Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) executive privilege, exemption of the executive branch of government, or its officers, from having to give evidence, specifically, in U.S. law, the exemption of the president from disclosing informati...

(Encyclopedia) Grenville, George Nugent Temple, 1st marquess of Buckingham, 1753–1813, British statesman; second son of George Grenville. He sat in the House of Commons from 1774 until 1779, when he succeeded his ...

(Encyclopedia) Deadwood, city (2020 pop. 1,271), seat of Lawrence co., W S.Dak.; settled 1876 after discovery of gold. A Black Hills tourist center, it is also a trade...

(Encyclopedia) minimum wage, lowest wage legally permitted in an industry or in a government or other organization. The goal in establishing minimum wages has been to assure wage earners a standard of living above t...

(Encyclopedia) William IV, 1765–1837, king of Great Britain and Ireland (1830–37), third son of George III. He went to sea in 1779, served under Admiral George Rodney in action off Cape St. Vincent (1780), and b...

(Encyclopedia) Redmond, John Edward, 1856–1918, Irish nationalist leader. He was elected to Parliament as a Home Rule member in 1881 at the height of the obstructionist program of Charles Parnell. When the Irish n...

(Encyclopedia) greenback, in U.S. history, legal tender notes unsecured by specie (coin). In 1862, under the exigencies of the Civil War, the U.S. government first issued legal tender notes (popularly called greenba...

(Encyclopedia) Chamberlain, Wilt (Wilton Norman Chamberlain), 1936–99, American basketball player, b. Philadelphia. At the Univ. of Kansas he was a two-time All-American center. During 14 seasons in the National B...

(Encyclopedia) Pincay, Laffit Alejandro, Jr. läfˈēt älākhänˈdrō pēnˈkī, pĭnˈ– [key], 1946–, Panamanian jockey, b. Panama City. He began racing in Panama and came to the United States in 1965. Known ...

(Encyclopedia) Calamity Jane kəlămˈĭtē jānˈ [key], c.1852–1903, American frontier character, b. Princeton, Mo. Her real name was Martha Jane Canary, and the origin of her nickname is obscure. Little is know...