Washington and Lee University, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Lexington, Virginia, U.S. The university, one of the oldest in the United States, comprises the College, the School of Law, and the Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics. It offers undergraduate

Washington State University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Pullman, Washington, U.S. It is Washington’s land-grant university under the provisions of the Morrill Act of 1862. Washington State comprises a graduate school, the Intercollegiate College of Nursing (a

Pennsylvania: Education: …College (1787), in Lancaster; and Washington and Jefferson College (1787), in Washington. Carlisle was the site of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School from 1879 to 1918; the facility became the home of the U.S. Army War College in 1951.

Washington and Lee University, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Lexington, Virginia, U.S. The university, one of the oldest in the United States, comprises the College, the School of Law, and the Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics. It offers undergraduate

Montgomery C. Meigs: …substantial contribution, however, was the Washington Aqueduct, which extended 12 miles (19 kilometres) from the Great Falls on the Potomac to a distribution reservoir west of Georgetown. His Cabin John Bridge (1852–60), designed to carry Washington’s main water supply and vehicular traffic, is an engineering masterpiece. Until the 20th century…

Washington Wizards, American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards (then known as the Washington Bullets) made four trips to the National Basketball Association (NBA) finals in the 1970s and won an NBA championship in the 1977–78 season. Founded in 1961 as the Chicago

Washington Capitals, American professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C., that plays in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Capitals have won two Eastern Conference championships (1998, 2018) and one Stanley Cup (2018). Founded in 1974, the Capitals

Washington National Cathedral, in Washington, D.C., Episcopal cathedral chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1893 and established on Mount St. Alban (the highest point in the city) in 1907. Its cornerstone was laid by President Theodore Roosevelt. Although construction slowed during periods of

Trinity College, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. It is a nonsectarian liberal arts college that has a historical affiliation with the Episcopal Church. Trinity College operates an overseas campus in Rome and participates in many

Washington and Lee University, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Lexington, Virginia, U.S. The university, one of the oldest in the United States, comprises the College, the School of Law, and the Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics. It offers undergraduate

Pennsylvania: Education: …College (1787), in Lancaster; and Washington and Jefferson College (1787), in Washington. Carlisle was the site of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School from 1879 to 1918; the facility became the home of the U.S. Army War College in 1951.

Kent: Chestertown, the county seat, contains Washington College (founded 1782), one of the oldest colleges in the United States.

Ellen Spencer Mussey: …helped establish and incorporate the Washington College of Law in 1898. From 1898 to 1913 Mussey served as dean of the college, which trained large numbers of women, as well as men, for the bar, and she also taught classes in constitutional law, contracts, wills, equity, and other topics.

Washington Commanders, American professional gridiron football team based in Washington, D.C. The Commanders play in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL) and have won two NFL championships (1937 and 1942) and three Super Bowls (1983, 1988, and 1992). Founded

broadcasting: International conferences: The Washington Conference of 1927 widened the area of cooperation in respect to radiotelegraph, broadcasting, and the international allocation of wavelengths, or frequencies. It was followed by the Madrid Conference of 1932, which codified the rules and established the official international frequency list. This agreement stabilized…

Washington Conference, (1921–22), international conference called by the United States to limit the naval arms race and to work out security agreements in the Pacific area. Held in Washington, D.C., the conference resulted in the drafting and signing of several major and minor treaty agreements.

José Santos Zelaya: The Washington Conference of 1907 ensued, at which all five Central American states signed an agreement pledging to maintain peace among themselves. Zelaya, however, quickly broke the treaty.

Washington Conference, (1921–22), international conference called by the United States to limit the naval arms race and to work out security agreements in the Pacific area. Held in Washington, D.C., the conference resulted in the drafting and signing of several major and minor treaty agreements.

Hans Bethe: Early work: The Washington Conferences on Theoretical Physics were paradigmatic of the meetings organized to assimilate the insights quantum mechanics was giving to many fields, especially atomic and molecular physics and the emerging field of nuclear physics. Bethe attended the 1935 and 1937 Washington Conferences, but he agreed…

Washington Consensus, a set of economic policy recommendations for developing countries, and Latin America in particular, that became popular during the 1980s. The term Washington Consensus usually refers to the level of agreement between the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and U.S.

Washington Crossing State Park, two parks on the Pennsylvania and New Jersey shores of the Delaware River 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Trenton. The parks mark the site where, in a blinding snowstorm on the night of Dec. 25, 1776, General George Washington crossed the river with 2,400 colonial

Washington Crossing the Delaware, oil painting created by German-American artist Emanuel Leutze in 1851. It is among the best known and most popular paintings of an American historical event. No visitor to the American Wing in New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art could forget seeing

Larry Rivers: His Washington Crossing the Delaware (1953) was based on the familiar work by a 19th-century American painter, Emanuel Leutze. Though criticized for its banal subject matter and mixture of styles, the painting nonetheless attracted widespread attention. From 1951 to 1957 he made a series of portraits…

Davenport v. Washington Education Association: …other nonunion members of the Washington Education Association (WEA), the state’s largest teacher union, filed a lawsuit against the WEA, claiming that it had failed to obtain the affirmative authorization required in Section 760; the state of Washington also brought a similar suit against the WEA (Washington v. Washington Education…

Washington Commanders, American professional gridiron football team based in Washington, D.C. The Commanders play in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL) and have won two NFL championships (1937 and 1942) and three Super Bowls (1983, 1988, and 1992). Founded

Mia Hamm: …also played professionally for the Washington Freedom of the short-lived Women’s United Soccer Association (2001–03). After retiring from competitive play in 2004, she remained involved in the sport. Notably, in 2014 Hamm became a co-owner—along with her husband, former baseball player Nomar Garciaparra, and numerous others—of the Los Angeles Football…

Nancy Lieberman: …Lieberman was chosen by the Washington Generals to play against the Harlem Globetrotters, making her the first woman to participate in a Globetrotters world tour. Approaching the age of 40 but still a talented player, she joined the Phoenix Mercury of the newly formed NBA-sponsored Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)…

hawthorn: Common species: The Washington hawthorn (C. phaenopyrum) is famous for its red autumn colour and its abundant clusters of orange-red fruits that persist on the twigs well into winter; it is somewhat susceptible to rust but is otherwise a durable and much-used ornamental. Downy, or red, hawthorn (C.…

Eleanor Medill Patterson: …editor and publisher of the Washington Times-Herald.

Teraina Island, coral atoll of the Northern Line Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west-central Pacific Ocean. With a circumference of 9 miles (14 km), it rises to about 10 feet (3 metres) and has a freshwater lake at its eastern end. It was sighted in 1798 by an American trader and explorer,

Drew Pearson: , reporter, wrote a book, Washington Merry-Go-Round (1931), a gossipy treatment of the scene in the U.S. capital. He and Allen were fired for writing the irreverent book, but its success brought them an invitation to write a column with the same name for syndication. The column first appeared in…

James Cruze: …in 1932 Cruze scored with Washington Merry-Go-Round, a political drama starring Lee Tracy as an idealistic congressman. He also directed one of the episodes in Paramount’s all-star showcase If I Had a Million (1932). I Cover the Waterfront (1933) was Cruze’s most important pre-Production Code picture; it starred Ben Lyon…

Baltimore: The contemporary city: The Washington Monument (1829), a 178-foot (54-metre) Doric column, was designed by architect Robert Mills, who later designed the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Hampton National Historic Site, Aberdeen Proving Ground, and Pimlico Race Course (home of the Preakness Stakes) are nearby, as are several state…

Washington Monument, obelisk in Washington, D.C., honouring George Washington, the first president of the United States. Constructed of granite faced with Maryland marble, the structure is 55 feet (16.8 metres) square at the base and 554 feet 7 inches (169 metres) high and weighs an estimated

Washington Mystics, American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., that plays in the Eastern Conference of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team has won one WNBA championship (2019). The Mystics began play as an expansion team in 1998, one year after the

Washington National Cathedral, in Washington, D.C., Episcopal cathedral chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1893 and established on Mount St. Alban (the highest point in the city) in 1907. Its cornerstone was laid by President Theodore Roosevelt. Although construction slowed during periods of

Washington Nationals, American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C., that plays in the National League (NL). The Nationals have won one World Series and one NL pennant (both 2019). The franchise was based in Montreal and known as the Expos (after Expo 67, the world’s fair held in

Washington Conference, (1921–22), international conference called by the United States to limit the naval arms race and to work out security agreements in the Pacific area. Held in Washington, D.C., the conference resulted in the drafting and signing of several major and minor treaty agreements.

Washington Conference, (1921–22), international conference called by the United States to limit the naval arms race and to work out security agreements in the Pacific area. Held in Washington, D.C., the conference resulted in the drafting and signing of several major and minor treaty agreements.

Central Washington University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Ellensburg, Washington, U.S. It is one of six such institutions sponsored by the state of Washington. The university consists of colleges of arts and humanities, business, sciences, and education and professional

John Tyler: Succession to the presidency: …1861 he presided over the Washington Peace Conference, an abortive effort to resolve sectional differences. When the Senate rejected the proposals of the conference, he relinquished all hope of saving the Union and returned to Virginia, where he served as a delegate to the Virginia Secession Convention. Shortly before his…

The Washington Post is a website and newspaper published in Washington, D.C. The Post has a long tradition of being a watchdog for misdeeds by politicians and government agencies, including its reporting on the Pentagon Papers, the Watergate scandal, secret surveillance by the National Security

Washington Commanders, American professional gridiron football team based in Washington, D.C. The Commanders play in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL) and have won two NFL championships (1937 and 1942) and three Super Bowls (1983, 1988, and 1992). Founded

Minnesota Twins, American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that plays in the American League (AL). The Twins originally played in Washington, D.C. (1901–60), and were known as the Senators before relocating to Minneapolis in 1961. The franchise has won three World Series

Texas Rangers, American professional baseball team based in Arlington, Texas, that plays in the American League (AL). The Rangers began play in 1961 as the Washington (D.C.) Senators and have won one World Series title (2023) and three AL pennants (2010, 2011, and 2023). The Senators finished in

National Women’s Soccer League: The league is slated to add Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC as its 15th and 16th teams in 2026, and its 17th team, based in Atlanta, in 2028. The NWSL previously included three teams—the Boston Breakers, FC Kansas City, and Western…

Washington Square, short novel by Henry James, published in 1880 and praised for its depiction of the complicated relationship between a stubborn father and his daughter. The novel’s main character, Catherine Sloper, lives with her widowed aunt and her physician father in New York City’s

Jennifer Garner: Early roles and marriage to Scott Foley: …film appearances in the drama Washington Square and the comedy Mr. Magoo (both 1997). She was cast in 1998 on the TV series Significant Others and in 1999 on the Party of Five spin-off, Time of Your Life, but both shows were canceled after a few episodes. Garner had a…

Greenwich Village: …its centre, is dominated by Washington Arch (1895) and New York University buildings.

Steve Earle: …folk album) in 2005, and Washington Square Serenade (2007), Earle’s romantic confessional collaboration with his sixth wife, singer Allison Moorer, won a Grammy (best contemporary folk/Americana album) in 2008. His 2009 tribute to Van Zandt, titled Townes, earned him another Grammy Award for best contemporary folk album.

Tuskegee syphilis study: …methods were exposed in the Washington Star. A class-action suit against the federal government was settled out of court for $10 million in 1974. That same year the U.S. Congress passed the National Research Act, requiring institutional review boards to approve all studies involving human subjects. In 1997 President Bill…

Washington State University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Pullman, Washington, U.S. It is Washington’s land-grant university under the provisions of the Morrill Act of 1862. Washington State comprises a graduate school, the Intercollegiate College of Nursing (a

Hiram Boardman Conibear: …distinctive style known as the American stroke (also called the Washington stroke and the Conibear stroke) that revolutionized college rowing and had an effect on the sport that lasted for 30 years.

Washington: Territory and state: In 1853 Congress created the Washington Territory—named for the first president of the United States—and extended it east of the Columbia River to the crest of the Rockies, including parts of present-day Idaho and Montana.

Eleanor Medill Patterson: …editor and publisher of the Washington Times-Herald.

Five-Power Naval Limitation Treaty, arms limitation treaty signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, and Italy on February 6, 1922. The agreement fixed the respective numbers and tonnages of capital ships to be possessed by the navies of each of the contracting nations. It was

Washington University in St. Louis, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. It is a comprehensive research and academic institution, and it includes one of the leading research-centred medical schools in the United States. In addition, the university

disparate impact: Evolution of disparate impact theory: …the disparate impact theory was Washington v. Davis (1976), in which the Supreme Court held that the theory could not be used to establish a constitutional claim—in this case, that an employment practice by the District of Columbia violated the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment—unless plaintiffs could show…

Washington Wizards, American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards (then known as the Washington Bullets) made four trips to the National Basketball Association (NBA) finals in the 1970s and won an NBA championship in the 1977–78 season. Founded in 1961 as the Chicago

Presidents’ Day, in the United States, holiday observed annually on the third Monday in February. The day is legally designated as Washington’s Birthday, and it officially honors George Washington, the country’s first president. Efforts to change the name to Presidents’ Day and include Abraham

David Hackett Fischer: Washington’s Crossing (2004) was a study of the American Revolution with special focus on George Washington’s 1776 crossing of the Delaware River to attack British troops at Trenton, New Jersey. It became a popular best seller and won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for history. Fischer…

Booker T. Washington was an educator and reformer, the first president and principal developer of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University), and the most influential spokesman for Black Americans between 1895 and 1915. He was born in a slave hut but, after emancipation,

Booker T. Washington was an educator and reformer, the first president and principal developer of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University), and the most influential spokesman for Black Americans between 1895 and 1915. He was born in a slave hut but, after emancipation,

Bushrod Washington was an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1798 to 1829. A nephew of George Washington, he graduated in 1778 from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he was one of the original members of the Phi Beta Kappa society. He served in

Washington, D.C., is the capital of the United States of America and a cosmopolitan city in its own right, one that continues to struggle with the impact of the compromise that created it more than 235 years ago. Located on the banks of the Potomac River and socially, economically, and

Gore Vidal: Washington, D.C. (1967), an ironic examination of political morality in the U.S. capital, was the first of a series of several popular novels known as the Narratives of Empire, which vividly re-created prominent figures and events in American history—Burr (1973), 1876 (1976), Lincoln (1984), Empire…

Following World War I (1914–18), a number of designs were advanced for a flag for the District of Columbia. Among those submitted in February 1924 to the Evening Star newspaper was a white flag bearing two red horizontal stripes and three blue five-pointed stars. The designer, Charles Dunn, based

Washington, D.C., International, United States flat horse race attracting leading horses from all over the world. Instituted in 1952, it was the first such event in North America. The race is a 1.5-mile (about 2,400-metre) event for horses three years old and over, held annually in November on a

Washington, D.C., is a city of monuments, with structures honoring George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and many others. A 2025 proposal by U.S. Pres. Donald Trump to erect the world’s tallest triumphal arch in honor of the country’s 250th birthday between

Denzel Washington is an American actor celebrated for his engaging and powerful performances. Throughout his career he has been regularly praised by critics, and his consistent success at the box office helped to dispel the outdated perception that African American actors could not draw mainstream

Dinah Washington was an American jazz and blues singer noted for her excellent voice control and unique gospel-influenced delivery. Often called the Queen of the Blues, she was a profoundly influential vocal artist, especially on female rock and roll singers. As a child, Ruth Jones moved with her

The 19th-century territorial seal of Washington had a detailed naturalistic scene with sea and mountains and a woman in the foreground epitomizing hope, surrounded by a log cabin, wagon, and fir forest. That design was replaced at the time of statehood in 1889. Charles Talcott, a jeweler who had

George Washington was an American general and commander in chief of the colonial armies in the American Revolution (1775–83) and subsequently first president of the United States (1789–97). Washington’s father, Augustine Washington, had gone to school in England, tasted seafaring life, and then

Centralia: Cochran and George Washington; Washington, the son of an African slave and an Englishwoman, had been denied the right to settle, and Cochran, his adoptive father, had filed the claim for him. Washington purchased the claim from his father when the newly created Washington Territory established different…

Harold Washington was an American politician who gained national prominence as the first African American mayor of Chicago (1983–87). During World War II, Washington joined the army and served as an engineer in the South Pacific. After returning home in 1946, he graduated from Roosevelt University

Margot Robbie: Blockbuster Barbie and other works: …costarred with Christian Bale and John David Washington in David O. Russell’s Amsterdam, a social satire about a fascist conspiracy to overturn the U.S. government in the 1930s. Also in 2022 she costarred with Brad Pitt in Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, a dramedy set in Hollywood during the 1920s. Robbie’s character…

Kenny Washington was one of the first African American college gridiron football stars on the West Coast and one of two Black players to reintegrate the National Football League (NFL) in 1946. Washington was a single-wing tailback at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), from 1937

Kenny Washington was one of the first African American college gridiron football stars on the West Coast and one of two Black players to reintegrate the National Football League (NFL) in 1946. Washington was a single-wing tailback at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), from 1937

Celeste Ng: …adaptation—produced by Ng and actors Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon, among others—was released in 2020. Ng’s third novel, Our Missing Hearts (2022), was also well received by critics. It reflects contemporary social issues in its dystopian vision of an America where the government censors school curricula, books, and other media…

slave rebellions: …fact—the leader of the uprising, Madison Washington, was a formerly enslaved man who had escaped successfully and fled to Canada. He had returned to Virginia for his wife but was recaptured there and put on a slave ship in Richmond. Aboard the Creole, Washington and nearly 20 others led a…

Martha Washington was an American first lady (1789–97), the wife of George Washington, first president of the United States and commander in chief of the colonial armies during the American Revolutionary War. She set many of the standards and customs for the proper behavior and treatment of the

Mount Washington, mountain in the Presidential Range, the highest (6,288 feet [1,917 metres]) peak of the White Mountains, New Hampshire, U.S. The peak is 23 miles (37 km) north-northwest of Conway. It is noted for its extreme weather conditions, one of the world’s highest wind velocities (231

Hamilton Fish: …the conference that drafted the Treaty of Washington (May 1871), providing for the first major international arbitration of modern history.

University of Washington, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Seattle, Washington, U.S. It includes colleges of architecture and urban planning, arts and sciences, education, engineering, forest resources, and ocean and fishery sciences; schools of business administration,

Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historical Site, historic locality occupying nearly 300 acres (120 hectares) along the Brazos River, some 45 miles (72 km) northwest of Houston, in Washington county, Texas, U.S. Originating in 1821 as a ferry crossing, Washington-on-the-Brazos (also called

Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historical Site, historic locality occupying nearly 300 acres (120 hectares) along the Brazos River, some 45 miles (72 km) northwest of Houston, in Washington county, Texas, U.S. Originating in 1821 as a ferry crossing, Washington-on-the-Brazos (also called

palm: Ecology: …water is present (doum palm, Washingtonia, coconut palm), or in open savanna, grassland, or gallery forest, or restricted to such special habitats as limestone outcrops (Maxburretia rupicola), serpentine soils (Gulubia hombronii), or river margins (Astrocaryum jauari, Leopoldinia pulchra) where competition is limited.

Ouachita River, river rising in the Ouachita Mountains of west-central Arkansas, U.S., and flowing in a generally southeasterly direction to join the Red River in Louisiana after a course of 605 miles (973 km). The lower 57 miles (92 km) of the Ouachita (from its confluence with the Tensas River)

Washita River, river rising in the Texas Panhandle, northwestern Texas, U.S. It flows east across the Oklahoma boundary, then southeast to south-central Oklahoma, and south into Lake Texoma, formed by Denison Dam in the Red River, downstream from the former mouth of the Washita at Woodville,

George Armstrong Custer: America’s top Indian fighter: …Black Kettle’s village on the Washita River. (Black Kettle and his people had already been the target of a controversial surprise attack by the army in 1864 known as the Sand Creek Massacre.) This somewhat dubious success—the majority of the Indians are thought to have been women, children, and older…

Christiaan Barnard: …in replacing the heart of Louis Washkansky, an incurably ill South African grocer, with a heart taken from a fatally injured accident victim. Although the transplant itself was successful, Washkansky died 18 days later from double pneumonia, contracted after destruction of his body’s immunity mechanism by drugs administered to suppress…

Huascar was an Inca chieftain, legitimate heir to the Inca empire, who lost his inheritance and his life in rivalry with his younger half brother Atahuallpa, who in turn was defeated and executed by the Spanish conquerors under Francisco Pizarro. Huascar succeeded his father in 1525 but was given

Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin: Language: The Washoe, whose territory centered on Lake Tahoe, spoke a Hokan language related to those spoken in parts of what are now California, Arizona, and Baja California, Mexico. The remainder of the Great Basin was occupied by speakers of Numic languages. Numic, formerly called Plateau Shoshonean,…

animal learning: Language learning: Washoe, a female chimpanzee trained by Beatrice and Allan Gardner, learned to use well over 150 signs. Some apparently were used as nouns, standing for people and objects in her daily life, such as the names of her trainers, various kinds of food and drink,…

Washoe, North American Indian people of the Great Basin region who made their home around Lake Tahoe in what is now California, U.S. Their peak numerical strength before contact with settlers may have been 1,500. Linguistically isolated from the other Great Basin Indians, they spoke a language of

Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin: Language: The Washoe, whose territory centered on Lake Tahoe, spoke a Hokan language related to those spoken in parts of what are now California, Arizona, and Baja California, Mexico. The remainder of the Great Basin was occupied by speakers of Numic languages. Numic, formerly called Plateau Shoshonean,…

Wassukkani, capital of the Mitannian empire (c. 1500–c. 1340 bc), possibly located near the head of the Khabur River in northern Mesopotamia. Wassukkani was for many years the centre of a powerful threat to the Hittite empire, but it was finally plundered about 1355 by the Hittites under

washstand, from the beginning of the 19th century until well into the 20th, an essential piece of bedroom furniture. The washstand consisted of a wooden structure of varying shape and complexity intended to accommodate a large basin, a pitcher, a toothbrush jar, and various other toilet

Wāṣil ibn ʿAṭāʾ was a Muslim theologian considered the founder of the Muʿtazilah sect. As a young man Wāṣil went to Basra, Iraq, where he studied under the celebrated ascetic Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and met other influential religious figures who lived there. In Wāṣil’s time there began the discussions that

Wāṣil ibn ʿAṭāʾ was a Muslim theologian considered the founder of the Muʿtazilah sect. As a young man Wāṣil went to Basra, Iraq, where he studied under the celebrated ascetic Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and met other influential religious figures who lived there. In Wāṣil’s time there began the discussions that