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Pan-American games

(Encyclopedia)Pan-American games, amateur athletic competition among representatives of countries in the Western Hemisphere. The competition, held every four years, follows the organization and eligibility rules of...

Pan-American Highway

(Encyclopedia)Pan-American Highway, system of roads, c.16,000 mi (25,750 km) long, linking the nations of the Western Hemisphere. It was suggested at the Fifth International Conference of American States (1923) and...

Pan-American Union

(Encyclopedia)Pan-American Union, former name for the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS). It was founded (1889–90) at the first of the modern Inter-American Conferences (see Pan-Amer...

Central American Federation

(Encyclopedia)Central American Federation or Central American Union, political confederation (1825–38) of the republics of Central America—Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Salvador. United under ...

Russian American Company

(Encyclopedia)Russian American Company, colonial trading company, chartered by Czar Paul I in 1799. The charter granted the merchant-dominated company monopoly trading privileges in Russian America, which included ...

Spanish-American literature

(Encyclopedia)Spanish-American literature, the writings of both the European explorers of Spanish America and its later inhabitants. See also Spanish literature; Portuguese literature; Brazilian literature. T...

Spanish-American War

(Encyclopedia)Spanish-American War, 1898, brief conflict between Spain and the United States arising out of Spanish policies in Cuba. It was, to a large degree, brought about by the efforts of U.S. expansionists. ...

Peters, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Peters, Richard, 1744–1828, American jurist, b. Philadelphia. After serving as secretary of the board of war (1776–81), he was briefly in the Continental Congress (1782–83) and then in the state...

Mukasey, Michael Bernard

(Encyclopedia)Mukasey, Michael Bernard myo͞okāˈzē [key], 1941–, American jurist, b. Bronx, N.Y., grad. Columbia (A.B., 1963), Yale Law School (LL.B., 1967). After being in private practice (1967–72), he was...

Hopkinson, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Hopkinson, Joseph, 1770–1842, American jurist, b. Philadelphia; son of Francis Hopkinson. A successful lawyer, he helped to defend (1804) Justice Samuel Chase in impeachment proceedings and was asso...