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Bunau-Varilla, Philippe Jean

(Encyclopedia)Bunau-Varilla, Philippe Jean fēlēpˈ zhäN bünōˈ-värēyäˈ [key], 1859–1940, French engineer, prominent in the Panama Canal controversy. An engineer after 1884 in the original French company ...

Thanksgiving Day

(Encyclopedia)Thanksgiving Day, national holiday in the United States commemorating the Pilgrims' celebration of the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony in 1621, after a winter of great starvation and privation. ...

national assembly

(Encyclopedia)national assembly, name of a number of past and present constituent or legislative bodies. In France, under the constitutions of the Fourth and Fifth republics, the lower house of parliament has been ...

national bank

(Encyclopedia)national bank, in the United States, financial institution of a class authorized by Congress in acts of 1863 and 1864. The acts were intended to provide a way of marketing the large bond issues made n...

National City

(Encyclopedia)National City, city (1990 pop. 54,249), San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1887. Structural metal is fabricated, and there is shipbuilding and the manufacture of recycling machinery, plas...

national debt

(Encyclopedia)national debt: see debt, public. ...

National Gallery

(Encyclopedia)National Gallery, London, one of the permanent national art collections of Great Britain, est. 1824. The nucleus of museum was the 38-picture collection of the late English banker John Julius Angerste...

national grasslands

(Encyclopedia)national grasslands: see National Forest System. ...

National Guard

(Encyclopedia)National Guard, U.S. militia. The militia is authorized by the Constitution of the United States, which also defines the militia's functions and the federal and state role. Article 1, Section 8 provid...

National Mall

(Encyclopedia)National Mall: see National Parks and Monuments (table)national parks and monuments (table). ...