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Scythia

(Encyclopedia)Scythia sĭthˈēə [key], ancient region of Eurasia, extending from the Danube on the west to the borders of China on the east. The Scythians flourished from the 8th to the 4th cent. b.c. They spoke ...

West, Kanye Omari

(Encyclopedia) West, Kanye Omari, 1977- , African American rapper, b. Atlanta (some sources give Douglasville), Al. West’s father, Ray, was a Black Panther who ...

juvenile delinquency

(Encyclopedia)juvenile delinquency, legal term for behavior of children and adolescents that in adults would be judged criminal under law. In the United States, definitions and age limits of juveniles vary, the max...

Ailey, Alvin, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Ailey, Alvin, Jr. āˈlē [key], 1931–89, American modern dancer and choreographer, b. Rogers, Tex. Ailey studied in Los Angeles with Lester Horton, whose strong, dramatic style and views about mult...

Fourteen Points

(Encyclopedia)Fourteen Points, formulation of a peace program, presented at the end of World War I by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in an address before both houses of Congress on Jan. 8, 1918. The message, though ...

Vermeer, Jan

(Encyclopedia)Vermeer, Jan or Johannes vərmērˈ, Dutch yän vərmārˈ, yōhänˈəs [key], 1632–75, Dutch genre and landscape painter. He was born in Delft, where he spent his entire life. He was also known as...

gourd

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Wild balsam apple, Echinocystis Jobata, a member of the gourd family gourd gôrd, go͝ord [key], common name for some members of the Cucurbitaceae, a family of plants whose range includes all ...

almanac

(Encyclopedia)almanac, originally, a calendar with notations of astronomical and other data. Almanacs have been known in simple form almost since the invention of writing, for they served to record religious feasts...

Updike, John

(Encyclopedia)Updike, John, 1932–2009, American author, one of the nation's most distinguished 20th-century men of letters, b. Shillington, Pa., grad. Harvard, 1954. In his many novels and stories, written in a w...

Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeyevich

(Encyclopedia)Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeyevich po͝oshˈkĭn, Rus. əlyĭksänˈdər syĭrgāˈyəvĭch po͞oshˈkĭn [key], 1799–1837, Russian poet and prose writer, among the foremost figures in Russian literatur...

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