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African Methodist Episcopal Church

(Encyclopedia)African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist denomination (see Methodism). It was established in 1816 in Philadelphia with Richard Allen as its first bishop. In 1991 there were about 3.5 million memb...

Gregory, Dick

(Encyclopedia)Gregory, Dick (Richard Claxton Gregory), 1932–2017, African-American civil-rights activist and comedian, b. St. Louis, Mo. A biting satirist who used the struggle for civil rights and other topical ...

fiat money

(Encyclopedia)fiat money fīˈət, fīˈăt [key], inconvertible money that is made legal tender by the decree, or fiat, of the government but that is not covered by a specie reserve. It is commonly understood to b...

Pompidou, Georges Jean Raymond

(Encyclopedia)Pompidou, Georges Jean Raymond zhôrzh pôNpēdo͞oˈ [key], 1911–74. French political leader, president of France (1969–74). Georges Pompidou taught school and then served in World War II until t...

Lee, Francis Lightfoot

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Francis Lightfoot, 1734–97, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Westmoreland co., Va.; brother of Arthur, Richard H., and William Lee. Whi...

Marie Byrd Land

(Encyclopedia)Marie Byrd Land, area of W Antarctica, E of the Ross Shelf Ice and the Ross Sea and S of the Amundsen Sea; the Ford Ranges lie in the northwest part. The region was discovered and claimed for the Unit...

Grétry, André Ernest Modeste

(Encyclopedia)Grétry, André Ernest Modeste äNdrāˈ ĕrnĕstˈ môdĕstˈ grātrēˈ [key], 1741–1813, French operatic composer. Enormously prolific and successful in his lifetime, he was a master of the 18th-...

Gervase of Canterbury

(Encyclopedia)Gervase of Canterbury jûrˈvāz, jərvāzˈ [key], d. c.1210, English chronicler. A monk of Christ Church, Cambridge, he wrote an account of the reigns of Stephen, Henry II, and Richard I. His Chroni...

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

(Encyclopedia)American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (A.S.P.C.A.), chartered in 1866 in New York by Henry Bergh to shelter homeless animals, to assist farmers in caring for their livestock, and t...

Destinn, Emmy

(Encyclopedia)Destinn, Emmy (Ema Kittl) dĕsˈtĭn [key], 1878–1930, Czechoslovakian soprano. She debuted in Berlin in 1898 before singing the title role in the London production of Madame Butterfly in 1905. She ...