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Faymann, Werner

(Encyclopedia)Faymann, Werner, 1960–, Austrian politician, federal chancellor of Austria (2008–16), b. Vienna. A member of the Social Democrat party, he began his political career as chairman of Vienna Socialis...

Posse Comitatus Act

(Encyclopedia)Posse Comitatus Act, 1878, U.S. federal law that makes it a crime to use the military as a domestic police force in the United States under most circumstances. The law was designed to end the use of f...

Sims, William Sowden

(Encyclopedia)Sims, William Sowden, 1858–1936, American naval officer, b. Port Hope, Upper Canada (now Ontario), of American parents. After serving with the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, he was (1897–1900) naval...

Enron Corporation

(Encyclopedia)Enron Corporation, U.S. company that in 2001 became the largest bankruptcy and stock collapse in U.S. history up to that time. The company was formed in 1985 when InterNorth purchased Houston Natural ...

Dawes Act

(Encyclopedia)Dawes Act or General Allotment Act, 1887, passed by the U.S. Congress to provide for the granting of landholdings (allotments, usually 160 acres/65 hectares) to individual Native Americans, replacing ...

Fletcher, Alice Cunningham

(Encyclopedia)Fletcher, Alice Cunningham, 1838–1923, American anthropologist, b. Havana, Cuba. Originally interested in archaeology, she turned to the study of the Plains tribes. After studying informally with Fr...

Kuznets, Simon

(Encyclopedia)Kuznets, Simon ko͝oznĕtsˈ, kŭzˈnĕts [key], 1901–85, American economist, b. Kharkiv, Russia (now in Ukraine), grad. Columbia (B.S., 1923; M.A., 1924; Ph.D., 1926). He emigrated to the United St...

Dahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard

(Encyclopedia)Dahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard dălˈgrən [key], 1809–70, American naval officer, b. Philadelphia. Appointed a midshipman in 1826, he had a long and honorable naval career. In charge of ordnance a...

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....

Slipher, Vesto Melvin

(Encyclopedia)Slipher, Vesto Melvin slīˈfər [key], 1875–1969, American astronomer, b. Mulberry, Ind. From 1901 he was at Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Ariz., where he served as director (1917–54). Much of h...