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Beernaert, Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Beernaert, Auguste ōgüstˈ bârnärtˈ, bârˈnärt [key], 1829–1912, Belgian statesman. A member of the liberal wing of the Catholic party, he served in several cabinets and was prime minister fr...

Durant, Thomas Clark

(Encyclopedia)Durant, Thomas Clark, 1820–85, American railroad builder, chief figure in the construction of the Union Pacific RR, b. Lee, Mass. He was successful in building railroads in the Midwest, and, after t...

Crittenden Compromise

(Encyclopedia)Crittenden Compromise, in U.S. history, unsuccessful last-minute effort to avert the Civil War. It was proposed in Congress as a constitutional amendment in Dec., 1860, by Sen. John J. Crittenden of K...

Blunt, James Gilpatrick

(Encyclopedia)Blunt, James Gilpatrick, 1826–81, American physician and Union general in the Civil War, b. Hancock co., Maine. He practiced medicine in Ohio and later in Kansas, where he became associated with Joh...

Ferrara-Florence, Council of

(Encyclopedia)Ferrara-Florence, Council of, 1438–45, second part of the 17th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church; the first part was the Council of Basel, canonically convened but after 1437 schismati...

child welfare

(Encyclopedia)child welfare, services provided for the care of disadvantaged children. Foundling institutions for orphans and abandoned children were the earliest attempts at child care, usually under religious aus...

Gettysburg campaign

(Encyclopedia)Gettysburg campaign, June–July, 1863, series of decisive battles of the U.S. Civil War. The Gettysburg battles included more than 160,000 soldiers and many camp laborers. These included thousands ...

Diomedes

(Encyclopedia)Diomedes dīˌōmēˈdēz [key], in Greek legend. 1 Son of Tydeus, he was one of the principal Greek warriors in the Trojan War. Previously he had avenged his father's death in the expedition of the E...

Cortelyou, George Bruce

(Encyclopedia)Cortelyou, George Bruce kôrˈtəlyo͞o [key], 1862–1940, American public official and business executive, b. New York City. He taught school, and after learning stenography, he became secretary to ...

Front de Libération du Québec

(Encyclopedia)Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) frôN də lēbĕräsyôNˈ dü kābĕkˈ [key], Canadian separatist group formed in the 1960s to bring about the independence of Quebec, which has a French herita...