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balance of trade

(Encyclopedia)balance of trade, relation between the merchandise exports and imports of a country. The concept first became important in the 16th and 17th cent. with the growth of mercantilism. Mercantilist theoris...

International Monetary Fund

(Encyclopedia)International Monetary Fund (IMF), specialized agency of the United Nations, established in 1945. It was planned at the Bretton Woods Conference (1944), and its headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Th...

Somme, Battles of the

(Encyclopedia)Somme, Battles of the, two engagements fought during World War I near the Somme River, N France. The first battle (July–Nov., 1916) was an Allied offensive. The British, commanded by Field Marshal S...

Gothic revival

(Encyclopedia)Gothic revival, term designating a return to the building styles of the Middle Ages. Although the Gothic revival was practiced throughout Europe, it attained its greatest importance in the United Stat...

Hill, A. P.

(Encyclopedia)Hill, A. P. (Ambrose Powell Hill), 1825–65, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. Culpeper, Va. He served briefly in the Mexican War and had a varied army career until he resigned in Mar...

Ruthven

(Encyclopedia)Ruthven rĭvˈən, ro͞othˈvən [key], Scottish noble family, believed to trace its ancestry to Thor, a Saxon or Dane, who settled in Scotland in the reign of David I. The name is derived from lands ...

epistemology

(Encyclopedia)epistemology ĭpĭsˌtəmŏlˈəjē [key] [Gr.,=knowledge or science], the branch of philosophy that is directed toward theories of the sources, nature, and limits of knowledge. Since the 17th cent. e...

Swinburne, Algernon Charles

(Encyclopedia)Swinburne, Algernon Charles, 1837–1909, English poet and critic. His poetry is noted for its vitality and for the music of its language. After attending Eton (1849–53) and Oxford (1856–60) he se...

Sankara, Thomas Isidore Noël

(Encyclopedia)Sankara, Thomas 1948–87, president (1983–87) of Burkina Faso. Thomas Sankara, sometimes referred to as the African Che Guevara, was an activist, mil...

Rulers of England and Great Britain (table)

(Encyclopedia) Rulers of England and Great Britain(including dates of reign) Saxons and Danes House of Normandy House of Blois House of Plantagenet House of Lancaster House of York House of Tudor Ho...
 

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