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Acosta, Joaquín

(Encyclopedia)Acosta, Joaquín hwäkēnˈ äkōˈstä [key], 1800–1852, Colombian historian and scientist. He served under Simón Bolívar in the revolution against Spanish rule and held various political positio...

Tønder

(Encyclopedia)Tønder töˈnər [key], Ger. Tondern, town (1992 pop. 8,019), Sønderjylland co., SW Denmark, near the German border. It has long been famous for its lace industry and also has breweries and meatpack...

Pyeongchang

(Encyclopedia)Pyeongchang, city (2011 est. pop. 43,000), NE South Korea, in the Taebaek Mtns. on the Pyeongchang river. Pyeongchang is the seat of Pyeongchang co., a mountainous farming region that has been develop...

Cerinthus

(Encyclopedia)Cerinthus sĭrĭnˈthəs [key], fl. c.a.d. 100?, Jewish-Christian religious leader, b. Ephesus. He held tenets influenced by Gnosticism and similar to those of the Ebionites. He taught that the Christ...

belief

(Encyclopedia)belief, in philosophy, commitment to something, involving intellectual assent. Philosophers have disagreed as to whether belief is active or passive; René Descartes held that it is a matter of will, ...

Zimri

(Encyclopedia)Zimri zĭmˈrī [key], in the Bible, king of Israel for a few days. He was one of Elah's generals; he killed the king and held the throne until Omri rebelled. ...

Lu Xun

(Encyclopedia)Lu Xun or Lu Hsün both: lo͞oˈshünˈ [key], 1881–1936, Chinese writer, pen name of Chou Shu-jen. In 1902, he traveled to Japan on a government scholarship, eventually enrolling at Sendai Medical ...

Democritus

(Encyclopedia)Democritus dĭmŏkˈrĭtəs [key], c.460–c.370 b.c., Greek philosopher of Abdera; pupil of Leucippus. His theory of the nature of the physical world was the most radical and scientific attempted up ...

Phelps, Michael Fred

(Encyclopedia)Phelps, Michael Fred, 1985–, American swimmer, b. Baltimore. One of the world's greatest competitive swimmers, Phelps became (2001) the youngest world record holder (in the 200-m butterfly) at 15 an...

New York Times Company v. Sullivan

(Encyclopedia)New York Times Company v. Sullivan, case decided in 1964 by the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1960, the Times ran a fundraising advertisement signed by civil-rights leaders that criticized, among other thing...