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Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument

(Encyclopedia)Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, c.490,000 sq mi (1,260,000 sq km), central Pacific Ocean; est. 2009. The monument comprises the waters and reefs surrounding seven islands and atolls, ...

Taylor, John, American political philosopher

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, John, 1753–1824, American political philosopher. Known as John Taylor of Caroline, he was born in Virginia, probably in Caroline co., where he later lived at “Hazlewood.” Orphaned at 10,...

column

(Encyclopedia)column, vertical architectural support, circular or polygonal in plan. A column is generally at least four or five times as high as its diameter or width; stubbier freestanding masses of masonry are u...

Stresemann, Gustav

(Encyclopedia)Stresemann, Gustav go͝osˈtäf shtrāˈzəmän [key], 1878–1929, German statesman. A founder (1902) and director (until 1918) of the Association of Saxon Industrialists, Stresemann entered the Reic...

apse

(Encyclopedia)apse, the termination at the sanctuary end of a church, generally semicircular in plan but sometimes square or polygonal. The apse appeared early in Roman temples and basilicas; it was originally a se...

Levittown

(Encyclopedia)Levittown lĕvˈət-tounˌ [key]. 1 Uninc. residential city (1990 pop. 53,286), Nassau co., SE N.Y., on Long Island; founded 1947. Originally about 7 sq mi (18 sq km) of potato fields, it was develope...

Lexington and Concord, battles of

(Encyclopedia)Lexington and Concord, battles of, opening engagements of the American Revolution, Apr. 19, 1775. After the passage (1774) of the Intolerable Acts by the British Parliament, unrest in the colonies inc...

Katayev, Valentin Petrovich

(Encyclopedia)Katayev, Valentin Petrovich vəlyĭntyēnˈ pētrôˈvĭch kətīˈəf [key], 1897–1986, Russian novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. Katayev's novels portray almost the entire range of Sov...

Guadalupe Victoria

(Encyclopedia)Guadalupe Victoria gwäᵺälo͞oˈpā vēktōrˈyä [key], 1786?–1843, Mexican general, first president of Mexico (1824–29), whose original name was Manuel Félix Fernández. He joined (1811) the...

Illuminati

(Encyclopedia)Illuminati ĭlo͞oˌmĭnāˈtī, –näˈtē [key] [Lat.,=enlightened], rationalistic society founded in Germany soon after 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, a professor at Ingolstadt, having close affinities w...