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International System of Units

(Encyclopedia)International System of Units, officially called the Système International d'Unités, or SI, system of units adopted by the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures (1960). It is based on the ...

Third World

(Encyclopedia)Third World, the technologically less advanced, or developing, nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, generally characterized as poor, having economies distorted by their dependence on the export...

William I, king of the Netherlands

(Encyclopedia)William I, 1772–1843, first king of the Netherlands and grand duke of Luxembourg (1815–40), son of Prince William V of Orange, last stadtholder of the Netherlands. He commanded (1793–95) the Dut...

Stephens, Alexander Hamilton

(Encyclopedia)Stephens, Alexander Hamilton, 1812–83, American political leader, Confederate vice president (1861–65), b. Taliaferro co. (then part of Wilkes co.), Ga. He was admitted to the bar in 1834, served ...

biological diversity

(Encyclopedia)biological diversity or biodiversity, the number of species in a given habitat. Scientists have variously estimated that there are from 3 to 30 million extant species, of which 2.5 million have been c...

Blair, Francis Preston, 1791–1876, American journalist and politician

(Encyclopedia)Blair, Francis Preston, 1791–1876, American journalist and politician, b. Abingdon, Va. Through the Frankfort, Ky., journal Argus of Western America, which he edited with Amos Kendall, Blair was an ...

Genoa

(Encyclopedia)Genoa jĕnˈōwə [key], Ital. Genova, city, capital of Genoa prov. and of Liguria, NW Italy,...

social work

(Encyclopedia)social work, organized effort to help individuals and families to adjust themselves to the community, as well as to adapt the community to the needs of such persons and families. Social work emerge...

Pentecostalism

(Encyclopedia)Pentecostalism, worldwide 20th–21st-century Christian movement that emphasizes the experience of Spirit baptism, generally evidenced by speaking in tongues (glossolalia). The name derives from Pente...

Stalin, Joseph Vissarionovich

(Encyclopedia)Stalin, Joseph Vissarionovich stäˈlĭn, Rus. vĭsəryôˈnəvĭch stäˈlyĭn [key], 1879–1953, Soviet Communist leader and head of the USSR from the death of V. I. Lenin (1924) until his own deat...