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spiritism

(Encyclopedia)spiritism or spiritualism, belief that the human personality continues to exist after death and can communicate with the living through the agency of a medium or psychic. The advocates of spiritism ar...

Houston, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Houston, Samuel, 1793–1863, American frontier hero and statesman of Texas, b. near Lexington, Va. In 1836 Houston was elected the first president of the new Republic of Texas. The independence of ...

Jackson, Henry Martin “Scoop”

(Encyclopedia)Jackson, Henry Martin “Scoop,” 1912–83, American political leader, b. Everett, Wash. As a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1941–53) and Senate (1953–83) he was a suppo...

Jackson, Shirley

(Encyclopedia)Jackson, Shirley, 1916–65, American writer, b. San Francisco. She is best known for her stories and novels of horror and the occult, rendered more terrifying because they are set against realistic, ...

Taney, Roger Brooke

(Encyclopedia)Taney, Roger Brooke tôˈnē [key], 1777–1864, American jurist, 5th chief justice of the United States (1836–64), b. Calvert co., Md., grad. Dickinson College, 1795. The Senate, incensed by Tan...

Adams, John Quincy

(Encyclopedia)Adams, John Quincy, 1767–1848, 6th President of the United States (1825–29), b. Quincy (then in Braintree), Mass.; son of John Adams and Abigail Adams and father of Charles Francis Adams (1807–8...

Jackson, Reggie

(Encyclopedia)Jackson, Reggie (Reginald Martinez Jackson), 1946–, American baseball player, b. Wyncote, Pa. In 21 years in the American League, most notably with the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees, he hit...

Sevier, John

(Encyclopedia)Sevier, John səvērˈ [key], 1745–1815, American frontiersman and political leader. He was born near the site of New Market, Va., the town he founded in his young manhood. In 1773 he moved with his...

signing statement

(Encyclopedia)signing statement, written comment issued by the executive of a government when signing a bill into law. In the United States, such statements have traditionally been comparatively neutral declaration...

Mivart, St. George Jackson

(Encyclopedia)Mivart, St. George Jackson mīˈvərt [key], 1827–1900, English anatomist and biologist. He contributed important anatomical studies of the insectivores and carnivores. He was converted to Roman Cat...
 

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