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Keneally, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Keneally, Thomas kənēˈlē [key], 1935–, Australian novelist, b. Sydney. For a time a student of religion, and later of law, Keneally has ranged over a wide spectrum of subjects in his many novels...

spiritism

(Encyclopedia)spiritism or spiritualism, belief that the human personality continues to exist after death and can communicate with the living through the agency of a medium or psychic. The advocates of spiritism ar...

Calvinistic Methodist Church

(Encyclopedia)Calvinistic Methodist Church, Protestant Christian denomination, closely allied to Presbyterianism. It originated in Wales (1735–36) with the evangelistic preaching of Howell Harris, Daniel Rowlands...

Claude Lorrain

(Encyclopedia)Claude Lorrain zhəlāˈ [key], 1600–1682, French painter, b. Lorraine. Claude was the foremost landscape painter of his time. In Rome at about 12 years of age he was employed as a pastry cook for t...

Erie Railroad

(Encyclopedia)Erie Railroad, rail transportation line designed to connect the mouth of the Hudson River with the Great Lakes region. The New York and Erie RR Company was enfranchised and incorporated in 1832, and c...

insanity

(Encyclopedia)insanity, mental disorder of such severity as to render its victim incapable of managing his affairs or of conforming to social standards. Today, the term insanity is used chiefly in criminal law, to ...

Nebuchadnezzar

(Encyclopedia)Nebuchadnezzar nĕbˌəkədnĕzˈər [key], d. 562 b.c., king of Babylonia (c.605–562 b.c.), son and successor of Nabopolassar. In his father's reign he was sent to oppose the Egyptians, who were oc...

Lumet, Sidney

(Encyclopedia)Lumet, Sidney lo͞o-mĕtˈ [key], 1924–2011, one of the great American film directors of the 20th cent., b. Philadelphia. A child actor in New York's Yiddish radio and theater and (1935–41) on Bro...

Leakey, Richard Erskine Frere

(Encyclopedia)Leakey, Richard Erskine Frere frĭr [key], 1944–2022, Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist, and ...

Johnson, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Sir William, 1715–74, British colonial leader in America, b. Co. Meath, Ireland. He settled (1738) in the Mohawk valley, became a merchant, and gained great power among the Mohawk and other...