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Panama Papers

(Encyclopedia)Panama Papers, popular name for the some 11.5 million internal documents belonging to the Panamanian-based law firm Mossack Fonseca that revealed information about secret offshore companies and bank a...

Washington Monument

(Encyclopedia)Washington Monument, obelisk-shaped tower, 555 ft 51⁄9 in. (169.3 m) high, located on a 106-acre (43-hectare) site at the west end of the Mall, Washington, D.C.; dedicated 1885. The world's tallest ...

bond

(Encyclopedia)bond, in finance, usually a formal certificate of indebtedness issued in writing by governments or business corporations in return for loans. It bears interest and promises to pay a certain sum of mon...

legacy

(Encyclopedia)legacy, bequest by will of personal property, similar in many respects to a gift causa mortis. A legacy ordinarily is distinguished from a devise, which transfers real property by will. The person who...

Hambletonian

(Encyclopedia)Hambletonian hămbəltōˈnēən [key], 1849–76, American trotting horse, foaled at Chester, N.Y. Originally owned by Jonas Seely, Hambletonian was bought for little money by Bill Rysdyk and won few...

garnishment

(Encyclopedia)garnishment, in law, means of requiring a third party who holds a debt (including wages) due a defendant to retain the property temporarily. The garnishment consists of a warning, in the form of a jud...

Individual Retirement Account

(Encyclopedia)Individual Retirement Account (IRA), tax-sheltered retirement plan, originally created (1974) to assist individuals not covered by company pensions. Under the U.S. tax law of 1981, IRA provisions were...

Desmarets, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Desmarets, Nicolas nēkôläˈ dāmärāˈ [key], 1648–1721, French statesman; the nephew of Jean Baptiste Colbert. He became director of finances in 1703 and succeeded Michel Chamillart as controll...

Dummer, Jeremiah, 1645–1718, early American silversmith and engraver

(Encyclopedia)Dummer, Jeremiah, 1645–1718, early American silversmith and engraver, b. Newbury, Mass. He was apprenticed (1659) to John Hull and set up as a silversmith in Boston c.1666. He held several public of...

Sherman Silver Purchase Act

(Encyclopedia)Sherman Silver Purchase Act, 1890, passed by the U.S. Congress to supplant the Bland-Allison Act of 1878. It not only required the U.S. government to purchase nearly twice as much silver as before, bu...