(Encyclopedia) Faisal bin Abd al-Aziz al-SaudFaisal bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saudĭˈbən abdäl äzēzˈ ĭˈbən sä&oomacr;dˈ fīˈsäl [key], 1905–75, king of Saudi Arabia (1964–75), son of Ibn Saud, brother of…
(Encyclopedia) Baeck, LeoBaeck, Leolāˈō bĕk [key], 1873–1956, German rabbi and scholar. He studied at the conservative Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau and then at the liberal Hochschule für…
(Encyclopedia) Babylonian captivity, in the history of Israel, the period from the fall of Jerusalem (586 b.c.) to the reconstruction in Palestine of a new Jewish state (after 538 b.c.). After the…
(Encyclopedia) Thomas, Helen Amelia, 1920–2013, American journalist, b. Winchester, Ky., grad Wayne State Univ. (B.A., 1942). The daughter of Lebanese immigrants, she was a pioneering woman…
(Encyclopedia) PurimPurimp&oomacr;ˈrĭm [key] [Heb.,=lots], Jewish festival celebrated on the 14th of Adar, the twelfth month in the Jewish calendar (Feb.–March). During leap years it is…
There are images that will stay with us forever. From FDR notifying the world that the U.S. had entered WWII, to Obama's trademark fist bump at the Democratic National Convention, these scenes…
Below is the Protestant canon of the Bible (New Revised Standard Version). The Roman Catholic canon also includes the Deuterocanonical books as part of the Old Testament (these are considered…
(Encyclopedia) Nasser, Gamal AbdalNasser, Gamal Abdalgəmälˈ ăbˈdəl näˈsər [key], 1918–70, Egyptian army officer and political leader, first president of the republic of Egypt (1956–70). A…
(Encyclopedia) Edison, Thomas Alva, 1847–1931, American inventor, b. Milan, Ohio. A genius in the practical application of scientific principles, Edison was one of the greatest and most productive…
(Encyclopedia) Arabs, name originally applied to the Semitic peoples of the Arabian Peninsula. It now refers to those persons whose primary language is Arabic. They constitute most of the population…