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Birney, James Gillespie

(Encyclopedia)Birney, James Gillespie bûrˈnē [key], 1792–1857, American abolitionist, b. Danville, Ky. He practiced law at Danville from 1814 to 1818, before he moved to Alabama, where he served one term in th...

Euripides

(Encyclopedia)Euripides yo͝orĭpˈĭdēz [key], 480 or 485–406 b.c., Greek tragic dramatist, ranking with Aeschylus and Sophocles. Born in Attica, he lived in Athens most of his life, though he spent much time o...

state of emergency

(Encyclopedia)state of emergency, situation in which a government or a government body is empowered to act with enhanced powers in order to respond to a crisis. The enhanced or emergency powers, and in many cases i...

beach

(Encyclopedia)beach, a gently sloping zone where deposits of unconsolidated sediments are subject to wave action at the shore of an ocean or lake. Most of the sediment making up a beach is supplied by rivers or by ...

Lancaster, Burt

(Encyclopedia)Lancaster, Burt (Burton Stephen Lancaster), 1913–94, American film actor, b. New York City. A superb athlete, he began his career as an acrobat. Best known for his roles as a cerebral tough guy, he ...

Lie, Trygve Halvdan

(Encyclopedia)Lie, Trygve Halvdan trügˈvə hälvˈdän lē [key], 1896–1968, Norwegian statesman, first secretary-general of the United Nations. A lawyer and Labor party leader, he was Norwegian minister of jus...

Manila hemp

(Encyclopedia)Manila hemp, the most important of the cordage fibers. It is obtained chiefly from the Manila hemp plant (Musa textilis) of the family Musaceae (banana family). It is grown mainly in its native Philip...

Marsh, George Perkins

(Encyclopedia)Marsh, George Perkins, 1801–82, American diplomat and scholar, b. Woodstock, Vt., grad. Dartmouth (1820). He was admitted to the bar in 1825 and began practicing law in Burlington, Vt. A member of t...

Muhammad, Benjamin Franklin Chavis

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad, Benjamin Franklin Chavis, 1948–, African-American civil-rights and religious leader, b. Oxford, N.C., as Benjamin Franklin Chavis, Jr. An activist from boyhood, he was a youth coordinator ...

Habash, George

(Encyclopedia)Habash, George, 1925?–2008, Palestinian guerrilla leader. When Israel was established (1948), he fled to Lebanon, where he attended the American Univ. of Beirut (M.D., 1951). He practiced medicine i...