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Pentagon Papers

(Encyclopedia)Pentagon Papers, government study of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in June, 1967, the 47-volume, top secret study covered the period from ...

Passover

(Encyclopedia)Passover, in Judaism, one of the most important and elaborate of religious festivals. Its celebration begins on the evening of the 14th of Nisan (first month of the religious calendar, corresponding t...

Larkin, Philip

(Encyclopedia)Larkin, Philip, 1922–85, English poet. He graduated from St. John's College, Oxford (B.A., 1943; M.A., 1947) and was for many years librarian at the Univ. of Hull. With an eye for the ordinary and a...

Lerdo de Tejada, Miguel

(Encyclopedia)Lerdo de Tejada, Miguel mēgĕlˈ lĕrˈᵺō dā tāhäˈᵺä [key], d. 1861, Mexican liberal statesman, a leader of the Revolution of Ayutla, cabinet member under Juan Álvarez. As minister under C...

poison ivy

(Encyclopedia)poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac, woody vines and trailing or erect shrubs of the family Anacardiaceae (sumac family), native to North America. They are sometimes considered as several specie...

United States Naval Observatory

(Encyclopedia)United States Naval Observatory, a federal astronomical observatory, located in Washington, D. C. It evolved from the Navy's oldest scientific institution, the Depot of Charts and Instruments, founded...

Urartu

(Encyclopedia)Urartu o͞orärˈto͞o [key], ancient kingdom of Armenia and N Mesopotamia, centered about Lake Van in present-day E Turkey. It was the biblical Ararat. Urartu flourished from the 13th cent. to the 7t...

bedbug

(Encyclopedia)bedbug, any of the small, blood-sucking bugs of the family Cimicidae, which includes about 30 species distributed throughout the world. Bedbugs are flat-bodied, oval, reddish brown, and about 1⁄4 in...

Rothschild, Nathan Meyer

(Encyclopedia)Rothschild, Nathan Meyer, 1777–1836, British banker, b. Frankfurt, Germany; of the famous Rothschild family. He went to England in 1797, was naturalized in 1804, and opened a business house in Londo...

Richardson, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Richardson, Samuel, 1689–1761, English novelist, b. Derbyshire. When he was 50 and a prosperous printer, Richardson was asked to compose a guide to letter writing. The idea of introducing a central ...