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Davidson, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Davidson, Thomas, 1842–1900, American scholar and philosopher, b. Scotland, grad. Univ. of Aberdeen, 1860. In 1866 he went to Canada and then to the United States. On a visit to London in 1883 he fo...

charter school

(Encyclopedia)charter school, alternative type of American public school that, while paid for by taxes, is independent of the public-school system and relatively free from state and local regulations. A charter sch...

Beard, Charles Austin

(Encyclopedia)Beard, Charles Austin, 1874–1948, American historian, b. near Knightstown, Ind. A year at Oxford as a graduate student gave him an interest in English local government, and after further study at Co...

Erbakan, Necmettin

(Encyclopedia)Erbakan, Necmettin nĕjˈmətĭn ârˈbäkän [key], 1926–2011, Turkish politician. Trained as an engineer, he received a doctorate in Germany and worked there for several years. In 1970 he establis...

Wallis and Futuna Islands

(Encyclopedia)Wallis and Futuna Islands wŏlˈĭs, fo͞oto͞oˈnä [key], officially Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands, French overseas territory (2015 est. pop. 12,000), 106 sq mi (274 sq km), S Pacific, ...

John, three epistles of the New Testament

(Encyclopedia)John, three letters of the New Testament. Traditionally, they are ascribed to John son of Zebedee, the disciple of Jesus. All three letters probably date to the end of the 1st cent. a.d., and may have...

Marshall, Thurgood

(Encyclopedia)Marshall, Thurgood, 1908–93, U.S. lawyer and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1967–91), b. Baltimore. He received his law degree from Howard Univ. in 1933. In 1936 he joined the legal ...

Whitlam, Gough

(Encyclopedia)Whitlam, Gough gŏf [key], 1916–2014, Australian political leader. Edward Gough Whitlam studied law and entered practice near Sydney after serving in World War II. A member of the Labour party, he w...

Platt, Thomas Collier

(Encyclopedia)Platt, Thomas Collier, 1833–1910, American legislator and political boss, b. Owego, N.Y. He was president of the Tioga County National Bank and had acquired considerable commercial interests by the ...

Castle, Vernon, and Irene Foote

(Encyclopedia)Castle, Vernon (Vernon Castle Blythe) 1887–1918, and Irene Foote, 1893–1969, husband-and-wife dance team. Vernon Castle was an English dancer, who studied civil engineering before turning to the s...