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Service Employees International Union

(Encyclopedia)Service Employees International Union (SEIU), labor union representing U.S. and Canadian workers in health care (doctors, nurses, health technicians), public services (government workers, school emplo...

Bretton Woods Conference

(Encyclopedia)Bretton Woods Conference, name commonly given to the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, held (July 1–22, 1944) at Bretton Woods, N.H., where 730 delegates representing 44 countries en...

Agency for International Development

(Encyclopedia)Agency for International Development (AID), federal agency created (Sept., 1961) to consolidate U.S. nonmilitary foreign aid programs. Originally an agency in the State Department, it has been a compo...

Yukon, river, Canada and the United States

(Encyclopedia)Yukon yo͞oˈkŏn [key], river, c.2,000 mi (3,220 km) long, rising in Atlin Lake, NW British Columbia, Canada, and receiving numerous headwater streams; one of the longest rivers of North America. It ...

Bach, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Bach, Thomas, 1953–, German sports executive, b. Würzberg. A lawyer and businessman, he won a gold medal in team fencing representing West Germany in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Bach served as pres...

balance of payments

(Encyclopedia)balance of payments, balance between all payments out of a country within a given period and all payments into the country, an outgrowth of the mercantilist theory of balance of trade. Balance of paym...

Lewis, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Carl (Frederick Carlton Lewis), 1961–, American sprinter and jumper, b. Birmingham, Ala. A star in high school and at the Univ. of Houston, he became possibly the greatest track athlete of al...

International Campaign to Ban Landmines

(Encyclopedia)International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), global network of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working toward the eradication of antipersonnel land mines. Established in 1992 by the Vietnam Ve...

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