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depth charge
depth charge explosive device used against submarines and other underwater targets, either rolled into the water from rails on the stern of a ship or propelled from depth charge throwers. The charge is detonated by water pressure at a predetermined depth. It does not have to come into actual contac...
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Moral Majority
Moral Majority U.S. political action group composed of conservative, fundamentalist Christians. Founded (1979) and led (1979-87) by evangelist Rev. Jerry Falwell , the group played a significant role in the 1980 elections through its strong support of conservative candidates. It lobbied for prayer...
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Moktada al- Sadr
Moktada al- Sadr , 1973?-, Iraqi Shiite cleric. The son of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, who was assassinated in 1999 (presumably by Saddam Hussein 's secret police), he emerged after the American invasion of Iraq as a savvy, militantly Islamist and anti-American leader, with significant ...
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Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. government agency administered by the Department of Defense (see Defense, United States Department of ). It was established in 1958, in reaction to the successful launch of Sputnik by the USSR, as the Advanced Research Projects Agency. Althou...
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Bob Dole
Bob Dole (Robert Joseph Dole), 1923-, American political leader, b. Russell, Kan.; husband of Elizabeth Hanford Dole . While serving in World War II, he was seriously wounded and required several years of convalescence. After obtaining his law degree from Washburn Univ. (1952), he worked as a coun...
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George Walker Bush
George Walker Bush 1946-, 43d president of the United States (2001-), b. New Haven, Conn. The eldest son of President George H. W. Bush , he was was raised in Texas and, like his father, attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., and Yale, graduating in 1968. He subsequently earned a Harvard M.B...
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Alaska Highway
Alaska Highway all-weather road, 1,523 mi (2,451 km) long, extending NW from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Fairbanks, Alaska. An extension of an existing Canadian road between Dawson Creek and Edmonton, Alta., the Alaska Highway was constructed (Mar.-Sept., 1942) by U.S. troops as a supply rou...
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Youngstown
Youngstown city (1990 pop. 95,732), seat of Mahoning co., NE Ohio, near the Pa. line; founded 1797, inc. 1849. It was formerly a major U.S. iron and steel center. In the 1970s many of the steel mills closed, and the population of the city fell significantly. Some steel products are still produced; ...
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Seaham
Seaham , town (1991 pop. 21,807), Durham, NE England, on the North Sea. Mining and shipping coal were major industries. The manufacture of clothing is now a significant industry.
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Sikhism
Sikhism , religion centered in the Indian state of Punjab, numbering worldwide some 19 million. Some 300,000 Sikhs live in Britain, and there are smaller communities in North America, Australia, and Singapore. By the late 1990s Sikhism was the world's fifth largest faith and had some 175,000 U.S. ad...
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