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American Philosophical Society

(Encyclopedia)American Philosophical Society, first scientific society in America, founded (1743) in Philadelphia. It was an outgrowth of the Junto formed (1727) by Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was the first secreta...

American Colonization Society

(Encyclopedia)American Colonization Society, organized Dec., 1816–Jan., 1817, at Washington, D.C., to transport free blacks from the United States and settle them in Africa. The freeing of many slaves, principall...

American Geographical Society

(Encyclopedia)American Geographical Society (AGS), oldest geographical society in the United States, founded 1852 in New York City. Its purpose is to advance the science of geography through discussion and publicat...

John Birch Society

(Encyclopedia)John Birch Society, ultraconservative, anti-Communist organization in the United States. It was founded in Dec., 1958, by manufacturer Robert Welch, headquartered in Belmont, Mass., and named after Jo...

Audubon Society, National

(Encyclopedia)Audubon Society, National, one of the oldest and best-known U.S. environmental organizations; founded 1886 by George Cird Grinnell and named for John James Audubon. The nonprofit organization, which h...

Mishima, Yukio

(Encyclopedia)Mishima, Yukio yo͞oˈkēō mĭshˈēmä [key], 1925–70, Japanese author, b. Tokyo. His original name was Kimitake Hiraoka and he was born into a samurai family. Mishima wrote novels, short stories,...

Manchurian Incident

(Encyclopedia)Manchurian Incident or Mukden Incident, 1931, confrontation that gave Japan the impetus to set up a puppet government in Manchuria. After the Russo-Japanese War (1904–5), Japan replaced Russia as th...

Twenty-one Demands

(Encyclopedia)Twenty-one Demands (1915), instrument by which Japan secured temporary hegemony over China. Japan used its declaration of war against Germany (Aug., 1914) as grounds for invading Kiaochow, the German ...

Hearn, Lafcadio

(Encyclopedia)Hearn, Lafcadio lăfkäˈdēō hûrn [key], 1850–1904, American-Japanese author, b. Lefkás, Ionian Islands, of Irish-Greek parentage. After a difficult childhood, he was educated in Ireland, Englan...

Higashikuni, Naruhiko

(Encyclopedia)Higashikuni, Naruhiko, 1887–1990, Japanese military officer and political leader, b. Kyoto. A prince of the imperial family and an uncle of Hirohito, he received military training in Japan and Franc...