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rood

(Encyclopedia)rood ro͞od [key], crucifix mounted above the entrance to the chancel and flanked by large figures of the Virgin and St. John, an almost invariable feature in the 14th- and 15th-century European churc...

Pearson, Drew

(Encyclopedia)Pearson, Drew, 1897–1969, American journalist and radio commentator, b. Evanston, Ill. He traveled around the world as a correspondent before joining the Baltimore Sun in 1926. Pearson gained nation...

Stamp Act

(Encyclopedia)Stamp Act, 1765, revenue law passed by the British Parliament during the ministry of George Grenville. The first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies, it required that all newspapers, pamp...

Kalidasa

(Encyclopedia)Kalidasa käˌlĭdäˈsə [key], fl. 5th cent.?, Indian dramatist and poet. He is regarded as the greatest figure in classical Sanskrit literature. Except that he was retained by the Gupta court, no f...

verdict

(Encyclopedia)verdict, in law, official decision of a jury respecting questions of fact that the judge has laid before it. In the United States, verdicts must be unanimous in federal courts; majority verdicts are c...

Teamsters Union

(Encyclopedia)Teamsters Union, U.S. labor union formed in 1903 by the amalgamation of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union. Its full name is the International Brotherhood of Teamste...

Leyner, Mark

(Encyclopedia)Leyner, Mark, 1956–, American writer, b. Jersey City, N.J. His hyperliterate postmodernist short stories, collected in I Smell Esther Williams (1983), My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist (1990), and To...

organized crime

(Encyclopedia)organized crime, criminal activities organized and coordinated on a national scale, often with international connections. The American tradition of daring desperadoes like Jesse James and John Dilling...

Edwards, Jonathan, 1703–58, American theologian and metaphysician

(Encyclopedia)Edwards, Jonathan, 1703–58, American theologian and metaphysician, b. East Windsor (then in Windsor), Conn. He was a precocious child, early interested in things scientific, intellectual, and spirit...

Mĕstrović, Ivan

(Encyclopedia)Mĕstrović, Ivan ēˈvän mĕshˈtrōvyĭch [key], 1883–1962, Croatian-American sculptor, b. Vrpolje, Croatia (then in Austria-Hungary). He was a shepherd and then an apprentice to a marble cutter,...