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Valerian, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Valerian (Publius Licinius Valerianus) vəlērˈēən [key], d. after 260, Roman emperor (253–60). He held important posts, both civil and military, under the emperors Decius and Gallus. After the s...

Micah, book of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Micah mīˈkə [key], 6th of the books of the Minor Prophets of the Bible, containing the oracles of the prophet Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah whose career spanned the period c.750–c.700 b.c. The ...

Aryan

(Encyclopedia)Aryan ârˈēən [key], [Sanskrit,=noble], term formerly used to designate the Indo-European race or language family or its Indo-Iranian subgroup. Originally a group of nomadic tribes, the Aryans were...

ancestor worship

(Encyclopedia)ancestor worship, ritualized propitiation and invocation of dead kin. Ancestor worship is based on the belief that the spirits of the dead continue to dwell in the natural world and have the power to ...

George, Saint

(Encyclopedia)George, Saint, 4th cent.?, perhaps a soldier in the imperial army who died for the faith in Asia Minor. His life is cloaked in legends; Gibbon's identification of him with George of Cappadocia is fals...

Galen

(Encyclopedia)Galen gāˈlən [key], c.130–c.200, physician and writer, b. Pergamum, of Greek parents. After study in Greece and Asia Minor and at Alexandria, he returned to Pergamum, where he served as physician...

Iliescu, Ion

(Encyclopedia)Iliescu, Ion, 1930–, Romanian political leader, president of Romania (1990–96, 2000–2004). A member of the Communist party from 1953, he held a series of party posts before he was elected a memb...

Ibn Batuta

(Encyclopedia)Ibn Batuta ĭˈbən bäto͞oˈtä [key], 1304?–1378?, Muslim traveler, b. Tangier. No other medieval traveler is known to have journeyed so extensively. In 30 years (from c.1325) he made a series of...

Dirksen, Everett McKinley

(Encyclopedia)Dirksen, Everett McKinley dûrkˈsən [key], 1896–1969, American politician, b. Pekin, Ill. A veteran of World War I, he held minor offices in Pekin before serving in the U.S. House of Representativ...

Croker, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Croker, Richard, 1841–1922, American politician, head of Tammany Hall from 1886 to 1902, b. Co. Cork, Ireland. He became prominent as Democratic leader of New York City's East Side and as an aide of...