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Amram ben Scheschna

(Encyclopedia)Amram ben Scheschna gäˈōn [key], d. c.875, Hebrew scholar, head of the Jewish academy at Sura in Persia. He is chiefly known as the author of the Seder Rab Amram, a compilation of the order of pray...

Eratosthenes

(Encyclopedia)Eratosthenes ĕrətŏsˈthənēz [key], c.275–c.195 b.c., Greek scholar, b. Cyrene. A pupil of Callimachus in Athens, he became (c.240 b.c.) head of the library at Alexandria. Known for his versatil...

mermaid

(Encyclopedia)mermaid, in folklore, sea-dwelling creature commonly represented as having the head and body of a woman and a fishtail instead of legs. Belief in mermaids, and in their counterpart, mermen, has existe...

Lombardi, Vince

(Encyclopedia)Lombardi, Vince (Vincent Thomas Lombardi), 1913–70, American football coach, b. New York City. As a student at Fordham, he was a member of the famed “Seven Blocks of Granite” line. After great s...

Myers, Richard Bowman

(Encyclopedia)Myers, Richard Bowman, 1942–, American Air Force general, b. Kansas City, Mo. He studied at Kansas State Univ., graduating and joining the Air Force in 1965; he later attended Auburn Univ. (M.A., 19...

Paektu, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Paektu or Baekdu, Mount, volcanic peak, 9,003 ft (2,744 m) high, in the Changbai Mts. on the border between North Korea and China. The highest mountain in Korea, it rises from a basalt lava plateau th...

Palgrave, Sir Francis

(Encyclopedia)Palgrave, Sir Francis pălˈgrāv, pôlˈ– [key], 1788–1861, English historian. His antiquarian interests led him to edit with scrupulous accuracy and to publish a number of historical records, su...

Pelham, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Pelham, Henry pĕlˈəm [key], 1696–1754, British statesman; brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, duke of Newcastle. He entered Parliament in 1717 and served Sir Robert Walpole as secretary for war (172...

Maga, Hubert

(Encyclopedia)Maga, Hubert (Hubert Coutoucou Maga) übârˈ mäˈgä [key], 1916–2000, political leader in Dahomey (now Benin). A teacher, he became active in politics and was (1951–58) a representative in the ...

Mas i Gavarró, Artur

(Encyclopedia)Mas i Gavarró, Artur, 1956–, Catalonian nationalist leader, b. Barcelona, grad. Univ. of Barcelona. An economist, he was the head of the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC), a centrist Catala...