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Nag Hammadi

(Encyclopedia)Nag Hammadi näg häˈmädi [key], a town in Egypt near the ancient town of Chenoboskion, where, in 1945, a large cache of gnostic texts in the Coptic language was discovered. The Nag Hammadi manuscri...

Updike, John

(Encyclopedia)Updike, John, 1932–2009, American author, one of the nation's most distinguished 20th-century men of letters, b. Shillington, Pa., grad. Harvard, 1954. In his many novels and stories, written in a w...

Ginnie Mae

(Encyclopedia)Ginnie Mae: see under Federal National Mortgage Association. ...

PTA

(Encyclopedia)PTA or parent-teacher association: see parent education. ...

Boston Massacre

(Encyclopedia)Boston Massacre, 1770, pre-Revolutionary incident growing out of the resentment against the British troops sent to Boston to maintain order and to enforce the Townshend Acts. The troops, constantly to...

Hamilton College

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton College, at Clinton, N.Y.; coeducational; founded 1793 by Samuel Kirkland as Hamilton-Oneida Academy, chartered 1812 as Hamilton College. It was named for Alexander Hamilton. Originally a men...

Micronesia, Federated States of

(Encyclopedia)Micronesia, Federated States of, independent nation (2015 est. pop. 104,000), c.271 sq mi (702 sq km), an island group in the W Pacific Ocean. It comprises four states: Kosrae, Pohnpei (formerly Ponap...

luge

(Encyclopedia)luge lo͞ozh [key], a type of small sled on which one or two persons, lying face up, slide feet first down snowy hillsides or down steeply banked, curving, iced chutes similar to those used in bobsled...

Duceppe, Gilles

(Encyclopedia)Duceppe, Gilles zhēl düsĕpˈ [key], 1947–, French-Canadian separatist politician, b. Montreal. A union negotiator from 1977 to 1990 and a Quebec separtatist from 1967, Duceppe was a founding memb...

Erving, Julius

(Encyclopedia)Erving, Julius ûrˈvĭng [key], 1950–, American basketball player, b. Roosevelt, N.J., known as “Dr. J.” An excellent shooter, rebounder, and ball-handler, he played for the American Basketball...