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O'Brian, Patrick

(Encyclopedia)O'Brian, Patrick, 1914–2000, British novelist, b. near London as Richard Patrick Russ. He changed his name in 1945 and after World War II settled in France. O'Brian's first novel, Caesar (1930), wri...

learning disabilities

(Encyclopedia)learning disabilities, in education, any of various disorders involved in understanding or using spoken or written language, including difficulties in listening, thinking, talking, reading, writing, s...

Buthelezi, Mangosuthu Gatsha

(Encyclopedia)Buthelezi, Mangosuthu Gatsha (Ashpenaz Nathan Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi) äshˈpĕnäzˌ, mängˌgōso͞oˈto͞o gätˈshä bo͞otəlāˈzē [key], 1928–, South African political leader. A Zulu ch...

spiritism

(Encyclopedia)spiritism or spiritualism, belief that the human personality continues to exist after death and can communicate with the living through the agency of a medium or psychic. The advocates of spiritism ar...

guided missile

(Encyclopedia)guided missile, self-propelled, unmanned space or air vehicle carrying an explosive warhead. Its path can be adjusted during flight, either by automatic self-contained controls or remote human control...

French Revolutionary Wars

(Encyclopedia)French Revolutionary Wars, wars occurring in the era of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleonic era, the decade of 1792–1802. The wars began as an effort to defend the Revolution a...

Coltrane, John

(Encyclopedia)Coltrane, John kōltrānˈ, kōlˈtrān [key], 1926–67, American jazz musician, b. Hamlet, N.C. He began ...

Francis Xavier, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Francis Xavier, Saint, 1506–52, Basque Jesuit missionary, called the Apostle to the Indies, b. Spanish Navarre, of noble parents. He studied in Paris (1525–34), where he became an associate of St....

hajj

(Encyclopedia)hajj häj [key], the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, one of the five basic requirements (arkan or “pillars”) of Islam. Its annual observance corresponds to the major holy day id al-adha, itself...

moose, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)moose, largest member of the deer family, genus Alces, found in the northern parts of Eurasia and North America. The Eurasian species, A. alces, is known in Europe as the elk, a name which in North Am...