Strtotime() parses dash-separated dates as dd-mm-yyyy. You'll need to input birthdate as "08/13/2000". Str_replace should do the job for that if you can't change the expected seperator for the input.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.