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Merton, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Merton, Thomas, 1915–68, American religious writer and poet, b. France. He grew up in France, England, and the United States and studied at Cambridge and at Columbia (B.A., 1938; M.A., 1939). Conver...

Bahr-el-Ghazal

(Encyclopedia)Bahr-el-Ghazal bär-ĕl-gäzälˈ [key], region, NW South Sudan, divided into Western Bahr-el-Ghazal, Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal, Warrab, and Lakes states. The region takes its name from a river that flo...

Olmsted, Frederick Law

(Encyclopedia)Olmsted, Frederick Law, 1822–1903, American landscape architect and writer, b. Hartford, Conn. Although his Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England had appeared in 1852, Olmsted first attai...

Kusama, Yayoi

(Encyclopedia)Kusama, Yayoi, 1929–, Japanese artist. In childhood she began to experience hallucinations, often of repeated dots, visions that have strongly influenced the imagery in her paintings, collages, scul...

Khalid

(Encyclopedia)Khalid khäˈlēd [key] (Khalid ibn al-Walid), d. 642, Arab warrior. He assisted the Meccans in attacking (625) Muhammad and the inhabitants of Medina after the battle of Badr. Khalid and the Meccans ...

Abd ar-Rahman, sultan of Morocco

(Encyclopedia)Abd ar-Rahman, 1778–1859, sultan of Morocco (1822–59). He sought, unsuccessfully, to take advantage of the overthrow of Turkish rule in Algeria in order to extend his territory. Later he allied hi...

Treece, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Treece, Henry, 1912–66, English poet and novelist. He served as an intelligence officer in the Royal Air Force during World War II, after which he taught school for many years. He is noted chiefly f...

Thunberg, Greta

(Encyclopedia)Thunberg, Greta, 2003–, Swedish climate activist. She came to public notice in 2018 when she encouraged students to skip school on Fridays to protest societal inaction on climate change. Through soc...

Bar-Hebraeus, Gregorius

(Encyclopedia)Bar-Hebraeus, Gregorius bär-hēbrēˈəs [key], 1226–86, Syrian scholar, bishop of the Jacobite Church. Partly Jewish in ancestry, his original name was Abu-al-Faraj. His most celebrated work is a ...