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Blades, Rubén

(Encyclopedia)Blades, Rubén ro͞obānˈ bläˈᵺās [key], 1948–, Panamanian singer, songwriter, band leader, and actor. He is a graduate (1972) of the Univ. of Panama law school and holds a masters degree (198...

World Trade Center

(Encyclopedia)World Trade Center, former building complex in lower Manhattan, New York City, consisting of seven buildings and a shopping concourse on a 16-acre (6.5-hectare) site; it was destroyed by a terrorist a...

magnetism

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Lines of induction around a single bar magnet and between opposite poles of different magnets magnetism, force of attraction or repulsion between various substances, especially those made of i...

moraine

(Encyclopedia)moraine mərānˈ [key], a formation composed of unsorted and unbedded rock and soil debris called till, which was deposited by a glacier. The till that falls on the sides of a valley glacier from the...

Luria, Isaac ben Solomon

(Encyclopedia)Luria or Loria, Isaac ben Solomon lo͝orˈēə, lôrˈ– [key], 1534–72, Jewish kabbalist, surnamed Ashkenazi, called Ari [lion] by his followers, b. Jerusalem. In his 20s he spent seven years in s...

green flash

(Encyclopedia)green flash or emerald flash, a refractive phenomenon of the atmosphere where the top edge of the setting (or, less frequently, rising) sun will momentarily turn emerald green. The green color lasts f...

geode

(Encyclopedia)geode jēˈōd [key], hollow, globular rock nodule ranging in diameter from 1 to 12 in. (2.54–30.5 cm) or more. Most geodes are partly filled with mineral matter; they have a thin layer of chalcedon...

foreign exchange

(Encyclopedia)foreign exchange, methods and instruments used to adjust the payment of debts between two nations that employ different currency systems. A nation's balance of payments has an important effect on the ...

Fowles, John

(Encyclopedia)Fowles, John, 1926–2005, English writer, b. Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, grad. Oxford, 1950. A complex, cerebral writer and a superb storyteller, Fowles was interested in manipulating the novel as a genre. ...

indulgence

(Encyclopedia)indulgence, in the Roman Catholic Church, the pardon of temporal punishment due for sin. It is to be distinguished from absolution and the forgiveness of guilt. The church grants indulgences out of th...