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gens

(Encyclopedia)gens jĕnz [key], ancient Roman kinship group. It was the counterpart of what is known in other societies as a patrilineal clan or sib, and the word has been used in social science as a generic term f...

Gabor, Dennis

(Encyclopedia)Gabor, Dennis, 1900–1979, Hungarian-born British physicist, Ph.D. Berlin Institute of Technology 1927. Gabor was a researcher with the Thomson-Houston Company, England, from 1934 to 1949 and a profe...

Garland, Hamlin

(Encyclopedia)Garland, Hamlin, 1860–1940, American author, b. near West Salem, Wis. He grew up in the Middle Western farmlands, the region he later wrote about in verse, stories, and autobiography. His tales, col...

John V, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)John V (John the Magnanimous), 1689–1750, king of Portugal (1706–50), son and successor of Peter II. Before his accession the Methuen Treaty (1703) with England had brought Portugal into the War o...

New Sweden

(Encyclopedia)New Sweden, Swedish colony (1638–55), on the Delaware River; included parts of what are now Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. With the support of Swedish statesman Axel Oxenstierna, Admiral Kl...

Kosciuszko, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Kosciuszko, Mount kŏzēŭˈskō, kŏsho͝oshˈkō [key], 7,310 ft (2,228 m) high, SE New South Wales, Australia, in the Australian Alps; highest peak on the continent of Australia. Located in Koscius...

paraldehyde

(Encyclopedia)paraldehyde pârălˈdəhīdˌ [key], nervous system depressant similar to alcohol in its effects and used as a sedative. A colorless flammable liquid with a disagreeable odor, paraldehyde produces sl...

Azuela, Mariano

(Encyclopedia)Azuela, Mariano märyäˈnō äswāˈlä [key], 1873–1952, Mexican novelist. Azuela began his medical practice in 1899, writing short stories and novels in his spare time. In 1915 he joined Francisc...

Robinson, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Robinson, Bill, 1878–1949, African-American tap dancer popularly known as “Bojangles,” b. Richmond, Va., as Luther Robinson. An influential virtuoso tap dancer, he was a tap innovator and repute...

Benedetti, Mario

(Encyclopedia)Benedetti, Mario, 1920–2009, Uruguayan writer, one of Latin America's most popular, influential, and prolific authors. The son of Italian immigrants, he grew up and was educated in Montevideo. Bened...