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Inter-American Highway

(Encyclopedia)Inter-American Highway, c.3,400 mi (5,470 km) long, section of the Pan-American Highway system from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, to Panama City, Panama. Much of the highway prior to 1941 had been built by th...

Walker, William

(Encyclopedia)Walker, William, 1824–60, American filibuster in Nicaragua, b. Nashville, Tenn. Walker, a qualified doctor, a lawyer, and a journalist by the time he was 24, sought a more adventurous career. After ...

National Rifle Association of America

(Encyclopedia)National Rifle Association of America (NRA), group founded (1871) to promote shooting, hunting, firearm safety, and wildlife conservation. The NRA has more than 3 million members. The association spon...

Homestead National Monument of America

(Encyclopedia)Homestead National Monument of America: see National Parks and Monuments (table)national parks and monuments (table). ...

Saint Croix, rivers, North America

(Encyclopedia)Saint Croix. 1 River, 75 mi (121 km) long, rising in the Chiputneticook Lakes and flowing SE to Passamaquoddy Bay, forming part of the U.S.-Canada border; navigable to Calais, Maine. The river is used...

United Mine Workers of America

(Encyclopedia)United Mine Workers of America (UMW), international labor union formed (1890) by the amalgamation of the National Progressive Union (organized 1888) and the mine locals under the Knights of Labor. It ...

Odebrecht corruption scandal

(Encyclopedia)Odebrecht corruption scandal, series of graft scandals involving the Odebrecht (now Novonor), a Brazilian construction and petrochemicals conglomerate, as well as Petrobras, the Brazilian multinationa...

Gatún Lake

(Encyclopedia)Gatún Lake gäto͞onˈ [key], artificial lake, 163 sq mi (422 sq km), Colón Prov., Panama, formed by the impounding of the Chagres River. Gatún Dam (completed 1912), 11⁄2 mi (2.4 km) long and 115...

Colombia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Colombia kəlŭmˈbēə, Span. kōlōmˈbyä [key], officially Republic of Col...

Rodgers, Jimmie

(Encyclopedia)Rodgers, Jimmie (James Charles Rodgers), 1897–1933, American singer, guitarist, and songwriter often called “the father of country music,” b. Meri...