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aleatory music

(Encyclopedia)aleatory music āˈlēətôrˌē [key] [Lat. alea=dice game], music in which elements traditionally determined by the composer are determined either by a process of random selection chosen by the comp...

Poynings, Sir Edward

(Encyclopedia)Poynings, Sir Edward, 1459–1521, English statesman. After taking part in an insurrection (1483) against Richard III, he fled to the Continent, where he joined the followers of Henry Tudor, earl of R...

Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act

(Encyclopedia)Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, 1909, passed by the U.S. Congress. It was the first change in tariff laws since the Dingley Act of 1897; the issue had been ignored by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Repub...

Olson, Floyd Bjornstjerne

(Encyclopedia)Olson, Floyd Bjornstjerne byûrnˈstĕrˌnə [key], 1891–1936, American lawyer and politician, b. Minneapolis. In his early life he was an itinerant laborer and for a time belonged to the Industrial...

Bergh, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Bergh, Henry bûrg [key], 1811–88, American philanthropist, b. New York City. He founded (1866) the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. This organization, the first of its kin...

Breviary of Alaric

(Encyclopedia)Breviary of Alaric ăˈlərĭk [key], Visigothic code of Roman law issued (506) by King Alaric II for his Roman subjects in Spain and S Gaul. It is also known as the Lex Romana Visigothorum. Based lar...

laissez-faire

(Encyclopedia)laissez-faire lĕsˌā fârˈ [key] [Fr.,=leave alone], in economics and politics, doctrine that an economic system functions best when there is no interference by government. It is based on the belie...

home schooling

(Encyclopedia)home schooling, the practice of teaching children in the home as an alternative to attending public or private elementary or high school. In most cases, one or both of the children's parents serve as ...

hunting

(Encyclopedia)hunting, act of seeking, following, and killing wild animals for consumption or display. It differs from fishing in that it involves only land animals. Hunting was a necessary activity of early humans...

naturalization

(Encyclopedia)naturalization, official act by which a person is made a national of a country other than his or her native one. In some countries naturalized persons do not necessarily become citizens but may merely...