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orders in council

(Encyclopedia)orders in council, in British government, orders given by the sovereign on the advice of all or some of the members of the privy council, without the prior consent of Parliament. Orders in council, fi...

Taylor, Alan John Percivale

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Alan John Percivale, 1906–90, English historian, primarily interested in diplomatic and Central European history. Educated at Oxford, he became a fellow of Magdalen College in 1938. He appea...

Grey of Fallodon, Edward Grey, 1st Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Grey of Fallodon, Edward Grey, 1st Viscount fălˈədən [key], 1862–1933, British statesman. He entered Parliament as a Liberal in 1885 and became (1905) foreign secretary in the difficult period p...

Boleslaus II

(Encyclopedia)Boleslaus II, c.1039–1081, duke (1058–76), and later king (1076–79) of Poland; son and successor of Casimir I. Throughout his reign he opposed the influence of the Holy Roman Empire. He asserted...

United States Naval Academy

(Encyclopedia)United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, Md.; for training young men and women to be officers of the U.S. navy or marine corps. George Bancroft, Secretary of the Navy, founded and opened (1845) it a...

Rantoul

(Encyclopedia)Rantoul rănto͞olˈ [key], village (1990 pop. 17,212), Champaign co., E Ill., in a rich blackland farm area that yields corn and soybeans; inc. 1868. The Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum and the Korea...

Mansur, al-, d. 775, 2d Abbasid caliph

(Encyclopedia)Mansur, al- äl-mänso͝orˈ [key] [Arab.,=the victorious], d. 775, 2d Abbasid caliph (754–75) and founder of the city of Baghdad. His name was in full Abu Jafar abd-Allah al-Mansur. He was brother ...

Ijebu-Ode

(Encyclopedia)Ijebu-Ode ējābo͞oˈ-ōdāˈ [key], town (1991 est. pop. 138,000), SW Nigeria. It is a commercial town and a collection point for cacao, kola nuts, and palm products. Manufactures include textiles, ...

Berchtold, Leopold, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Berchtold, Leopold, Graf von lāˈōpôlt gräf fən bĕrkhˈtôlt [key], 1863–1942, Austro-Hungarian foreign minister (1912–15). During the Balkan Wars he successfully worked for the creation of ...

Federal National Mortgage Association

(Encyclopedia)Federal National Mortgage Association (FMNA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, government-sponsored enterprise that is the largest purchaser and guarantor of home mortgages in the country. Headquartered ...