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mine, in warfare

(Encyclopedia)mine, in warfare, term formerly applied to a system of tunnels dug under an army fortification and ending in a chamber where either explosives were placed to be detonated at a chosen moment or the sup...

Alexander II, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Alexander II, 1818–81, czar of Russia (1855–81), son and successor of Nicholas I. He ascended the throne during the Crimean War (1853–56) and immediately set about negotiating a peace (see Paris...

W and Z particles

(Encyclopedia)W and Z particles, elementary particles that mediate, or carry, the fundamental force associated with weak interactions. The discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, in the...

Gad

(Encyclopedia)Gad, in the Bible, son of Jacob and Zilpah and eponymous founder of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Its allotment was half of Gilead; this was the land best suited to the pastoral life, which Gad, lik...

Nuristan

(Encyclopedia)Nuristan no͝orĭstănˈ [key] [Persian,=land of light or the enlightened], region on the southern slopes of the Hindu Kush, NE Afghanistan, bordered on the E by Pakistan. Formerly called Kafiristan [...

Homestead Act

(Encyclopedia)Homestead Act, 1862, passed by the U.S. Congress. It provided for the transfer of 160 acres (65 hectares) of unoccupied public land to each homesteader on payment of a nominal fee after five years of ...

antipodes, in geography

(Encyclopedia)antipodes [Gr.,=having feet opposite], people or places diametrically opposite on the globe. Thus antipodes must be separated by half the circumference of the earth (180°), and one must be as far nor...

Joshua, book of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Joshua jŏshˈo͞oə [key], book of the Bible. It is the first book of the Deuteronomic history (Joshua–2 Kings), in which the theological outlook of the Book of Deuteronomy is used to explain the f...

Wang An-shih

(Encyclopedia)Wang An-shih wäng än-shûr [key], 1021–86, Chinese Sung dynasty statesman. As a chief councilor (1069–74, 1075–76) he directed sweeping administrative and fiscal reforms that drew strong conse...

mir, former Russian peasant community

(Encyclopedia)mir mēr [key], former Russian peasant community. The mir, which antedated serfdom (16th cent.) in Russia, persisted in its primitive form until after the Russian Revolution of 1917. In a community of...