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Blair, Montgomery

(Encyclopedia)Blair, Montgomery, 1813–83, U.S. Postmaster General (1861–64), b. Franklin co., Ky., son of Francis P. Blair (1791–1876). He resigned from the army in 1836 after serving against the Seminole and...

Bly, Robert Elwood

(Encyclopedia)Bly, Robert Elwood, 1926–2021, American writer, translator, editor, and publisher, b. Lac qui Parle County, Mn., Harvard (B.A., 1950), Univ. of Iowa (...

Union party

(Encyclopedia)Union party, in American history. 1 Coalition of Republicans and War Democrats in the election of 1864. Abraham Lincoln was renominated for President with Andrew Johnson, the Democratic war governor o...

solitaire

(Encyclopedia)solitaire or patience, any card game that can be played by one person. Solitaire is the American name; in England it is known as patience. There are probably more kinds of solitaire than all other car...

Sikh Wars

(Encyclopedia)Sikh Wars (1845–49), two conflicts preceding the British annexation of the Punjab. By a treaty with the British in 1809, the Sikh ruler of the Punjab, Ranjit Singh, had accepted the Sutlej River as ...

Piltdown man

(Encyclopedia)Piltdown man, name given to human remains found during excavations (1908–15) at Piltdown, Sussex, England, by Charles Dawson. The find led to much speculation and argument. Since they were found wit...

American Ballet Theatre

(Encyclopedia)American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the foremost international dance companies of the 20th and 21st cents. It was founded in 1937 as the Mordkin Ballet and reorganized as the Ballet Theatre in 1940 ...

physiocrats

(Encyclopedia)physiocrats fĭzˈēəkrătsˌ [key], school of French thinkers in the 18th cent. who evolved the first complete system of economics. They were also referred to simply as “the economists” or “th...

capitalism

(Encyclopedia)capitalism, economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, in which personal profit can be acquired through investment of capital and employment of labor. Capitalism is grounde...

Pitt, William, 1759–1806, British statesman

(Encyclopedia)Pitt, William, 1759–1806, British statesman; 2d son of William Pitt, 1st earl of Chatham. Trained as a lawyer, he entered Parliament in 1781 and in 1782 at the age of 23 became chancellor of the exc...