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Straus

(Encyclopedia)Straus strous [key], family of American merchants, public officials, and philanthropists. Isidor Straus, 1845–1912, b. Rhenish Bavaria, emigrated (1854) with his brothers to the United States in ord...

Watertown

(Encyclopedia)Watertown. 1 Town (1990 pop. 20,456), Litchfield co., W Conn.; set off from Waterbury and inc. 1780. Textiles, plastics, chemicals, mattresses, and brass goods are among its manufactures. A method for...

Aramaic

(Encyclopedia)Aramaic ârəmāˈĭk [key], language belonging to the West Semitic subdivision of the Semitic subfamily of the Afroasiatic family of languages (see Afroasiatic languages). At some point during the se...

Sherman Antitrust Act

(Encyclopedia)Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890, first measure passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit trusts; it was named for Senator John Sherman. Prior to its enactment, various states had passed similar laws, but th...

little magazine

(Encyclopedia)little magazine, term used to designate certain magazines that have as their purpose the publication of art, literature, or social theory by comparatively little-known writers. The little-magazine m...

cactus

(Encyclopedia)cactus, any plant of the family Cactaceae, a large group of succulents found almost entirely in the New World. A cactus plant is conspicuous for its fleshy green stem, which performs the functions of ...

Socialist party

(Encyclopedia)Socialist party, in U.S. history, political party formed to promote public control of the means of production and distribution. In 1898 the Social Democratic party was formed by a group led by Eugene ...

Darius I

(Encyclopedia)Darius I (Darius the Great) dərīˈəs [key], d. 486 b.c., king of ancient Persia (521–486 b.c.), called also Dariavaush and Darius Hystaspis (after his father, Hystaspes or Vishtaspa). A distant c...

Apocrypha

(Encyclopedia)Apocrypha əpŏkˈrĭfə [key] [Gr.,=hidden things], term signifying a collection of early Jewish writings excluded from the canon of the Hebrew scriptures. It is not clear why the term was chosen. Th...

letters

(Encyclopedia)letters, in literature, written messages, ranging from those addressed to the public and those sent from lover to lover, to business letters and thank-you notes. The common quality they share is a liv...