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Stone, Lucy

(Encyclopedia)Stone, Lucy, 1818–93, reformer and leader in the women's rights movement, b. near West Brookfield, Mass., grad. Oberlin, 1847. In 1847 she gave her first lecture on women's rights, and the following...

spleen

(Encyclopedia)spleen, soft, purplish-red organ that lies under the diaphragm on the left side of the abdominal cavity. The spleen acts as a filter against foreign organisms that infect the bloodstream, and also fil...

International Court of Justice

(Encyclopedia)International Court of Justice, principal judicial organ of the United Nations, established 1946 by chapter 14 of the UN Charter. It superseded the Permanent Court of International Justice (see World ...

Horvitz, H. Robert

(Encyclopedia)Horvitz, H. Robert (Howard Robert Horivtz), 1947–, American geneticist, b. Chicago, Ill., Ph.D. Harvard, 1974. Horvitz has been a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1978. W...

cramp

(Encyclopedia)cramp, painful uncontrollable contraction of a muscle or group of muscles. The type that results from cold, strain, or disturbance of circulation (as experienced by swimmers) is eased by massage and t...

copperhead

(Encyclopedia)copperhead, poisonous snake, Ancistrodon contortrix, of the E United States. Like its close relative, the water moccasin, the copperhead is a member of the pit viper family and detects its warm-bloode...

Chénier, André

(Encyclopedia)Chénier, André äNdrāˈ shānyāˈ [key], 1762–94, French poet, by some critics considered the greatest in 18th-century France. He was born in Constantinople, where his father was consul general,...

placenta

(Encyclopedia)placenta pləsĕnˈtə [key] or afterbirth, organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy. It is a unique characteristic of the higher (or placental) mammals. In humans it is a thick mass, about ...

Rautavaara, Einojuhani

(Encyclopedia)Rautavaara, Einojuhani, 1928–2016, Finnish composer, b. Helsinki, studied Sibelius Academy, Helsinki (where he was later a professor of composition), and Juilliard. He is regarded as the finest Finn...

Bruckner, Anton

(Encyclopedia)Bruckner, Anton änˈtōn bro͝okˈnər [key], 1824–96, Austrian composer. He was appointed organist at the Linz cathedral in 1856 before becoming court organist in Vienna in 1868, where he later ta...