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Kansas-Nebraska Act

(Encyclopedia)Kansas-Nebraska Act, bill that became law on May 30, 1854, by which the U.S. Congress established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. By 1854 the organization of the vast Platte and Kansas river c...

Russell, John Russell, 1st Earl

(Encyclopedia)Russell, John Russell, 1st Earl, 1792–1878, British statesman; younger son of the 6th duke of Bedford, known most of his life as Lord John Russell. He became a Whig member of Parliament in 1813 and ...

Oates, Joyce Carol

(Encyclopedia)Oates, Joyce Carol, 1938–, American author, b. Lockport, N.Y., B.A. Syracuse Univ., 1960, M.A. Univ. of Wisconsin, 1961. She taught English at the Univ. of Detroit and the Univ. of Windsor, Ontario,...

shoebill stork

(Encyclopedia)shoebill stork, common name for a large (up to 54 in./122 cm) tall, storklike bird, Balaeniceps rex. Also known as the whalehead, it is noted for its large head and unusually long and wide, many-color...

Bonus Marchers

(Encyclopedia)Bonus Marchers, in U.S. history, more than 20,000 veterans, most of them unemployed and in desperate financial straits, who, in the spring of 1932, spontaneously made their way to Washington, D.C. The...

McLean, John

(Encyclopedia)McLean, John məklānˈ [key], 1785–1861, American political figure and jurist, b. Morris co., N.J. His family moved to Ohio, where he studied law, was admitted (1807) to the bar, and practiced in L...

Helms, Jesse Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Helms, Jesse Alexander, 1921–2008, U.S. senator from North Carolina (1973–2003), b. Monroe, N.C. He served in the navy, chiefly as a recruiter, during World War II. A local radio broadcasting exec...

Clay, Clement Claiborne

(Encyclopedia)Clay, Clement Claiborne, 1816–82, U.S. Senator (1853–61), b. Huntsville, Ala. A legislator and then a judge in his native state, he was twice elected to the U.S. Senate and became an ardent defend...

Adams, John Quincy

(Encyclopedia)Adams, John Quincy, 1767–1848, 6th President of the United States (1825–29), b. Quincy (then in Braintree), Mass.; son of John Adams and Abigail Adams and father of Charles Francis Adams (1807–8...

Falls Church

(Encyclopedia)Falls Church, independent city (2020 pop. 14,917), NE Va., a residential suburb of Washington, D.C.; inc. as a town 1875, as a city 1948. There is diver...