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Ryti, Risto

(Encyclopedia)Ryti, Risto rēˈstō rüˈtē [key], 1889–1956, Finnish political leader. In 1919 he was elected to the Finnish diet. He later served as minister of finance (1921–24) and as governor of the Bank ...

Roberts, Owen Josephus

(Encyclopedia)Roberts, Owen Josephus, 1875–1955, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1930–45), b. Philadelphia. After receiving (1898) his law degree from the Univ. of Pennsylvania, he practiced law in...

Scott, Sir Walter

(Encyclopedia)Scott, Sir Walter, 1771–1832, Scottish novelist and poet, b. Edinburgh. He is considered the father of both the regional and the historical novel. Scott's narrative poems introduced a form of v...

Cubango

(Encyclopedia)Cubango ōkəvängˈgō [key], river, c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) long, rising in the highlands of central Angola, W central Africa, and flowing southeast, across the Caprivi Strip, Namibia, to the Okavango...

nitrogen mustard

(Encyclopedia)nitrogen mustard, any of various poisonous compounds originally developed for military use (see poison gas). Like mustard gas and lewisite, it is a vesicant (blistering agent). In the form of its crys...

uremia

(Encyclopedia)uremia yo͝orēˈmēə [key], condition resulting from advanced stages of kidney failure in which urea and other nitrogen-containing wastes are found in the blood. Uremia can be caused by NSAIDs (nons...

Progressive Conservative party

(Encyclopedia)Progressive Conservative party, former Canadian political party, formed in 1942 by the merger of the Progressive and Conservative parties. Beginning with the first Canadian prime minister, John A. Mac...

psychosis

(Encyclopedia)psychosis sīkōˈsĭs [key], in psychiatry, a broad category of mental disorder encompassing the most serious emotional disturbances, often rendering the individual incapable of staying in contact wi...

crater

(Encyclopedia)crater, circular, bowl-shaped depression on the earth's surface. (For a discussion of lunar craters, see moon.) Simple craters are bowl-shaped with a raised outer rim. Complex craters have a raised ce...

capitalism

(Encyclopedia)capitalism, economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, in which personal profit can be acquired through investment of capital and employment of labor. Capitalism is grounde...