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Library of Congress

(Encyclopedia)Library of Congress, national library of the United States, Washington, D.C., est. 1800. It occcupies three buildings on Capitol Hill: The Thomas Jefferson Building (1897), the John Adams Building (19...

Webster, Noah

(Encyclopedia)Webster, Noah, 1758–1843, American lexicographer and philologist, b. West Hartford, Conn., grad. Yale, 1778. After serving in the American Revolution, Webster practiced law in Hartford. His Grammati...

Sun Belt

(Encyclopedia)Sun Belt or Sunbelt, southern tier of the United States, focused on Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California, and extending as far north as Virginia. The term gained wide use in the 1970s, when the eco...

Salisbury, Robert Cecil, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Salisbury, Robert Cecil, 1st earl of, 1563–1612, English statesman; son of William Cecil, Baron Burghley. He entered Parliament and came gradually to rank second only to his father as adviser to Que...

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

(Encyclopedia)Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, self-sustaining public corporation established in 1921 by the states of New York and New Jersey to administer the activities of the New York–New Jersey por...

labor law

(Encyclopedia)labor law, legislation dealing with human beings in their capacity as workers or wage earners. The Industrial Revolution, by introducing the machine and factory production, greatly expanded the class ...

social welfare

(Encyclopedia)social welfare or public charity, organized provision of educational, cultural, medical, and financial assistance to the needy. Modern social welfare measures may include any of the following: the car...

Treasury, United States Department of the

(Encyclopedia)Treasury, United States Department of the, federal executive department established in 1789. It is charged with advising the president on fiscal policy and acting as fiscal agent for the federal gover...

Bush, George Herbert Walker

(Encyclopedia)Bush, George Herbert Walker, 1924–2018, 41st President of the United States (1989–93), b. Milton, Mass., B.A., Yale Univ., 1948. Bush's handling of domestic affairs was less successful. The savi...

electronic game

(Encyclopedia)electronic game, device or computer program that provides entertainment by challenging a person's eye-hand coordination or mental abilities. Made possible by the development of the microprocessor, ele...