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Santa Claus
Santa Claus Variant of the Dutch name Sinte Klaas, itself a version of the name Saint Nicholas, who was Bishop of Myra sometime during the 4th century. Santa Claus has become associated with the feast of Christmas and is identified with Father Christmas in North America, the UK, and some former Co...
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grandfather clause
grandfather clause provision in constitutions (adopted 1895-1910) of seven post-Reconstruction Southern states that exempted those persons who had been eligible to vote on Jan. 1, 1867, and their descendants from rigid economic and literacy requirements for voting. Since African Americans had not y...
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Claus Sluter
Claus Sluter , d. 1406, Flemish sculptor, probably of Dutch extraction, active in Burgundy. Under Philip the Bold of Burgundy he had charge of the sculptural works for the porch of the Chartreuse of Champmol, near Dijon; there stands his pedestal for a Calvary—the Well of Moses —with it...
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most-favored-nation clause
most-favored-nation clause (MFN), provision in a commercial treaty binding the signatories to extend trading benefits equal to those accorded any third state. The clause ensures equal commercial opportunities, especially concerning import duties and freedom of investment. Generally reciprocal, in t...
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Wabash Case
Wabash Case popular name for Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad Company v. Illinois, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1886. The decision narrowed earlier ones (see Munn v. Illinois ) favorable to state regulation of those phases of interstate commerce upon which Congress itself had n...
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antithesis
antithesis , a figure of speech involving a seeming contradiction of ideas, words, clauses, or sentences within a balanced grammatical structure. Parallelism of expression serves to emphasize opposition of ideas. The familiar phrase "Man proposes, God disposes" is an example of antithesis, as is...
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conjunction
conjunction in English, part of speech serving to connect words or constructions, e.g., and, but, and or. Most languages have connective particles similar to English conjunctions. In some languages words, phrases, or clauses may be connected by a suffix added to a word, e.g., - que and - v...
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Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas patron of children and sailors, of Greece, Sicily, and Russia, and of many other places and persons. Little is known of him, but he is traditionally identified as a 4th-century bishop of Myra in Asia Minor. His relics were stolen from Myra in the Middle Ages and taken to Bari, Italy....
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Provisions of Oxford
Provisions of Oxford 1258, a scheme of governmental reform forced upon Henry III of England by his barons. In 1258 a group of barons, angered by the king's Sicilian adventure and the expenditures it entailed, compelled Henry to accept the appointment of a committee of 24 nobles, half of whom were...
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Treaty of Rapallo
Treaty of Rapallo 1922, agreement signed by Germany and the USSR at Rapallo, Italy. It was reached by Walter Rathenau and G. V. Chicherin independently of the Conference of Genoa (see Genoa, Conference of ), which was then in session. Germany accorded the USSR de jure recognition (the first such r...
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