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Sherman Silver Purchase Act

(Encyclopedia)Sherman Silver Purchase Act, 1890, passed by the U.S. Congress to supplant the Bland-Allison Act of 1878. It not only required the U.S. government to purchase nearly twice as much silver as before, bu...

Crittenden, Thomas Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Crittenden, Thomas Theodore, 1832–1909, governor of Missouri (1881–85), b. Shelby co., Ky.; nephew of John J. Crittenden. In the Civil War he served (1862–65) as lieutenant colonel of a Missouri...

Woman's Christian Temperance Union

(Encyclopedia)Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), organization that seeks to upgrade moral life, especially through abstinence from alcohol. The National WCTU of the United States was founded (1874) in Cleve...

Margaret Maid of Norway

(Encyclopedia)Margaret Maid of Norway, 1283–90, queen of Scotland (1286–90), daughter of Eric II of Norway and granddaughter of Alexander III of Scotland. In 1284 the nobles of Scotland recognized the infant No...

Tsankov, Dragan

(Encyclopedia)Tsankov, Dragan tsänˈkôf [key], 1828–1911, Bulgarian politician. As journalist and later as professor he played an important part in achieving the autonomy of the Bulgarian Church from the patri...

Draga

(Encyclopedia)Draga dräˈgä [key], 1867–1903, queen consort of King Alexander of Serbia. A widow and a lady in waiting to the king's mother, Draga Mašin (Mashin) was accused by general rumor of a shady and pro...

Sodoma, Il

(Encyclopedia)Sodoma, Il ēl sôˈdōmä [key], c.1477–1549, Sienese painter, whose real name was Giovanni Antonio Bazzi. Born in Vercelli, Piedmont, he went to Rome c.1508. Commissioned by Pope Julius II, he pai...

Savonarola, Girolamo

(Encyclopedia)Savonarola, Girolamo jērōˈlämō sävōnärōˈlä [key], 1452–98, Italian religious reformer, b. Ferrara. He joined (1475) the Dominicans. In 1481 he went to San Marco, the Dominican house at Fl...

Czartoryski

(Encyclopedia)Czartoryski chärtôrĭsˈkē [key], Polish princely family. Although of ancient lineage, it rose to prominence only in the 17th cent., and in the 18th cent. during the reign of the Saxon kings of Pol...