If you said someone "went into the fertilizing business" instead of saying he died, you used this noun
euphemism
They're paired with "balances" as the way our 3 branches of government share power
checks
One definition of it is a region of the southern U.S. & Midwest noted for its religious fundamentalism
the Bible Belt
In 1899 this man successfully transmitted the first radio signal across the English Channel
Marconi
This enslaved man who sued for his freedom unsuccessfully was eventually freed but died a year later from tuberculosis
Dred Scott
If my daughter ever hosts the show, it won't be because of this, from the Latin for "nephew"; the girl is a natural!
nepotism
A resident of a congressman's district
a constituent

More than 100,000 vehicles & 28,000 pedestrians travel across it each day
the Brooklyn Bridge
The IBEW, short for Intl. Brotherhood of these, was organized in a new industry said to have a 50% mortality rate in some area
electrical workers
This composer's playing is preserved on a 1916 piano roll of "Maple Leaf Rag"
Scott Joplin
A term originating from Greek myth, it's an inordinate fascination with oneself
narcissism
Congress has many of these, including a "joint" one on taxation
a committee
Bugsy Siegel's sunglasses & an original "Godfather" script are on display at this place, a popular Las Vegas attraction
the Mob Museum
This U.S. race was first run in 1897 & won by John McDermott with a time of 2 hours, 55 min., 10 seconds to cover 24 1/2 miles
the Boston Marathon

Now a retired Navy captain, he set a record for longest space flight by an American, 340 days from March 2015 to March 2016
Scott Kelly
Holland Carter won a 2009 Pulitzer in this category "for his wide ranging reviews of art"
criticism
After talk of moving them to December, Iowa's first in the nation these were held January 3, 2012
caucuses
The Kennedy Space Center isn't actually located on this promontory, but adjacent to it
Cape Canaveral
An uprising against Spanish rule in these Asian islands in 1898 resulted in the short-lived Republic of Negros
the Philippines
Tim Scott of this state is the first African American popularly elected to both the House & Senate
South Carolina
A thing that belongs to an earlier time; we'll give you an "A" for effort if you get it
an anachronism
Discussion rooms adjacent to the House & Senate Chambers are called these, for a type of clothing
cloakrooms
This body of water forms part of the Texas-Oklahoma border before flowing through Arkansas & into Louisiana
the Red River
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This man's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" was first performed in Frankfurt in 1896 & conducted by the composer himself
Richard Strauss
In 1864 he didn't fuss but feathered a note to Ulysses S. Grant: "From the oldest to the ablest general in the world"
Winfield Scott