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McCarthy, Eugene Joseph

(Encyclopedia)McCarthy, Eugene Joseph, 1916–2005, U.S. political leader, b. Watkins, Minn. He served (1942–46) as a technical assistant for military intelligence during World War II and then taught (1946–49) ...

Luciano, Lucky

(Encyclopedia)Luciano, Lucky (Charles Luciano), 1896–1962, American crime boss, b. near Palermo, Sicily, as Salvatore Luciana. His family emigrated in 1906, settling in New York City, where he almost immediately ...

Rossetti, Christina Georgina

(Encyclopedia)Rossetti, Christina Georgina rōsĕtˈē [key], 1830–94, English poet; daughter of Gabriele Rossetti and sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Publication of some of her poems in her brother William's m...

Cantacuzene

(Encyclopedia)Cantacuzene känˈtäko͞ozēˈnô [key], noble Romanian family of Greek origin, tracing its descent from the Byzantine emperor John VI (John Cantacuzene). Under Ottoman rule members of the family wer...

Powers, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Powers, Richard, 1957–, American novelist, b. Evanston, Ill., grad. Univ of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana (B.A., 1978; M.A, 1980). He taught at his alma mater from 1996 to 2013, when he joined Stanford...

secret police

(Encyclopedia)secret police, policing organization operating in secrecy for the political purposes of its government, often with terroristic procedures. Many states, including Chile, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Romania,...

primate

(Encyclopedia)primate, member of the mammalian order Primates, which includes humans, apes, monkeys, and prosimians, or lower primates. The group can be traced to the late Cretaceous period, where members were fore...

Commerce, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Commerce, United States Department of, federal executive department charged with promoting U.S. economic development and technological advancement. In Feb., 1903, the Congress established a Department...

Federal Communications Commission

(Encyclopedia)Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. The FCC is co...

Halley's comet

(Encyclopedia)Halley's comet or Comet Halley hălˈē, hāˈlē [key], periodic comet named for Edmond Halley, who observed it in 1682 and identified it as the one observed in 1531 and 1607. Halley did not live to ...