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Kabila, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Kabila, Joseph käbēˈlä [key], 1971–, Congolese political leader, eldest son of Laurent Kabila. He was educated in Tanzania while his father was in exile there, and after his father became presid...

Piccard, Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Piccard, Auguste ōgüstˈ pēkärˈ [key], 1884–1962, Swiss physicist, b. Basel. He became a professor at the Univ. of Brussels in 1922. He and his twin brother Jean Felix (d. 1963) are known for t...

Rathenau, Walther

(Encyclopedia)Rathenau, Walther välˈtər räˈtənou [key], 1867–1922, German industrialist, social theorist, and statesman. Son of Emil Rathenau (1838–1915), founder of the German public utilities company Al...

Ruskin, John

(Encyclopedia)Ruskin, John, 1819–1900, English critic and social theorist. During the mid-19th cent. Ruskin was the virtual dictator of artistic opinion in England, but Ruskin's reputation declined after his deat...

Rice, Condoleezza

(Encyclopedia)Rice, Condoleezza, 1954–, U.S. government official and educator, b. Birmingham, Ala. A political scientist who has specialized in Russian and E European studies, Rice has been a professor at Stanfor...

aspirin

(Encyclopedia)aspirin, acetyl derivative of salicylic acid (see salicylate) that is used to lower fever, relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and thin the blood. Common conditions treated with aspirin include headach...

Rasputin, Grigori Yefimovich

(Encyclopedia)Rasputin, Grigori Yefimovich răspyo͞oˈtĭn, Rus. grĭgôˈrē yĭfēˈməvĭch rəspo͞oˈtyĭn [key], 1869–1916, Russian holy man and courtier, a notorious figure at the court of Czar Nicholas I...

Mann, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Mann, Thomas tōˈmäs män [key], 1875–1955, German novelist and essayist, the outstanding German novelist of the 20th cent., b. Lübeck; brother of Heinrich Mann. A writer of great intellectual br...

Sulla, Lucius Cornelius

(Encyclopedia)Sulla, Lucius Cornelius lo͞oˈshəs kôrnēˈlyəs sŭlˈə [key], 138 b.c.–78 b.c., Roman general. At the height of his career he assumed the name Felix. He served under Marius in Africa and becam...

Pius II

(Encyclopedia)Pius II pīˈəs [key], 1405–64, pope (1458–64), an Italian named Enea Silvio de' Piccolomini (often in Latin, Aeneas Silvius), renamed Pienza after him, b. Corsigniano; successor of Calixtus III....