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Rob Roy

(Encyclopedia)Rob Roy [Scottish Gaelic,=red Rob], 1671–1734, Scottish freebooter, whose real name was Robert MacGregor. He is remembered chiefly as he figures in Sir Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy (1818). Deprived ...

Brubeck, Dave

(Encyclopedia)Brubeck, Dave (David Warren Brubeck) bro͞oˈbĕk [key], 1920–2012, American pianist an...

business cycles

(Encyclopedia)business cycles, fluctuations in economic activity characterized by periods of rising and falling fiscal health. During a business cycle, an economy grows, reaches a peak, and then begins a downturn f...

Tauler, Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Tauler, Johannes yōhänˈəs touˈlər [key], c.1300–1361, German mystic. He was a Dominican. He met Meister Eckhart, either at Strasbourg or in Cologne, where he went to study, and he was one of E...

purslane

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Purslane, Portulaca oleraceae purslane, common name for some plants of the Portulaceae, a family of herbs and a few small shrubs, chiefly of the Americas. The portulacas or purslanes (genus Po...

decadents

(Encyclopedia)decadents, in literature, name loosely applied to those 19th-century, fin-de-siècle European authors who sought inspiration, both in their lives and in their writings, in aestheticism and in all the ...

Chrysler Building

(Encyclopedia)Chrysler Building, in midtown Manhattan, New York City, at Lexington Ave. between 42d and 43d St. The ultimate art deco-style skyscraper, it was commissioned by Walter P. Chrysler, designed by William...

Honecker, Erich

(Encyclopedia)Honecker, Erich āˈrĭkh hônˈĕkər [key], 1912–94, East German political leader. From a Communist family, Honecker was imprisoned by the Nazis for 10 years for party activities. After the war he...

Portsmouth, city, England

(Encyclopedia)Portsmouth, city and unitary authority (2011 pop. 205,056), S England, on Spithead Channel. The city includes Portsea (naval station), Southsea (residential district and resort), and the old town of P...

Boyle, Richard, 1st earl of Cork

(Encyclopedia)Boyle, Richard, 1st earl of Cork, 1566–1643, English settler in Ireland. He first went to Ireland in 1588 and in 1602 purchased for a small sum Sir Walter Raleigh's large landholdings in Cork, Water...