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Assad, Bashar al-

(Encyclopedia)Assad, Bashar al- bäshärˈ äl-äsˈsäd [key], 1965–, Syrian political leader, son of Hafez al-Assad. A medical doctor, he left Syria (1992) for an ophthamology residency i...

Edmonton

(Encyclopedia)Edmonton ĕdˈməntən [key], city, provincial capital, central Alta., Canada, on the North S...

Paz Estenssoro, Victor

(Encyclopedia)Paz Estenssoro, Victor vēktōrˈ päs āstānsōˈrō [key], 1907–2001, president of Bolivia (1952–56, 1960–64, 1985–89). An attorney and economist born into a land-owning family, he was a fo...

Castro, Raúl

(Encyclopedia)Castro, Raúl (Raúl Castro Ruz) käsˈtrō [key], 1931–, Cuban revolutionary and government official, younger brother of Fidel Castro. A loyal supporter of his brother and a Communist, Raúl Castr...

zaibatsu

(Encyclopedia)zaibatsu zīˈbätso͞o [key] [Jap.,=money clique], the great family-controlled banking and industrial combines of modern Japan. The leading zaibatsu (called keiretsu after World War II) are Mitsui, M...

Kuhn, Thomas Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Kuhn, Thomas Samuel, 1922–96, American philosopher and historian of science, b. Cincinnati, Ohio. He trained as a physicist at Harvard (Ph.D. 1949), where he taught the history of science from 1948 ...

Maxim

(Encyclopedia)Maxim măkˈsĭm [key], name of a family of inventors and munition makers. Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, 1840–1916, was born near Sangerville, Maine. After launching on a career of inventing, he moved to...

Khorana, Har Gobind

(Encyclopedia)Khorana, Har Gobind, 1922–2011, American biochemist, b. Raipur (now in Pakistan), Ph.D. Univ. of Liverpool, 1948. He became a U.S. citizen in 1966, and was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute...

Nantucket

(Encyclopedia)Nantucket năntŭkˈĭt [key], island, c.14 mi (23 km) long, from 3 to 6 mi (4.8–9.6 km) wide, SE Mass., lying c.25 mi (40 km) S of Cape Cod, from which it is separated by Nantucket Sound. Muskeget ...

Hancock, John

(Encyclopedia)Hancock, John, 1737–93, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Braintree, Mass. From an uncle he inherited Boston's leading mercantile firm, and n...