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Susquehanna Company

(Encyclopedia)Susquehanna Company, land company formed (1753) in Connecticut for the purpose of developing the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania. A tract of land was purchased from the Native Americans in 1754, and pr...

Western Reserve

(Encyclopedia)Western Reserve, tract of land in NE Ohio, on the southern shore of Lake Erie, retained by Connecticut in 1786 when it ceded its claims to its western lands (see Northwest Territory). In 1792, Connect...

Kuznets, Simon

(Encyclopedia)Kuznets, Simon ko͝oznĕtsˈ, kŭzˈnĕts [key], 1901–85, American economist, b. Kharkiv, Russia (now in Ukraine), grad. Columbia (B.S., 1923; M.A., 1924; Ph.D., 1926). He emigrated to the United St...

Thorndike, Edward Lee

(Encyclopedia)Thorndike, Edward Lee thôrnˈdīk [key], 1874–1949, American educator and psychologist, b. Williamsburg, Mass., grad. Wesleyan Univ., 1895, and Harvard, 1896, Ph.D. Columbia, 1898. Appointed instru...

Transantarctic Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Transantarctic Mountains, mountain chain stretching across Antarctica from Victoria Land to Coats Land; separating the E Antarctic and W Antarctic subcontinents. Mt. Markham (14,275 ft/4,351 m high), ...

weber, unit of magnetic flux

(Encyclopedia)weber vāˈbər, wē–, wĕbˈər [key] [for W. E. Weber], abbr. Wb, unit of magnetic flux in the mks system of weights and measures; 1 Wb is equal to 1 volt-second. The weber per square meter, calle...

agrarian laws

(Encyclopedia)agrarian laws, in ancient Rome, the laws regulating the disposition of public lands (ager publicus). It was the practice of Rome to confiscate part of the land of conquered cities and states, and this...

Laffite, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Laffite, Jean zhäN läfētˈ [key], c.1780–1826?, leader of a band of privateers and smugglers. The name is often spelled Lafitte. He and his men began operating (1810) off the Baratarian coast S o...

Egan, Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Egan, Patrick ēˈgən [key], 1841–1919, Irish and American political leader, b. Co. Longford, Ireland. Fervently devoted to the cause of Irish home rule and land reform, he was a member of the Iris...

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