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Toland, John

(Encyclopedia)Toland, John tōˈlənd [key], 1670–1722, British deist, b. Ireland. Brought up a Roman Catholic, Toland became a Protestant at 16. He studied at Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Leiden and after 1694 lived ...

independent counsel

(Encyclopedia)independent counsel, in U.S. law, a judicially appointed investigator of charges of misdeeds by high government officials. Originally termed “special prosecutor,” the position was first created by...

jeopardy

(Encyclopedia)jeopardy, in law, condition of a person charged with a crime and thus in danger of punishment. At common law a defendant could be exposed to jeopardy for the same offense only once; exposing a person ...

draft riots

(Encyclopedia)draft riots, in the American Civil War, mob action to protest unfair Union conscription. The Union Conscription Act of Mar. 3, 1863, provided that all able-bodied males between the ages of 20 and 45 w...

affirmative action

(Encyclopedia)affirmative action, in the United States, programs to overcome the effects of past societal discrimination by allocating jobs and resources to members of specific groups, such as minorities and women....

environmentalism

(Encyclopedia)environmentalism, movement to protect the quality and continuity of life through conservation of natural resources, prevention of pollution, and control of land use. The philosophical foundations for ...

drugs

(Encyclopedia)drugs, substances used in medicine either externally or internally for curing, alleviating, or preventing a disease or deficiency. At the turn of the century only a few medically effective substances ...

censorship

(Encyclopedia)censorship, official prohibition or restriction of any type of expression believed to threaten the political, social, or moral order. It may be imposed by governmental authority, local or national, by...

American Academy in Rome

(Encyclopedia)American Academy in Rome, founded in 1894 as the American School of Architecture in Rome by Charles F. McKim and enlarged in 1897 with the founding of the American Academy in Rome for students of arch...

Fraser, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Fraser, Peter, 1884–1950, New Zealand political leader, b. Scotland. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1910. Previously active in Labour politics in London, he was elected to Parliament in 1918, becomi...