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Than Shwe

(Encyclopedia)Than Shwe thän shwā [key], 1933–, Burmese soldier and military dictator of Myanmar. He joined the army in 1953, attended training school, and became a commissioned officer. In 1963 he was named an...

Prim, Juan

(Encyclopedia)Prim, Juan hwän prēm [key], 1814–70, Spanish general and statesman. A Catalan officer, he fought for Isabella II against the Carlists and became one of the chief factional leaders in the fierce po...

Filene, Edward Albert

(Encyclopedia)Filene, Edward Albert fīlēnˈ, fĭl– [key], 1860–1937, American merchant, b. Salem, Mass. As president of the Boston firm of William Filene's Sons he pioneered in scientific and ingenious method...

McKay, Claude

(Encyclopedia)McKay, Claude məkāˈ [key], 1889–1948, American poet and novelist, b. Jamaica as Festus Claudius McKay, studied at Tuskegee and the Univ. of Kansas. A major figure of the Harlem Renaissance, McKay...

McLean, John

(Encyclopedia)McLean, John məklānˈ [key], 1785–1861, American political figure and jurist, b. Morris co., N.J. His family moved to Ohio, where he studied law, was admitted (1807) to the bar, and practiced in L...

Walsh, Thomas James

(Encyclopedia)Walsh, Thomas James wôlsh [key], 1859–1933, American political leader, b. Two Rivers, Wis. A lawyer, he was Democratic Senator from Montana from 1913 until his death. Walsh helped write the Eightee...

Simpson-Miller, Portia

(Encyclopedia)Simpson-Miller, Portia, 1945–, Jamaican political leader, prime minister of Jamaica (2006–7, 2012–16). A member of the People's National party (PNP), she was first elected to parliament in 1976....

Messiah

(Encyclopedia)Messiah məsīˈəs [key] [Heb.,=anointed], in Judaism, a man who would be sent by God to restore Israel and reign righteously for all humanity. The idea developed among the Jews especially in their a...

Heine, Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Heine, Heinrich hīnˈrĭkh hīˈnə [key], 1797–1856, German poet, b. Düsseldorf, of a Jewish family. One of the greatest of German lyric poets, he had a varied career. After failing in business h...

McKean, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)McKean, Thomas məkānˈ, –kēnˈ [key], 1734–1817, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. New London, Pa. He settled at New Castle, Del., and b...