In 1997 The Kyoto agreement set out obligations by UN members to reduce pollution and climate change
The agreement was set up on the 11th of December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan and set out obligations by UN members to reduce pollution and climate change. The protocol puts more responsibility on the developed nations due to their contributions through more than 150 years of industrial activity under the “Common but different responsibilities’ principle. This requires industrialised Nations to reduce their green house gas emissions, over the next ten years, by 5.2% below levels in 1990. United States President George W. Bush stated that America would never sign this protocol in a statement in March 2001 (The United States are the World’s biggest producers of green house gases with 36% of the entire worlds emissions).
In 1941 the United States of America joined the Allied forces in WWII
The Imperial Japanese Naval Fleet had been patrolling the Pacific Ocean, conquering various islands including French Indochina in 1940. Their goal had been to stop relief being sent to China who was being supported by The United Kingdom, US and France. They also wanted to secure their own supplies of Oil from the resource rich islands, ready for a full on invasion of China.
To ensure naval supremacy in the pacific, Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbour on the 7th of December 1941. On that morning 353 Japanese planes were launched aircraft carriers which annihilated most of the Pacific fleet docked there. The attack caught the United States completely off Guard and resulted in damage to all eight US Battleships, four of which were sunk. Along with the Battleships, 3 cruisers and 3 destroyers were damaged with 188 aircraft destroyed, another 159 aircraft damaged. In total 2,400 people died and another 1,178 were wounded, all from this sneak attack by aircraft from six Japanese carriers (the Akagi, Hiryu, Kaga, Shokaku, Soryu and Zuikaku). The Japanese aircraft carriers were also supported by 2 Battleships, 3 cruisers, 9 destroyers and 28 submarines. This attack led the United States to declare war on Japan the following day on the 8th of December. On the 11th of December, after war was declared on the US by Germany and Italy, the United States also declared war on Germany and Italy joining the Allied nations.
In 1936 King Edward VIII abdicated the throne of the United Kingdom
In 1931 the Statute of Westminster gave legal independence to Canada, Australia, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand and South Africa. These nations all joined the British Commonwealth of Nations as it was then known.
In 1884 during the era of the British Empire some of the countries under British rule became self governing but still retained the British monarch as their heads of state. These countries were known as the British Commonwealth of Nations. In 1926 at the Imperial conference the UK and its dominions agreed that they are "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". 1930 saw the first version of the Commonwealth Games (then called the British Commonwealth Games) held in Canada.
In 1931 ‘the statute of Westminster’ gave legal Independence to Canada, Australia, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand and South Africa. Canada, South Africa and the Irish Free State quickly enacting on the statute becoming Independent, the other countries waited over a decade to become independent (Australia in 1942, New Zealand in 1947 and Newfoundland was reincorporated into Canada in 1949). All these countries joined the British Commonwealth of Nations in 1931 after the statute of Westminster was agreed.
