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bank holidays

(Encyclopedia)bank holidays, days when the law requires that banks be closed. In the United States the list varies from state to state but generally includes, besides the major holidays, many days that are observed...

Birrell, Augustine

(Encyclopedia)Birrell, Augustine bĭrˈəl [key], 1850–1933, English essayist and public official. As chief secretary for Ireland (1907–16) his failure to end the plotting that resulted in the Easter Rebellion ...

Ash Wednesday

(Encyclopedia)Ash Wednesday, in the Western Church, the first day of Lent, being the seventh Wednesday before Easter. On this day ashes are placed on the foreheads of the faithful to remind them of death, of the so...

Hallelujah

(Encyclopedia)Hallelujah ăl– [key] [Heb.,=praise the Lord], joyful expression used in Hebrew worship; cf. Pss. 104–6, 111–13, 115–17, 135, 146–50. Christian liturgies make wide use of it, particularly at...

Brooks, Phillips

(Encyclopedia)Brooks, Phillips, 1835–93, American Episcopal bishop, b. Boston. In 1869 he began his ministry at Trinity Church, Boston, where he became one of the most influential ministers of his time. In 1891 h...

vigil

(Encyclopedia)vigil vĭjˈəl [key] [Lat.,=watch], in Christian calendars, eve of a feast, a day of penitential preparation. In ancient times worshipers gathered for vespers before a great feast and then waited out...

Rock Island, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Rock Island, city (1990 pop. 40,552), seat of Rock Island co., NW Ill., on the Mississippi and Rock rivers, adjacent to Moline and opposite Davenport, Iowa; inc. 1841. These three cities, with Bettend...

Pines, Isle of, island, Cuba

(Encyclopedia)Pines, Isle of: see Youth, Isle of. ...

Prince Edward Island, University of

(Encyclopedia)Prince Edward Island, University of, at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada; provincially supported; coeducational; founded 1969 with the merger of Prince of Wales College (est. 1834) and St. ...

Prince Edward Island National Park

(Encyclopedia)Prince Edward Island National Park, 7 sq mi (18 sq km), NW P.E.I., Canada, on the Gulf of St. Lawrence; est. 1937. It extends 25 mi (40 km) along the coast and contains sand dunes, cliffs, salt marshe...