Ignore this page. It's not a proper article, just a repository of older pages that were either cancelled or need to be reworked before being put back on one of the wiki's indices.

“A timeline of important events and turning points in world history.

The British Labour Party had been in opposition since 1979. John Smith, the popular leader of the Labour Party, died of a heart attack in 1994. Tony Blair won the subsequent leadership election. Under his leadership the Labour Party adopted more right-wing policies and won the 1997, 2001 and 2005 general elections with large majorities. During this time, the Conservative Party was relatively unpopular due to an impression that they were too right-wing and out of touch, and somewhat corrupt and incompetent. Labour Leaders who might have been include Gordon Brown, who didn't run due to an agreement with Blair, and, less likely, Robin Cook, John Prescott or Margaret Beckett.

The 2000 US presidential election was extremely close, with George W. Bush being declared the winner only after a supreme court decision to stop a series of recounts in the state of Florida.

Percentage of votes cast:
47.9% - George W. Bush (Republican)
48.4% - Al Gore (Democrat)
2.7% - Ralph Nader (Green)
1.1% - all others

Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger planes and flew them into the World Trade Centre, destroying it, and the Pentagon. The fourth plane was heading towards Washington when it crashed after passengers attempted to regain control of the plane.

After the attacks there was a greater awareness in the world of the potential danger from Islamist terrorism and rogue states, leading to the so-called War on Terror. In the US, the Department of Homeland Security was created, the PATRIOT Act passed, security tightened generally, and military spending increased. The US and its allies went to war with Afghanistan (Oct. 2001) and later Iraq (Mar. 2003) . Iran and North Korea were named, along with Iraq, as members of the “Axis of Evil”. President Bush's approval ratings went up to 89% and there was a 14% fall in the US stock market.

US and foreign intelligence agencies had informed the US government of various suspicious circumstances prior to 9/11, that in retrospect turned out to have been related to the attacks. It is possible, therefore, that the attacks might have been prevented. The Bush administration has been criticised for having appeared uninterested in Al Qaeda prior to the attacks.”