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forgery, in criminal law

(Encyclopedia)forgery, in criminal law, willful fabrication or alteration of a written document with the intent to injure the interests of another in a fraudulent manner. The crime may be committed even though the ...

Jeffords, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Jeffords, Thomas, 1832–1914, American pioneer, b. Chautauqua co., N.Y. He went to Arizona in 1862 as a U.S. army scout and messenger and later became a stage driver. In 1866–67, he controlled mail...

Bowery, the

(Encyclopedia)Bowery, the bouˈərē, –ˈrē [key] [Dutch Bouwerie=farm], section of lower Manhattan, New York City. The Bowery, the street that gives the area its name, was once a road to the farm of New Amsterd...

Watson, Thomas Edward

(Encyclopedia)Watson, Thomas Edward, 1856–1922, American political leader, b. Columbia co., Ga. A successful lawyer, he practiced in Thomson, Ga., before serving (1882–83) in the state legislature and as a Farm...

right of way

(Encyclopedia)right of way, in land and air traffic and in sea navigation, rules that determine precedence in the use of traffic lanes. The rules are framed in the simplest possible terms and with nearly absolute u...

telegraph

(Encyclopedia)telegraph, term originally applied to any device or system for distant communication by means of visible or audible signals, now commonly restricted to electrically operated devices. Attempts at long-...

Lauder, Estée

(Encyclopedia)Lauder, Estée, 1908?–2004, American cosmetics company founder, b. Corona, Queens, N.Y., as Josephine Esther Mentzer. The daughter of immigrants, she married Joseph Lauter (later changed to Lauder) ...

Adams, Franklin Pierce

(Encyclopedia)Adams, Franklin Pierce, pseud. F. P. A., 1881–1960, American columnist and author, b. Chicago. He began (1903) work as a columnist on the Chicago Journal and continued it on the New York Evening Mai...

Rostenkowski, Dan

(Encyclopedia)Rostenkowski, Dan (Daniel David Rostenkowski) rŏsˌtənkouˈskē [key], 1928–2010, U.S. congressman, b. Chicago, grad. Loyola Univ. (1951). A Democrat, he was first elected as a U.S. representative...

computer virus

(Encyclopedia)computer virus, rogue computer program, typically a short program designed to disperse copies of itself to other computers and disrupt those computers' normal operations. A computer virus usually atta...