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benzene

(Encyclopedia)benzene bĕnˈzēn, bĕnzēnˈ [key], colorless, flammable, toxic liquid with a pleasant aromatic odor. It boils at 80.1℃ and solidifies at 5.5℃. Benzene is a hydrocarbon, with formula C6H6. The s...

totalitarianism

(Encyclopedia)totalitarianism tōtălˌĭtârˈēənĭzəm [key], a modern autocratic government in which the state involves itself in all facets of society, including the daily life of its citizens. A totalitarian...

Yeltsin, Boris Nikolayevich

(Encyclopedia)Yeltsin, Boris Nikolayevich bərēsˈ nyĭkəlīˈəvĭch yĕltˈsĭn [key], 1931–2007, Soviet and Russian politician, president of Russia (1991–99). Born in Yekaterinburg (then Sverdlovsk) and ed...

Confucianism

(Encyclopedia)Confucianism kənfyo͞oˈshənĭzəm [key], moral and religious system of China. Its origins go back to the Analects (see Chinese literature), the sayings attributed to Confucius, and to ancient comme...

song

(Encyclopedia)song, relatively brief, simple vocal composition, usually a setting of a poetic text, often strophic, for accompanied solo voice. The song literature of Western music embodies two broad classification...

East Timor

(Encyclopedia)East Timor –lĕshˈtā [key], Tetum Timor Lorosae, republic, officially Democratic Republic...

Prussia

(Encyclopedia)Prussia prŭshˈə [key], Ger. Preussen, former state, the largest and most important of the German states. Berlin was the capital. The chief member of the German Empire (1871–1918) and a state of t...

chemistry

(Encyclopedia)chemistry, branch of science concerned with the properties, composition, and structure of substances and the changes they undergo when they combine or react under specified conditions. Organic chemi...

Somalia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Somalia sōmäˈleə [key], officially Federal Republic of Somalia, country (2015 est. pop. 10,616,000), 246,200 sq mi (637,657 sq km), extreme E Africa. It is directly south of the Arabian pen...

Metternich, Clemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Fürst von

(Encyclopedia)Metternich, Clemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Fürst von klāˈmĕns vĕnˈtsəl nāˈpōmo͝ok lōˈtär fürst fən mĕtˈərnĭkh [key], 1773–1859, Austrian statesman and arbiter of post-Napoleonic ...