Although the twentieth century had more than its fair share of horrors, it also was an era of incredible development. Modern medicine, sanitation, and agriculture helped billions of people live longer, healthier lives.
The <a href="http://www.gapminder.org/">Gapminder Foundation</a> is dedicated to using statistics to inform people about the ways in which our world has changed and continues to change. The coolest tool on its website is <a href="http://www.gapminder.org/world/">Gapminder World</a>, which allows anyone to make animated graphs showing how different statistics - ranging from carbon dioxide emissions, to income inequality, to the ratio of boys to girls in school - have changed in different countries over time.
We made a graph to show how child mortality and life expectancy have changed around the world since 1950 (animated below; <a href="http://www.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly=2003;lb=f;il=t;fs=11;al=30;stl=t;st=t;nsl=t;se=t$wst;tts=C$ts;sp=5.59290322580644;ti=1950$zpv;v=0$inc_x;mmid=XCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj2tPLxKvvnNPA;by=ind$inc_y;mmid=YCOORDS;iid=0ArfEDsV3bBwCcGhBd2NOQVZ1eWowNVpSNjl1c3lRSWc;by=ind$inc_s;uniValue=8.21;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0XOoBL_n5tAQ;by=ind$inc_c;uniValue=255;gid=CATID0;by=grp$map_x;scale=lin;dataMin=12;dataMax=83$map_y;scale=lin;dataMin=2.2;dataMax=756$map_s;sma=49;smi=2.65$cd;bd=0$inds=">interactive version here</a>).
The countries are color-coded by region: red is East Asia and the Pacific, orange is Europe and Central Asia, yellow is the Americas, green is the Middle East and North Africa, light blue is South Asia, and dark blue is Sub-Saharan Africa.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://www.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly=2003;lb=f;il=t;fs=11;al=30;stl=t;st=t;nsl=t;se=t$wst;tts=C$ts;sp=5.59290322580644;ti=1950$zpv;v=0$inc_x;mmid=XCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj2tPLxKvvnNPA;by=ind$inc_y;mmid=YCOORDS;iid=0ArfEDsV3bBwCcGhBd2NOQVZ1eWowNVpSNjl1c3lRSWc;by=ind$inc_s;uniValue=8.21;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0XOoBL_n5tAQ;by=ind$inc_c;uniValue=255;gid=CATID0;by=grp$map_x;scale=lin;dataMin=12;dataMax=83$map_y;scale=lin;dataMin=2.2;dataMax=756$map_s;sma=49;smi=2.65$cd;bd=0$inds="><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/~~/f?id=52e7c43b69bedd8d3bafa2d4" border="0" alt="life expectancy vs child mortality 4...." title="life expectancy vs child mortality 4...." /></a>Gapminder Foundation/ Business Insider</div></div></div>
Over the last fifty years, global life expectancy has risen and child mortality rates have dropped, as can be seen by the overall trend of countries moving down (lower child mortality) and to the right (higher life expectancy).
In 1950, 59 countries had child mortality rates of more than 200 per 1,000 live births - in those countries, more than one fifth of all children died before the age of five. In 2012, no countries had child mortality rates that high.
These two measures are closely related. Child mortality is a huge factor in overall life expectancy - a large number of children dying can cancel out many people living to old age, and bring down the average lifespan.
Although the general global trend over the last sixty years has been towards better health, it is possible to see a number of disastrous moments in the image. At the end of the 1950s and beginning of the 1960s, China - the large red circle - sees a brief regression, with life expectancy dropping and child mortality rates going up. This coincides with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward">Great Leap Forward</a> and the subsequent famine.
Similarly, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_genocide">Cambodian genocide</a> under the Khmer Rouge can be seen as the small red circle swinging up and to the left in the early and mid 1970s.
<a href="http://www.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly=2003;lb=f;il=t;fs=11;al=30;stl=t;st=t;nsl=t;se=t$wst;tts=C$ts;sp=5.59290322580644;ti=1950$zpv;v=0$inc_x;mmid=XCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj2tPLxKvvnNPA;by=ind$inc_y;mmid=YCOORDS;iid=0ArfEDsV3bBwCcGhBd2NOQVZ1eWowNVpSNjl1c3lRSWc;by=ind$inc_s;uniValue=8.21;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0XOoBL_n5tAQ;by=ind$inc_c;uniValue=255;gid=CATID0;by=grp$map_x;scale=lin;dataMin=12;dataMax=83$map_y;scale=lin;dataMin=2.2;dataMax=756$map_s;sma=49;smi=2.65$cd;bd=0$inds=">Here's a link to the interactive version of the graph</a>.

Mesmerizing Animation Shows How Much Healthier The World Has Become

<div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5239ee1eecad04d5443f7029-1200-924/101203-n-8721d-026-1.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="101203 N 8721D 026" width="480" /><a href="http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=57518">Petty Officer 3rd Class Devon Dow / U.S. Navy</a>Cmdr. Michael V. Misiewicz.</div></div>A career Naval officer has been arrested for his alleged role in a bribery scandal where he allegedly traded perks for prostitutes and luxury travel, <a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/former-uss-mustin-commander-ncis-agent-arrested-for-bribery-1.241930">Erik Slavin with Stars and Stripes has reported</a>. 
Cmdr. Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz was taken into custody Monday at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorodo, where he served on the staff for U.S. Northern Command, the unified combatatant command for North America.
Misiewicz was arrested along with a Naval Criminal Investigative Service supervisory agent named John Bertrand Beliveau II and a government contractor by the name of Leonard Glenn Francis.
Misiewicz is accused of using his power and influence as a <keyword id="42407" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Navy">Navy</keyword> commander to steer ships from the U.S.'s 7th Fleet into ports with lax tax codes that would financially benefit Francis, who runs a firm called Glenn <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Defense">Defense</keyword> Marine Asia. Francis' company provided the Navy with services like tugboats, security, transportation, supplies, fuel, and waste removal,<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/justice/navy-bribery-case/?hpt=hp_t3">according to CNN</a>.
This would enable Francis to bill the Navy for far more than he otherwise would have. According to a Department of Defense complaint <a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/former-uss-mustin-commander-ncis-agent-arrested-for-bribery-1.241930">cited by Stars and Stripes</a>, the USS Stennis, a massive aircraft carrier, visited Malaysia in September 2012 and was billed $2.7 million. Two visits to different ports that year reportedly cost the Navy roughly half that amount. 
In exhange for all this, Francis allegedly gave Misiewicz luxury perks and access to professional female companionship. In one email, Francis <a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/former-uss-mustin-commander-ncis-agent-arrested-for-bribery-1.241930">reportedly</a> referred to his "Elite Thai Seal Team," a pretty unclever nickname for a group of prostitutes he allegedly paid. 
Bealiveau's role was allegedly to provide Francis with information about a Naval fraud investigation into his company's practices, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/justice/navy-bribery-case/?hpt=hp_t3">says CNN</a>.
All three men have been charged with conspiring to commit bribery.
If the allegations prove true, it represents a stunning end to the career of Misiewicz, once an American success story. He was once the subject of <a href="http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=57518">a public-affairs profile by the Navy</a> when in 2010, as commander of a guided missile destroyer called the U.S.S. Mustin, he reunited with family in his native Cambodia during a port visit there.
Adopted from Cambodia in 1973, he moved to the United States shortly before the Khmer Rouge massacre and went on to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy. He had been selected for promotion to the rank of captain.

High-Ranking Naval Officer Charged Swapping Millions Of Dollars In Perks For Prostitutes

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/527782baeab8ea4b21624597-1200-924/navy-michael-vannak-khem-misiewicz.jpg" border="0" alt="navy Michael " Vannak="" Khem="" Misiewicz="" />AP/Heng SinithIn this photo taken Dec. 3, 2010, U.S. <keyword id="42407" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Navy">navy</keyword> officer Michael "Vannak Khem" Misiewicz smiles as he delivers his welcome speech on the deck of the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Mustin at Cambodian coastal international see port of Sihanoukville, about 220 kilometers (137 miles) southwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. </div></div></div>Navy bristling from case alleging contractor bought secrets with hookers, Lady Gaga tickets
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Nicknamed "Fat Leonard," the gregarious Malaysian businessman is well known by U.S. Navy commanders in the Pacific, where his company has serviced warships for 25 years.
But prosecutors in court papers say Leonard Francis worked his connections to obtain military secrets by lining up hookers, Lady Gaga tickets and other bribes for a U.S. commander, in a scandal reverberating across the Navy.
The accusations unfolding in a federal court case in San Diego signal serious national security breaches and corruption, setting off high-level meetings at the Pentagon with the threat that more people, including those of higher ranks, could be swept up as the investigation continues. A hearing Nov. 8 could set a trial date.
Navy commander Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz passed confidential information on ship routes to Francis' Singapore-based company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd., or GDMA, according to the court documents.
Misiewicz and Francis moved Navy vessels like chess pieces, diverting aircraft carriers, destroyers and other ships to Asian ports with lax oversight where Francis could inflate costs, according to the criminal complaint. The firm overcharged the Navy millions for fuel, food and other services it provided, and invented tariffs by using phony port authorities, the prosecution alleges.
"It's pretty big when you have one person who can dictate where ships are going to go and being influenced by a contractor," said retired Rear Adm. Terry McKnight, who has no direct knowledge of the investigation. "A lot of people are saying how could this happen?"
So far, authorities have arrested Misiewicz; Francis; his company's general manager of global government contracts, Alex Wisidagama; and a senior Navy investigator, John Beliveau II. Beliveau is accused of keeping Francis abreast of the probe and advising him on how to respond in exchange for such things as luxury trips and prostitution services. All have pleaded not guilty. Defense attorneys declined to comment.
Senior Navy officials said they believe that more people would likely be implicated in the scheme, but it's too early to tell how many or how high this will go in the naval ranks. Other unnamed Navy personnel are mentioned in court documents as getting gifts from Francis.
Francis is legendary in military circles in that part of the world, said McKnight, who does not know him personally. He is known for extravagance. His 70,000-foot bungalow in an upscale Singapore neighborhood drew spectators yearly since 2007 to its lavish, outdoor Christmas decorations, which The Straits Times described as rivaling the island city-state's main shopping street with replicas of snowmen, lighted towering trees, and Chinese and Japanese ornaments.
"He's a larger-than-life figure," McKnight said. "You talk to any captain on any ship that has sailed in the Pacific and they will know exactly who he is."
Navy spokesman, Rear Adm. John Kirby said Navy Criminal Investigative Service agents initiated their probe in 2010, but declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.
That same year, Misiewicz caught the world's attention when he made an emotional return as a U.S. Naval commander to his native Cambodia, where he had been rescued as a child from the violence of the Khmer Rouge and adopted by an American woman. His homecoming was widely covered by international media.
Meanwhile, Francis was recruiting him for his scheme, according to court documents.
Misiewicz's family went to a Lion King production in Tokyo with a company employee and was offered prostitution services. Within months, the Navy commander was providing Francis ship movement schedules for the USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group and other ships, according to the criminal complaint.
Shortly after that, the manager wrote to Francis: "We got him!!:)," according to court documents.
Misiewicz would refer to Francis as "Big Brother" or "Big Bro" in emails from a personal account, while Francis would call him "Little Brother" or "Little Bro," according to the complaint.
The company bilked the Navy out of $10 million in just one year in Thailand alone, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said.
In December 2011, the two exchanged emails about the schedule of the USS Blue Ridge, investigators say. According to court documents, Francis wrote Misiewicz: "Bro, Slide a Bali visit in after Jakarta, and Dili Timor after Bali."
The complaint alleges Misiewicz followed through on the demands: In October 2012, the USS George Washington was scheduled to visit Singapore and instead was redirected by the Navy to Port Klang, Malaysia, one of Francis' preferred ports where his company submitted fake contractor bids.
After Francis offered Misiewicz five tickets to a Lady Gaga concert in Thailand in 2012, Francis wrote: "Don't chicken out bro we need u with us on the front lines," according to court documents.
The federal government has suspended its contracts with Francis.
The defendants face up to five years in prison if convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery.
_____
Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Satish Cheney in Singapore contributed to this report.
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You Searched For "khmer rouge" and got 3 results

Mesmerizing Animation Shows How Much Healthier The World Has Become

Andy Kiersz

High-Ranking Naval Officer Charged Swapping Millions Of Dollars In Perks For Prostitutes

Brian Jones

FEDS: Navy Commander Sold Secrets To Malaysian Businessman For Hookers, Gaga Tickets

Julie Watson, Associated Press