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greenback

(Encyclopedia)greenback, in U.S. history, legal tender notes unsecured by specie (coin). In 1862, under the exigencies of the Civil War, the U.S. government first issued legal tender notes (popularly called greenba...

Loomis, Mahlon

(Encyclopedia)Loomis, Mahlon, 1826–86, American inventor, b. Oppenheim, N.Y. He was a dentist by profession but spent much of his time pioneering in wireless communication. Using aerials borne by kites, he succes...

Harrison, Pat

(Encyclopedia)Harrison, Pat (Byron Patton Harrison), 1881–1941, U.S. Congressman, b. Crystal Springs, Miss. A lawyer, he served as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives (1911–19) and in the U.S. Senat...

Four Freedoms

(Encyclopedia)Four Freedoms. In his message to Congress proposing lend-lease legislation (Jan. 6, 1941), President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated that Four Freedoms should prevail everywhere in the world—freedo...

Dawes Commission

(Encyclopedia)Dawes Commission, commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, created by the U.S. Congress in 1893 under the Dawes Act with H. L. Dawes as chairman. Its aim was the reorganization of the Indian Territory...

Rochester, University of

(Encyclopedia)Rochester, University of, at Rochester, N.Y.; co-educational; chartered and opened 1850. It is noted for the Eastman School of Music (1918), the Memorial Art Gallery, its schools of dentistry and medi...

Walton, George

(Encyclopedia)Walton, George, 1741?–1804, American Revolutionary patriot, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. near Farmville, Va. He moved to Savannah, Ga., where he established a law practice. Walton w...

Carey Land Act

(Encyclopedia)Carey Land Act, sponsored by Sen. Joseph M. Carey and passed by the U.S. Congress in 1894. The act provided for the transfer to Western states of U.S.-owned desert lands on the condition that they be ...

Carías Andino, Tiburcio

(Encyclopedia)Carías Andino, Tiburcio tēbo͞orˈsyō kärēˈäs ändēˈnō [key], 1876–1969, president of Honduras (1933–49). A strong-handed dictator, his term was twice extended by congress. Some improvem...

Bennett, Hugh Hammond

(Encyclopedia)Bennett, Hugh Hammond, 1881–1960, American soil scientist, b. near Wadesboro, N.C. Known as the father of soil conservation, he first proposed the theory of sheet erosion of soils in 1905. He direct...