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West, Dame Rebecca

(Encyclopedia)West, Dame Rebecca, 1892–1983, English novelist and critic, b. Ireland as Cicily Isabel Fairfield. West began her career as a journalist for feminist and suffragist publications. At various times sh...

Bulfinch, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Bulfinch, Charles, 1763–1844, American architect, b. Boston. A member of the Boston board of selectmen in 1791, he was chosen chairman in 1799—an office equivalent to mayor and held by Bulfinch fo...

Adams, Charles Francis, 1835–1915, American economist and historian

(Encyclopedia)Adams, Charles Francis, 1835–1915, American economist and historian, b. Boston; son of Charles Francis Adams (1807–86). In the Civil War he fought at Antietam and Gettysburg and was brevetted brig...

Social Credit

(Encyclopedia)Social Credit, economic plan in Canada, based on the theories of Clifford Hugh Douglas. The central idea is that the problems fundamental to economic depression are those of unequal distribution owing...

Taine, Hippolyte Adolphe

(Encyclopedia)Taine, Hippolyte Adolphe tān, Fr. ēpôlētˈ ädôlfˈ tĕn [key], 1828–93, French critic and historian. A brilliant student, he gained recognition with the publication of his doctoral thesis, Ess...

Toledo Manrique, Alejandro

(Encyclopedia)Toledo Manrique, Alejandro, 1946–, Peruvian political leader, president of Peru (2001–6). Toledo, who has indigenous Andean roots, was born into poverty in rural Peru and grew up in the port city ...

Unknown Soldier, Tomb of the

(Encyclopedia)Unknown Soldier, Tomb of the, form of memorial to a nation's war dead, adopted by many countries after World War I. The Tomb of the Unknowns, a memorial to the American dead of World Wars I and II, th...

Sharpton, Rev. Al

(Encyclopedia) Sharpton, Rev. Al (Alfred Charles Sharpton), 1954- , African-American minister and civil rights activist, b, Brownsville, Brooklyn, N.Y. A child-prodi...

plebiscite

(Encyclopedia)plebiscite plĕbˈĭsīt [key] [Lat.,=popular decree], vote of the people on a question submitted to them, as in a referendum. The term, however, has acquired the more specific meaning of a popular vo...

Ringling Brothers

(Encyclopedia)Ringling Brothers, seven brothers, sons of German-born August Rüngeling, who established an American circus empire. Albert C. (1852–1916), Otto (1858–1911), Alfred T. (1861–1919), Charles Edwar...