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Federal Communications Commission

(Encyclopedia)Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. The FCC is co...

Amtrak

(Encyclopedia)Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corp., authorized to operate virtually all intercity passenger railroad routes in the United States. Amtrak was created by Congress in 1970 in response to more ...

Thomas, Helen Amelia

(Encyclopedia)Thomas, Helen Amelia, 1920–2013, American journalist, b. Winchester, Ky., grad Wayne State Univ. (B.A., 1942). The daughter of Lebanese immigrants, she was a pioneering woman journalist in an era do...

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...

primogeniture

(Encyclopedia)primogeniture, in law, the rule of inheritance whereby land descends to the oldest son. Under the feudal system of medieval Europe, primogeniture generally governed the inheritance of land held in mil...

aviation

(Encyclopedia)aviation, operation of heavier-than-air aircraft and related activities. Aviation can be conveniently divided into military aviation, air transport, and general aviation. Military aviation includes al...

pigeon

(Encyclopedia)pigeon, common name for members of the large family Columbidae, land birds, cosmopolitan in temperate and tropical regions, characterized by stout bodies, short necks, small heads, and thick, heavy pl...

employment bureau

(Encyclopedia)employment bureau, a government-run establishment for bringing together the employer offering work and the employee seeking it. As a not-for-profit service, employment bureaus operate differently from...

Interior, United States Department of the

(Encyclopedia)Interior, United States Department of the, federal executive department established in 1849, delegated custodian of U.S. natural resources, and whose head, the Secretary of the Interior, has cabinet r...

Leakey, Richard Erskine Frere

(Encyclopedia)Leakey, Richard Erskine Frere frĭr [key], 1944–2022, Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist, and ...