Terrorism really is a form of asymmetric warfare waged against the united states by groups that lack the military wherewithal to slug it out with the united states toe-to-toe. 9/11 was a violent counter reaction to america's geopolitical—and cultural—primacy. as richard k. betts presciently observed in a 1998 foreign affairs article, "it is hardly likely that middle eastern radicals would be hatching schemes like the destruction of the world trade center if the united states had not been identified so long as the mainstay of israel, the shah of iran, and conservative arab regimes and the source of a cultural assault on islam." u. s. primacy fuels terrorist groups like al qaeda and fans islamic fundamentalism, which is a form of "blowback" against america's preponderance and its world role.54 as long as the united states uses its global primacy [end page 69] to impose its imperial sway on regions like the persian gulf, it will be the target of politically motivated terrorist groups like al qaeda.

Clearly, for geopolitics, 2012 did not signal the world's end, but only its tumultuous continuity. Major economies of the world had seen their governments either replaced or reestablished - Barack Obama in the United States, Xi Jinping in People's Republic of China, and Shinzō Abe in Japan. Newsweek issued its last print issue, with the iconic hashtag sounding the death knell to non-online publishing. European Union remains to be stuck in a debilitating debt crisis. The UN General Assembly approves a motion granting Palestine non-member observer state status.

1960: wilma rudolph was the first woman to win three olympic gold medals in track and field at one olympic games. she was an american sprinter from tennessee, she was acclaimed the fastest woman in the world. she was among the most visible black women in america and abroad. she became a role model for black and female athletes. she was also known as a civil rights and women right's pioneer.

1973: billy jean king is an american former number one tennis player. she represented the united states in the federal cup and the wightman cup. for three years she was the usa's captain in the federation cup. she defends gender equality and has been a pioneer for equal and social justice. at the age of 29, she won "the battle of sexes" tennis match against the 55 year old bobby riggs. she was also the founder of women's tennis association and the women's sports foundation.  

1983: tamara mckinney becomes the first american female skier to win the alpine world cup overall championship top. she was the only american to hold that title for a quarter century until 2008.

1992: manon rhéaume, from canada,   becomes the only woman to start in a national hockey league game in an exhibition game for the tampa bay lightning . she played on the canada women's national ice hockey team winning gold medals in 1992 and 1994. and silver medals in 1998. manon marked the first time a woman appeared in a regular season professional game with her first appearance against the salt lake golden eagles.

2013: serena williams won 78 of 82 matches at the age of 31. she is an american professional tennis player. she reached the number 1 ranking for the first time on july, 8, 2002. at the age of 16, she played against karsten braasch the battle of sexes. she was the highest paid female athlete in 2016. she is a unicef ambassador .