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Stephens, Alexander Hamilton

(Encyclopedia)Stephens, Alexander Hamilton, 1812–83, American political leader, Confederate vice president (1861–65), b. Taliaferro co. (then part of Wilkes co.), Ga. He was admitted to the bar in 1834, served ...

Tillman, Benjamin Ryan

(Encyclopedia)Tillman, Benjamin Ryan, 1847–1918, U.S. Senator from South Carolina (1895–1918), b. Edgefield co., S.C. A farmer, he became the leader of the backcountry whites in South Carolina and fostered thei...

Saint-Just, Louis de

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Just, Louis de lwēˈ də săN-zhüstˈ [key], 1767–94, French revolutionary. A member of the Convention from 1792, he became a favorite of Maximilien Robespierre and was (1793–94) a leading...

Episcopal Church

(Encyclopedia)Episcopal Church, Anglican church of the United States. Its separate existence as an American ecclesiastical body with its own episcopate began in 1789. During the American Revolution the personal l...

Dufour, Guillaume Henri

(Encyclopedia)Dufour, Guillaume Henri gēyōmˈ äNrēˈ düfo͞orˈ [key], 1787–1875, Swiss general. He served in the French army under Napoleon I, and in 1847 he led the Swiss federal forces to victory against ...

Amador Guerrero, Manuel

(Encyclopedia)Amador Guerrero, Manuel mänwĕlˈ ämädōrˈ gārāˈrō [key], 1833–1909, first president of Panama (1904–8), b. Colombia. A physician, he served as medical officer for the Panama RR and was a ...

European Investment Bank

(Encyclopedia)European Investment Bank, nonprofit bank created in 1958 by the six founding countries of the European Economic Community (now part of the European Union [EU]). The bank makes or guarantees loans to E...

Fauchet, Claude

(Encyclopedia)Fauchet, Claude klōd fōshāˈ [key], 1744–93, French clergyman and revolutionary, constitutional bishop of Calvados. A leader in the attack (1789) on the Bastille, Fauchet was a member of the Comm...

prime meridian

(Encyclopedia)prime meridian, meridian that is designated zero degree (0°) longitude, from which all other longitudes are measured. By international convention, it passes through the site of the Royal Observatory ...

Universalist Church of America

(Encyclopedia)Universalist Church of America, Protestant denomination originating in the 18th cent. and represented almost entirely in the United States. Universalism is the belief that it is God's purpose to save ...