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Birmingham, city, England

(Encyclopedia)Birmingham bûrˈmĭngəm [key], city and metropolitan borough (2021 city pop. 2,606,374; met...

Burke, Edmund

(Encyclopedia)Burke, Edmund, 1729–97, British political writer and statesman, b. Dublin, Ireland. Burke left, in his many and diverse writings, a monumental construction of British political thought that had fa...

health insurance

(Encyclopedia)health insurance, prepayment plan providing services or cash indemnities for medical care needed in times of illness or disability. It is effected by voluntary plans, either commercial or nonprofit, o...

censorship

(Encyclopedia)censorship, official prohibition or restriction of any type of expression believed to threaten the political, social, or moral order. It may be imposed by governmental authority, local or national, by...

Antony

(Encyclopedia)Antony or Marc Antony, Lat. Marcus Antonius, c.83 b.c.–30 b.c., Roman politican and soldier. He was of a distinguished family; his mother was a relative of Julius Caesar. Antony was notorious from h...

Polk, James Knox

(Encyclopedia)Polk, James Knox pōk [key], 1795–1849, 11th President of the United States (1845–49), b. Mecklenburg co., N.C. To the surprise of many, the new President proved to be his own man; he even ignor...

tap dance

(Encyclopedia)tap dance, theatrical dance form in which the dancer, wearing shoes with metal heel and toe taps, beats out complex, syncopated rhythms on the floor. After a slump in popularity in the 1960s, tap ...

budget

(Encyclopedia)budget, inclusive list of proposed expenditures and expected receipts of any person, enterprise, or government for a specified period, usually one year. Budget estimates are based on the expenditures ...

Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of

(Encyclopedia)Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of, 1769–1852, British soldier and statesman. Wellington, “the iron duke,” with the soldier's taste for discipline and order and the aristocrat's distrus...

mountain men

(Encyclopedia)mountain men, fur trappers and traders in the Rocky Mts. during the 1820s and 30s. Their activities opened that region of the United States to general knowledge. Since the days of French domination th...