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Marshall Plan

(Encyclopedia)Marshall Plan or European Recovery Program, project instituted at the Paris Economic Conference (July, 1947) to foster economic recovery in certain European countries after World War II. The Marshall ...

National Socialism

(Encyclopedia)National Socialism or Nazism, doctrines and policies of the National Socialist German Workers' party, which ruled Germany under Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1945. In German the party name was Nationalsoz...

Rand Corporation

(Encyclopedia)Rand Corporation, research institution in Santa Monica, Calif.; founded 1948 and supported by federal, state, and local governments, as well as by foundations and corporations. Its principal fields of...

Granger, David Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Granger, David Arthur, 1945–, Guyanese political leader and military officer. He served in the Guyanese army (1965–92), rising to the rank of brigadier and becoming commander of the Guyana Defense...

Francophonie, La

(Encyclopedia)Francophonie, La, officially the International Organization of the Francophonie, Fr. Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), an intergovernmental organization of mainly French-speaking n...

Public Works Administration

(Encyclopedia)Public Works Administration (PWA), in U.S. history, New Deal government agency established (1933) by the Congress as the Federal Administration of Public Works, pursuant to the National Industrial Rec...

biometrics, in security and personal identification

(Encyclopedia)biometrics, in security and personal identification, the electronic verification of individuals using biological traits, such as iris or retinal scanning, fingerprints, or face recognition, and the te...

Food and Drug Administration

(Encyclopedia)Food and Drug Administration (FDA), agency of the Public Health Service division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is charged with protecting public health by ensuring that foods...

Pinkerton, Allan

(Encyclopedia)Pinkerton, Allan, 1819–84, American detective, founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, b. Glasgow, Scotland. A cooper by trade, he emigrated to the United States in 1842 and opened in We...

labor law

(Encyclopedia)labor law, legislation dealing with human beings in their capacity as workers or wage earners. The Industrial Revolution, by introducing the machine and factory production, greatly expanded the class ...