Boston University was the first university in the United States to award a Ph.D. degree to a woman.

Africans in Anicent China

The presense of Africans in Anicent China was very strong.

In northern China the blacks founded many civilizations. The three major empires of China were Xia Dynasty (c.2205-1766 B.C), Shang/ Yin Dynasty (c.1700-1050 B.C) and the Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou dynasty was the first dynasty founded by the Mongoloid people in China called Hua (Who-aa). the other twos were Black.

Sorghaghtani Beki ~ Christian mother of Kubilai Khan

One of the most influenial persons in the Mongolian history was a Christian woman. Sorghaghtani Beki was the wife of Tolui, Genghis Khan's youngest son and she was
a Nestorian Christian. Her four sons Möngke Khan, Kublai Khan, Hulagu Khan and Ariq Boke would all play mjaor roles in Mongolian history.

Tolui himself was capble general in his own right and Genghis Khan nearly chose him as his successor. When Genghis Khan died, the nobles gathered together and elected Tolui as the new Khan. Toliu himself decided to gave the Khanate to his brother, Ögodei, fulfilling his father's wishes. When Toliu died, Sorghaghtani Beki's stand within the Mongolian empire did not weaken. In fact, she became stronger and more well-respected within the elite.

After the death of the Great Khan, Güyük (Ögodei Khan's son), she outmaneuvered her rivals and made her son, Möngke, the new Great Khan. Thus, the Toliu branch became the Mongolian ruling family line.

As the Great Khan, Möngke Khan was noted for his expansion into China and the Middle East. His friendly relationship with Batu, the head of Mongol's European empire, ensured a unified empire. He sent his younger brother Hulagu Khan to expand into the Middle East.

Hulagu Khan was an interesting charactor. His mother was a passionate Nestorian Christian, as was his wife, Dotuz Khatun, and his closest friend and general, Kitbuqa. Their influence was said to have instilled in him a deep animosity against Muslims — unusual for the generally tolerant Mongol Empire — along with a contrasting desire to assist Christians. In 1258, his army sacked Baghdad which was then an important Islamic city. The destruction on the city was one of the worst in the history of mankind and considered to be brutal even under Mongol's standard. He also killed the caliph which sent a big alarm to the Islamic world. He was becoming a destroyer of the Islamic faith. Only the death of Mongke stopped him. Hulagu and most of his army went home to resolve the sucession crisis. The Mamluks of Egypt defeated his remaining army at the Battle of Ain Jalut.

Hulagu returned to his lands by 1262, after the succession was finally settled with Kublai as the last Great Khan, but instead of being able to avenge his defeats, was drawn into civil war with his cousin Berke. Berte Khan, the Khan of the Golden Horde was a Muslim convert and was enraged by Hulagu's sack of Baghdadd. Finally, in 1262 the conflict turned into open war. Hulagu Khan was killed in 1265. He was credited as the founder of Il-Khanate of Persia.

Meanwhile, Kublai Khan had succeeded Mongke Khan as the new Great Khan after fighting a brief civil war with his younger brother Ariq Boke . It was during his reign that Mongol reached its height in terms of land mass.

National icons wth foreign background

Richard the Lionheart is perhaps one of the most famous English kings. Often, he was portrayed by the most English actors in movies. In reality, he was actually French. He grew up in France. He spent more time in France than in England. Some historians even claimed that he could not speak English.

Across the English Channel, Napoleon Bonaparte was actually an Italian. He grew up sepaking Italian. His birthname was actually Napoleone di Buonaparte. He was born on the island of Corsica one year after it became French property. His father, Carlo, was an Italian noblemen with rank of the "noble Patrician of Tuscany" an outspoken critics of the French "annexation" of the island. He once worked for Corsican nationalist Pasquale Paoli. However, once the island to become French, Carlos worked well with the French.

Napoleon himself moved to France at a young age. Later in life, he changed his name from Napoleone di Buonaparte to Napoleon Bonaparte to prive his loyalty to France.

The Chinese often called themselves the people of "Tang" because of the Tang dynasty (618 to 907 AD). While the dynasty itself was not a result of a foreign invasion, the ruling family-- the Li family - was actually Turkish in origin. The ancestors of the Li family was actuallty Turkish tribal chiefs who served for the Chinese military and later assimilated into Chinese nobility. By the time of the foundation of the Tang dynasty, the Li familty had adopted a Chinese surname. They had intermarried with Chinese women.

Li Yuan, the founder of the Tang dynasty, was actually a famous general who was known to have pacify the Turkish tribesmen.

Pornstar Ron Jeremy and CIA director George Tenet

Pornstar Ron Jeremy and former CIA director George Tenet were High school classmates. They went to Cardozo High School in New York.

George Tenet served as the CIA Director from July 1997 to July 2004. He was the second-longest serving director in the CIA's history behind Allen Dulles. He resigned in 2004 for personal reasons, but many believed the controversy over alleged Iraqi WMDs and the decision to go to war was the reason why he resigned.

Known as "Hedgehog", Ron Jeremy was one the best-known male pornstar. In fact, he was ranked by AVN Magazine at #1 in their "100 Top Porn Stars of All Time" list. He was known as for his ability to perform autofellatio. He appeared as a guest speaker at Oxford Union.... I don't think George Tenet was ever invited to speak at Oxford Union.

Hitler's nephew who served in the US Navy against him

Adolf Hitler's nephew served in the US Navy during the War. William Patrick Hitler was the son of Alois Hitler, Jr., Adolf Hitler's half-brother. Alois Hitler lived briefly in Ireland where he met Bridget Dowling. The couple married and moved to Liverpool where their son William Patrick Hitler was born in 1911. Alois Hitler, later, moved back to Germany for work and forced to abandon his family when the First World War broke out. He remarried.

However, in 1933, William Patrick Hitler went to live with his father in Germany in an attempt to benefit from his uncle's rise to power. His uncle found him a job in a bank. However, there were rumors that he tried to blackmail his uncle with embarrassing stories about the family. In 1938, he escaped back to England after his relationship with his uncle turned very sour and he feared for his life.

In 1939, William and his mother went to the United States on a lecture tour on the invitation of William Randolph Hearst, and were stranded there when World War II broke out. William joined the United States Navy in 1944; when he went to the draft office and introduced himself, the recruiting officer replied, "Glad to see you Hitler, my name's Hess."

He left the Navy in 1947 and changed his surname to Stuart-Houston. Of course, William Patrick Hitler was never known to be a Nazi nor did he endorse his uncle. However, he did name his first son

Chinese soldiers fought in the American Civil War

It was estimated that 200 Asian Americans fought in the American Civil War. About 60 of them were Chinese. At least three of them fought at the battle of Gettysburg campaign. Two of them were from Connecticut.

The subject is difficult to research since some Chinese soldiers had adopted non-Chinese names while some Western names sounded Chinese.... for example, Robert E. Lee!! One Chinese soldier named Corporal Joseph Pierce(above) was one of the most researched Asian soldier.

Joseph Pierce was mustered into the Fourteenth Regiment, Company F of the Connecticut Volunteer Infantry that became part of the Second Brigade of the Third Division, Second Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac. He fought on the Union side that repelled the Pickett's Charge during the battle of Gettysburg. At the end of the war, he was a coporal.