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near-death experience

(Encyclopedia)near-death experience, phenomenon reported by some people who have been clinically dead, then returned to life. Descriptions of the experience differ slightly in detail from person to person, but usua...

Anderson, Clinton Presba

(Encyclopedia)Anderson, Clinton Presba, 1895–1975, U.S. government official and senator, b. Centerville, S.Dak. He had a newspaper and insurance background before he served New Mexico as treasurer (1933–34) and...

Starr, Kenneth Winston

(Encyclopedia)Starr, Kenneth Winston, 1946–2022, American public official, b. Vernon, Tex., grad. George Washington Univ. (B.A., 1968), Brown (M.A., 1969), Duke (J....

North German Confederation

(Encyclopedia)North German Confederation, 1867–71, alliance of 22 German states N of the Main River. Dominated by Prussia, it replaced the German Confederation and included the states that had supported Prussia i...

Whitewater, in U.S. history

(Encyclopedia)Whitewater, popular name for a failed 1970s Arkansas real estate venture by the Whitewater Development Corp., in which Gov. (later President) Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, were pa...

savings and loan association

(Encyclopedia)savings and loan association (S&L), type of financial institution that was originally created to accept savings from private investors and to provide home mortgage services for the public. The fir...

Hodge, Frederick Webb

(Encyclopedia)Hodge, Frederick Webb, 1864–1956, American anthropologist, b. England. He was taken to the United States at the age of seven. He entered the field of archaeology through service (1884–86) in the S...

Kelley, Oliver Hudson

(Encyclopedia)Kelley, Oliver Hudson, 1826–1913, American agriculturist, b. Boston. He was a founder of the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, the central influence in the Granger movement of the 1870s. ...

Schlesinger, James Rodney

(Encyclopedia)Schlesinger, James Rodney, 1929–2014, U.S. secretary of defense (1973–75) and secretary of energy (1977–79), b. New York City. After graduating from Harvard (A.B., 1950; A.M., 1952; Ph.D., 1956)...

Megan's law

(Encyclopedia)Megan's law, in the United States, a state or federal statute that requires the notification of public organizations and private citizens when a convicted sex offender has been released from prison an...