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Smith, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Joseph, 1805–44, American Mormon leader, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, b. Sharon, Vt. When he was a boy his family moved to Palmyra, N.Y., where he experienc...

Maidstone

(Encyclopedia)Maidstone mādˈstən [key], city (1991 pop. 86,067), Kent, SE England, on the Medway River. It is a market city with agricultural, paper, printing, quarrying, brewing, and engineering industries. The...

Correggio

(Encyclopedia)Correggio kərĕjˈō [key], c.1494–1534, Italian painter, whose real name was Antonio Allegri, called Correggio for his birthplace. He learned the rudiments of art from his uncle Lorenzo Allegri. H...

Sabbath

(Encyclopedia)Sabbath [Heb.,=repose], in Judaism, last day of the week (Saturday), observed as a rest day for the twenty-five hours commencing with sundown on Friday. In the biblical account of creation (Gen. 1) th...

German Catholics

(Encyclopedia)German Catholics, religious groups founded in 1844 by dissidents from the Roman Catholic Church. They were led by two excommunicated priests, Johann Czerski of Schneidemühl, Posen, and Johann Ronge o...

Young, Brigham

(Encyclopedia)Young, Brigham brĭgˈəm [key], 1801–77, American religious leader, early head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, b. Whitingham, Vt. Brigham Young was perhaps the greatest molder o...

Urgench , ancient city, present-day Turkmenistan

(Encyclopedia)Urgench o͝orgyĕnchˈ [key], ancient city of central Asia, on the site of present-day Kunya-Urgench (Köhne Ürgenç), in Turkmenistan. It lies c.85 mi (140 km) NW of modern Urganch, Uzbekistan. A ma...

Rosh ha-Shanah

(Encyclopedia)Rosh ha-Shanah hə-shäˈnə [key] [Heb.,=head of the year], the Jewish New Year, also known as the Feast of the Trumpets. It is observed on the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, occurring usual...

miracle

(Encyclopedia)miracle, preternatural occurrence that is viewed as the expression of a divine will. Its awe and wonder lie in the fact that the cause is hidden. The idea of the miracle occurs especially with the evo...

tallit

(Encyclopedia)tallit tälētˈ [key], in Judaism, four-cornered, fringed shawl worn by males during the morning prayers. It is donned before putting on the phylacteries, except on Yom Kippur when it is worn all thr...