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Marbury v. Madison

(Encyclopedia)Marbury v. Madison, case decided in 1803 by the U.S. Supreme Court. William Marbury had been commissioned justice of the peace in the District of Columbia by President John Adams in the “midnight ap...

Dworkin, Ronald Myles

(Encyclopedia)Dworkin, Ronald Myles, 1931–2013, American legal philosopher. b. Worcester, Mass. A professor at Yale (1962–75), Oxford (1969–98), New York Univ. (1975–2013), and University College London (19...

Aguiyi-Ironsi, Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe

(Encyclopedia)Aguiyi-Ironsi, Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe, 1924–1966, Nigerian military officer and political leader. An Igbo from Umuahia, he joined the Nigerian army in 1942 and received military training in Englan...

Ahidjo, Ahmadou

(Encyclopedia)Ahidjo, Ahmadou ämäˈdō ähēˈjo͝o [key], 1924–89, president of Cameroon (1960–82). A Muslim Fulani chief's son, he served with the French during World War II. Entering politics in the French...

Brackenridge, Hugh Henry

(Encyclopedia)Brackenridge, Hugh Henry, 1748–1816, American author and jurist, b. Scotland, grad. Princeton, 1771. He studied theology and served in the American Revolution as chaplain, but later turned to law. H...

Saint Elmo's fire

(Encyclopedia)Saint Elmo's fire, luminous discharge of electricity extending into the atmosphere from some projecting or elevated object. It is usually observed (often during a snowstorm or a dust storm) as brushli...

Strachey, William

(Encyclopedia)Strachey, William, 1572–1621, English colonial historian; educated at Cambridge. In 1609 he sailed to Virginia with Sir Thomas Gates. A storm wrecked his ship in the Bermudas, and the party remained...

sloop

(Encyclopedia)sloop, fore-and-aft-rigged, single-masted sailing vessel with a single headsail jib. A sloop differs from a cutter in that it has a jibstay—a support leading from the bow to the masthead on which th...

ironclad

(Encyclopedia)ironclad, mid-19th-century wooden warship protected from gunfire by iron armor. The success of the ironclad when first employed by the French in the Crimean War sparked a naval armor and armaments rac...

Delano, Amasa

(Encyclopedia)Delano, Amasa ămˈəsə dĕlˈənō [key], 1763–1823, American sea captain, b. Duxbury, Mass. At 15, he served as a soldier in the American Revolution and later as a privateersman. His experiences ...
 

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