Alarmed at the size of the demonstrations, the mainland's top leadership began to focus on Hong Kong and discovered just how unpopular and ineffective their man was.

ECONOMIST: Dumping Tung | The

On the Palestinian side, Mr Arafat, an old revolutionary leader turned one-man-band politician, is also unpopular with his own people.

ECONOMIST: For Palestine, bring in Solomon

Mr. NAYDER: This is Piranha Man from Pakistan, one of our most requested unpopular artists.

NPR: Annoying Mother's Day Music

And then in 2004, again, with an unpopular war unfolding, with a serious candidate in John Kerry as the nominee, a man who's spent his entire adult life preparing for this moment, Bush won again.

NPR: Ally Norquist Discusses Rove's Departure

The US has lost one of its most admired public servants - the man who came up with the plan which successfully got his country out of one unpopular war, and will get it out of another by 2014.

BBC: General David Petraeus: A huge loss for US

It was a time of jarring social and political turmoil in America: the pain of the civil rights movement still fresh, U.S. troops finally home from an unpopular war in Vietnam, a scandal known as Watergate on the verge of toppling the most powerful man in the free world.

NPR: 40 Years Ago, Irish-Tide Played Game For The Ages