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Curzon of Kedleston, George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess

(Encyclopedia)Curzon of Kedleston, George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess kûrˈzən, kĕdˈəlstən [key], 1859–1925, British statesman. A member of the minor aristocracy, he attended Eton and Oxford. From his un...

Stevens, Thaddeus

(Encyclopedia)Stevens, Thaddeus, 1792–1868, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania (1849–53, 1859–68), b. Danville, Vt. He taught in an academy at York, Pa., studied law, and was admitted to the bar in Marylan...

Presidents of the United States (table)

(Encyclopedia)Presidents of the United States

mountain climbing

(Encyclopedia)mountain climbing, the practice of climbing to elevated points for sport, pleasure, or research. Also called mountaineering, it is practiced throughout the world. Many mountain climbing clubs have...

science fiction

(Encyclopedia)science fiction, literary genre in which a background of science or pseudoscience is an integral part of the story. Although science fiction is a form of fantastic literature, many of the events recou...

Memphis, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Memphis mĕmˈfĭs [key], city (1990 pop. 610,337), seat of Shelby co., SW Tenn., on the Fourth, or Lower, Chickasaw Bluff above the Mississippi, at the mouth of the Wolf River; inc. 1826. A river por...

Russell

(Encyclopedia)Russell, English noble family. It first appeared prominently in the reign of Henry VIII when John Russell, 1st earl of Bedford, 1486?–1555, rose to military and diplomatic importance. He was lord hi...

sharecropping

(Encyclopedia)sharecropping, an agricultural system in which a landowner allows a tenant to use their land in return for a share of the crop produced. In the United S...

convention

(Encyclopedia)convention, in U.S. politics, a gathering of delegates to nominate candidates for elective office and to formulate party policy. They are held at the national, state, and local levels. State convent...

Chase, Salmon Portland

(Encyclopedia)Chase, Salmon Portland, 1808–73, American public official and jurist, 6th chief justice of the United States (1864–73), b. Cornish, N.H. Admitted to the bar in 1829, he defended runaway blacks so ...