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Council of the European Union

(Encyclopedia)Council of the European Union, institution of the European Union (EU) that has the final vote on legislation proposed by the European Commission and approved by the European Parliament; in some cases ...

Platt, Orville Hitchcock

(Encyclopedia)Platt, Orville Hitchcock, 1827–1905, U.S. Senator (1879–1905), b. Washington, Litchfield co., Conn. Platt held many public offices in Connecticut before he served in the U.S. Senate. He helped fra...

Representation of the People Acts

(Encyclopedia)Representation of the People Acts, statutes enacted by the British Parliament to continue the extension of the franchise begun by the Reform Bills (see under Reform Acts). As a result of the governmen...

Kings, books of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Kings, books of the Bible, originally a single work in the Hebrew canon. They are called First and Second Kings in modern Bibles, and Third and Fourth Kingdoms in the Greek versions, where the books o...

Congress of the United States

(Encyclopedia)Congress of the United States, the legislative branch of the federal government, instituted (1789) by Article 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which prescribes its membership and defines it...

Grand Army of the Republic

(Encyclopedia)Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), organization established by Civil War veterans of the Union army and navy. Principal figures in the founding of the GAR were John A. Logan and Richard J. Oglesby. The...

Congo, Democratic Republic of the

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Congo, Democratic Republic of the, formerly Zaïre zīˈēr, zäērˈ [key], republic ...

Tasman, Abel Janszoon

(Encyclopedia)Tasman, Abel Janszoon äˈbəl yänˈsōn täˈsmän [key], 1603?–1659, Dutch navigator. In the service of the Dutch East India Company from c.1632 to 1653, he made several trading and exploring voy...

Jolo

(Encyclopedia)Jolo hōˈlō, hōlōˈ [key], island (345 sq mi/894 sq km), Sulu Archipelago, the Philippines. The seaport city, Jolo (1990 pop. 53,055), on the northwest coast of the island, is the capital of Sulu ...

Bank of the United States

(Encyclopedia)Bank of the United States, name for two national banks established by the U.S. Congress to serve as government fiscal agents and as depositories for federal funds; the first bank was in existence from...