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Compensated Emancipation Act Compensated Emancipation Act, U.S. law that abolished slavery in the District of Columbia and stipulated that the U.S. government would pay slave owners up to $300 for each enslaved person formerly owned by them and freed as a result of the act. The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act...
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Cat Stevens Cat Stevens is a British singer-songwriter and philanthropist, particularly of Islamic charities. Steven Demetre Georgiou was born in London to parents Stavros Georgiou and Ingrid Wickman, who owned and operated a restaurant, the Moulin Rouge, above which the family lived. Georgiou; his elder...
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Allan MacDonald Allan MacDonald is a Canadian-American physicist known for his work on condensed matter, particularly with graphene. MacDonald received a bachelor’s degree (1973) from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and then a master’s (1974) and a doctorate (1978) in physics from the...
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Nia DaCosta Nia DaCosta is a filmmaker who, at age 34, became the youngest director and the first African American woman to helm a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film, with the 2023 superhero sequel The Marvels. Her critically acclaimed feature film debut, the crime drama Little Woods (2018), won the Nora...
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Green Party of the United States Green Party of the United States (GPUS), U.S. national political party founded in 2001 and dedicated to progressive policies, in particular environmentalism. It supports social justice movements and legislative programs including Black Lives Matter, the Green New Deal, universal health care, and...
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Kevin Young Kevin Young is a poet, essayist, and editor whose work explores African American history and culture, in particular music, food, art, creativity, and traditions of death and mourning. He was appointed director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture...
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Warsaw Ghetto Warsaw Ghetto, 840-acre (340-hectare) area of Warsaw that consisted of the city’s old Jewish quarter. During the German occupation of Poland (1939–45), the Nazis enclosed it at first with barbed wire but later with a brick wall 10 feet (3 meters) high and 11 miles (18 km) long. The Nazis forced...
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The Holocaust: Facts and Figures One of history’s darkest chapters, the Holocaust was the systematic killing of six million Jewish men, women, and children and millions of others by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II (1939–45). Slavs, Roma, gay people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others also were singled out for...
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Kinkaku-ji Kinkaku-ji, Zen Buddhist temple in Kyōto, Japan, that is officially named Rokuon-ji but is popularly known as Kinkaku-ji for its magnificent Golden Pavilion. The temple is one of the finest examples of architecture from the Muromachi period, when the Ashikaga shogunate reigned. The site was...
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Grand Palace Grand Palace, complex of buildings within walls in Bangkok, Thailand. It has been the official and ceremonial residence of the country’s kings since it was originally built in 1782. This major architectural symbol of the Thai royal family is also the city’s premier tourist attraction. The Grand...
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Hoa Lo Prison Hoa Lo Prison, former prison in Hanoi, Vietnam, that was originally constructed by Vietnam’s French colonial rulers and largely used to house political prisoners. It was later used for American prisoners of war (mainly airmen) during the Vietnam War. The Hoa Lo Prison was built around the turn of...
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Guinness Brewery Guinness Brewery, brewery at St. James’s Gate in Dublin, Ireland, where, according to legend, the Guinness brand of dry stout—famed for its black color (created by adding roasted barley), creamy head, and distinctive taste—has been produced since 1759. in 1759 Arthur Guinness, an ale brewer, signed...
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Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. National Resources Defense Council, Inc. Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. National Resources Defense Council, Inc., legal case, decided on June 25, 1984, in which the U.S. Supreme Court established a longstanding judicial precedent known as the Chevron doctrine, also called Chevron deference. In a 7–0 ruling (three justices recused themselves),...
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Timeline: The History of Ford Founded in 1903 by visionary industrialist Henry Ford, Ford Motor Company introduced the first affordable car, the Model T, in 1908, and the moving assembly line six years later. Ford’s mass production methods rapidly led to the direct and indirect creation of jobs, first topping 100,000 in 1923...
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list of athletes with the most Olympic medals When it comes to the Olympics, one athlete has made the biggest splash. American swimmer Michael Phelps is the most-decorated Olympian of all time, with 28 medals, 23 of which are gold. He also was the first athlete to win 8 gold medals at a single Olympics. In second place for career medals is...
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Jurassic Park Jurassic Park, science-fiction film series that grapples with the consequences of reintroducing dinosaurs in the present day through laboratory cloning. The series, which now contains six films, was initially based on two novels by the American author Michael Crichton. It is one of the most...
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history of Kenya History of Kenya, a survey of notable events and people in the history of Kenya. The country, located in the eastern region of the African continent, is famed for its scenic landscapes and vast wildlife preserves, and its Indian Ocean coast has historically important ports, such as Mombasa, by...
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Kate Rubins Kate Rubins is an American astronaut who has made two flights to the International Space Station (ISS). As a child, Rubins was interested in becoming an astronaut, and her growing interest in science led her to microbiology. She received a bachelor’s degree in that subject from the University of...
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Dover Castle Dover Castle, medieval fortified castle complex in Dover, Kent, England, looking over the English Channel at the crossing’s narrowest point from a height of 375 feet (114 m) above sea level. It has defended England since the beginning of the Common Era and is one of the largest castles in the...
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Thwaites Glacier Thwaites Glacier, segment of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) that drains parts of Ellsworth Land in Antarctica into Pine Island Bay in the Amundsen Sea. The Thwaites Glacier has the world’s widest glacial interface with the ocean, extending roughly 75 miles (120 km), and the collapse of this...
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Dawoud Bey Dawoud Bey is an American photographer, writer, and educator known for his sensitive large-scale portraits and candid street photographs of everyday Black American life. His later work probes the psychic traces left on present-day landscapes by the slave trade and the liberatory travels of formerly...
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Staphylococcus aureus Staphylococcus aureus, species of bacteria in family Staphylococcaceae that is considered to be one of the most important pathogens occurring in humans and the most dangerous member of the genus Staphylococcus in terms of its ability to cause disease. Staphylococcus aureus occurs naturally in the...
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Noah Baumbach Noah Baumbach established himself as a distinctive new voice in filmmaking with his self-aware, dialogue-heavy dramas about artists and intellectuals living in his home city of New York. Starting in 1995 with his debut film Kicking and Screaming, he has written and directed such well-received...
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The True Story Behind Feud: Capote vs. the Swans In 1975 New York’s high society was the talk of the town—for all the wrong reasons. That year Esquire magazine published “La Côte Basque, 1965,” a scandalous chapter from Truman Capote’s unfinished roman à clef Answered Prayers. In the tell-all excerpt, he skewered his inner circle of socialite...
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large language model Large language model (LLM), a deep-learning algorithm that uses massive amounts of parameters and training data to understand and predict text. This generative artificial intelligence-based model can perform a variety of natural language processing tasks outside of simple text generation, including...
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Santa Maria Maggiore Santa Maria Maggiore, one of four papal basilicas in Rome and the largest of the Marian churches (dedicated to the Virgin Mary) in the city. Founded in 432 ce, the basilica houses what is believed to be a relic of the manger in which the infant Jesus was laid in Bethlehem as well as the Marian icon...
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Harriet Powers Harriet Powers was a seamstress whose 19th-century quilts gained renewed interest in the 1970s for their spirited narratives and vibrant colors. Powers wrote about a number of quilts she had made, but only two survive: the Bible Quilt, which is housed in the Smithsonian National Museum of American...
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Zanele Muholi Zanele Muholi identifies as a visual activist—rather than an artist—and is nonbinary, using they/them pronouns. Their work, primarily photography, seeks to make more visible the Black LGBTQIA+ community in South Africa, where discrimination has often repressed queer and trans stories. Muholi says...
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Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC), global nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding the number of creative and academic works available for open sharing. The organization provides free licensing and public-domain tools that allow content creators to grant copyright permissions for the use of their works....
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Shirley M. Tilghman Shirley M. Tilghman is a Canadian molecular biologist and the first woman to serve as president of Princeton University (2001–13). Tilghman is also known for her research into genomic imprinting and gene regulation during embryonic and fetal development, which helped advance understanding of...
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Udaipur City Palace Udaipur City Palace, beautiful, white palace complex built over a period of four centuries in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. Standing majestically on a crest overlooking the Pichola Lake, it was originally built in 1559 by Maharana Udai Singh of the Sisodia Rajput clan and was extended to its present...
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Stari Most Stari Most, stone arch bridge spanning the Neretva River in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In a way, the bridge encapsulates the history of the country in a single architectural masterpiece. The original Stari Most was commissioned to replace a swaying wooden suspension bridge by the Ottoman...
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Black cowboys Black cowboys, African American horsemen who wrangled cattle in the western United States in the late 1800s and beyond. Though they were almost entirely excluded from the mythology of the American cowboy, it is estimated that Black men accounted for nearly a quarter of all cattle workers in the...
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Lily Gladstone Lily Gladstone is an actress who rose to fame portraying Osage woman Mollie Burkhart in director Martin Scorsese’s true-crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon (2023). Gladstone also drew praise for her performance as a reclusive rancher in director Kelly Reichardt’s drama Certain Women (2016). In...
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Templo Mayor Templo Mayor, archaeological site, located just off Mexico City’s Plaza de la Constitución, of the Templo Mayor, or the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlán. Excavation of the temple, which was first constructed about 1325, began in 1978. In 1987 a museum was built on the site to store and exhibit the...
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Summer Palace Summer Palace, complex of palaces, gardens, and lakes in Beijing, China, that was used as a retreat for members of the ruling family from the time of the Jin dynasty. The first stage of construction on the Summer Palace building was commissioned in 1750 by the emperor Qianlong—the fourth emperor of...
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Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl is a Czech-born American former tennis player who was one of the sport’s most successful professionals during the 1980s and early ’90s. A right-hander who was known for his powerful forehand shots, Lendl won eight Grand Slam tournament titles, including three consecutive U.S. Open...
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Deepika Padukone Deepika Padukone is one of the most successful Bollywood actresses of the early 21st century. A global fashion icon and an ambassador for renowned brands such as Louis Vuitton and Cartier, Padukone is known for her striking looks and for the roles she played in several top-grossing Bollywood...
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graham cracker Graham cracker, wheat cracker lightly sweetened with honey and sometimes flavored with cinnamon and produced in a variety of shapes and sizes. The graham cracker derives its name from the eccentric American clergyman and health reformer Sylvester Graham, who is also associated with the...
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The 1619 Project The 1619 Project, a celebrated and controversial multimedia journalism series that reframes U.S. history around African American experiences, particularly slavery and its legacy in contemporary American life. Introduced on August 14, 2019, in a special issue of The New York Times Magazine, The 1619...
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Yemeni Civil War Yemeni Civil War, devastating conflict in Yemen that began in 2014 when the capital, Sanaa, already destabilized by the Arab Spring uprising that began in 2011, was overtaken by Houthi rebel forces. At the war’s height, exacerbated by the intervention of forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab...
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Channing Tatum Channing Tatum is an American actor and dancer who is best known for his portrayal of “Magic” Mike Lane, a young man navigating the world of exotic dancing, in three films (Magic Mike [2012], Magic Mike XXL [2015], and Magic Mike’s Last Dance [2023]). Noted for his versatility, Tatum also has had...
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Pete Best Pete Best is a British drummer, best known as an early drummer for the Beatles. Best was dismissed from the band before it achieved widespread fame, and he went on to record and perform music with other groups. Best was born in British India, where his father fought in the British Indian Army....
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Threads Threads, text-based social media platform created by Meta that allows users to exchange perspectives and post updates in the style of the popular X (formerly Twitter) platform. Threads leverages Instagram’s user base to expand its reach, using information from Instagram to suggest accounts for...
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Jesse L. Brown Jesse L. Brown was a U.S. Navy ensign who fought racism in the military to become the first African American to complete naval flight training and serve as an aviator. He served in the Korean War, where he died in a crash landing. Although the site of his crash is known, his official status is...
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Anne McClain Anne McClain is an American astronaut who spent 204 days in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS) from December 2018 to June 2019. McClain graduated in 2002 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, with a bachelor’s in mechanical and aeronautical engineering. She...
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Let It Be Let It Be, studio album of the revolutionary British rock group the Beatles, the last of 12 albums released by the group. Let It Be, which was released on May 8, 1970—nearly a month after the Beatles disbanded—is best known for its iconic title track, as well as the popular songs “Across the...
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Padma Awards Padma Awards, three awards—Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri—that are among the highest civilian honors in India. The awards can be given for achievements in any field, including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and...
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Discord Discord, a privately owned American social media platform that provides spaces for online communities. Originally created to provide online voice chat for gamers, Discord offers services such as real-time text, streaming video, and VoIP chat that anyone can set up and use at no initial cost....
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Chitlin Circuit Chitlin Circuit, network of live entertainment venues in the United States that catered to African American audiences and booked Black performers during the period of Jim Crow segregation from the early 20th century through the 1960s. The clubs of the Chitlin Circuit put on a variety of acts that...
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Tanya Sue Chutkan As a girl growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, Tanya Sue Chutkan dreamed of becoming a dancer like her mother. When she first traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend college, she had no way of knowing that she would one day be at the center of a historic trial involving a former president of the United...
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Philippine crocodile Philippine crocodile, (Crocodylus mindorensis), relatively small species of crocodile that lives primarily in freshwater rivers, ponds, and marshes on the islands of Dalupiri, Luzon, and Mindanao in the Philippines. The Philippine crocodile is considered to be one of the world’s most endangered...
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list of the largest U.S. cities by population Since 1790, when the first U.S. census was conducted, New York City has held the title as the most-populated city in the United States. In that initial census, New York City had 33,131 people. Today it is home to more than 8,335,000. That is more than double the second largest city, Los Angeles,...
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dwarf crocodile Dwarf crocodile, (Osteolaemus tetraspis), the world’s smallest living crocodile species, growing to a maximum length of 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) and a maximum weight of 45.4 kg (100 pounds). The species inhabits swamps and small freshwater streams in sub-Saharan western and central Africa, from Guinea...
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The Dark Knight The Dark Knight, American superhero film, released in 2008, that is considered one of the greatest superhero movies ever made. Directed by Christopher Nolan, the film is the second installment in The Dark Knight trilogy, which was launched with Batman Begins in 2005 and concluded with The Dark...
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Frederik X Frederik X became Denmark’s king, at age 55, on January 14, 2024, following the abdication of his 83-year-old mother, Queen Margrethe II, who was the longest-serving European monarch still reigning. As a young man, Frederik gained a reputation as a fast-living “party prince,” but, after serving in...
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zaatar Zaatar, spice mix used in Levantine cuisine. The spice mixture zaatar is generally considered to be named for one of the mixture’s primary ingredients, an herb called zaʿatar in Arabic, usually thyme. Though there are a number of variations, zaatar often includes an amalgam of thyme, oregano, and...
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Bharat Ratna Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India. Bharat translates to “India” and ratna to “gem” or “jewel.” Instituted by the government in 1954, the Bharat Ratna is given in recognition of “exceptional service” or “performance of the highest order” in “any field of human endeavour.” Although...
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Young Turk Revolution Young Turk Revolution, (July 3–23, 1908), revolt against the autocracy of the Ottoman sultan Abdülhamid II inspired by the Young Turk movement. The revolt, which was led by members of the III Army Corps in the region of Macedonia, resulted in the restoration of a constitutional government on July...
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Akbar’s Mausoleum Akbar’s Mausoleum, marble and red sandstone mausoleum of the great Mughal emperor Akbar, located in Sikandra, a suburb of Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. Built in 1605–13, it is a notable example of Mughal architecture. The mausoleum is said to have been begun by Akbar himself, but his son Jahāngīr...
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Wieliczka Salt Mine Wieliczka Salt Mine, ancient and massive salt mine in Wieliczka, Poland, near Kraków. It is one of the oldest documented salt-manufacturing sites in Europe. Though salt had been produced from brine springs since Neolithic times, rock salt was first discovered in Wieliczka in the 13th century, when...
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Victor Emmanuel II Monument Victor Emmanuel II Monument, massive structure at the foot of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy, that was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1885 and inaugurated in 1911. The monument celebrates the unification of Italy and honors Victor Emmanuel II, who was for many years a leader of the movement...
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Blackpool Tower Blackpool Tower, tourist attraction and regional landmark in the seaside resort town of Blackpool, Lancashire, England, U.K. Blackpool Tower, rising to a height of 518 feet (158 m), was built in the late 19th century in steel and cast iron on the model of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. A company to...
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Ernest Hemingway House Ernest Hemingway House, house in Key West, Florida, U.S. that was the home of American novelist and short-story writer Ernest Hemingway and his second wife, fashion journalist Pauline Pfeiffer, from 1931 until their divorce in 1940. The house, as the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum, is the most...
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tardive dyskinesia Tardive dyskinesia, drug-induced condition characterized by repetitive involuntary movements, particularly in the face. Tardive dyskinesia results from long-term use of certain medications—the word tardive refers to the condition’s delayed onset. Typically, the condition is associated with drugs...
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list of U.S. states by population As of 2023, the United States was the world’s third most-populated country, with more than 335,000,000 people. The U.S. state with the largest population is California, which has some 39,000,000 residents. Second is Texas, with more than 30,000,000. Several states have less than 1,000,000 people,...
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jus soli Jus soli, (Latin: “right of the soil”) in legal theory, the rule or law that provides that citizenship is acquired by birth within the territory of the state, regardless of parental citizenship. Originating in English common law, jus soli serves as the basis for citizenship in nearly every...
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Sackler family Sackler family, American family, owner of the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma. Although the family is well known for its philanthropic contributions to major institutions in the United States and Europe, its members gained notoriety in the early 21st century for their role in promulgating the...
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Rosenwald schools Rosenwald schools, any of roughly 5,000 rural schools for African American students that were built in the American South in the early 20th century. Rosenwald schools were the result of a collaboration between Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald, the president and part owner of Sears, Roebuck...
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sancocho Sancocho, a traditional Latin American stew consisting of fish or meat cooked in a broth with root vegetables and plantains and seasoned with cilantro or culantro. The word sancocho is derived from the Spanish verb sancochar, meaning “to parboil.” It is the national dish of Panama and one of the...
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Isabel Wilkerson Isabel Wilkerson has chronicled the lives of unsung African Americans and has exposed deeply embedded systems of social injustice in her reporting for The New York Times and in her celebrated works of nonfiction: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020) and The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic...
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Janet Malcolm Janet Malcolm forged a piercingly analytical brand of American journalism in a career that spanned more than five decades and produced numerous nonfiction books, several of which originated as reported articles for The New Yorker, for which she was a contributor from 1963 until her death in 2021....
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Pahlavi dynasty Pahlavi dynasty, former ruling dynasty of Iran that consisted of two rulers: Reza Khan (ruled as Reza Shah Pahlavi; 1925–41) and his son Mohammad Reza (1941–79). It began following a coup d’état against the Qājār dynasty in 1921 and ended with Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979. After centuries of...
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Lloyd Austin Lloyd Austin is the United States secretary of defense. He assumed this position in January 2021, two days after Pres. Joe Biden’s inauguration. During his 41-year career in the U.S. Army, Austin served as director of the Joint Staff, was commanding general of U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, and...
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Parasite Parasite, South Korean thriller and black-comedy film, released in 2019, that was the first Korean film to win the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival and the first foreign-language film to win the Academy Award for best picture. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho, Parasite...
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Kayla Barron Kayla Barron is an American astronaut who spent six months on the International Space Station (ISS) from November 2021 to May 2022. Barron earned a bachelor’s degree in systems engineering from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 2010. She then received a Gates Cambridge...
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United States Space Force United States Space Force (USSF), sixth branch of the U.S. armed forces, whose mission is to lead space-related military operations within the U.S. Department of Defense. The USSF was established by the U.S. Congress via the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, having gathered...
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vocabulary Vocabulary, inventory of words used by a particular person or group or the words in a particular language or field of knowledge. The term comes from the Latin vocabulum, meaning designation or name. There are two types of vocabulary: active and passive. Active vocabulary includes the words an...
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Julie Foudy Julie Foudy is a retired football (soccer) midfielder who won two FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup championships (1991 and 1999) and two gold medals (1996 and 2004) during her career with the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT). As cocaptain of the U.S. squad from...
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salmon shark Salmon shark, (Lamna ditropis), species of mackerel shark (Lamnidae) whose geographic range spans the entirety of the North Pacific Ocean. Salmon sharks are found primarily in the waters near the coasts of Japan, North Korea, and South Korea, from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Bering Sea, and southward...
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Essequibo Essequibo, region along the northeastern coast of South America that comprises roughly the western two-thirds of Guyana but is also claimed by Venezuela. Separated from the rest of Guyana by the Essequibo River, Essequibo is bordered to the west by Venezuela, to the south and west by Brazil, and to...
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Claflin University Claflin University, private historically Black institution founded in 1869 by Methodist missionaries to provide education for formerly enslaved men and women. Located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, 75 miles (120 km) west of Charleston, the university is named for Lee Claflin, a prominent Boston...
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What’s the largest U.S. state by area? With an area of almost 3,800,000 square miles (9,840,000 square km), the United States is the fourth largest country in the world. Although its 50 states vary widely in size, one is by far the biggest: Alaska. At 665,384 square miles (1,723,337 square km), it is more than double the size of the...
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Luka Dončić Luka Dončić is widely considered one of the best players currently in the National Basketball Association (NBA). His incredible strength, skill, and basketball acumen have helped him excel at most facets of the game, including shooting, passing, and rebounding. The Slovenian-born Dončić plays point...
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Yoon Suk-Yeol Yoon Suk-Yeol is a South Korean lawyer and public official who served as prosecutor general (2019–21) and is now president (2022– ) of South Korea. Yoon was born in the Bomun-dong neighborhood of Seoul’s Seongbuk district to a pair of professors. His father, Yoon Ki-Jung, was a prominent economist...
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The Outsiders The Outsiders, American young adult (YA) novel by S.E. Hinton about rival teen gangs in Oklahoma that was published in 1967 and was one of the first modern YA novels. The novel centers on Ponyboy Curtis, a 14-year-old boy who narrates about two weeks of his life in a city (presumed to be Tulsa)...
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Raiders of the Lost Ark Raiders of the Lost Ark, American action-adventure film, released in 1981, that was the first film in the blockbuster Indiana Jones series about a fictional archaeologist who travels to exotic locales throughout the world in search of precious artifacts. It was produced by George Lucas and Howard...
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J.D. Vance J.D. Vance rose to fame as the author of Hillbilly Elegy (2016), a best-selling memoir of his experiences growing up as a member of the white working class that was published as the United States was roiling with division over the upsurge in populist support for Republican presidential candidate...
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amethystine python Amethystine python, (Simalia amethistina), long, slender, nonvenomous snake belonging to the family Pythonidae. The amethystine python inhabits mainly coastal rainforests in Indonesia, New Guinea, and northern Australia. The snake is not currently at risk of extinction and is considered an invasive...
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false gharial False gharial, (Tomistoma schlegelii), large species of freshwater crocodile that inhabits swamps, rivers, and other waterways on the islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo and in Peninsular Malaysia and is easily recognized by its long snout. The false gharial is one of only two living species...
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David Helfgott David Helfgott Australian pianist who was a child prodigy but later struggled with mental illness. After a period in psychiatric hospitals, he returned to music and gained popular acclaim. Helfgott’s life was dramatized in the 1996 film Shine, starring Geoffrey Rush, who won an Oscar for his...
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Who’s won the most Oscars? First presented in 1929, the Academy Awards are among the most prestigious prizes in the film industry. Competition is fierce, and a number of individuals have won multiple awards. With 22 Oscars, producer Walt Disney holds the record for the most wins; he was also the recipient of four special or...
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Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, dual Polish-Lithuanian state or “Commonwealth” (Polish: Rzeczpospolita) that was created by the Union of Lublin on July 1, 1569. During its existence it was one of the largest countries in Europe. While Poland in the mid-16th century occupied an area of about 100,000...
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flea market Flea market, event where vendors sell used and antique goods. Flea markets often take place outside or in large contained spaces. Vendors are generally asked to pay a set fee to display their goods in a designated area or stall. In some states a seller’s permit or license is required to sell goods...
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North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, public historically Black university founded in 1891 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College for the Colored Race in Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S. Utilizing federal financial support from the Second Morrill Act (1890), this...
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123Movies 123Movies, defunct movie and television show streaming website that enabled users to watch and download media for free in the 2010s. The site operated under numerous domain names during its existence, including 123movies.to, 0123movies.net, and 123movies.la, and went by several names, including...
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steel guitar Steel guitar, any of several stringed instruments that are distinguished by being played traditionally on the lap, wherein a rigid object, typically a metal bar, is moved over the strings as the guitarist plucks notes and chords with the opposite hand. The metal bar used to play the instrument is...
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meldonium Meldonium, drug used to protect against tissue damage caused by ischemia—a reduction in blood flow to a part of the body, resulting in decreased oxygen availability in affected tissues. Meldonium is typically used as a cardioprotective agent to defend against ischemic damage to the heart and in the...
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Mad Max: Fury Road Mad Max: Fury Road, Australian postapocalyptic science-fiction action film, released in 2015, that is considered one of the greatest action films ever made. Directed by George Miller, the film is the fourth entry in the Mad Max series, and it serves as a reboot of the franchise after a 30-year...
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Lisa Franchetti Lisa Franchetti made history in November 2023 by becoming the first woman in U.S. history to lead the U.S. Navy as chief of naval operations and, by the same token, the first woman to join the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She is also the second woman to lead a branch of the U.S. military, following Adm....
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Spirited Away Spirited Away, Japanese animated fantasy film, released in 2001, that is one of the most acclaimed works by master director Miyazaki Hayao. The movie was for a time the highest-grossing film in Japanese history and won numerous awards, including the prestigious Golden Bear at the Berlin...
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Nemrut Dağ Nemrut Dağ, mountaintop in the Taurus Mountains near Adıyaman, Turkey, that is the site of the enormous 1st-century-BCE mausoleum of Antiochus I of Commagene. The site, featuring the heads of the huge statues that originally surrounded the tumulus at the peak, was inscribed as the Nemrut Dağ World...
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Eastern State Penitentiary Eastern State Penitentiary, former prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., that opened in 1829 as the first true penitentiary, designed to encourage penitence, rather than offering merely punishment for prisoners. The Eastern State Penitentiary provided a model for approximately 300 prison...
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The Black Madonna The Black Madonna, painting and icon in the chapel of the Virgin Mary in the fortified Baroque Pauline monastery of Jasna Góra, in Częstochowa, Poland, that has been venerated by Christians for some 600 years. The Black Madonna is an exceptionally beautiful symbolic painting of the Virgin Mary...
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history of Hungary History of Hungary, a survey of important events and people in the history of Hungary from ancient times to the present. The citizens of Hungary know their landlocked central European country as Magyarország, “Land of Magyars.” They are unique among the nations of Europe in that they speak a...
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Alex Padilla Alex Padilla is the first Latino to represent California in the United States Senate. He was appointed to the position in 2021 after previously serving as California’s secretary of state (2015–21). Padilla, a Democrat, won a full Senate term in 2022. Padilla was born in the Panorama City...
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Dave Winfield Dave Winfield is the only person to have been drafted by teams in Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the American Basketball Association (ABA), and the National Football League (NFL). He decided upon a career in baseball and parlayed that choice into a spot in...
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Mexican west coast rattlesnake Mexican west coast rattlesnake, (Crotalus basiliscus), large, stout, highly venomous pit viper (subfamily Crotalinae, family Viperidae) of dry coastal lands and cactus forests from southern Sonora to Oaxaca in western Mexico. The Mexican west coast rattlesnake is not normally an aggressive snake,...
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Old Bailey Old Bailey, byname of the Central Criminal Court in London. It is perhaps the best known of several buildings housing the Crown Court, which handles the most serious criminal offenses in England and Wales. The present building (opened in 1907) is a familiar part of London’s skyline, with its copper...
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Dylan Alcott Dylan Alcott successfully competed in several Paralympic Games in the early 21st century in both basketball and tennis. The Paralympics, which are comparable to the Olympic Games, are a major international sports competition for athletes with disabilities. Alcott won numerous professional...
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Hank Williams Jr. Hank Williams Jr. is an American country and western musician and one of the most successful and long-lasting performers of the genre. Although in the early years of his career he sang the songs of his legendary father, over time he developed his own voice and sound—a fusion of rock and country...
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Marsha P. Johnson Marsha P. Johnson was a Black American drag queen and activist who was dedicated to social justice for the gay and transgender communities. She was a pioneer of the gay rights movement in the late 1960s and spent the following two decades advocating for equal rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual,...
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Norman Mineta Norman Mineta had a long career in government, serving as a mayor of San Jose, California, and then as a U.S. congressman for nearly 21 years. In 2000 he became the first Asian American in a presidential cabinet. He served under two presidents from two different political parties, first as U.S....
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third wave of feminism Third wave of feminism, wave of feminism that emerged in the 1990s and was led by members of Generation X, the generation of Americans born in the 1960s and ’70s who came of age in a media-saturated and culturally and economically diverse milieu. Although third-wave feminists benefited...
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popes and antipopes Since the early days of Christianity, more than 260 popes have served as the leader of what would become the Roman Catholic Church. Indeed, Roman Catholic tradition holds that the role was first held by St. Peter the Apostle, one of the original disciples of Jesus. Popes are elected by an assembly...
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Rohit Sharma Rohit Sharma is an Indian international cricketer and the current captain of the Indian cricket team in all three international formats—Test cricket, One-Day International (ODI), and Twenty20 International (T20I). Sharma also captained the Mumbai Indians, a franchise team in the Indian Premier...