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homelessness

(Encyclopedia)homelessness, the condition of not having a permanent place to live, widely perceived as a societal problem only beginning in the 1980s. Figures for the number of homeless people in the United States ...

collective bargaining

(Encyclopedia)collective bargaining, in labor relations, procedure whereby an employer or employers agree to discuss the conditions of work by bargaining with representatives of the employees, usually a labor union...

Siegfried and Roy

(Encyclopedia) Siegfried and Roy (Siegfried Fischbacher, 1939-2021, b. Rosenheim, Germany; and Roy Uwe Ludwig Horn, 1944-2020, b. Nordenham, Germany), noted German-A...

poor law

(Encyclopedia)poor law, in English history, legislation relating to public assistance for the poor. Early measures to relieve pauperism were usually designed to suppress vagrancy and begging. In 1601, England passe...

enkephalin

(Encyclopedia)enkephalin ĕnkĕfˈəlĭn [key], one of several naturally occurring morphinelike substances (endorphins) released from nerve endings of the central nervous system and the adrenal medulla. They act as...

national parks and monuments

(Encyclopedia)CE5 national parks and monuments. The National Park Service, a bureau of the U.S. Dept. of the Interior, was established in 1916 to oversee the administration of 40 national parks and monuments und...

Farm Credit Administration

(Encyclopedia)Farm Credit Administration (FCA), an independent agency of the executive branch of the federal government that supervises and regulates the Farm Credit System (FCS) for American agriculture. The Farm ...

Gates, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Gates, Bill (William Henry Gates 3d), 1955–, American business executive, b. Seattle, Wash. At the age of 19, Gates founded (1975) the Microsoft Corp....

patent

(Encyclopedia)patent, in law, governmental grant of some privilege, property, or authority. Today patent refers to the granting to the inventor of a useful product or process the privilege to exclude others from ma...

McMahon, Brien

(Encyclopedia)McMahon, Brien (James O'Brien McMahon), 1903–52, American statesman, b. Norwalk, Conn. After practicing law, he became a judge in Norwalk, and from 1933 to 1936 he served in the office of the U.S. A...