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Union League Clubs

(Encyclopedia)Union League Clubs, in U.S. history, organizations formed throughout the North in the Civil War after the military defeats and Republican election losses of 1862. A convention at Cleveland (May, 1863)...

Austin, John Langshaw

(Encyclopedia)Austin, John Langshaw, 1911–60, British philosopher. A graduate of Oxford, he was a fellow of All Souls (1933–35) and Magdalen (1935–52) colleges before he became White's professor of moral phil...

voltaic cell

(Encyclopedia)voltaic cell, a simple device with which chemical energy is converted into electrical energy. Two dissimilar metals (e.g., copper and zinc) are immersed in an electrolyte (e.g., a dissolved sulfate). ...

Casal, Julián del

(Encyclopedia)Casal, Julián del ho͞olyänˈ dĕl käsälˈ [key], 1863–93, Cuban poet, b. Havana. A friend of Rubén Darío, Casal became a leader in modernismo. He was greatly influenced by the French Parnassi...

Wright, Jim

(Encyclopedia)Wright, Jim (James Claud Wright, Jr.), 1922–2015, U.S. congressman, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (1987–89), b. Fort Worth, Tex. Following service in the U.S. army during World War ...

Yakub I

(Encyclopedia)Yakub I yäko͝obˈ [key], 1160?–1199, ruler of Morocco (1184–99) and Moorish Spain. He was known as Yakub al-Mansur [the victorious] after his victory over Alfonso VIII of Castile at Alarcos (119...

Tarik ibn Ziyad

(Encyclopedia)Tarik ibn Ziyad täˈrĭk [key], fl. 711, Berber leader of the Muslim invaders of Spain. When the heirs of the Visigothic king, Witiza, requested help from the Moors of N Africa against the usurper Ro...

Suttner, Bertha (Gräfin Kinsky), Freifrau von

(Encyclopedia)Suttner, Bertha (Gräfin Kinsky), Freifrau von bĕrˈtä, grāfˈĭn kĭnsˈkē, frīˈfrou fən zo͝otˈnər [key], 1843–1914, Austrian novelist, known chiefly as an ardent pacifist. Her pacifist n...

Zimbalist, Efrem

(Encyclopedia)Zimbalist, Efrem ĕˈfrəm zĭmˈbəlĭst [key], 1889–1985, Russian-American violinist. Zimbalist was a pupil of Leopold Auer at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He made his debut in Berlin in 1907,...

beryl

(Encyclopedia)beryl bĕrˈĭl [key], mineral, a silicate of beryllium and aluminum, Be3Al2Si6O18, extremely hard, occurring in hexagonal crystals that may be of enormous size and are usually white, yellow, green, b...