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Spielberg, Steven

(Encyclopedia)Spielberg, Steven, 1946–, American film director, b. Cincinnati, Ohio. Spielberg began his career as a television director, admired for his understanding portrayal of human character. His film Jaws ...

Palladio, Andrea

(Encyclopedia)Palladio, Andrea ändrĕˈä päl-läˈdēō [key], 1508–80, Italian architect of the Renaissance. Originally a stonemason, he was trained as an architect in Vicenza, and later in Rome he examined t...

American Revolution

(Encyclopedia)American Revolution, 1775–83, struggle by which the Thirteen Colonies on the Atlantic seaboard of North America won independence from Great Britain and became the United States. It is also called th...

anthrax

(Encyclopedia)anthrax ănˈthrăks [key], acute infectious disease of animals that can be secondarily transmitted to humans. It is caused by a bacterium (Bacillus anthracis) that primarily affects sheep, horses, ho...

Chávez Frías, Hugo Rafael

(Encyclopedia)Chávez Frías, Hugo Rafael o͞oˈgō räfäĕlˈ chäˈvĕs frēˈäs [key], 1954–2013, Venezuelan political leader, president of Venezuela (1999–2013). Raised in poverty, he was educated at the ...

Darwin, Charles Robert

(Encyclopedia)Darwin, Charles Robert, 1809–82, English naturalist, b. Shrewsbury; grandson of Erasmus Darwin and of Josiah Wedgwood. He firmly established the theory of organic evolution known as Darwinism. He st...

Murray, Anna Pauline "Pauli"

(Encyclopedia)Murray, Pauli, 1910–1985, American lawyer, priest, and activist, b. Baltimore, S.J.D. Yale University, 1965, MDiv, General Theological Seminary, 1976....

Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st earl of, 1621–83, English statesman. In the English civil war he supported the crown until 1644 but then joined the parliamentarians. He was made a member of ...

Bank of the United States

(Encyclopedia)Bank of the United States, name for two national banks established by the U.S. Congress to serve as government fiscal agents and as depositories for federal funds; the first bank was in existence from...

Reform Acts

(Encyclopedia)Reform Acts or Reform Bills, in British history, name given to three major measures that liberalized representation in Parliament in the 19th cent. Representation of the counties and boroughs in the H...
 

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