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Buckle, Henry Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Buckle, Henry Thomas, 1821–62, English historian. Contemptuous of the historical writing of his day, with its intense concern with politics, wars, and heroes, Buckle undertook the ambitious plan of ...

equinox

(Encyclopedia)equinox ēˈkwĭnŏks [key], either of two points on the celestial sphere where the ecliptic and the celestial equator intersect. The vernal equinox, also known as “the first point of Aries,” is t...

Lowry, Malcolm

(Encyclopedia)Lowry, Malcolm (Clarence Malcolm Lowry) louˈrē [key], 1909–57, English novelist, b. New Brighton, Wirral. Lowry is widely recognized as an important writer who effectively articulated the spiritua...

Knights of Labor

(Encyclopedia)Knights of Labor, American labor organization, started by Philadelphia tailors in 1869, led by Uriah S. Stephens. It became a body of national scope and importance in 1878 and grew more rapidly after ...

Yom Kippur

(Encyclopedia)Yom Kippur [Heb.,=day of atonement], in Judaism, the most sacred holy day, falling on the 10th day of the Jewish month of Tishri (usually late September or early October). It is a day of fasting and p...

Universalist Church of America

(Encyclopedia)Universalist Church of America, Protestant denomination originating in the 18th cent. and represented almost entirely in the United States. Universalism is the belief that it is God's purpose to save ...

Davis, Richard Harding

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Richard Harding, 1864–1916, American author and journalist, b. Philadelphia; son of Rebecca Harding Davis. After attending Lehigh and Johns Hopkins universities, he became a reporter in Phila...

English foxhound

(Encyclopedia)English foxhound, breed of medium-sized, swift hound perfected in England in the 17th and 18th cent. It stands from 21 to 25 in. (53.3–63.5 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 60 to 70 lb (27.2...

Goltzius, Hendrik

(Encyclopedia)Goltzius, Hendrik or Hendrick hĕnˈdrĭk gôltˈsēüs [key], 1558–1617, Dutch line engraver and painter; son of a stained-glass painter. He is said to have blended the naturalism of Northern Europ...

Nicholas, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Nicholas, Saint, patron of children and sailors, of Greece, Sicily, and Russia, and of many other places and persons. Little is known of him, but he is traditionally identified as a 4th-century bishop...