Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), regional political party in Bihar state, eastern India. It has also had a presence in national politics in New Delhi. The RJD was formed in July 1997 in New Delhi by Lalu Prasad Yadav, who had broken away from the Janata Dal (People’s Party). Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and

history of Europe: The lottery in Weimar: …old conservatives (now called the National People’s Party), with 42 seats, and the new People’s Party, with 21. On the left, the Independent Socialists had 22 seats.

petroleum: Status of the world oil supply: In 2007 the National Petroleum Council, an advisory committee to the U.S. Secretary of Energy, projected that world demand for oil would rise from 86 million barrels per day to as much as 138 million barrels per day in 2030. Yet experts remain divided on whether the world…

Pinyin romanization: …with the creation of the National Phonetic Alphabet based on Chinese characters. Several attempts were made in the 1920s and ’30s to devise and promote a Latin alphabet for the Chinese language, but with little concrete success. After the communist takeover of China in 1949, work on a comprehensive script…

Alan Turing: Computer designer: …Turing was recruited to the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in London to create an electronic computer. His design for the Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) was the first complete specification of an electronic stored-program all-purpose digital computer. Had Turing’s ACE been built as he planned, it would have had vastly more…

National Road, first federal highway in the United States and for several years the main route to what was then the Northwest Territory. Built (1811–37) from Cumberland, Maryland (western terminus of a state road from Baltimore and of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal), to Vandalia, Illinois, it forms

Jamaame: The National Plastic and Carton Company was established at Jamaame in collaboration with the Italian government in 1974. This industry was able to promote banana exports when it developed a local packing material to replace imported packing, thus reducing the price of Somali bananas in Europe.…

slam poetry: An artistic movement: Smith’s vision also spawned the National Poetry Slam, an annual five-day poetry slam held from 1990 through 2018, where teams of poets from cities all over the United States and Canada competed to determine the best in the genre. The documentary film SlamNation, released in 1998, follows the team of…

physical culture: Athletic clubs and sports: …culture most, however, was the National Police Gazette, which sold 2,225,000 copies weekly by 1895. Edited by Richard K. Fox, it offered a steady dose of sporting excitement, along with articles on crime, scandal, and gossip. The Gazette also aroused working-class passions by sponsoring world championships in everything from wood…

Self-Defense Force, Japan’s military after World War II. In Article 9 of Japan’s postwar constitution, the Japanese renounced war and pledged never to maintain land, sea, or air forces. The rearming of Japan in the 1950s was therefore cast in terms of self-defense. In 1950 a small military force

strategy: Fundamentals: …encompasses the coordination of all state policy, including economic and diplomatic tools of statecraft, to pursue some national or coalitional ends.

Clean Water Act: …CWA’s discharge permit program, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). NPDES requires any wastewater-treatment plant to obtain discharge permits and follow EPA guidelines for water treatment. The permits place limits on the amount of material that can be discharged. Additionally, many wastewater plants participate in the National Pretreatment Program,…

EAM-ELAS, communist-sponsored resistance organization (formed September 1941) and its military wing (formed December 1942), which operated in occupied Greece during World War II. Fighting against the Germans and the Italians as well as against other guerrilla bands, particularly EDES, EAM-ELAS

National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement joined by several U.S. states and the District of Columbia to circumvent the Electoral College by ensuring that the winner of the Electoral College vote, who then becomes the president of the United States, is also the winner of the national

National Portrait Gallery, American museum dedicated to portraiture of Americans, especially those who have made important contributions to the country and its culture. It is notable for its complete collection of portraits of presidents and first ladies. Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the

National Portrait Gallery, museum in London that houses the national collection of portraits of British men and women. It is located adjacent to the National Gallery, north of Trafalgar Square, in Westminster. (Read Sister Wendy’s Britannica essay on art appreciation.) The gallery was founded by an

National Postal Museum, philatelic museum in London that was founded in 1969 and shut down in 1998. The museum was established to showcase the United Kingdom’s philatelic developments and heritage. After the museum’s closure, its collection was briefly managed by the Royal Mail until it was placed

David Yonggi Cho: From humble beginnings to megachurch pastor: …until 2000) and led the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., in 1994. Two years later he was awarded the Mugunghwa Medal—the highest Order of Civil Merit—by the South Korean government for supporting the no-cost treatment of children with heart disease. Indeed, the church undertook many social programs, including a…

José Clemente Orozco: Mature work and later years: …on the walls of the National Preparatory School in Mexico City; these artists’ efforts initiated the Mexican muralist movement. Orozco was dissatisfied with his early murals there; he decided they were too derivative of European traditions, and he destroyed many of them. Those works dating from 1926, however, such as…

Helen Thomas: …colleagues forced the then all-male National Press Club to allow them to attend an address to the group by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. When the National Press Club finally opened its membership to women in 1971, Thomas became its first female officer. In 1975 the Gridiron Club, Washington’s most exclusive…

The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) is a professional organization in the United States that advocates for visual journalists and their work. Since its founding in the 1940s the NPPA has recognized technological change, and in the 21st century it encompasses still images, video, and

National Primitive Baptist Convention, Inc., association of independent black Baptist churches in the United States that were joined in a national convention in 1907. The convention developed from black congregations formed after the American Civil War by emancipated slaves who had previously

Canton: …in organizing the sport, the Pro Football Hall of Fame was established there in 1963.

Iraq: The revolution of 1968: …willing to participate in the National Progressive Front (NPF). The ICP had also shown interest. A Charter for National Action, prepared by the Baʿath Party, was published in the press for public discussion and became the basis for cooperation with the ICP and other parties.

Montserrat: History of Montserrat: The newly formed National Progressive Party (NPP) took the reins of government in 1991. In July 1995 volcanic domes in the Soufrière Hills began erupting after centuries of dormancy, spewing ash and lava across large areas of the island. A major eruption in June 1997 killed 19 people,…

Volstead Act, U.S. law enacted in 1919 (and taking effect in 1920) to provide enforcement for the Eighteenth Amendment, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. It is named for Minnesota Rep. Andrew Volstead, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who had championed the bill

John Saint John: …the presidential candidate of the National Prohibition Party. It is thought that his campaign in New York, where he made his strongest effort, may have drawn sufficient votes away from Republican candidate James G. Blaine to tip the state—and with it the election—to Grover Cleveland.

China: Yuan’s attempts to become emperor: …the National Protection Army (Huguojun) and demanded that Yuan cancel his plan. When he would not, the Yunnan army in early January 1916 invaded Sichuan and subsequently Hunan and Guangdong, hoping to bring the southwestern and southern provinces into rebellion and to then induce the lower Yangtze provinces to…

China: The Hundred Days of Reform of 1898: In April 1898 the National Protection Society was established in Beijing under the premise of protecting state, nation, and national religion. Against this background, the Guangxu emperor (reigned 1874/75–1908) was himself increasingly affected by the ideas of reform that were broadly in the air and perhaps was also directly…

National Public Radio, more commonly known as NPR, is the public radio network of the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., NPR offers a broad range of high-quality news and cultural programming to hundreds of local public radio stations. U.S. Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1967 Public

public administration: Japan: The National Public Service Law of 1947 set up an independent National Personnel Authority to administer recruitment, promotion, conditions of employment, standards of performance, and job classification for the new civil service. Technically the emperor himself became a civil servant, and detailed regulations brought within the…

security: Types of orders: The National Quotation Bureau, which compiles over-the-counter prices, has furnished quotations on approximately 26,000 over-the-counter stocks. In early 1971, a major development occurred with the introduction of current, computerized quotations on a number of active stocks.

Poland: The Second Republic: …its fascist splinter party, the National Radical Camp; and the socialists all opposed the regime and achieved success in municipal elections. Socioeconomic tension was translated into peasant strikes in the countryside and riots in towns.

Konstantinos Karamanlis: …also his own party, the National Radical Union (ERE), which in parliamentary elections in February 1956 obtained 161 seats out of 300. He retained a parliamentary majority in elections held in 1958 and 1961. As prime minister, Karamanlis helped Greece make a dramatic economic recovery from the devastation of World…

broadcasting: International organizations: The Union of National Radio and Television Organizations of Africa, which was formed in 1962, includes most former French and British colonies. The union is based in Dakar, Seneg., and has its technical centre at Bamako, Mali. The Arab States Broadcasting Union was formed in 1969…

National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the national radio observatory of the United States. It is funded by the National Science Foundation and is managed by Associated Universities, Inc., a consortium of nine leading private universities. Its headquarters are in Charlottesville, Va. The NRAO

radio telescope: Filled-aperture telescopes: …GBT is located in the National Radio Quiet Zone, which offers unique protection for radio telescopes from local sources of man-made interference.

Amtrak, federally supported corporation that operates nearly all intercity passenger trains in the United States. It was established by the U.S. Congress in 1970 and assumed control of passenger service from the country’s private rail companies the following year. Virtually all railways, with the

Jesse Jackson: The PUSH era: …in 1984 he created the National Rainbow Coalition, which sought equal rights for African Americans, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. These two organizations merged in 1996 to form the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Kenya: Kenya under Kibaki: …coalition of opposition groups (the National Rainbow Coalition [NARC]), soundly defeated Kenyatta in the 2002 presidential elections, thus ending KANU’s long period of uninterrupted rule.

National Rally, far right French political party founded in 1972 by François Duprat and François Brigneau. It is most commonly associated with Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was its leader from 1972 to 2011, and his daughter Marine Le Pen, who succeeded her father in 2011 and led the party until 2022.

Elvis Costello: Later albums: … (2004), a ballet; Momofuku (2008); National Ransom (2010); Wise Up Ghost, and Other Songs (2013), a collaboration with the band the Roots; Look Now (2018), which won the Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album; and Hey Clockface (2020).

Phoenix: The boomtown years: The National Reclamation Act of 1902 had made government funding available for such public works. In 1905 construction began on the Roosevelt Dam, the first such structure on the Salt River; it was finished in 1911, making it possible to irrigate the surrounding desert and thus…

space exploration: United States: This effort resulted in the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), jointly directed by the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency. The very existence of this organization was kept secret until 1992. The NRO operated the initial Corona program until 1972. It continued to manage the development of successor photointelligence…

National Recording Registry, list of audio recordings selected for preservation by the head of the U.S. Library of Congress in consultation with the National Recording Preservation Board. Every year, 25 recordings that are deemed to be, in the words of the National Recording Preservation Act of

National Recovery Administration (NRA), U.S. government agency established by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt to stimulate business recovery through fair-practice codes during the Great Depression. The NRA was an essential element in the National Industrial Recovery Act (June 1933), which authorized

Ghana: Series of coups: …was taken over by a National Redemption Council (NRC) of military men chaired by Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheampong. The national assembly was dissolved, public meetings prohibited, political parties proscribed, and leading politicians imprisoned. In July 1972 a retroactive Subversion Decree was enacted under which military courts were empowered to impose…

George Henry Evans: …political action, Evans organized the National Reform Association. Through its numerous state branches, the organization pressed for free homesteads in the West. The group’s motto was “Vote yourself a farm,” and Congress eventually responded by passing the Homestead Act (1862).

James Bronterre O’Brien: …was joint founder of the National Reform League, which advocated socialist objectives. In his later years he wrote political poetry.

Morena, major political party in Mexico. It was founded in 2014 when populist Mexican political leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador mobilized politicians from across the political spectrum in Mexico to form a new political party. The platform of Morena emphasizes an anti-corruption agenda, supports

National Register of Historic Places, federal list of places that merit preservation because of their importance in U.S. history. The register was established by the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, and it is administered by the National Park Service. The NHPA gives authority to

fundamentalism: Religious Zionism: …Party) joined to form the National Religious Party (NRP), or Mafdal. Traditionally, the NRP and its predecessors concerned themselves with domestic religious issues, such as observance of Shabbat (the Sabbath) and the question of who is a Jew, and left foreign affairs to the Labour Party.

Brazil: Political parties: …a single government party, the National Renewal Alliance, and a lone opposition party, the Brazilian Democratic Movement. The government abolished these two organizations in 1979 and allowed more parties to participate but still under restrictive regulations. After civilian government was restored in 1985, Brazil again legalized all political parties, and…

Morena, major political party in Mexico. It was founded in 2014 when populist Mexican political leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador mobilized politicians from across the political spectrum in Mexico to form a new political party. The platform of Morena emphasizes an anti-corruption agenda, supports

biomonitoring: Studies and surveillance programs: The CDC’s National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals provides information on the population’s exposure to various chemicals, with data sorted by age, sex, and ethnicity. The first report, published in 2001, tested for 27 chemicals. The fourth report, published in 2009, contained results for 212…

law report: …and federal reports in the National Reporter System, a practice that continues today.

Horacio Cartes: …to enter politics, joining the Colorado Party in 2009 and mounting his own movement within it, though theretofore he had never even voted. When the party, impressed by Cartes’s business acumen, dropped its requirement that an individual be a member of the party for 10 years before becoming a presidential…

National Republican Party, U.S. political party formed after what had been the Republican (or Jeffersonian Republican) party split in 1825. The Jeffersonian Republicans had been the only national political party following the demise of the Federalists during the War of 1812. During the contested

Tuskegee syphilis study: Congress passed the National Research Act, requiring institutional review boards to approve all studies involving human subjects. In 1997 President Bill Clinton issued a formal apology for the study (see Sidebar: Presidential Apology for the Study at Tuskegee).

National Academy of Sciences: …1916 the academy established the National Research Council to coordinate the activities of various scientists and engineers in universities, industry, and government; the council issues many publications and awards a number of postdoctoral fellowships. In 1950 the Academy and the Council were administratively joined. In 1964 the National Academy of…

Vinton Cerf: …a vice president at the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, a not-for-profit corporation located in Reston, Virginia, that Kahn, as president, had formed to develop network-based information technologies for the public good. Cerf also served as founding president of the Internet Society from 1992 to 1995. In 1994 Cerf returned…

Uganda: Obote’s second presidency: …the movement’s guerrilla group, the National Resistance Army (NRA), and waged an increasingly effective campaign against the government.

resistance: In 1943 the clandestine National Council of the Resistance (Conseil National de la Résistance) was established as the central organ of coordination among all French groups. Early the following year, various belligerent forces known as maquis (named from the underbrush, or maquis that served as their cover) were formally…

Yoweri Museveni: Early life and resistance activity: …president Yusufu Lule formed the National Resistance Movement (NRM); Museveni led the NRM’s armed group, the National Resistance Army, which waged a guerrilla war against Obote’s regime. The resistance eventually prevailed, and on January 26, 1986, Museveni declared himself president of Uganda.

Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Cleanup efforts: …efforts were coordinated by the National Response Team, a group of government agencies headed by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). BP, Transocean, and several other companies were held liable for the billions of dollars in costs accrued. Coast Guard cleanup patrols ultimately drew to a…

Herman Cain: …a parallel position with the National Restaurant Association. He had previously (1994–95) served as the association’s chairman of the board. Cain was also deputy chairman (1992–94) and chairman (1995–96) of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

American Association of Retired Persons: …the AARP merged with the National Retired Teachers Association (NRTA), an organization that Andrus had founded in 1947 to obtain pension and health insurance benefits for retired educators.

National Review, biweekly magazine of news and opinion published in New York City, and the leading conservative journal in the United States. It was founded in 1955 by William F. Buckley, Jr. Each issue features a long article addressing a major issue, usually political, on the American or

Rila Monastery: …a cradle for the “National Revival” of Bulgaria. The monastery supported book publishing, a library and archives, and various educational institutions. It also attracted a large number of pilgrims.

Republic of the Congo: Congo since independence: …left, notably by founding the National Revolutionary Movement (Mouvement National de la Révolution; MNR) as the sole party. The country sought assistance from the Soviet Union and China and voted with the more radical African states in world forums. Regionally, Congo extended concrete support and offered a geographic base for…

Bolivia: The rise of new political groups and the Bolivian National Revolution: …the middle-class and initially fascist-oriented Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario; MNR) and the Marxist and largely pro-Soviet Party of the Revolutionary Left (Partido de la Izquierda Revolucionaria; PIR). Both groups established important factions in the national congress of 1940–44. In 1943 the civilian president Gen. Enrique Peñaranda was overthrown…

Juvénal Habyarimana: Presidency: In 1975 he established the National Revolutionary Movement for Development, with himself as sole leader of the single-party state. A new constitution promulgated in December 1978 provided for a return to civilian rule, and in elections held that same month Habyarimana was elected president. He was reelected in 1983 and…

Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Mexican political party that dominated the country’s political institutions from its founding in 1929 until the end of the 20th century. Virtually all important figures in Mexican national and local politics belonged to the party, because the nomination of

Saumur: The National Riding School, which occupies vast 19th-century quarters in the west of the town, has retained the Cadre Noir, the military horseback riding instructors who first brought recognition to the cavalry school. Old churches include the austere Romanesque Notre-Dame-de-Nantilly, with notable 15th–17th-century tapestries. Cellars where…

National Rifle Association of America (NRA), leading gun rights organization in the United States. The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) was founded in New York state in 1871 as a governing body for the sport of shooting with rifles and pistols. By the early 21st century it claimed a

National Road, first federal highway in the United States and for several years the main route to what was then the Northwest Territory. Built (1811–37) from Cumberland, Maryland (western terminus of a state road from Baltimore and of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal), to Vandalia, Illinois, it forms

National Roman Museum, in Rome, one of the world’s greatest museums of ancient Greco-Roman art. It was founded in 1889 and originally housed in a former monastery, probably designed by Michelangelo in the 16th century, on the site of the Baths of Diocletian. In the 1980s the museum acquired several

Elk City: The National Route 66 Museum, celebrating the historic highway linking Chicago with Los Angeles, opened in 1998 and is a popular local attraction. Inc. 1907. Pop. (2000) 10,510; (2010) 11,693.

Romania: The revolution of 1989: …to Ceaușescu quickly formed the National Salvation Front (NSF) to lead the country through the transition from communism to democracy, but, by the spring of 1990, fundamental differences had arisen within this group over the direction and pace of change. Those who favored the removal of all former communists from…

Abdullah Gül: …a parliamentary candidate of the National Salvation Party (NSP; Millî Selâmet Partisi), the first Islamist party to make an impact. After Gül graduated (1971) with a degree in economics from Istanbul University, where he was active in the nationalist Turkish National Students’ Union, he spent two years conducting postgraduate studies…

Greece: From the National Schism to dictatorship: The dynamism and sense of national unity that had characterized the early Venizélos years gave way to rancour and vengefulness that were to poison the country’s political life throughout World War I and the interwar period. Greece was torn apart by…

employee training: …founding in 1945 of the National School of Administration in Paris, which serves as both a professional school and a recruitment agency for the French government’s administrative and diplomatic services. Great Britain, India, and other countries have developed their own schools to train civil servants.

National School of Drama (NSD), educational institution in New Delhi founded in 1959 for the study of theatre and providing training in acting, stagecraft, and related subjects. It is considered the foremost school of its kind in India. The NSD was established under the aegis of the Sangeet Natak

École des Beaux-Arts, school of fine arts founded (as the Académie Royale d’Architecture) in Paris in 1671 by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, minister of Louis XIV; it merged with the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (founded in 1648) in 1793. The school offered instruction in drawing, painting,

education: Education changes during World War II: … or national schools, under the National School Order issued in 1941. The order proclaimed the idea of a national polity or spirit peculiar to Japan; the content and the methods of education were revised to reflect this nationalism. Moreover, the period of compulsory education was officially extended to eight years,…

Ellen Ochoa: …become vice chair of the National Science Board (NSB), which runs the National Science Foundation. She served as NSB chair in 2020–22.

National Science Foundation (NSF), an independent agency of the U.S. government that supports basic research and education in a wide range of sciences and in mathematics and engineering. Inspired by advances in science and technology that occurred as a result of World War II, the NSF was

Internet: Foundation of the Internet: …development and operation of the NSFNET, a national “backbone” network to connect these centres. By the late 1980s the network was operating at millions of bits per second. NSF also funded various nonprofit local and regional networks to connect other users to the NSFNET. A few commercial networks also began…

National Science Museum, museum in Tokyo, founded in 1872, concerned with the history of the physical sciences, natural history, and technology. The collections include models of Japanese flora in wax and other materials, engineering and scientific apparatus, and machines of historical

Bruce Alberts: …the advisory board of the National Science Resources Center (1990–93), a joint project of the NAS and the Smithsonian Institution. While president of NAS, Alberts was integral in the formulation and release in 1996 of the final National Science Education Standards. He ensured that the standards had been reviewed by…

Quoc-ngu, writing system used for the Vietnamese language. Quoc-ngu was devised in the mid 17th century by Portuguese missionaries who modified the Roman alphabet with accents and signs to suit the particular consonants, vowels, and tones of Vietnamese. It was further modified by a French

national seashore, in the United States, any of a number of coastal areas reserved by the federal government for recreational use by the public. Cape Hatteras in North Carolina was established as the first national seashore in 1953. Others have since been added and include Cape Cod (Massachusetts),

press and government relations: Theories of Press–Government Relations: …as for example with “national security,” where many argue that patriotism should prevail over the watchdog function of the press. There is also an important distinction in democratic systems between more classical liberal systems such as the United States, where government intervention is seen as a barrier to press…

National Security Act, U.S. military- and foreign-policy reform legislation, signed into law by Pres. Harry S. Truman in July 1947, which reorganized the structure of the U.S. armed forces following World War II. It created the office of Secretary of Defense to oversee the nation’s military

National Security Agency (NSA), U.S. intelligence agency within the Department of Defense that is responsible for cryptographic and communications intelligence and security. Its headquarters are in Fort Meade, Maryland. The NSA grew out of the communications intelligence activities of U.S. military

intelligence: Iran: …revolution of 1978–79 in Iran, SAVAK (Organization of National Security and Information), the Iranian secret police and intelligence service, protected the regime of the shah by arresting, torturing, and executing many dissidents. After the shah’s government fell, SAVAK and other intelligence services were eliminated and new services were created, though…

intelligence: Taiwan: The once-covert National Security Bureau, developed in China in 1955, had a long history of clandestine arrests and executions. In 1994 it became a formal legal institution, and the names of its senior officials appeared in the press for the first time. The agency, which is under…

Pervez Musharraf: Seizure of power: He formed the National Security Council, made up of civilian and military appointees, to run Pakistan in the interim.

National Security Council (NSC), U.S. agency within the Executive Office of the President, established by the National Security Act in 1947 to advise the president on domestic, foreign, and military policies related to national security. The president of the United States is chairman of the NSC;

Turkey: The 1980s: A five-member National Security Council took control, suspending the constitution and implementing a provisional constitution that gave almost unlimited power to military commanders. Martial law, which had been established in a number of provinces in 1979, was extended throughout Turkey, and a major security operation was launched…