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Ellsberg, Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Ellsberg, Daniel, 1931–2023, American political activist, b. Chicago, grad. Columbia Univ. (B.S., 1952, Ph.D., 1959). After serving in the U.S. Marine...

Katyn

(Encyclopedia)Katyn kətĭnˈ [key], village, W central European Russia, 12 mi (19 km) W of Smolensk. During World War II, when it was part of the USSR, it was occupied by the Germans in Aug., 1941. In 1943 the Ger...

Blanqui, Louis Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Blanqui, Louis Auguste lwē ôgüstˈ [key], 1805–81, French revolutionary and radical thinker. While a student in Paris, he joined (1824) a branch of the Carbonari, a revolutionary secret society; ...

mystery

(Encyclopedia)mystery or mystery story, literary genre in which the cause (or causes) of a mysterious happening, often a crime, is gradually revealed by the hero or heroine; this is accomplished through a mixture o...

Freemasonry

(Encyclopedia)Freemasonry, teachings and practices of the secret fraternal order officially known as the Free and Accepted Masons, or Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Because of its identification with 19th-cent...

Mazepa, Ivan

(Encyclopedia)Mazepa, Ivan ēvänˈ məzyāˈpə [key], c.1640–1709, Cossack hetman [leader] in the Russian Ukraine. He was made hetman (1687) on the insistence of Prince Gallitzin, adviser to the Russian regent,...

Malaspina, Alejandro

(Encyclopedia)Malaspina, Alejandro or Alessandro älāhänˈdrō mäläspēˈnä; älās-sänˈdrō [key], 1754–1810, Italian-Spanish naval officer and explorer, b. Mulazzo, Italy. From a minor N Italian noble fa...

Mar, John Erskine, 2d (or 7th) earl of

(Encyclopedia)Mar, John Erskine, 2d (or 7th) earl of, 1558–1634, Scottish nobleman; son of the 1st (or 6th) earl. In 1578 he was persuaded by James Douglas, 4th earl of Morton, to assert his claims to Stirling Ca...

National Security Agency

(Encyclopedia)National Security Agency (NSA), an independent agency within the U.S. Dept. of Defense. Founded by presidential order in 1952, its primary functions are to collect and analyze communications intellige...

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