Dictionary of Military Terms

In the early 1800s magistrates in the Australian colonies were often frustrated by the language used by reoffending convicts to disguise their criminal activities and intensions. Convict clerk James Hardy Vaux came up with a useful idea: a dictionary of slang and other terms used by convicts. And so, in 1812, he compiled what was to be Australia's first published dictionary.

The constitution that establishes the institutional framework for American national government makes no mention of political parties. Yet for over two centuries, political parties have competed in encouraging, organizing, and directing political activity in the United States.