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Hammurabi

(Encyclopedia)Hammurabi hämo͝oräˈbē [key], fl. 1792–1750 b.c., king of Babylonia. He founded an empire that was eventually destroyed by raids from Asia Minor. Hammurabi may have begun building the tower of B...

barcode

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Barcode barcode, computer coding system that uses a printed pattern of lines and bars to identify such things as products, mail and packages, and customer accounts; the term also is used for s...

Ine

(Encyclopedia)Ine īˈnə [key], king of Wessex (688–726). In 694 he forced the people of Kent to pay compensation for the murder of a kinsman, and he extended his sway over Sussex and Surrey and probably over De...

Western Union Telegraph Company

(Encyclopedia)Western Union Telegraph Company, enterprise created (1851) to provide telegraphic communications services in the United States. Originally known as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegra...

data encryption

(Encyclopedia)data encryption, the process of scrambling stored or transmitted information so that it is unintelligible until it is unscrambled by the intended recipient. Historically, data encryption has been used...

Westminster, Statutes of

(Encyclopedia)Westminster, Statutes of, in medieval English history, legislative promulgations made by Edward I in Parliament at Westminster. Westminster I (1275) practically constitutes a code of law; it covers a ...

courtly love

(Encyclopedia)courtly love, philosophy of love and code of lovemaking that flourished in France and England during the Middle Ages. Although its origins are obscure, it probably derived from the works of Ovid, vari...

Hadley, Herbert Spencer

(Encyclopedia)Hadley, Herbert Spencer, 1872–1927, American lawyer, b. Olathe, Kans. As attorney general of Missouri (1905–9), he successfully prosecuted the Standard Oil Company for violating the state antitrus...

Zanardelli, Giuseppe

(Encyclopedia)Zanardelli, Giuseppe jo͞ozĕpˈpā dzänärdĕlˈlē [key], 1826–1903, Italian politician and premier (1901–3). As minister of justice (1881–83, 1887–91) he prepared a new penal code, which w...

bankruptcy

(Encyclopedia)bankruptcy, in law, settlement of the liabilities of a person or organization wholly or partially unable to meet financial obligations. The purposes are to distribute, through a court-appointed receiv...