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coronavirus

(Encyclopedia)coronavirus, any of a group (family Coronaviridae, subfamily Orthocoronavirinae) of enveloped single-stranded RNA viruses that have a crownlike or sunlike appearance under an electron microscope due t...

rape, in law

(Encyclopedia)rape, in law, the crime of sexual relations, often specifically sexual intercourse, without the consent of the victim, often through force or threat of violence. The victim is deemed legally incapable...

Fourteenth Amendment

(Encyclopedia)Fourteenth Amendment, addition to the U.S. Constitution, adopted 1868. The amendment comprises five sections. Section 2 provides for apportionment of membership in the House of Representatives on th...

Babbitt metal

(Encyclopedia)Babbitt metal, an antifriction metal first produced by Isaac Babbitt in 1839. In present-day usage the term is applied to a whole class of silver-white bearing metals, or “white metals.” These all...

Kawasaki disease

(Encyclopedia)Kawasaki disease or Kawasaki syndrome, acute illness characterized by inflammation of the blood vessels that primarily affects young children; it is more common in boys and children of Asian descent. ...

grandfather clause

(Encyclopedia)grandfather clause, provision in constitutions (adopted 1895–1910) of seven post–Reconstruction Southern states that exempted those persons who had been eligible to vote on Jan. 1, 1867, and their...

Gaius, Roman jurist

(Encyclopedia)Gaius gāˈəs, gīˈ– [key], fl. 2d cent., Roman jurist. He is known for the Institutes (repr., 2 vol., 1967; Vol. I is a translation of the text, Vol. II consists of commentaries), a legal textboo...

Doctors Without Borders

(Encyclopedia)Doctors Without Borders, Fr. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), international organization that provides emergency medical assistance to people suffering from a natural or societal disaster, such as an...

Alfaro, Flavio Eloy

(Encyclopedia)Alfaro, Flavio Eloy fläˈvyō āloiˈ älfäˈrō [key], 1867–1912, president of Ecuador (1897–1901, 1907–11). Regarded as a champion of liberalism, Alfaro introduced legal and economic reforms...

Evans, Luther Harris

(Encyclopedia)Evans, Luther Harris, 1902–81, American librarian and political scientist, b. Bastrop co., Tex. After teaching political science at several universities, he became director of the Historical Records...