tenement house: see apartment house; House; housing.

sod house, house with walls made of strips of sod laid horizontally in courses like bricks. Sod houses were common in the frontier days on the western plains of the United States, where wood and stone were scarce. The sod, turned by the plow and held together by roots, was lifted in strips and usually cut in 3-ft (1-m) lengths (sods). The walls were hewed smooth with a spade and were often plastered with clay and ashes. Sometimes roofs were of frame construction; usually they were thatched or covered with sods, which had to be replaced after heavy rains. Sod walls were fire- and windproof and good insulators, but they permitted only small window openings. For other earth houses, see rammed earth.

settlement house, neighborhood welfare institution generally in an urban slum area, where trained workers endeavor to improve social conditions, particularly by providing community services and promoting neighborly cooperation. The idea was developed in mid-19th-century England when such social thinkers as Thomas Hill Green, John Ruskin, and Arnold Toynbee (1852-83) urged university students to settle in poor neighborhoods, where they could study and work to better local conditions. The pioneer establishment was Toynbee Hall, founded in 1884 in London under the leadership of Samuel Augustus Barnett. Before long, similar houses were founded in many cities of Great Britain, the United States, and continental Europe. Some of the more famous settlement houses in the United States have been Hull House and Chicago Commons, Chicago; South End House, Boston; and the University Settlement, Henry Street Settlement, and Greenwich House, New York City. Settlements serve as community, education, and recreation centers, particularly in densely populated immigrant neighborhoods. Sometimes known as social settlements, they are also called neighborhood houses, neighborhood centers, or community centers. The settlement house differs from other social welfare agencies; the latter provide specific services, while the former is aimed at improving neighborhood life as a whole. Its role has gradually altered as some of its varied functions have been assumed by state and municipal authorities and by other organizations. Kindergartens, formerly an important adjunct of the settlement house, are now operated by the public schools; municipal health departments have taken over its clinical services; and labor unions now sponsor educational and recreational activities for workers. The early leaders of settlement houses in the United States met from time to time and in 1911 founded the National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers; Jane Addams served as the first president. In 1926 the International Federation of Settlements and Neighbourhood Centres was established to coordinate community work on an international level.

manor house, dwelling house of the feudal lord of a manor, occupied by him only on occasional visits if he held many manors. Although not built specifically for fortification as castles were, many manor houses were partly fortified; they were enclosed within walls or moats that sometimes included the farm buildings as well. The primary feature of the manor house was its great hall, to which subsidiary apartments were added as the lessening of feudal warfare permitted peaceful domestic life. By the beginning of the 16th cent., manor houses as well as smaller castles began to acquire the character and amenities of the residences of country gentlemen. This transformation produced the smaller Renaissance châteaux of France and the numerous country mansions of the Elizabethan and Jacobean styles in England.

house sparrow: see English sparrow.

house plants, varied group of plants grown indoors and requiring no special care. They are usually grown singly in pots, but can also be grouped and planted together in dish gardens and terrariums. Some are cultivated for their flowers, such as geraniums and African violets, while others, such as philodendron and sansevieria (snake plant), are grown for their decorative foliage. Growing house plants successfully can be greatly facilitated in many cases by maintaining a cool temperature and raising the atmospheric moisture either by the use of humidifiers or simply by placing evaporating pans on radiators.

half-timber house, type of construction of the Middle Ages in N Europe, used chiefly for dwellings. Some French examples date from the 12th cent., and by the 13th cent. the building method had reached high development. In this form of construction the skeleton frame of the building, with all supporting and bracing members, was of timber, usually oak. The outside enclosing walls were of wattle and daub, plaster, or brick, the material being used as a filling between the exposed structural timbers. The work of the 14th, 15th, and 16th cent. gave increasing decorative emphasis to the timbers, which had richly carved Gothic or Renaissance ornamentation. Many cottages, farmhouses, and manors in England used half-timber, but in France and Germany it was chiefly employed for town dwellings. Half-timber, used in some of the 17th-century dwellings of the American colonists, proved unsuited to the climate and was soon abandoned for more weathertight methods.

chapter house, a building in which the chapter of the clergy meets. Its plan varies, the simplest being a rectangle. At Worcester, England, the Norman builders created a circular chapter house (c.1100), with vaulting springing from a central pillar. Subsequent examples, adopting this central support for their vaulted roofs but frequently having a polygonal plan, are among the most distinctive achievements of the English Gothic builders. Those at Salisbury, Wells, and Westminster Abbey (1250) are octagonal, while that at Lincoln is decagonal. At York, the octagonal room (c.1300) exhibits a departure in that it dispenses with the central column and is covered with a vaulted wooden roof.

apartment house, building having three or more dwelling units. Numerous early examples of this form of dwelling have been found in remains of Roman and medieval cities and in the 17th-cent. Pueblo villages of North America. Its most important development came with the Industrial Revolution. After 1850 crowded slums began to develop in the cities of Europe and the United States. Few good, low-cost multiple dwellings were built before World War I, but great progress was made in the development of more luxurious apartment buildings, particularly in Paris and Vienna. In the 1880s fireproof steel-frame construction, the improvement of the elevator, and the introduction of electric lighting made possible the rapid evolution of the apartment building. In 1901 New York City put into effect a tenement-house law; its purpose was to protect occupants against fire hazards and unsanitary and unsafe conditions.

Between 1919 and 1934 there appeared in Europe many commendable low-cost housing developments. Important examples are projects by Gropius at the Siemensstadt in Berlin, J. J. P. Oud's group at Hoek van Holland, and H. P. Berlage's apartments in Amsterdam. There has been government-subsidized public housing in the United States since 1937. A phenomenal increase in the building of apartments has taken place since 1921 in all the larger cities, reaching a peak in New York City, where apartments largely replaced private houses. In the mid-20th cent. a radical experiment in multiple dwellings called Habitat was designed for the Montreal Expo 67 by Moshe Safdie.

In addition to the traditional rental unit, contemporary apartments are available in a number of permutations. With cooperative apartments the tenants belong to a corporation that owns the building. In the condominium each apartment unit is owned separately and owner-tenants generally form an association to provide for apartment maintenance. The apartment hotel combines the accommodations of an apartment, including cooking space, with the services characteristic of a hotel. A greater sense of community is fostered in co-housing, where residents plan, develop, and manage a community, often comprised of apartments and town houses, that combines private quarters with common spaces. Apartment houses have spread to the suburbs of the larger cities, where they frequently include gardens, tennis courts, and children's playgrounds. Numerous apartment houses are constructed as living complexes for retired persons.

Yucca House National Monument: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

York, house of, royal house of England, deriving its name from the creation of Edmund of Langley, fifth son of Edward III, as duke of York in 1385. The claims to the throne of Edmund's grandson, Richard, duke of York, in opposition to Henry VI of the house of Lancaster (see Lancaster, house of), resulted in the Wars of the Roses (see Roses, Wars of the), so called because the badge of the house of York was a white rose, and a red rose was later attributed to the house of Lancaster. Richard's claim to the throne came not only from direct male descent from Edmund, but also through his mother Anne Mortimer, great-granddaughter of Lionel, duke of Clarence, who was the third son of Edward III. The royal members of the house of York were Edward IV, Edward V, and Richard III. The marriage of the Lancastrian Henry VII to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV, united the houses of York and Lancaster. Henry was the first of the Tudor kings.

White House, official name of the executive mansion of the President of the United States. It is on the south side of Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C., facing Lafayette Square. The building, constructed of Virginia freestone, is of simple and stately design. The porte-cochere on the north front, which forms the main entrance, is a portico of high Ionic columns reaching from the ground to the roof pediment; it is balanced by a semicircular colonnaded balcony on the south with a second-floor porch, completed in 1948. The main building (four stories high) is about 170 ft (52 m) long by 85 ft (26 m) wide. The east and west terraces, the executive office (1902), the east wing (1942), and a penthouse and a bomb shelter (1952) have been added. The colonnade at the east end is the public entrance. The executive office is approached by an esplanade. Large receptions are usually held in the East Room, which is 40 ft (12 m) by 82 ft (25 m). The elliptical Blue Room is the scene of many social, diplomatic, and official receptions. The Red Room and the Green Room are used for private and quasi-official gatherings. The White House, designated "the Palace" in the original plans, was designed by James Hoban on a site chosen by George Washington. It is the oldest public building in Washington, its cornerstone having been laid in 1792. John Adams was the first President to live there (1800). The building was restored after being burned (1814) by British troops, and the smoke-stained gray stone walls were painted white. Despite popular myth the cognomen "White House" was applied to the building some time before it was painted. The name became official when President Theodore Roosevelt had it engraved upon his stationery. Part of the house was rebuilt (1949-52) on a steel-supporting frame. The grounds, which cover about 18 acres (7 hectares), are attractive with broad lawns, fountains, trees, and gardens. They were planned by Andrew Jackson Downing. Pennsylvania Ave. between the White House and Lafayette Square was closed to vehicular traffic in 1995 for security reasons.

Washington Court House, city (1990 pop. 12,983), seat of Fayette co., SW Ohio, on Paint Creek, in a productive farm, dairy, and poultry area; laid out and founded c.1810, inc. 1831. Its many manufactures include shoes, gloves, dairy products, and automobile and aircraft parts.

Savoy, house of, dynasty of Western Europe that ruled Savoy and Piedmont from the 11th cent., the kingdom of Sicily from 1714 to 1718, the kingdom of Sardinia from 1720 to 1861, and the kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1946. Collateral branches of the house of Savoy include that of Nemours.

Savoy and Piedmont

Its first important member was Count Humbert the Whitehanded, a powerful feudal lord of the kingdom of Arles (in SE France) in the 11th cent. He held possessions in Savoy and acquired, through marriage, several fiefs in Piedmont, including Turin. Through marriage, diplomacy, and conquest his successors expanded their holdings in France, Switzerland, and Italy, acquiring Bresse and Bugey, Chablais (on the south shore of the Lake of Geneva), Lower Valais, Gex, Ivrea, Pinerolo, Nice, parts of Vaud and of Geneva, and other seigniories and towns. Chambéry, acquired in 1232, became the seat of the counts, whose scattered possessions were gradually consolidated. Amadeus VIII acquired the ducal title in 1416. His son Louis (d. 1465) married Anne de Lusignan, titular heiress to the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Armenia; these titles were later borne by ruling members of the house.

The expansion of Switzerland and the Italian Wars resulted in the temporary disintegration of the duchy. The Swiss took the lower Valais (1475) and Vaud (1536); Geneva became independent (1533); and the rest of the duchy was occupied (1536) by Francis I of France. In 1559, however, Duke Emmanuel Philibert, called Ironhead, obtained the restoration of his duchy—except the larger part of the Swiss conquests—under the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis. Emmanuel Philibert made Turin his capital, thus shifting the center of his duchy from France to Italy. The language and tone of the court, however, remained French until the late 18th cent. Emmanuel Philibert's son and successor, Charles Emmanuel I, unsuccessfully sought to reconquer Geneva. He gained (1601) the marquisate of Saluzzo in Piedmont from France in exchange for Bresse, Bugey, and Gex.

The Kingdom of Sicily

Charles Emmanuel I's successor, Victor Amadeus II, expanded his territories by advantageous alliances. In the War of the Spanish Succession he sided first with France, then with the forces of the Holy Roman emperor; by the peace of Utrecht (1713-14) he became king of Sicily and enlarged his Piedmontese territories. His cousin, Eugene of Savoy, headed the imperial forces in the war. Spain reconquered Sicily in 1718 but was forced by the Quadruple Alliance to cede Sardinia to Victor Amadeus in exchange for Sicily.

The Kingdom of Sardinia

After the acquisition of Sardinia, the political history of the dynasty became that of the kingdom of Sardinia (see Sardinia, kingdom of) and of Italy. Victor Amadeus II was succeeded by Charles Emmanuel III (reigned 1730-73), Victor Amadeus III (reigned 1773-96), and Charles Emmanuel IV, who lost all but the island of Sardinia to Napoleon I and abdicated (1802) in favor of his brother, Victor Emmanuel I. Restored to his possessions in 1814, Victor Emmanuel I abdicated in 1821, after the outbreak of a revolution in Piedmont. His brother and successor, Charles Felix, died without issue in 1831, and the cadet line of Savoy-Carignano, descended from a younger son of Charles Emmanuel I, came to the throne in the person of Charles Albert.

The Kingdom of Italy

In Charles Albert's reign the house of Savoy became the center of the Risorgimento, the movement that led to the unification of Italy under his son, Victor Emmanuel II. Savoy itself, however, was ceded to France in 1860. Humbert I, who succeeded (1878) Victor Emmanuel II as king of Italy, was assassinated in 1900. His son and successor, Victor Emmanuel III, also took the titles emperor of Ethiopia (1936) and king of Albania (1939); after the Italian armistice (1943) with the Allies in World War II he delegated (1944) his powers to his son, who briefly ruled (1946) as Humbert II from Victor Emmanuel's abdication until the establishment of the Italian republic, when the family went into exile. Male members of the family were barred from entering Italy from 1948 to 2002.

A younger son of Victor Emmanuel II, Amadeus, was given the title duke of Aosta; he was king of Spain from 1870 to 1873. His ducal title descended to Emmanuel Philibert, duke of Aosta.

Rye House Plot, 1683, conspiracy to assassinate Charles II of England and his brother James, duke of York (later James II), as they passed by Rumbold's Rye House in Hertfordshire on the road from Newmarket to London. However, the king did not make the journey on the expected day; the plot, an offshoot of earlier insurrection plots hatched by the 1st earl of Shaftesbury, was revealed. Although the actual conspirators were only minor figures, the great Whig leaders Lord William Russell and Algernon Sidney were executed on flimsy evidence of guilt by association.

Rupert House, village, W Que., Canada, on the Rupert River east of its mouth on James Bay. It was founded in 1668 as Charles Fort by the trader des Groseilliers, whose success there led to the incorporation of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670. Later called Fort Rupert, Rupert's House, Rupert House, or Rupert's River, the post was captured by the French in 1686 and alternately held by the French and British until the Peace of Utrecht (1713) restored it permanently to the Hudson's Bay Company. The Rupert House store was the Hudson's Bay Company's oldest trading post. The store was sold in 1987, along with the rest of the Hudson's Bay Company's Northern Stores division. The village is now known by its Cree name, Waskaganish.

Rocky Mountain House, town (1991 pop. 5,461), S central Alta., Canada, at the foot of the Rocky Mts. and the confluence of the North Saskatchewan and Clearwater rivers. Founded in 1799 as a fortified post of the North West Company in Blackfoot country and known as Blackfoot post, it was taken over (1821) and operated by the Hudson's Bay Company until 1875. It is now the gateway to a big-game hunting area.

Representatives, House of: see Congress of the United States.

Osborne House, a favorite residence of Queen Victoria, near East Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, S England. The queen died there in 1901. The state apartments are open to the public.

Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Lords, House of: see Parliament.

Lancaster, house of, royal family of England. The line was founded by the second son of Henry III, Edmund Crouchback, 1245-96, who was created earl of Lancaster in 1267. Earlier (1254) the prince had been made titular king of Sicily when the pope offered that crown to Henry III in order to keep Sicily and the Holy Roman Empire separated. However, the English barons refused financial support for the Sicilian wars, and the title was withdrawn (1258). Later Edmund fought for his brother, Edward I, in Wales and Gascony. His nickname "Crouchback," or crossed back, refers only to the fact that he went on crusade to Palestine in 1271 and, hence, was entitled to wear the cross. Edmund's son Thomas, earl of Lancaster, 1277?-1322, led the baronial opposition to his cousin Edward II. He was one of the lords ordainers and from 1314 to 1318 was virtual ruler of England. He tried unsuccessfully to drive the Despensers (see Despenser, Hugh le) from England, was defeated at the battle of Boroughbridge, and was beheaded for treason. Thomas's brother, Henry, earl of Lancaster, 1281?-1345, was chief adviser to the young Edward III in getting rid of the dominance of the queen mother, Isabella, and her paramour, Roger de Mortimer, 1st earl of March. His son, Henry, duke of Lancaster, 1299?-1361, was made duke in 1351 for his excellent service as a military commander in the early part of the Hundred Years War. When he died without male heirs, his daughter Blanche married the fourth son of Edward III, John of Gaunt, who inherited the Lancaster lands in her right, and was made duke of Lancaster in 1362. His son Henry deposed (1399) Richard II and ascended the throne as Henry IV. In order to appear legitimate, Henry devised the fiction that his ancestor Edmund Crouchback had actually been Henry III's elder son but had been disinherited because he was a hunchback. Later Lancastrian kings were Henry V and Henry VI. The latter was deposed by the house of York in the course of the long dynastic struggle known as the Wars of the Roses. However, through the Beauforts, the legitimated descendants of John of Gaunt and Catherine Swynford, the Lancastrian claims passed to the house of Tudor.

Lancaster House conference, series of three meetings (1960, 1962, 1963) in which Kenya's constitutional framework and independence were negotiated. In 1960 lack of agreement led Colonial Secretary McLeod to issue an interim constitution. In 1962 a framework for self-government was negotiated, and the 1963 conference in London finalized constitutional arrangements for Kenya's independence as a dominion. The constitution included entrenched provisions for citizenship, fundamental rights, and composition of the bicameral legislature.

Hull House: see Addams, Jane.

House, Edward Mandell, 1858-1938, American political figure, adviser to President Wilson, b. Houston. Active in Texas politics, he was (1882-92) campaign manager and adviser to Gov. James Hogg and his successors. He was known as "Colonel" House because of a Texas state office he held. He met Woodrow Wilson in 1911 and helped him secure (1912) the Democratic presidential nomination. After Wilson's election House became the President's closest adviser. He often served as the President's liaison with members of the administration and important men in the country. Greatly interested in foreign affairs, he was sent to Europe in 1914 in an attempt to prevent the outbreak of war and again in 1915 to propose a peace conference. After U.S. entry into World War I, he was U.S. representative at the conference for coordinating Allied activities. House also gathered data for the peace conference, was American delegate to negotiate the armistice, and was a member of the U.S. peace commission. He helped to draft the Treaty of Versailles and the Covenant of the League of Nations. More conciliatory and realistic than Wilson at the peace conference, his friendship with Wilson ended in 1919 because of conflict on the conduct of the negotiations. House and Charles Seymour edited the documentary What Really Happened at Paris (1921). Some of his papers, selected and edited by Seymour as The Intimate Papers of Colonel House (2 vol., 1926-28), are a valuable historical source.

House of Representatives: see Congress of the United States.

House of Lords: see Parliament.

House of Commons: see Parliament.

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a committee (1938-75) of the U.S. House of Representatives, created to investigate disloyalty and subversive organizations. Its first chairman, Martin Dies, set the pattern for its anti-Communist investigations. The committee's methods included pressure on witnesses to name former associates, vague and sweeping accusations against individuals, and the assumption of an individual's guilt because of association with a suspect organization. Witnesses who refused to answer were cited for contempt of Congress. A highly publicized 1947 investigation of the entertainment industry led to prison sentences for contempt for a group of recalcitrant witnesses who became known as the Hollywood Ten. In 1948, Whittaker Chambers made sensational accusations of Soviet espionage against former State Dept. official Alger Hiss; those hearings kept the committee in the headlines and provided the first national exposure for committee member Richard Nixon. Critics of the committee contended that it disregarded the civil liberties of its witnesses and that it consistently failed to fulfill its primary purpose of recommending new legislation. After 1950, Sen. Joseph McCarthy borrowed many of the committee's tactics for his own Senate investigations. The committee (renamed the House Internal Security Committee in 1969) was abolished in 1975.

Holland House, residence of the Holland family in Kensington, London, made famous in the first 40 years of the 19th cent. by the hospitality of Henry Fox, 3d Baron Holland, and his wife. Built in 1606, the mansion was bought in 1767 by Henry Fox, grandfather of the 3d baron. Holland House was an intellectual headquarters for English liberals and other distinguished men. Reformers such as Jeremy Bentham, Samuel Romilly, and Henry Brougham, scientists such as Michael Faraday and Humphry Davy, writers such as Thomas Moore, George Byron, and Sir Walter Scott, and statesmen such as William Melbourne, George Canning, and Henry Palmerston were frequent guests at the famous dinners at Holland House.

Hanover, house of, ruling dynasty of Hanover (see Hanover, province), which was descended from the Guelphs and which in 1714 acceded to the British throne in the person of George I. George was the grandson of James I's daughter Elizabeth, queen of Bohemia, and the son of Sophia, electress of Hanover, and his succession to the throne was based on the Act of Settlement (1701). His successors were George II, George III, George IV, and William IV. The Salic law barred women from the succession in Hanover, and when William IV's niece, Victoria, succeeded (1837) to the British throne, the crowns of Hanover and Great Britain were separated. Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, so her descendants belonged to the house of Wettin. Ernest Augustus, son of George III, became (1837) king of Hanover and was succeeded by George V, who lost the crown in 1866.

Commons, House of: see Parliament.

Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, 28 acres (11 hectares), NE Va., in Arlington National Cemetery; est. 1955. Formerly called the Custis-Lee Mansion, it is a memorial to the Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Arlington house was the home of Lee, inherited by his wife, the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis. It was abandoned by the Lees early in the Civil War and was later used as headquarters for the Union army. The estate was confiscated for nonpayment of taxes, and c.200 acres (80 hectares) were set aside for a national cemetery in 1864. See National Parks and Monuments, table.

Aragón, house of, family that ruled in Aragón, Catalonia, Majorca, Sicily, Naples, Sardinia, Athens, and other territories in the Middle Ages. It was descended from Ramiro I of Aragón (1035-63), natural son of Sancho III of Navarre. Under Ramiro's successors—Sancho I, Peter I, and Alfonso I—Navarre was temporarily (1076-1134) united with Aragón. During that period considerable territory was wrested from the Moors. Ramiro II (1134-37) was succeeded by his daughter, Petronilla, and her husband, Raymond Berengar IV, count of Barcelona. Aragón and Catalonia (see also Barcelona) remained united under their descendants—Alfonso II, Peter II, James I, Peter III, Alfonso III, James II, Alfonso IV, Peter IV, John I, and Martin; after a brief interregnum (1410-12) they passed to Martin's nephew, Ferdinand I, and from him to Alfonso V, John II, and Ferdinand II, who after his marriage with Isabella of Castile became joint king of Castile as Ferdinand V or Ferdinand the Catholic. His grandson, Charles I (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) succeeded him and merged the houses of Aragón and Castile with that of Hapsburg.

Through its merger of 1137 with the house of Barcelona, the house of Aragón had acquired various fiefs in S France, notably Roussillon, Provence, and Montpellier, and suzerainty over others. It lost most of these between 1213 and 1246, mainly because Peter II intervened in the Albigensian Crusade (see under Albigenses) and was defeated (1213) at Muret. In the same period (1229-38), however, James I won the Balearic Islands and the region of Valencia from the Moors. In 1282, Peter III became king of Sicily, and in the 14 cent., after a long struggle, Alfonso IV conquered Sardinia. The duchies of Athens and Neopatras were under the nominal rule of the family in the 14th cent., and in 1442 the kingdom of Naples (see Naples, kingdom of) was conquered by Alfonso V.

Only rarely were these possessions united under a single ruler; for the most part they were held by various branches of the house, often at war with each other as well as with other rulers in Spain. The kingdom of Majorca, with Roussillon and Cerdagne, was separate from 1276 to 1343; that of Sicily, from 1296 to 1409; and that of Naples, from 1458 to 1501. Even when united under one ruler as they were under Alfonso V, the various possessions retained their distinct institutions, which continued to be important in diminished and varying degrees after the union of the crowns of Aragón and Castile. See Navarre.

or social settlement or community centre

Neighbourhood social-welfare agency. The staff of a settlement house may sponsor clubs, classes, athletic teams, and interest groups; they may employ such specialists as vocational counselors and caseworkers. The settlement movement began with the founding of Toynbee Hall in London in 1884 by Samuel Augustus Barnett (1844–1913). It spread to the U.S. in the late 19th century with the establishment of such institutions as Chicago's Hull House (founded by Jane Addams). Many countries now have similar institutions. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, U.S. settlement houses were active among the masses of new immigrants and worked for reform legislation such as workers' compensation and child-labour laws.

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or pub

Establishment that serves alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, especially in Britain. Under English common law, inns and taverns were declared public houses responsible for the well-being of travelers. They were expected to receive all travelers in reasonable condition who were willing to pay for food, drink, and lodging. In Tudor England, certain innkeepers were obliged by royal act to maintain stables; others served as unofficial postmasters. The early public houses were identified by simple signs that featured creatures such as lions, dolphins, or swans. In the 18th century, the word Arms was added to many pub names to indicate that the establishment was under the protection of a noble family. Though British public houses were traditionally owned and operated by independent licensed proprietors, by the early 20th century many were owned or associated with brewery companies.

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Traditional communal dwelling of the Iroquois Indians until the 19th century. The longhouse was a rectangular box built out of poles, with doors at each end and saplings stretched over the top to form the roof, the whole structure being covered with bark. It was about 20 ft (6 m) wide and could be more than 200 ft (60 m) in length, depending on the number of families living in it. Down the middle of the house were fires, which were shared by families on either side. The term is also applied today to an Iroquois building designated as church and meeting hall, though its form is entirely different. Seealso pole construction.

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or English sparrow

One of the world's best-known and most abundant small birds (Passer domesticus, family Passeridae or Ploceidae). It lives in towns and on farms worldwide, having accompanied Europeans from its original home in Eurasia and northern Africa. Introduced into North America in 1852, it spread across the continent within a century. It is about 6 in. (15 cm) long and buffy-brown; the male has a black bib. House sparrows breed nearly year-round in warm regions. Seealso sparrow.

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Plant adapted for growing indoors, commonly a member of a species that flourishes naturally only in warm climates. Two factors contribute to the success of the huge number of species grown as houseplants: they must be easy to care for, and they must be able to tolerate the fairly low levels of light and humidity found in most homes. Houseplants are selected for their foliage or flowers or both. Aspects of a houseplant's environment that must be managed include light, temperature and humidity, soil, water, and nutrients.

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Common mouse species (Mus musculus, family Muridae), the mouse most often encountered in buildings. The house mouse has been distributed by humans from Eurasia to all inhabited areas of the world and usually seeks shelter and food in human dwellings. Brown or gray, it grows up to 8 in. (20 cm) long, including a 4-in. (10-cm) tail. It consumes almost anything edible, even sampling soap, paste, and glue. It matures quickly and is ready to mate two to three months after birth. In warm areas or heated buildings, it breeds throughout the year.

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or house cat

Domesticated carnivore (Felis catus) that retains many characteristics of the larger wild cats but differs in coat and size. Breeds are either shorthaired (e.g., Siamese) or longhaired (e.g., Persian). Domestic cats are usually white, black, yellow, or gray and sometimes have markings of a different colour. A pattern of dark stripes or swirls on a lighter background is called tabby. Males may reach lengths of 28 in. (71 cm), and females are usually about 20 in. (51 cm) long. Weights generally vary from 6 to 10 lb (2.5 to 4.5 kg), though nonpedigreed cats may weigh up to 28 lb (13 kg). The most closely related wild species are the North African wildcats (including Felix lybica). Valued for their mouse and rat hunting, which protected farmers' grain supplies, cats were being domesticated in ancient Egypt by 1500 BC. The Cat Fanciers' Association now recognizes about 37 breeds.

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Game of chance played with cards having a grid of numbered squares corresponding to numbered balls drawn at random. When a number on the card is drawn, the players cover that number (should they have it); the game is won by covering a certain number of squares in a row (vertically, horizontally, or diagonally). Cards are purchased and proceeds are placed into a common “pot”; winning cards are awarded a portion of the pot. Wildly popular in the mid 20th century, bingo has in recent decades suffered a decline in America but has increased in popularity in other parts of the world. The earliest name for bingo—lotto—was recorded in Britain in 1776; the game is sometimes called keno in the U.S.

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Younger branch of the Plantagenet dynasty, descended from Edward III's fifth son, Edmund of Langley (1341–1402), 1st duke of York. In the 15th century the Yorkists took the throne from the house of Lancaster; the Yorkist kings were Edward IV, Edward V, and Richard III. The Wars of the Roses between the two houses continued until Richard's death at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1453. The marriage of Henry VII, the first Tudor king, to the daughter of Edward IV, merged the house of York with the house of Tudor.

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Official residence of the U.S. president, in Washington, D.C. It has been the home of every president since John Adams. In 1791 James Hoban (1762–1831) won the commission to build the presidential residence with his plan for a Georgian mansion in the style of Andrea Palladio. The structure, to be built of gray sandstone, was to have more than 100 rooms. The British burned it in 1814, but it was rebuilt and enlarged under Hoban's direction. In the 1820s, Hoban added eastern and western terraces as well as a semicircular southern portico and a colonnaded northern portico. The later addition of the West Wing (1902) and East Wing (1942) provided additional office space. Theodore Roosevelt adopted “White House” as the building's official name in 1902. Its public areas are toured by about 1.5 million people every year.

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Historic dynasty of Europe and the ruling house of Italy (1861–1946). Its founder was Umberto I the Whitehanded (d. 1048?), who held the county of Savoy and areas east of the Rhône River and south of Lake Geneva. His medieval successors, including Amadeus VI, added territory in the western Alps where France, Italy, and Switzerland converge. In 1416 the house was raised to ducal status in the Holy Roman Empire, after which it declined until the late 16th century. Although under French domination in the 17th century, the house under Victor Amadeus II acquired territory in northeastern Italy and attained the royal h1, first of the kingdom of Sicily (1713), which he exchanged for Sardinia (1720). The house was powerful in the Risorgimento, and under the kings Victor Emmanuel I, Victor Emmanuel II, and Charles Albert it contributed to the 19th-century unification of Italy. It then lost its prominence, and the monarchs Umberto I and Victor Emmanuel III served mainly as figureheads until the vote for a republic in 1946 ended Savoy rule.

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(1683) In English history, an alleged Whig conspiracy to assassinate Charles II because of his pro-Catholic policies. The plot drew its name from Rye House at Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, near the road where Charles was supposed to be killed as he traveled from a horse meet. The king's unexpected early departure supposedly foiled the plot, which was later revealed by an informer. The facts remained cloudy, but the main plotters included the duke of Monmouth, Lord William Russell, Algernon Sidney (1622–83), and Sir Thomas Armstrong. The last three were tried, convicted of treason, and beheaded.

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Upper house of Britain's bicameral Parliament. From the 13th and 14th centuries it was the house of the aristocracy. Until 1999 its membership included clergy, hereditary peers, life peers (peers appointed by the prime minister since 1958), and the judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Britain's final court of appeal). Though it predates the House of Commons and dominated it for centuries, its power has gradually diminished. Its power to affect revenue bills was constrained by the Parliament Act of 1911, and in 1949 its power to delay by more than a year the enactment of any bill passed by the Commons was revoked. In 1999 the hereditary peers lost their right to sit in the House of Lords, though an interim reform retains their voice in a more limited fashion. The body's chief value has been to provide additional consideration to bills that may be not be well formulated.

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(born July 26, 1858, Houston, Texas, U.S.—died March 28, 1938, New York, N.Y.) U.S. diplomat. An independently wealthy businessman, he served as an adviser to Texas governors (1892–1904), one of whom gave him the honorary h1 of colonel. He was active in the presidential campaign of Woodrow Wilson, later becoming his adviser (1912–19). He was the president's chief liaison with the Allies during World War I, and he helped draft the Fourteen Points, which Wilson proposed as the basis for peace at the end of the war. He was a member of the U.S. delegation to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, and he worked closely with Wilson in drafting the covenant of the League of Nations.

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Popularly elected lower house of the bicameral British Parliament. Passage of legislation is its primary function. Because it alone has the power to levy taxes and allocate expenditures, it is Britain's chief legislative authority. It originated in the late 13th century, when landholders and other property owners began sending representatives to Parliament to present grievances and petitions to the king and to accept commitments to the payment of taxes. It was the less powerful house until 1911, when the Reform Bill of that year gave it the power to override the House of Lords. The party with the greatest representation in the Commons forms the government, and the prime minister chooses the cabinet from the party's members. There are 646 members, elected from single-member districts. Seealso Canadian Parliament; parliamentary democracy.

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(born July 26, 1858, Houston, Texas, U.S.—died March 28, 1938, New York, N.Y.) U.S. diplomat. An independently wealthy businessman, he served as an adviser to Texas governors (1892–1904), one of whom gave him the honorary h1 of colonel. He was active in the presidential campaign of Woodrow Wilson, later becoming his adviser (1912–19). He was the president's chief liaison with the Allies during World War I, and he helped draft the Fourteen Points, which Wilson proposed as the basis for peace at the end of the war. He was a member of the U.S. delegation to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, and he worked closely with Wilson in drafting the covenant of the League of Nations.

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