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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 ...

North Pole

(Encyclopedia)North Pole, northern end of the earth's axis, by convention at lat. 90°N. Because the earth's rotational axis wobbles slightly over time, the location where the northern end of the axis intersects th...

McKean, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)McKean, Thomas məkānˈ, –kēnˈ [key], 1734–1817, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. New London, Pa. He settled at New Castle, Del., and b...

Lausanne, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Lausanne, Treaty of, 1922–23. The peace treaty (see Sèvres, Treaty of) imposed by the Allies on the Ottoman Empire after World War I had virtually destroyed Turkey as a national state. The treaty w...

Kunstler, William Moses

(Encyclopedia)Kunstler, William Moses, 1919–95, American lawyer, b. New York City, grad. Yale (1941), Columbia law school (1948). Flamboyant and often brilliant, Kunstler defended the unpopular and unfailingly su...

Vichy

(Encyclopedia)Vichy vĭshˈē, Fr. vēshēˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 28,048), Allier dept., central France, on the Allier River. Vichy's hot mineral springs made it one of the foremost spas in Europe, with a casino ...

Tacoma

(Encyclopedia)Tacoma təkōˈmə [key], city (1990 pop. 176,664), seat of Pierce co., W Wash., on Commencement Bay and Puget Sound at the mouth of the Puyallup River; inc. 1884. It is a major seaport and railroad t...

Vancouver, George

(Encyclopedia)Vancouver, George, 1757–98, English navigator and explorer. He sailed on Capt. James Cook's second and third voyages. After 1780 he served under Admiral George Rodney in the West Indies, taking part...

Van Rensselaer, Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Van Rensselaer, Stephen, 1764–1839, American political leader and soldier, called the Patroon, b. New York City. He spent some years managing his property, which included most of the present-day Alb...

Blair, Francis Preston, 1791–1876, American journalist and politician

(Encyclopedia)Blair, Francis Preston, 1791–1876, American journalist and politician, b. Abingdon, Va. Through the Frankfort, Ky., journal Argus of Western America, which he edited with Amos Kendall, Blair was an ...