would have. Firstly it failed to actually kill the Waterbender in question, Katara, future wife of Avatar Aang and master of her element in her own right, instead killing her mother. Her father, Chief Hakoda, was understandably enraged. He spent the next four years traveling to the various Southern Water Tribes and urging them to action. By 97 he had, mostly through his sheer charisma, reassembled the shattered coalition. It was greatly understrength, and possessed no waterbenders, but was filled with competent sailors and seasoned warriors.

Hakoda made the bold decision to abandon the South completely and head to the Earth Kingdom, where he reasoned the war would be won or lost. They would spend most of their days guarding River mouths from Fire Nation raids in coordination with local Earth Kingdom authorities.

By 99 the Fire Nation was making advances back across the Dashe, abilit at a slower pace than under Iroh, and were beginning a series of campaigns aimed at encircling Omashu. Most experts predicted victory would come soon, especially with the comet returning, although how Ozai planned to break Ba Sing Se remained unknown.

Then everything changed when the Avatar returned.

The Avatar’s impact on the war was largely physiological, inspiring fiercer resistance in the hopes of buying him enough time to master the elements. He also occasionally disrupted enemy supply lines, although this seems to be largely incidental to his training.

There were, of course key exceptions.

In early 100, Admiral Zhao tracked the Avatar to the Northern Water tribe and took the opportunity to make the long delayed assault to break the Northerners, just as previous Admirals had broken the South. However this plan backfired when Zhao killed the moon spirit, causing the Avatar to merge with the Ocean Spirit. Zhao was killed and the Fire Navy suffered its worst defeat in 200 years. This defeat more or less prevented any further water based offensives for the duritation of the War. It also roused the Northern Water Tribe from its extended period of isolation. Small aid missions were sent although conveniently by the time any substantial force was assembled the war was finished.

Aang aimed to continue his training in Omashu, only to find the city captured after the surrender of King Bumi. However Bumi was, as ever, playing the long game and the Fire Nation found itself expending more men occupying the region then it had invading it, largely because the Omashu Army had never been totally defeated in battle and was able to start guerrilla activity. The Avatar continued on his quest from here, eventually finding an earthbending teacher in unoccupied Gaoling.

Eventually circumstances that would take too long to explain brought the Avatar to Ba Sing Se, concurrently with a Fire Nation assault based around a large drilling apparatus. Having once again reached the walls, the Fire Nation intended a more direct approach rather than a siege. Had Aang not personally intervened, it is likely that attack would have succeeded. Had the operation included war balloon support as initially planned it probably would have succeeded regardless of Aang’s presence. However military politics had recently led to the war balloon/airship project moving to the Navy, and Minister Qin was unwilling to share the glory.

This defeat was not altogether disastrous however, as Princess Azula and Prince Zuko were able to seize Ba Sing Se weeks later in a coup aided by the Dai Li. Avatar Aang barely escaped with his life, along with King Kuei who was finally alerted to the war existing.

The Avatar’s next move was his most direct effort to win the war yet. A coalition of various Earth Kingdom forces, notably Omashu Units, and the Southern Water Tribe attempted to seize control of the Fire Nation Capital, both harbor and caldera, taking advantage of a solar eclipse occuring over the Fire Nation. However the Fire Nation forces has been forewarned and was able to hold off long enough to secure victory and capture the majority of the invasion force. Aang was able to escape, and would gain a firebending teacher in the process as Prince Zuko would defect to his side shortly thereafter.

The Eclipse also passed over the Southern Earth Kingdom, where it was used to much greater effect by King Bumi to liberate Omashu. This, and other guerrilla activity, was rapidly making the Fire Nation’s recent advances untenable. Azulon had possessed the administrative skills to manage the growing empire, whereas Ozai did not. Rather than address this personal failing, he resolved to commit mass genocide.

His plan was to use the power of the incoming comet to burn the Earth Kingdom to ashes. Although the sheer scale of geography and population precluded a repeat of the Air Nomad Genocide, Ozai hoped that he could destroy any organization that the Earth Kingdom had, reducing the Kingdom to a scattering of scarred nomadic bands, enabling the colonization of the entire region.

While Ozai plotted, his brother Iroh, Dragon of the West did so as well. Iroh had been imprisoned following the capture of Ba Sing Se, but had escaped during the eclipse. He assembled, for the first time publicly, the Order of the White Lotus, with the intent of restoring Kuei to the throne. King Bumi arrived to aid the endeavor, along with Master Pakku and the only significant Northern Water Tribe contingent of the late war. Iroh was joined by a contingent of Fire Nation defectors including Jeong Jeong and Master Swordsmith Piandao. The attack was soon aided by a largely spontaneous uprising of Earthbenders inside Ba Sing Se and succeeded in seizing the city.

Meanwhile the Avatar faced the Fire Lord in single combat and, after a hard fought battle in the Wulong Forest, managed to strip Ozai of his bending. Meanwhile his companions (save Zuko and Katara) were able to disrupt and destroy Ozai’s airship fleet. Other fleets were still able to do substantial damage, before being recalled by orders from the capital.

Said orders were the result of the dramatic Agni Kai between Zuko and Azula, which Zuko won, after which Azula was restrained by Katara. Zuko immediately claimed the throne then sent out orders to stop the attacks and withdraw from the Earth Kingdom.

Spariodic fighting would continue for some time, withdrawing the Fire Army took months and many Earth Kingdom forces were unwilling to let them leave unbloodied. And there were inevitable mutinies from more fanatical Fire Nation soldiers. Despite this the Day of the Comet is considered the end of the Hundred Year War, literally a hundred years since the war began.

There would be crises to follow. Fights over the colonies and over reparations. Internal battles in every nation. But the world has never seen such long lasting brutality since the war ended, and hopefully it never will again.
 
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Led Zeppelin was an English rock band. The group started in 1968. The members were Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitar), Jeff Beck (guitar), John Paul Jones (bass) and Keith Moon (drums). the band had considered the possibility of ending after Keith Moon's death in 1980, however Jeff Beck considered bringing a replacement in a hurry to start a tour that year, Carmine Appice was the ideal replacement for Keith Moon. in 2005 it was the turn of Robert Plant to leave the band because he considered not to fit the style of the band anymore, Jeff Scott Soto was brought to the band.
 

LeinadB93

Monthly Donor
A slightly different Belgium from Hail, Britannia:

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Belgium, officially the United Belgian States and historically known as the Belgian Confederation, is a member state of the European Union located in Western Europe, bordered by the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the north, the Rhenish Republic to the east, the Kingdom of the French to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. Covering an area of 30,688 square kilometres with a population of nearly 11 million, Belgium is a multinational state divided into several linguistic and cultural groups, with six official languages, governed under a decentralised parliamentary monarchy composed of six constituent countries. A founding member of the European Union, Belgium's capital city, Brussels, hosts the official seat of the European Commission and the headquarters of many European institutions and international organisations. Historically, Belgium served as the battleground between many European powers, earning the moniker the "Battlefield of Europe", a reputation strengthened by both world wars.

Historically, what is now Belgium was part of the northernmost part of Gaul and inhabited by the Belgae peoples. Julius Caesar used the word "Belgium" to describe this region which became a Roman province, Gallia Belgica, in 22 BCE as a result of his conquests. At the time of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, modern Belgium was inhabited by a mix of Frankish tribes and a more Romanised population, eventually coming under the rule of the Merovingian dynasty and later formed part of the Carolingian Empire. After the Treaty of Verdun in 843 partitioned the Carolingian territories into three kingdoms, most of modern Belgium was briefly part of the Middle Kingdom, later known as Lotharingia, while the coastal county of Flanders became part of West Francia, the predecessor of modern France. In 870, modern Belgian lands briefly became part of the western kingdom until 880 when Lotharingia came under the control of the Holy Roman Empire, dividing modern Belgium between East and West Francia.

Between the 14th and 15th centuries, the fiefdoms that made up what is now Belgium were reunited in the Burgundian Netherlands, which after 1482 became the Habsburg Netherlands when it was inherited Philip the Handsome, later King Felipe I of Spain. In 1556, the Seventeen Provinces were inherited by the grandson of Philip the Handsome, King Felipe II of Spain, becoming known as the Spanish Netherlands. Catholic persecutions, and the despotism of the new monarch, sparked the Dutch Revolt and the Eighty Years' War resulting in the 1581 secession of the Seven United Provinces from the rest of the territory to form the Dutch Republic, while the southern provinces - covering most of modern Belgium - remained with the House of Habsburg. After the extinction of the Spanish Habsburgs and the War of the Spanish Succession, the southern provinces were returned to Austrian control from 1714 onwards. In 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars, the Low Countries — including territories that were never nominally under Habsburg rule, such as the Prince-Bishopric of Liège — were annexed by the French First Republic, ending Habsburg rule. The Low Countries were unified as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands afer the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1814, following the abdication of Napoleon.

On 25 August 1830, the Belgian Revolution began when riots erupted in Brussels, and uprisings followed elsewhere across the country. The people of the southern provinces were traditionally Roman Catholic, contrasted with the largely Protestant north, and there were high levels of unemployment and industrial unrest among the working classes. A Dutch military intervention in September failed to suppress the revolution and further radicalised its leadership towards secession, and on 4 October 1830 the States-General in Brussels declared independence from the Netherlands. The Southern Provinces formed a provisional government and assembled a national congress, establishing a Catholic, French-speaking, neutral and independent Belgium. The congress chose a constitutional popular monarchy as the form of government for Belgium, but was unable to select an acceptable candidate for head of state. The Dutch appealed to the Great Powers, but at the resulting 1830 London Conference the major European powers recognised Belgian independence. King Willem I of the Netherlands, unsatisfied by the outcome of the conference and refusing to accept Belgian independence, launched an invasion of Belgium in August 1831. The Dutch army, led by the Prince of Orange, advanced deep into Belgian territory, defeating the disorganised resistance and taking advantage of poor harvests, an economic downturn and the general unrest in the country, eventually controlling Antwerp, Limburg and most of Flanders. The Belgian government appealed to the French for military support, and by November the south of the country had been pacified, although Dutch forces were encamped at Leuven outside Brussels and the conflict became bogged down in a stalemate.

In July 1832, the Great Powers of Europe convened a second London Conference to resolve the "Belgian question". The resulting Treaty of London, signed on 21 July 1832, established the Belgian Confederation - an association of semi-autonomous states - under Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, a scion of the House of Habsburg. The Treaty created seven states within Belgium - the grand duchies of Flanders, Wallonia and Luxembourg, the principalities of Hainaut and Eupen-Malmedy, and the duchies of Limburg and Brabant - each of which had its own monarch chosen or nominated by the Great Powers. On the same day, Archduke Charles took the oath before the National Congress as the "King of the Belgians and President of the Sovereign Confederation", and was granted the Duchy of Brabant, establishing the House of Habsburg-Belgium. Under the terms of the treaty Luxembourg and Limburg were to remain in personal union with the King of the Netherlands, and along with Eupen-Malmedy were also members of the German Confederation. Dutch opposition to the settlement would continue for seven years until the signing of the 1839 Treaty of London that recognised Belgian independence, consolidated the creation of the Confederation and guaranteed the perpetual neutrality of Belgium. Parts of the country, particularly Wallonia and Hainaut, were some of the first areas of continental Europe to participate in the Industrial Revolution, spurring the economic development of the country. Geopolitical developments in the 1860s culminated in the Luxembourg Crisis, and in the aftermath of the collapse of the German Confederation the 1867 Treaty of London recognised the independence of Luxembourg, Limburg and Eupen-Malmedy from the German Confederation and their integral membership in the Belgian Confederation. Economic unrest in Eupen-Malmedy in the 1880s resulted in a brief experiment in republicanism in the state, which lasted from 1888 to 1893.

Political liberalisation and demands for universal male suffrage culminated in the April 1893 general strike, that culminated in a nationwide revolution that transformed the Belgian Confederation into the United Belgian States. Far-reaching reforms transformed Belgium into a federal monarchy with a strong central government, a single Federal Chancellor and a Federal Congress under King Charles II, while the constituent states retained their monarchies and self-government, with the exception of the Duchy of Limburg which became an autonomous country of the Netherlands. Dutch and French became co-offical languages at the federal level, and it would take until the 1970s before the other languages of Belgium gained official federal status. In August 1914, the German Empire invaded Belgium of part of the strategy to attack France, and much of the fighting on the Western Front of the First World War occurred in Wallonia and Luxembourg. This invasion of neutral Belgium caused the British Empire to declare war on Germany and is regarded as one of the main causes of the global war. Belgium emerged from the war in a poor state, although the country had suffered few deaths, with much of its economy and infrastructure devastated and waves of popular violence against collaborators followed the liberation. The first post-war Olympics were held in Antwerp in 1920, symbolising Belgium's surprisingly quick recovery. Throughout the interwar period and into the early Second World War, Belgium tried to pursue a policy of unaligned neutrality but on 10 May 1940 German forces invaded and occupied the country. After 18 days of fighting, the Belgian forces (including the commander-in-chief, King Charles III) surrendered, while the elected government, under Chancellor Hubert Pierlot, escaped to Britain alongwith most of the states' monarchs and heads of government. During the war the eastern states of Luxemborg and Eupen-Malmedy were anexed to Nazi Germany, and more than 40 thousand Belgians were killed.

Immediately after the war, Charles III, who had surrendered himself and the country to the German army in 1940, was released. However, the issue of whether he had betrayed the country and his oath by surrendering, while most government ministers and monarchs of the states had escaped overseas into exile, presented an important constitutional dilemma. Many Belgians felt he had collaborated with Nazi Germany during the war, and with a majority of the population opposing his return the king remained in exile in Switzerland with a regency in place. In 1950, amidst growing unrest, widespread protests and the threat of a general strike, Charles formally abdicated in favour of his cousin, who became King Nicholas I. In the immediate post-war period, Belgium became a leading proponent of Pan-Europeanism, with the foundation of the four European Communities - Coal and Steel, Atomic Energy, Economic, and Defence - in the 1950s that would eventually evolve into the modern European Union. In the 21st century, Belgium is a developed country with an advanced high-income economy and regularly ranks highly in standards of living, healthcare and education.
 
Well, I've finally got my first three Wikipedia infoboxes created. However, since the snipping tool wouldn't let me scroll down, the infoboxes are split in two, so apologizes in advance. Now, without furthur ado, here are infoboxes about the news report in 2017 in Adam Sandler's Click regarding Britney Spears, Kevin Federline and Michael Jackson!

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This is 1010 WINS News, February 5th, 2017. Britney Spears just had her 23rd baby today. Proud father Kevin Federline is now considering getting a job. Also, Michael Jackson, the first man to clone himself, is now suing himself, for molesting himself!
 
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