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postal service

(Encyclopedia)postal service, arrangements made by a government for the transmission of letters, packages, and periodicals, and for related services. Early courier systems for government use were organized in the P...

Australian literature

(Encyclopedia)Australian literature, the literature of Australia. Because the vast majority of early Australian settlers were transported prisoners, the beginnings of Australian literature were oral rather than wri...

linguistics

(Encyclopedia)linguistics, scientific study of language, covering the structure (morphology and syntax; see grammar), sounds (phonology), and meaning (semantics), as well as the history of the relations of language...

jazz

(Encyclopedia)jazz, the most significant form of musical expression of African-American culture and arguably the most outstanding contribution the United States has made to the art of music. ...

woodcut and wood engraving

(Encyclopedia)woodcut and wood engraving, prints made from designs cut in relief on wood, in contrast to copper or steel engraving and etching (which are intaglio). The term woodcutting is loosely included within t...

musicals

(Encyclopedia)musicals, earlier known as musical comedies, plays that incorporate music, song, and dance. These elements move with the plot, heightening and commenting on the action. Mixing the sprightly songs and ...

Spanish-American War

(Encyclopedia)Spanish-American War, 1898, brief conflict between Spain and the United States arising out of Spanish policies in Cuba. It was, to a large degree, brought about by the efforts of U.S. expansionists. ...

Canadian literature, English

(Encyclopedia)Canadian literature, English, literary works produced in Canada and written in the English language. The essayist Northrop Frye is noted for his systematic classification of literature, presented in...

rock music

(Encyclopedia)rock music, type of music originating in the United States in the mid-1950s and increasingly popular throughout much of the world. A turning point in rock music occurred in the mid-1970s in the ...

Roosevelt, Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858–1919, 26th President of the United States (1901–9), b. New York City. Alice, his daughter by his first wife, married Nicholas Longworth in the White House; “Princ...