A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion reactions, producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb types release large quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter.
Nuclear weapons possess enormous destructive power from nuclear fission or combined fission and fusion reactions. Building on scientific breakthroughs made during the 1930s, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and free France collaborated during World War II, in what was called the Manhattan Project, to build a fission weapon, also known as an atomic bomb. In August 1945, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were conducted by the United States against Japan at the close of that war, standing to date as the only use of nuclear weapons in hostilities. The Soviet Union started development shortly after with their own atomic bomb project, and not long after, both countries were developing even more powerful fusion weapons known as hydrogen bombs. Britain and France built their own systems in the 1950s, and the list of states with nuclear weapons has gradually grown larger in the decades since.
Ice Station is Australian thriller writer Matthew Reilly's second novel, released in 1998.
Area 7 is a novel written by Australian thriller writer Matthew Reilly. It is his fourth book, published in 2001, and is the sequel to Ice Station.
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" is a folk tale from the One Thousand and One Nights. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard it from Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab. As one of the most popular Arabian Nights tales, it has been widely retold and performed in many media across the world, especially for children.
The following lists events in the year 2003 in Iraq.
CaptainShane Michael Schofield, callsign Scarecrow, United States Marine Corps, is a fictional character, whose exploits form the basis of a series created by the Australian author Matthew Reilly. He appears in Ice Station (1998), Area 7 (2001), Scarecrow (2003), The Four Legendary Kingdoms, and the spin-off Hell Island (2005). While the plot differs from novel to novel, it is mainly based around Schofield's legendary reputation as a strong Marine, revered by the Marines that serve under his command, and is known for his high-risk tactical manoeuvres.
Scarecrow is the fifth Matthew Reilly novel, and the third to feature the main character Captain Shane Schofield, USMC. It was released in 2003.
Mitchell Gant is a fictional character in a series of books written by Craig Thomas. His first appearance occurs in the 1977 novel Firefox as a US Air Force major that steals a Russian MiG-31 Firefox fighter aircraft prototype. The prototype uses experimental interfaces between pilot and plane to allow for "thought-activated" flying and combat solutions. Gant, however, has to think in Russian to enable the technology to work.
Hell Island is a horror/adventure novella, written in conjunction with the Australian Books Alive promotion, by thriller writer Matthew Reilly While it is the fourth book released in the Shane Schofield series, it is a standalone novella in the Shane Schofield universe, supplementing the storylines in the novels Ice Station, Area 7, Scarecrow, and Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves. In the interview at the back of Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, Matthew Reilly stated that "Hell Island exists as a nice side adventure for Scarecrow and Mother, and a great short book for new readers who might wish to try my work." Hell Island was released in retail stores in 2007 after only being available through the Books Alive program.
Arabian Nights is a two-part 2000 American/British miniseries, adapted by Peter Barnes from Sir Richard Francis Burton's translation of the medieval epic One Thousand and One Nights. Mili Avital and Dougray Scott star as Scheherazade and Shahryar respectively. Produced by Dyson Lovell and directed by Steve Barron, the serial was made by Hallmark Entertainment and originally broadcast over two nights on 30 April and 1 May 2000 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and ABC in the United States.
Alexandre Marius Jacob, also known by the names Georges, Escande, Férau, Jean Concorde, Attila, and Barrabas, was a French anarchist illegalist.
The Scarecrow is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Genseishin Justirisers, translated into English as Phantom Star God Justirisers is a tokusatsu superhero TV series produced by Toho and airing on TV Tokyo. This series is the second in Toho's Seishin series. The show aired 51 episodes between October 2, 2004 and September 24, 2005.
Véronique Françoise Caroline Renard is a Dutch author and visual artist. She is also known as Pantau, a name that was adopted after meeting the Dalai Lama at an audience at his home in McLeodganj, Dharamsala, India in 2000. The name Pantau means "to be helpful" or "beneficial". Pantao is also a Chinese name for a flat, small peach, reputed to be food for Taoist fairies.
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is a 1944 adventure film from Universal Pictures, directed by Arthur Lubin, and starring Maria Montez and Jon Hall. The film is derived from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, but its storyline departs greatly from the tale of the same name and includes an actual historic event. The film is one of series of "exotic" tales released by Universal during the Second World War; others include Cobra Woman, Arabian Nights and White Savage.
Teleforce is a proposed defensive weapon by Nikola Tesla that accelerated pellets or slugs of material to a high velocity inside a vacuum chamber via electrostatic repulsion and then fired them out of aimed nozzles at intended targets. Tesla claimed to have conceived of it after studying the Van de Graaff generator. Tesla described the weapon as being able to be used against ground-based infantry or for anti-aircraft purposes.
Matthew John Reilly is an internationally bestselling Australian action thriller writer.
Omar Ould Hamaha was an Islamist militia commander from Northern Mali. During the 2012 Northern Mali conflict he became known alternatively as the spokesman and chief of staff for both Ansar Dine and Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA), militant groups associated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul is an Indian fantasy television series based on the Arabian Nights character Ali Baba. Produced by Alind Srivastava and Nissar Parvez under Peninsula Pictures, starring Sheezan Mohammed Khan, Tunisha Sharma, Karthik Jayaram and Sayantani Ghosh. It premiered on 22 August 2022 on Sony SAB and digitally streams on SonyLIV. The series follows the life of an orphan Alibaba, from the Mamuli Gali of Kabul, and the challenges he faces while he tries to protect and take care of five other orphan children.
