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torture

(Encyclopedia)torture, the intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering in order to intimidate, coerce, obtain information or a confession, or punish. In international law, the term is usua...

Kabbah, Ahmad Tejan

(Encyclopedia)Kabbah, Ahmad Tejan, 1932–2013, Sierra Leonean economist and political leader. A member of the Sierra Leone People's party, he entered the civil service in 1959 and served in the trade and industry ...

Grinnell College

(Encyclopedia)Grinnell College, at Grinnell, Iowa; coeducational; incorporated 1847 as Iowa College, opened 1848 by Congregationalists at Davenport. The college moved to Grinnell in 1859, under the auspices of Josi...

Pepper, Claude Denson

(Encyclopedia)Pepper, Claude Denson, 1900–1989, U.S. Senator (1936–51) and Representative (1962–89), b. Dudleyville, Ala. He was admitted (1928) to the bar, practiced law in Florida, and held many state offic...

Luzzatti, Luigi

(Encyclopedia)Luzzatti, Luigi lo͞oēˈjē lo͞ot-tsätˈtē [key], 1841–1927, Italian political leader and economist. As minister of finance in several cabinets and as premier (1910–11) he promoted liberal leg...

Castel Gandolfo

(Encyclopedia)Castel Gandolfo kästĕlˈ gändôlˈfō [key], town, in Latium, central Italy, in th...

Macon, Nathaniel

(Encyclopedia)Macon, Nathaniel māˈkən [key], 1758–1837, American political leader, b. near the present Warrenton, N.C. He served in the American Revolution and later became a political figure in North Carolina...

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans.

(Encyclopedia)Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans., case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954. Linda Brown was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka because she was black. When, com...

Supremes, The

(Encyclopedia) Supremes, The, American vocal group, 1962-77. The Supremes were formed in Detroit, Mi., and were originally known as the Primettes—a female counterp...

Carr, Eugene Asa

(Encyclopedia)Carr, Eugene Asa, 1830–1910, Union general in the U.S. Civil War, b. Concord, Erie co., N.Y., grad. West Point, 1850. In the Civil War he distinguished himself at Wilson's Creek (1861) and Pea Ridge...