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Jacksonville

(Encyclopedia)Jacksonville. 1 City (1990 pop. 29,101), Pulaski co., central Ark., inc. 1941. The city has varied industries, including printing and publishing and the manufacture of electronic equipment, ordnance, ...

Kemble, Roger

(Encyclopedia)Kemble, Roger, 1721–1802, English actor and manager. During his years as the leader of a traveling company, he married (1753) Sarah Wood, 1735–1806, an actress. They had 12 children, thus founding...

Kansas-Nebraska Act

(Encyclopedia)Kansas-Nebraska Act, bill that became law on May 30, 1854, by which the U.S. Congress established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. By 1854 the organization of the vast Platte and Kansas river c...

Tripolitan War

(Encyclopedia)Tripolitan War trĭpŏlˈĭtən [key], 1800–1815, conflict between the United States and the Barbary States. Piracy had become a normal source of income in the N African Barbary States long before t...

Providence

(Encyclopedia)Providence, city (1990 pop. 160,728), state capital and seat of Providence co., NE R.I., a port at the head of Providence Bay; founded by Roger Williams 1636, inc. as a city 1832. The largest city in ...

Papal States

(Encyclopedia)Papal States, Ital. Lo Stato della Chiesa, from 754 to 1870 an independent territory under the temporal rule of the popes, also called the States of the Church and the Pontifical States. The territory...

Transylvania

(Encyclopedia)Transylvania trănˌsĭlvāˈnyə [key], Rom. Transilvania or Ardeal, Hung. Erdély, Ger. Siebenbürgen, historic region and province (21,292 sq mi/55,146 sq km), central Romania. A high plateau, Tran...

Freemasonry

(Encyclopedia)Freemasonry, teachings and practices of the secret fraternal order officially known as the Free and Accepted Masons, or Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Because of its identification with 19th-cent...

Confederation, Articles of

(Encyclopedia)Confederation, Articles of, in U.S. history, ratified in 1781 and superseded by the Constitution of the United States in 1789. The imperative need for unity among the new states created by the America...

Ivan IV

(Encyclopedia)Ivan IV or Ivan the Terrible, 1530–84, grand duke of Moscow (1533–84), the first Russian ruler to assume formally the title of czar. In his later years, Ivan's character, always stern, grew tyra...