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Norton, Eleanor Holmes

(Encyclopedia)Norton, Eleanor Holmes, 1937–, African-American lawyer and government official. As an attorney (1965–70) for the American Civil Liberties Union, she specialized in First Amendment cases. She later...

utility, public

(Encyclopedia)utility, public, industry required by law to render adequate service in its field at reasonable prices to all who apply for it. Public utilities frequently operate as monopolies in their market. In th...

Ellis Island

(Encyclopedia)Ellis Island, island, c.27 acres (10.9 hectares), in Upper New York Bay, SW of Manhattan island. Government-controlled since 1808, it was long the site of an arsenal and a fort, but most famously serv...

Gournay, Vincent de

(Encyclopedia)Gournay, Vincent de văNsäNˈ də go͞ornāˈ [key], 1712–59, French economist, precursor of the physiocrats and of Adam Smith. A wealthy merchant, he was in government service as intendant of comm...

integration

(Encyclopedia)integration, in U.S. history, the goal of an organized movement to break down the barriers of discrimination and segregation separating African Americans from the rest of American society. Racial segr...

Santer, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Santer, Jacques (Jean Jacques Santer) zhäN zhäk säNtĕrˈ [key], 1937–, Luxembourg political leader and European statesman. A lawyer and economist, he entered politics as a member of the Christia...

telemarketing

(Encyclopedia)telemarketing, the practice of selling goods or services to customers by means of the telephone or of surveying consumer preferences in telephone conversations. Telemarketing firms use trained staff a...

prohibition

(Encyclopedia)prohibition, legal prevention of the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages, the extreme of the regulatory liquor laws. The modern movement for prohibition had its main growth in...

Saskatchewan, University of

(Encyclopedia)Saskatchewan, University of, at Saskatoon, Sask., Canada; provincially supported, coeducational; chartered 1907, opened 1909. It has faculties of agriculture, arts and science, commerce, education, en...

Filene, Edward Albert

(Encyclopedia)Filene, Edward Albert fīlēnˈ, fĭl– [key], 1860–1937, American merchant, b. Salem, Mass. As president of the Boston firm of William Filene's Sons he pioneered in scientific and ingenious method...

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