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Crittenden, John Jordan

(Encyclopedia)Crittenden, John Jordan, 1787–1863, U.S. public official, b. Woodford co., Ky. A Kentucky legislator (1811–17), Crittenden entered the U.S. Senate (1817–19) but resigned to resume state offices....

Utah, University of

(Encyclopedia)Utah, University of, at Salt Lake City; coeducational; state supported; opened 1850, chartered 1851 as Univ. of Deseret, closed 1851–67. It was empowered to give degrees in 1884 and renamed in 1892....

Sydney, University of

(Encyclopedia)Sydney, University of, at Sydney, Australia, founded 1850, as Australia's first university. It began with a small faculty of arts, acquired a new campus in 1855, added faculties of law, medicine, and ...

Rochester, University of

(Encyclopedia)Rochester, University of, at Rochester, N.Y.; co-educational; chartered and opened 1850. It is noted for the Eastman School of Music (1918), the Memorial Art Gallery, its schools of dentistry and medi...

Wheeler, William Almon

(Encyclopedia)Wheeler, William Almon, 1819–87, American legislator, vice president of the United States (1877–81), b. Malone, N.Y. Admitted to the New York bar (1845), he was district attorney of Franklin co., ...

Cobb, Howell

(Encyclopedia)Cobb, Howell, 1815–68, American politican, b. Jefferson co., Ga. In 1837 he became solicitor general of the western judicial circuit of Georgia, a district populated largely by small farmers of Unio...

Basel, Council of

(Encyclopedia)Basel, Council of, 1431–49, first part of the 17th ecumenical council in the Roman Catholic Church. It is generally considered to have been ecumenical until it fell into heresy in 1437; after that i...

Ivo of Chartres, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Ivo of Chartres, Saint īˈvō, shärˈtrə [key], c.1040–c.1116, French churchman, bishop of Chartres (after 1090). He was fearlessly outspoken and was briefly imprisoned for opposing the irregular...

Kansas-Nebraska Act

(Encyclopedia)Kansas-Nebraska Act, bill that became law on May 30, 1854, by which the U.S. Congress established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. By 1854 the organization of the vast Platte and Kansas river c...

popular sovereignty

(Encyclopedia)popular sovereignty, in U.S. history, doctrine under which the status of slavery in the territories was to be determined by the settlers themselves. Although the doctrine won wide support as a means o...