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reed instrument

(Encyclopedia)reed instrument, in music, an instrument whose sound-producing agent is a thin strip of cane, wood, plastic, or metal that vibrates as air is passed over it. The predecessor of these instruments is th...

Kingsolver, Barbara

(Encyclopedia)Kingsolver, Barbara, 1955–, American writer, b. Annapolis, Md., B.S. DePauw Univ., 1977, M.S. Univ. of Arizona, 1981. She studied biology and ecology and was a science writer before completing The B...

Miles, Nelson Appleton

(Encyclopedia)Miles, Nelson Appleton, 1839–1925, American army officer, b. near Westminster, Mass. In 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, he left his job in a Boston store and organized a company of volunteer...

conspiracy

(Encyclopedia)conspiracy, in law, agreement of two or more persons to commit a criminal or otherwise unlawful act. At common law, the crime of conspiracy was committed with the making of the agreement, but present-...

Chávez, César Estrada

(Encyclopedia)Chávez, César Estrada sāˈsär āsträˈᵺä shäˈvĕz [key], 1927–93, American agrarian labor leader, b. near Yuma, Ariz. A migrant worker, he became involved (1952) in the self-help Community...

East Saint Louis

(Encyclopedia)East Saint Louis lo͞oˈĭs [key], city (2020 pop. 25,377), St. Clair co., SW Ill., on the Mississippi ...

franchise

(Encyclopedia)franchise, in government, a right specifically conferred on a group or individual by a government, especially the privilege conferred by a municipality on a corporation of operating public utilities, ...

Haywood, William Dudley

(Encyclopedia)Haywood, William Dudley, 1869–1928, American labor leader, known as Big Bill Haywood, b. Salt Lake City, Utah. He began work as a miner at 15 years of age. In 1896 he joined the newly organized West...

Zarqawi, Abu Musab al-

(Encyclopedia)Zarqawi, Abu Musab al- äˈbo͞o mo͞osäb äl-zärkäˈwē [key], nom de guerre of Ahmad Fadhil Nazzar al-Khalaylah, 1966–2006, Islamic terrorist leader, b. Jordan. Becoming a militant Islamist in ...

Western Federation of Miners

(Encyclopedia)Western Federation of Miners (WFM), a radical labor union that organized the miners and smelter workers of the Rocky Mountain states. Created in 1893 by the merger of several local miners' unions, the...
 

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