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Lauenburg

(Encyclopedia)Lauenburg louˈənbo͝orkh [key], former duchy, NE central Germany, on the right bank of the lower Elbe. The duchy belonged to a branch of the house of Saxony from the 12th to the late 17th cent., whe...

Arlington National Cemetery

(Encyclopedia)Arlington National Cemetery, 420 acres (170 hectares), N Va., across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.; est. 1864. More than 60,000 American war dead, as well as notables including Presidents Wi...

arson

(Encyclopedia)arson, at common law, the malicious and willful burning of the house of another. Originally, it was an offense against the security of habitation rather than against property rights. Thus, a tenant co...

dry rot

(Encyclopedia)dry rot, fungus disease that attacks both softwood and hardwood timber. Destruction of the cellulose causes discoloration and eventual crumbling of the wood. This frequently results in the collapse of...

Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act

(Encyclopedia)Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act, 1930, passed by the U.S. Congress; it brought the U.S. tariff to the highest protective level yet in the history of the United States. President Hoover desired a limited upwar...

Randolph, Peyton

(Encyclopedia)Randolph, Peyton, c.1721–1775, American political leader, first president of the Continental Congress, b. Williamsburg, Va. After a general education at the College of William and Mary, he studied l...

Rayburn, Sam

(Encyclopedia)Rayburn, Sam (Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn), 1882–1961, U.S. legislator, b. Roane co., Tenn. After his family moved (1887) to Fannin co., Tex., he worked at cotton picking. He worked his way through sc...

Spencer, George John Spencer, 2d Earl

(Encyclopedia)Spencer, George John Spencer, 2d Earl, 1758–1834, British public official. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1780 but in 1783 inherited the earldom. In 1794, William Pitt appointed him first...

Blunt, Roy Dean

(Encyclopedia)Blunt, Roy Dean, 1950–, U.S. politician, b. Niangua, Mo., grad. Southwest Baptist Univ. (B.A. 1970), Southwest Missouri State Univ. (M.A. 1972). A Missouri county clerk and elections offficer from 1...
 

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