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Wichita, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Wichita wĭchˈĭtô [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Caddoan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They formerly occupied central Kan...

Washington Monument

(Encyclopedia)Washington Monument, obelisk-shaped tower, 555 ft 51⁄9 in. (169.3 m) high, located on a 106-acre (43-hectare) site at the west end of the Mall, Washington, D.C.; dedicated 1885. The world's tallest ...

Cartier-Bresson, Henri

(Encyclopedia)Cartier-Bresson, Henri äNrēˈ kärtēāˈ-brĕsôNˈ [key], 1908–2004, French photojournalist, b. Chanteloup, near Paris. Cartier-Bresson is renowned for his countless memorable images of 20th-cen...

Schenck, Robert Cumming

(Encyclopedia)Schenck, Robert Cumming skĕngk [key], 1809–90, American politician and diplomat, Union general in the Civil War, b. Franklin, Ohio. He studied law and practiced in Dayton. Schenck was a Whig in Con...

Gibbon, John

(Encyclopedia)Gibbon, John, 1827–96, Union general in the Civil War, b. near Holmesburg (now part of Philadelphia), Pa., grad. West Point, 1847. Made a brigadier general of volunteers (1862), he fought in the sec...

Carter, Samuel Powhatan

(Encyclopedia)Carter, Samuel Powhatan pouˌətănˈ, pouhătˈən [key], 1819–91, American naval officer and Union general in the Civil War, b. Elizabethton, Tenn., grad. Annapolis, 1846. In the Civil War he was ...

belligerency

(Encyclopedia)belligerency bəlĭjˈərənsē [key], in international law, status of parties legally at war. Belligerency exists in a war between nations or in a civil war if the established government treats the i...

Harlan, John Marshall, 1833–1911, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

(Encyclopedia)Harlan, John Marshall, 1833–1911, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1877–1911), b. Boyle co., Ky., grad. Centre College, 1850. Admitted to the bar in 1853, he served in...

Lyon, Nathaniel

(Encyclopedia)Lyon, Nathaniel, 1818–61, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Eastford, Conn. After serving against the Seminole and in the Mexican War, he was stationed in California and Kansas until the o...

Magruder, John Bankhead

(Encyclopedia)Magruder, John Bankhead məgro͞oˈdər [key], 1810–71, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. Winchester, Va. His reckless daring in the Mexican War won him quick promotion in the army. ...