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Browder, Earl Russell

(Encyclopedia)Browder, Earl Russell, 1891–1973, American Communist, b. Wichita, Kans. He became converted to socialism as a boy, and after imprisonment (1917–18, 1919–20) for opposing the draft he joined the ...

Carey, Mathew

(Encyclopedia)Carey, Mathew, 1760–1839, American publisher, bookseller, and economist, b. Dublin. In his Dublin journal he violently attacked English rule of Ireland, was imprisoned for a month, fled to France, w...

Casablanca

(Encyclopedia)Casablanca kăˌsəblăngˈkə, kăˌzə–, Span. käˌsäblängˈkä [key], Arab. Dar-al-Baida, city (1994 est. pop. 2,940,623), W Morocco, on the Atlantic Ocean. The largest city and principal port...

Monroe, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Monroe, Bill (William Smith Monroe), 1911–96, country singer, musician, and songwriter, often called the “father of bluegrass,” b. Rosine, Ky. A m...

Rainey, Gertrude "Ma"

(Encyclopedia)Rainey, Gertrude "Ma," 1886–1939, African-American blues singer and songwriter, b. Columbus, Ga., as Gertrude Melissa Nix Pridgett. Rainey's place and...

Triangle Waist Company

(Encyclopedia)Triangle Waist Company, often called the Triangle Shirtwaist Co., manufacturers of women's cotton and linen blouses. Located in lower Manhattan in the early 20th cent., on Mar. 25, 1911 it was the sit...

balance of trade

(Encyclopedia)balance of trade, relation between the merchandise exports and imports of a country. The concept first became important in the 16th and 17th cent. with the growth of mercantilism. Mercantilist theoris...

smuggling

(Encyclopedia)smuggling, illegal transport across state or national boundaries of goods or persons liable to customs or to prohibition. Smuggling has been carried on in nearly all nations and has occasionally been ...

performance art

(Encyclopedia)performance art, multimedia art form originating in the 1970s in which performance is the dominant mode of expression. Perfomance art may incorporate such elements as instrumental or electronic music,...

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