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Individual Retirement Account

(Encyclopedia)Individual Retirement Account (IRA), tax-sheltered retirement plan, originally created (1974) to assist individuals not covered by company pensions. Under the U.S. tax law of 1981, IRA provisions were...

black humor

(Encyclopedia)black humor, in literature, drama, and film, grotesque or morbid humor used to express the absurdity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world. Ordinary characters or situations are usu...

Brookings, Robert Somers

(Encyclopedia)Brookings, Robert Somers, 1850–1932, American businessman and philanthropist, b. Cecil co., Md. He earned a fortune in business in St. Louis, Mo., and retired in 1897 to devote himself to philanthro...

Transcendental Meditation

(Encyclopedia)Transcendental Meditation, service mark for a meditation technique and program founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and based on Vedic philosophy. Stressing natural meditation and the mental and physical ...

Van Halen, Eddie

(Encyclopedia)Van Halen, Eddie (Edward Lodewijk Van Halen), 1955–2020, American rock musician and song writer, b. Amsterdam, Netherlands; his family moved to California when he was young. He and brother Alex form...

Forester, C. S.

(Encyclopedia)Forester, C. S. (Cecil Scott Forester), 1899–1966, British novelist, b. Cairo, Egypt, educated in England. A prolific and popular author, C. S. Forester is best known for his novels of the royal nav...

Beit, Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Beit, Alfred bīt [key], 1853–1906, South African financier, b. Hamburg. He went to South Africa in 1875, grew rich from the development of diamond mines, and was a colleague and lieutenant of Cecil...

Beerbohm, Sir Max

(Encyclopedia)Beerbohm, Sir Max bērˈbōm [key], 1872–1956, English essayist, caricaturist, and parodist. He contributed to the famous Yellow Book while still an undergraduate at Oxford. In 1898 he succeeded G. ...

Googe, Barnabe

(Encyclopedia)Googe, Barnabe go͝oj, go͞oj [key], 1540–94, English poet and translator. In 1574 he was sent to Ireland as the representative of Sir William Cecil, Queen Elizabeth I's secretary of state. From 158...

Simpson Desert

(Encyclopedia)Simpson Desert, c.50,000 sq mi (130,000 sq km), barren region of central Australia, predominantly in the southeastern portion of the Northern Territory, extending S into Queensland and E into South Au...