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After World War II, the world was divided into two competing ideological and military blocs: the West, led by the capitalist United States, and the East, which operated within the Soviet Union's communist sphere. Under the authoritarian rule of Mao Zedong, China initially aligned with the USSR, securing much-needed economic and industrial aid, as well as military support to counter American influence in East Asia. In the late 1950s, however, border disputes and ideological disagreements led China to break the alliance with the Eastern Bloc and become an independent power, challenging both Soviet and American policies. As a result of the Sino-Soviet split and the trade restrictions imposed by the United States after the Korean War, China experienced a significant period of economic and cultural isolation that ended only in the early 1970s. In the midst of the political tensions of the Cold War, Chinese-born Eurasian physician and author Han Suyin emerged as a key figure in bridging...

Today is Gregory Peck's 110th birthday. Born in San Diego, California, on April 5, 1916, Peck grew up with an ambition to become a doctor. After graduating high school, he enrolled at the San Diego State Teacher's College, and later transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, as an English major and pre-medical student. His deep, well-modulated voice soon got him attention and he was encouraged to try acting, having appeared in five plays during his senior year at Berkeley. In 1939, lacking one course to receive his degree, he headed to New York City to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse with the legendary acting coach Sanford Meisner. His stage career began two years later, when he appeared in a Katharine Cornell production of George Bernard Shaw's play The Doctor's Dilemma , which opened in San Francisco just one week before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He made his Broadway debut in 1942, playing the lead in Emlyn Williams' The Morning Star . Peck'...