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James, Henry, American novelist and critic

(Encyclopedia)James, Henry, 1843–1916, American novelist and critic, b. New York City. A master of the psychological novel, James was an innovator in technique and one of the most distinctive prose stylists in En...

Commerce, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Commerce, United States Department of, federal executive department charged with promoting U.S. economic development and technological advancement. In Feb., 1903, the Congress established a Department...

Mount Vernon, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Mount Vernon. 1 City (1990 pop. 16,988), seat of Jefferson co., SE Ill.; settled 1819, inc. 1872. It is a trade, rail, and industrial center in a farm and coal region. Tools, tires, transformers, coal...

Know-Nothing movement

(Encyclopedia)Know-Nothing movement, in U.S. history. The increasing rate of immigration in the 1840s encouraged nativism. In Eastern cities where Roman Catholic immigrants especially had concentrated and were welc...

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

(Encyclopedia)National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), organization composed mainly of American blacks, but with many white members, whose goal is the end of racial discrimination and seg...

Fuller, Millard

(Encyclopedia)Fuller, Millard, 1935–2009, American entrepreneur and philanthropist, b. Lanett, Ala., grad. Auburn Univ. (B.S., 1957), Univ. of Alabama Law School (LL.B., 1960). While in law school he and a fellow...

Sierra Club

(Encyclopedia)Sierra Club, national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the world's parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas. Founded (1892) in California by a group led by...

San Juan, river, Nicaragua

(Encyclopedia)San Juan sän hwän [key], river, c.110 mi (180 km) long, flowing from the southeast corner of Lake Nicaragua E to the Caribbean Sea, near the port of San Juan del Norte. The lower course of the deep ...

Sánchez Hernández, Fidel

(Encyclopedia)Sánchez Hernández, Fidel ārnänˈdās [key], 1917–2003, president of El Salvador (1967–72). An army general, he served as minister of interior under President Julio Rivera. As president, he na...

states of matter

(Encyclopedia)states of matter, forms of matter differing in several properties because of differences in the motions and forces of the molecules (or atoms, ions, or elementary particles) of which they are composed...