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pontifex maximus

(Encyclopedia)pontifex maximus pŏnˈtĭfĕks măkˈsĭməs [key], highest priest of Roman religion and official head of the college of pontifices. As the chief administrator of religious affairs he regulated the c...

Laban, Rudolf von

(Encyclopedia)Laban, Rudolf von fôn läbˈän [key], 1879–1958, Slovakian dancer, choreographer, and dance theorist. After studying in Paris and performing in N Africa, Germany, and Austria, he founded (1910) a ...

Tseng Kuo-fan

(Encyclopedia)Tseng Kuo-fan dzŭng gwô-fän [key], 1811–72, Chinese general and statesman of the Ch'ing dynasty. He organized (1853) the Hunan army, the first of the great regional armies that were raised to sup...

Reed, John

(Encyclopedia)Reed, John, 1887–1920, American journalist and radical leader, b. Portland, Oreg. After graduating from Harvard in 1910, he wrote articles for various publications and from 1913 was attached to the ...

Map, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Map or Mapes, Walter, c.1140–c.1210, English author, b. Wales. A favorite of Henry II, he traveled with the king and became archdeacon of Oxford. The one work indubitably his, De nugis curialium [co...

San Juan Islands

(Encyclopedia)San Juan Islands săn wän [key], archipelago of 172 islands constituting San Juan co., NW Wash., E of Vancouver Island. The islands were visited and named c.1790 by Spanish explorers. The islands wer...

Maldives

(Encyclopedia)Maldives mălˈdēvz, –dīvz [key], Dhivehi Dhivehi Raajje, officially Republic of Maldives, republic (2015 est. pop. 418,000), 115 sq mi (298 sq km), off the coast of S Asia in the N Indian Ocean. ...

Vestdijk, Simon

(Encyclopedia)Vestdijk, Simon sēˈmûn vĕstˈdāyk [key], 1898–1971, Dutch writer. His nearly 100 books include 38 novels, over 20 volumes of poetry, and works on astrology, religion, and music. One of his best...

Ruvuma

(Encyclopedia)Ruvuma ro͞ovo͞oˈmə [key], river, c.450 mi (724 km) long, rising in N Mozambique, near Lake Nyasa and flowing E to the Indian Ocean. It forms most of the Tanzania-Mozambique border. In its lower co...

Boutros-Ghali, Boutros

(Encyclopedia)Boutros-Ghali, Boutros bo͞oˈtrōs, gäˈlē [key], 1922–2016, Egyptian statesman, secretary-general of the United Nations (1992–96). Born into a politically connected Coptic Christian family, he...