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Spenser, Edmund

(Encyclopedia)Spenser, Edmund, 1552?–1599, English poet, b. London. He was the friend of men eminent in literature and at court, including Gabriel Harvey, Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Robert Sidney,...

defibrillator

(Encyclopedia)defibrillator, device that delivers an electrical shock to the heart in order to stop certain forms of rapid heart rhythm disturbances (arrhythmias). The shock changes a fibrillation to an organized r...

Dunbar, William, Scottish poet

(Encyclopedia)Dunbar, William, c.1460–c.1520, Scottish poet. After attending the Univ. of St. Andrews he was attached for some time to the Franciscans, probably as a novice. By 1491 he seems to have been connecte...

Crashaw, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Crashaw, Richard krăshˈô [key], 1612?–1649, one of the English metaphysical poets. He was graduated from Cambridge in 1634 and remained there as a fellow at Peterhouse until the Puritan uprising,...

Crittenden Compromise

(Encyclopedia)Crittenden Compromise, in U.S. history, unsuccessful last-minute effort to avert the Civil War. It was proposed in Congress as a constitutional amendment in Dec., 1860, by Sen. John J. Crittenden of K...

corundum

(Encyclopedia)corundum kərŭnˈdəm [key], mineral, aluminum oxide, Al2O3. The clear varieties are used as gems and the opaque as abrasive materials. Corundum occurs in crystals of the hexagonal system and in mass...

chorea

(Encyclopedia)chorea kərēˈə, kō– [key] or St. Vitus's dance, acute disturbance of the central nervous system characterized by involuntary muscular movements of the face and extremities. The disease, known al...

Halicarnassus

(Encyclopedia)Halicarnassus hălˌĭkärnăˈsəs [key], ancient city of Caria, SW Asia Minor, on the Ceramic Gulf (now the Gulf of Kos) and on the site of the modern city of Bodrum, Turkey. Halicarnassus was Greek...

Nicaea

(Encyclopedia)Nicaea nīsēˈə [key], city of Bithnyia, N Asia Minor, built in the 4th cent. b.c. by Antigonus I as Antigonia and renamed Nicaea by Lysimachus for his wife. It flourished under the Romans. It was t...

Kishi, Nobusuke

(Encyclopedia)Kishi, Nobusuke nōbo͝osˈkā kēˈshē [key], 1896–1987, Japanese statesman; older brother of Eisaku Sato. The son of a minor official, he went to live with prosperous relatives and took their nam...