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Gersonides

(Encyclopedia)Gersonides lēˈvī bĕn gûrˈshən [key], 1288–1344, Jewish philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, called also Ralbag, from the initials of his Hebrew name, b. Languedoc. He wrote scientific ...

Drummond, William

(Encyclopedia)Drummond, William, 1585–1649, Scottish poet. He was educated at Edinburgh and in France, retiring in 1610 to Hawthornden, where he spent his life as a gentleman of letters. His first volume of verse...

CS, chemical compound

(Encyclopedia)CS, chemical compound (orthochlorobenzalmalonitrile) used in riot control and, by the military, as a harassing agent. The compound is dispersed as an aerosol or as a finely divided powder. Exposure to...

Thorndike, Dame Sybil

(Encyclopedia)Thorndike, Dame Sybil (Agnes Sybil Thorndike), 1882–1976, English actress. Thorndike made her debut with the Ben Greet Players and toured the United States with them (1904–7). She worked with the ...

Palakkad

(Encyclopedia)Palakkad pälgôtˈ [key], town (2011 pop. 130,955), Kerala state, SW India. It commands the Palakkad, or Palghat, Gap, the major pass for road and rail through the Western Ghats, connecting the India...

Songhai

(Encyclopedia)Songhai or Songhay both: sŏngˈgīˈ [key], largest of the former empires in the western Sudan region of N Africa. The state was founded (c.700) by Berbers on the Middle Niger, in what is now central...

Ahmad Mirza

(Encyclopedia)Ahmad Mirza äkhmädˈ mērzäˈ [key], 1898–1930, shah of Persia (1909–25), son of Muhammad Ali. The last of the Qajar dynasty, he came to power as a result of a coup against his father. A regent...

Zia ul-Haq, Mohammad

(Encyclopedia)Zia ul-Haq, Mohammad, 1924–88, Pakistani military and political leader. Named general and chief of staff by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1976, he declared martial law in July, 1977, in response to agitati...

Ibn al-Arabi, Muhyi ad-Din Muhammad bin Ali al-Hatimi at-Tai

(Encyclopedia)Ibn al-Arabi or Ibn Arabi, Muhyi ad-Din Muhammad bin Ali al-Hatimi at-Tai ĭbˌən äl äräˈbē [key], 1165–1240, a Muslim Sufi mystic b. in Murcia, Spain. As a child in Seville, Ibn al-Arabi had ...

Selim III

(Encyclopedia)Selim III, 1761–1808, Ottoman sultan (1789–1807), nephew and successor of Abd al-Hamid I to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He suffered severe defeats in the second of the Russo-Turkish...