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bloc, parliamentary

(Encyclopedia)bloc, parliamentary [Fr.,=block], group of legislators formed to support special interests. A bloc may form because of a specific issue and dissolve when that issue has been resolved, or it may have a...

Preston, John Smith

(Encyclopedia)Preston, John Smith, 1809–81, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. near Abingdon, Va. He practiced law at Abingdon and Columbia, S.C., but made his fortune operating a Louisiana sugar p...

Wainwright, Jonathan Mayhew

(Encyclopedia)Wainwright, Jonathan Mayhew, 1883–1953, American general, b. Walla Walla, Wash. Commissioned in the army in 1906, he reached the rank of brigadier general in 1938. In World War II he was stationed i...

Plaza Lasso, Galo

(Encyclopedia)Plaza Lasso, Galo gäˈlō pläˈ sä läˈsō [key], 1906–87, president of Ecuador (1948–52) and secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS; 1968–75), b. New York City. He se...

Netherlands, Austrian and Spanish

(Encyclopedia)Netherlands, Austrian and Spanish, that part of the Low Countries that, from 1482 until 1794, remained under the control of the imperial house of Hapsburg. The area corresponds roughly to modern Belgi...

Morgan, John

(Encyclopedia)Morgan, John, 1735–89, American physician, b. Philadelphia, grad. College of Philadelphia (now Univ. of Pennsylvania), 1751. He founded, in Philadelphia (1765), the first medical school in the Unite...

Justice, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Justice, United States Department of, federal executive department established in 1870 and charged with providing the means for enforcing federal laws, furnishing legal counsel in federal cases, and c...

Habersham, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Habersham, Joseph, 1751–1815, political leader in the American Revolution and U.S. Postmaster General (1795–1801), b. Savannah, Ga.; the son of James Habersham. From the beginning, he was active i...

Churches of God, General Conference

(Encyclopedia)Churches of God, General Conference, conservative evangelical Christian bodies, Arminian in faith (see Jacobus Arminius), with certain Baptist doctrines. The movement originated during revivals held i...

Hays, Anna Mae

(Encyclopedia)Hays, Anna Mae, 1920–2018, American general, b. Buffalo, N.Y., as Anna Mae Violet McCabe. Trained as a nurse (1941), she enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps (1942) and served in Assam, India, where she...