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McKinley, William

(Encyclopedia)McKinley, William, 1843–1901, 25th president of the United States (1897–1901), b. Niles, Ohio. He was educated at Poland (Ohio) Seminary and Allegheny College. After service in the Union army in t...

progressive education

(Encyclopedia)progressive education, movement in American education. Confined to a period between the late 19th and mid-20th cent., the term “progressive education” is generally used to refer only to those educ...

Poe, Edgar Allan

(Encyclopedia)Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809–49, American poet, short-story writer, and critic, b. Boston. He is acknowledged today as one of the most brilliant and original writers in American literature. His skillfully...

Australian literature

(Encyclopedia)Australian literature, the literature of Australia. Because the vast majority of early Australian settlers were transported prisoners, the beginnings of Australian literature were oral rather than wri...

sound recording

(Encyclopedia)sound recording, process of converting the acoustic energy of sound into some form in which it can be permanently stored and reproduced at any time. In 1855 the inventor Leon Scott constructed a devic...

Spanish art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Spanish art and architecture, works of art and architecture produced in what is now the European country of Spain. Open to a wide variety of cultural influences, the art and architecture of Spain have...

ant

(Encyclopedia)ant, any of the 2,500 insect species constituting the family Formicidae of the order Hymenoptera, to which the bee and the wasp also belong. Like most members of the order, ants have a “wasp waist,�...

debt, public

(Encyclopedia)debt, public, indebtedness of a central government expressed in money terms, often referred to as national debt. The debt is computed differently by nearly every nation. Some authorities exclude all g...

Bolívar, Simón

(Encyclopedia)Bolívar, Simón sēmōnˈ bōlēˈvär [key], 1783–1830, South American revolutionary who led independence wars in the present nations of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. ...

Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich

(Encyclopedia)Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich vlŭdēmˈyĭr vlŭdēmˌyĭrˈəvyĭch po͞oˈtyĭn [key], 1952–, Russian government official and political leader, b. Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). After graduating...