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United States Naval Observatory

(Encyclopedia)United States Naval Observatory, a federal astronomical observatory, located in Washington, D. C. It evolved from the Navy's oldest scientific institution, the Depot of Charts and Instruments, founded...

Weinberger, Caspar Willard

(Encyclopedia)Weinberger, Caspar Willard wīnˈbûrgər [key], 1917–2006, U.S. government official, U.S. secretary of defense (1981–87), b. San Francisco, grad. Harvard (1938), Harvard Law School (1941). After ...

Anderson, Mary

(Encyclopedia)Anderson, Mary, 1872–1964, American labor expert, chief (1919–44) of the Women's Bureau, U.S. Dept. of Labor, b. Sweden. She emigrated to the United States in 1888. After some years as an industri...

Cheney, Dick

(Encyclopedia)Cheney, Dick (Richard Bruce Cheney) chēˈnē, chāˈ– [key], 1941–, Vice President of the United States (2001–9), b. Lincoln, Nebr. His family moved to Casper, Wyo., when he was 13, and he atte...

American Indian Movement

(Encyclopedia)American Indian Movement (AIM), Native American civil-rights activist organization, founded in 1968 to encourage self-determination among Native Americans and to establish international re...

Triangle Waist Company

(Encyclopedia)Triangle Waist Company, often called the Triangle Shirtwaist Co., manufacturers of women's cotton and linen blouses. Located in lower Manhattan in the early 20th cent., on Mar. 25, 1911 it was the sit...

Petrobras scandal

(Encyclopedia)Petrobras scandal, Brazilian corruption scandal involving executives at the government-controlled oil company, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras), prominent politicians, and construction firms work...

My Lai incident

(Encyclopedia)My Lai incident mē lī [key], a massacre of Vietnamese civilians by U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War. On Mar. 16, 1968, a unit of the U.S. army's Americal division, led by Lt. William L. Calley, inva...

Barron, Clarence Walker

(Encyclopedia)Barron, Clarence Walker bârˈən [key], 1855–1928, American financial editor, b. Boston. He worked on the Boston Daily News, then on the Evening Transcript, and in 1887 founded the Boston News Bure...

secret police

(Encyclopedia)secret police, policing organization operating in secrecy for the political purposes of its government, often with terroristic procedures. Many states, including Chile, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Romania,...