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foundation

(Encyclopedia)foundation, institution through which private wealth is contributed and distributed for public purpose. Foundations have existed since Greek and Roman times, when they honored deities. During the Midd...

explosive

(Encyclopedia)explosive, substance that undergoes decomposition or combustion with great rapidity, evolving much heat and producing a large volume of gas. The reaction products fill a much greater volume than that ...

neurosis

(Encyclopedia)neurosis, in psychiatry, a broad category of psychological disturbance, encompassing various mild forms of mental disorder. Until fairly recently, the term neurosis was broadly employed in contrast wi...

Trotsky, Leon

(Encyclopedia)Trotsky, Leon trŏtˈskē, Rus. lāˈən trôtˈskē [key], 1879–1940, Russian Communist revolutionary, one of the principal leaders in the establishment of the USSR; his original name was Lev David...

Sherman, William Tecumseh

(Encyclopedia)Sherman, William Tecumseh, 1820–91, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Lancaster, Ohio. Sherman is said by many to be the greatest of the Civil War generals. Sherman was promoted to lie...

Adams, John, 2d President of the United States

(Encyclopedia)Adams, John, 1735–1826, 2d President of the United States (1797–1801), b. Quincy (then in Braintree), Mass., grad. Harvard, 1755. John Adams and his wife, Abigail Adams, founded one of the most di...

terra-cotta

(Encyclopedia)terra-cotta tĕrˈə kŏtˈə [key] [Ital.,=baked earth], form of hard-baked pottery, widely used in the decorative arts, especially as an architectural material, either in its natural red-brown color...

culture

(Encyclopedia)culture, in anthropology, the integrated system of socially acquired values, beliefs, and rules of conduct which delimit the range of accepted behaviors in any given society. Cultural differences dist...

New York, state, United States

(Encyclopedia)CE5 New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario ...

Washington, George

(Encyclopedia)Washington, George, 1732–99, 1st President of the United States (1789–97), commander in chief of the Continental army in the American Revolution, called the Father of His Country. The Univ. of V...