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Santa Monica
Santa Monica , city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. The RAND Corp., the noted think-tank, has its headquarters there. Santa Monica has a 3-mi (...
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Peace Corps
Peace Corps agency of the U.S. government, whose purpose is to assist underdeveloped countries in meeting their needs for trained manpower. The Peace Corps was established in 1961 by executive order of President Kennedy; Congress approved it as a permanent agency within the Dept. of State the same ...
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James Rodney Schlesinger
James Rodney Schlesinger 1929-, U.S. Secretary of Defense (1973-75) and Secretary of Energy (1977-79), b. New York City. After graduating from Harvard (A.B., 1950; A.M., 1952; Ph.D., 1956), he taught economics (1955-63) at the Univ. of Virginia and was then (1963-69) a specialist in strategic studi...
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United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps military corps that forms a separate service within the U.S. Dept. of the Navy. The commandant of the Marine Corps is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . During conflicts, the Corps is charged with conducting all land operations essential to the successful prosecutio...
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Leslie Richard Groves
Leslie Richard Groves 1896-1970, American army officer and engineer who headed the program that developed America's atomic bomb , b. Albany, N.Y., grad. West Point (1918). He was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers and studied at the army engineering school (1918-20). Posted (1931) to Washingto...
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Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg 1931-, American political activist, b. Chicago, grad. Columbia Univ. (B.S., 1952, Ph.D., 1959). After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, he worked for the Rand Corporation (1959-64; 1967-70), conducting studies on defense policies. Originally a strong supporter of the Vietnam War , ...
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Janissaries
Janissaries [Turk.,=recruits], elite corps in the service of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). It was composed of war captives and Christian youths pressed into service; all the recruits were converted to Islam and trained under the strictest discipline. It was originally organized by Sultan Murad I. Th...
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Louis Burt Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer 1885-1957, American movie producer, b. Russia. Mayer began (1907) as the operator of a theater in Haverhill, Mass., gradually gaining control of all the theaters in the city. In 1924 he merged his Louis B. Mayer Corp. with Metro Pictures Corp., and eventually with Goldwyn Pictures ...
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Edward Otho Cresap Ord
Edward Otho Cresap Ord 1818-83, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Cumberland, Md. He commanded a brigade in Virginia (1861-62), was promoted to major general of volunteers, and fought at Iuka and Corinth, Miss. (1862). In the last stage of the Vicksburg campaign (1863), Ord led the 13th C...
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WAC
WAC (Women's Army Corps), U.S. army organization created (1942) during World War II to enlist women as auxiliaries for noncombatant duty in the U.S. army. Before 1943 it was known as the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC). Its first director was Oveta Culp Hobby . During World War II, WACs served...
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