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United Mine Workers of America

(Encyclopedia)United Mine Workers of America (UMW), international labor union formed (1890) by the amalgamation of the National Progressive Union (organized 1888) and the mine locals under the Knights of Labor. It ...

Gomułka, Władysław

(Encyclopedia)Gomułka, Władysław vwädĭsˈwäf gəmo͝oˈkə [key], 1905–82, Polish Communist leader. Long a Communist, he helped establish the Polish Workers' party and was (1943–49) secretary of its centr...

Flushing, part of Queens, New York City, United States

(Encyclopedia)Flushing, former village, now in N Queens borough of New York City, SE N.Y.; chartered 1645, inc. into Greater New York City with Queens in 1898. Although chiefly residential, Flushing has gained impo...

Thirteen Colonies, the

(Encyclopedia)Thirteen Colonies, the, term used for the colonies of British North America that joined together in the American Revolution against the mother country, adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776,...

commerce, in economics

(Encyclopedia)commerce, traffic in goods, usually thought of as trade between states or nations. Engaged in by all peoples from the earliest times, it has been carried on in some areas and by some peoples more than...

Brezhnev, Leonid Ilyich

(Encyclopedia)Brezhnev, Leonid Ilyich lāyōnēdˈ ĭlyēchˈ brĕzhˈnĕf [key], 1906–82, Soviet leader. He joined (1931) the Communist party and rose steadily in its hierarchy. In 1952 he became a secretary of ...

Dimitrov, Georgi

(Encyclopedia)Dimitrov, Georgi gĕôrˈgē dĭmēˈtrŏf [key], 1882–1949, Bulgarian Communist leader. A revolutionary from boyhood, he was a leader in the 1923 Communist uprising against Alexander Tsankov. When ...

over-the-counter

(Encyclopedia)over-the-counter, method of buying and selling securities outside the organized stock exchange. Unlike an organized stock exchange, the over-the-counter market is composed of dealers who negotiate mos...

Menzies, Sir Robert Gordon

(Encyclopedia)Menzies, Sir Robert Gordon mĕnˈzēz [key], 1894–1978, Australian statesman. A barrister, Menzies was elected to the Australian House of Representatives in 1934 and was attorney general (1935–39)...

Barbary States

(Encyclopedia)Barbary States, term used for the North African states of Tripolitania, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. From the 16th cent. Tripolitania, Tunisia, and Algeria were autonomous provinces of the Turkish E...

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