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Hughes, Charles Evans

(Encyclopedia)Hughes, Charles Evans hyo͞oz [key], 1862–1948, American statesman and jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1910–16), U.S. secretary of state (1921–25), and 11th chief justice of...

Leo IV, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Leo IV (Leo the Khazar), d. 780, Byzantine emperor (775–80), son and successor of Constantine V. He owed his nickname to his mother, a Khazar princess. Leo tempered the iconoclastic excesses of his ...

art deco

(Encyclopedia)art deco är môdĕrnˈ, ärt [key], term that designates a style of design that originated in French luxury goods shortly before World War I and became ubiquitously and internationally popular during...

Moussorgsky, Modest Petrovich

(Encyclopedia)Moussorgsky, Modest Petrovich mədyĕstˈ pĕtrôˈvĭch mo͞osôrgˈskē [key], 1839–81, Russian composer. His name is also transliterated as Mussorgsky and Musorgsky. He was one of the first to pr...

insanity

(Encyclopedia)insanity, mental disorder of such severity as to render its victim incapable of managing his affairs or of conforming to social standards. Today, the term insanity is used chiefly in criminal law, to ...

Debussy, Claude Achille

(Encyclopedia)Debussy, Claude Achille klôd äshēlˈ dəbüsēˈ [key], 1862–1918, French composer, exponent of musical impressionism. He studied for 11 years at the Paris Conservatory, receiving its Grand Prix ...

Mao Zedong

(Encyclopedia)Mao Zedong or Mao Tse-tung mou dzŭ-do͝ong [key], 1893–1976, founder of the People's Republic of China. Mao was one of the most prominent Communist theoreticians and his ideas on revolutionary stru...

Exeter Book

(Encyclopedia)Exeter Book, manuscript volume of Old English religious and secular poetry, of various dates of composition, compiled c.975 and given to Exeter Cathedral by Bishop Leofric (d. 1072). See edition by G...

Gombert, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Gombert, Nicolas nēkôläˈ gôNbĕrˈ [key], c.1500–c.1560, Flemish composer. Gombert was the greatest follower of Josquin des Prés. He served at the court of Emperor Charles V. His sacred works ...

Carter, Nick

(Encyclopedia)Carter, Nick, fictional detective character in dime novels said to have been created by J. R. Coryell in the 1880s. The firm of Street & Smith, New York City, published over 1,000 stories about Ni...