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Stevens, Thaddeus

(Encyclopedia)Stevens, Thaddeus, 1792–1868, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania (1849–53, 1859–68), b. Danville, Vt. He taught in an academy at York, Pa., studied law, and was admitted to the bar in Marylan...

USA PATRIOT Act

(Encyclopedia)USA PATRIOT Act [Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorists], 2001, U.S. federal law intended to give federal authorities increased ...

Koch

(Encyclopedia)Koch kōk [key], family of American industrialists and philanthropists. Fred Chase Koch, 1900–1967, b. Quanah, Tex., grad. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1922, was a Wichita, Kans., entrepre...

Hearst, William Randolph

(Encyclopedia)Hearst, William Randolph, 1863–1951, American journalist and publisher, b. San Francisco. A flamboyant, highly controversial figure, Hearst was nonetheless an intelligent and extremely competent new...

hedge fund

(Encyclopedia)hedge fund, in finance, a largely unregulated investment device with a relatively small number of investors that aims to outperform the markets. Originating in the 1950s, the funds “hedge” by offs...

Gracchi

(Encyclopedia)Gracchi grăkˈī [key], two Roman statesmen and social reformers, sons of the consul Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and of Cornelia. The brothers were brought up with great care by their mother. Tiberi...

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...

commedia dell'arte

(Encyclopedia)commedia dell'arte kōm-māˈdēä dĕl-lärˈtā [key], popular form of comedy employing improvised dialogue and masked characters that flourished in Italy from the 16th to the 18th cent. The impac...

vaudeville

(Encyclopedia)vaudeville vôdˈvĭl [key], originally a light song, derived from the drinking and love songs formerly attributed to Olivier Basselin and called Vau, or Vaux, de Vire. Similar to the English music ha...

taxation

(Encyclopedia)taxation, system used by governments to obtain money from people and organizations. The revenue collected is used by the government to support itself and to provide public services. Aside from being r...