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Khodorkovsky, Mikhail Borisovich

(Encyclopedia)Khodorkovsky, Mikhail Borisovich mēkhəyēlˈ bərēˈsəvĭch kōdôrkôfˈskē [key], 1963–, Russian business executive. In the waning years of the Soviet Union, he ran a computer import business...

Wilkes, John

(Encyclopedia)Wilkes, John, 1727–97, English politician and journalist. He studied at the Univ. of Leiden, returned to England in 1746, and purchased (1757) a seat in Parliament. Backed by Earl Temple, Wilkes fou...

XYZ Affair

(Encyclopedia)XYZ Affair, name usually given to an incident (1797–98) in Franco-American diplomatic relations. The United States had in 1778 entered into an alliance with France, but after the outbreak of the Fre...

World Court

(Encyclopedia)World Court, popular name of the Permanent Court of International Justice, established pursuant to Article 14 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. The protocol establishing it was adopted by the ...

affirmative action

(Encyclopedia)affirmative action, in the United States, programs to overcome the effects of past societal discrimination by allocating jobs and resources to members of specific groups, such as minorities and women....

bureaucracy

(Encyclopedia)bureaucracy byo͝orŏkˈrəsē [key], the administrative structure of any large organization, public or private. Ideally bureaucracy is characterized by hierarchical authority relations, defined spher...

snow

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Snow occurs in many different forms. Among the various recognized classes of forms are (A) needles; (B) columns and groups of columns; (C) plates; (D) branched, or dendritic, plates; (E) combin...

Sinn Féin

(Encyclopedia)Sinn Féin shĭn fān [key] [Irish,=we, ourselves], Irish nationalist movement. It had its roots in the Irish cultural revival at the end of the 19th cent. and the growing nationalist disenchantment w...

Doctorow, E. L.

(Encyclopedia)Doctorow, E. L. (Edgar Lawrence Doctorow) dŏkˈtərōˌ [key], 1931–2015, American novelist, b. New York City. The author of a dozen novels, Doctorow is known for his skillful blending of fiction a...

da Silva, Luiz Inácio

(Encyclopedia)da Silva, Luiz Inácio lo͞oēshˈ ēnäsˈyo͞o dä sēlˈvə [key], 1945–, Brazilian labor leader and politician, known as Lula, b. Vargem Grande (now Caetés), Pernambuco. Born into a poor family...