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grandfather clause

(Encyclopedia)grandfather clause, provision in constitutions (adopted 1895–1910) of seven post–Reconstruction Southern states that exempted those persons who had been eligible to vote on Jan. 1, 1867, and their...

Gaius, Roman jurist

(Encyclopedia)Gaius gāˈəs, gīˈ– [key], fl. 2d cent., Roman jurist. He is known for the Institutes (repr., 2 vol., 1967; Vol. I is a translation of the text, Vol. II consists of commentaries), a legal textboo...

Doctors Without Borders

(Encyclopedia)Doctors Without Borders, Fr. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), international organization that provides emergency medical assistance to people suffering from a natural or societal disaster, such as an...

Alfaro, Flavio Eloy

(Encyclopedia)Alfaro, Flavio Eloy fläˈvyō āloiˈ älfäˈrō [key], 1867–1912, president of Ecuador (1897–1901, 1907–11). Regarded as a champion of liberalism, Alfaro introduced legal and economic reforms...

Evans, Luther Harris

(Encyclopedia)Evans, Luther Harris, 1902–81, American librarian and political scientist, b. Bastrop co., Tex. After teaching political science at several universities, he became director of the Historical Records...

public defender

(Encyclopedia)public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person c...

Wolcott, Oliver, signer of the Declaration of Independence

(Encyclopedia)Wolcott, Oliver, 1726–97, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. South Windsor (then in Windsor), Conn.; son of Roger Wolcott. He fought in King G...

Tagalog

(Encyclopedia)Tagalog tägälˈ [key], dominant people of Luzon, the Philippines, and the second largest ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines. They number about 16 million. Most of the population is Christian. ...

Diaz, Armando

(Encyclopedia)Diaz, Armando ärmänˈdō dēˈäts [key], 1861–1928, Italian field marshal. In World War I he replaced (1917) Cadorna as chief Italian commander. He defeated (1918) the disintegrating Austro-Hunga...

Beccaria, Giambattista

(Encyclopedia)Beccaria, Giambattista jämˌbät-tēˈstä bāk-kärēˈä [key], 1716–81, Italian physicist. He joined the Piarist order in 1732 and studied in Rome and Narni. After teaching at various Italian un...