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Liu Xiaobo

(Encyclopedia)Liu Xiaobo shyä [key], 1961–, a Chinese poet and artist, often acted as his spokesperson when he was in custody and was subjected to heavy state surveillance. Under house arrest from 2010, she was ...

Ming

(Encyclopedia)Ming mĭng [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644. The first Ming emperor, Chu Yüan-chang (ruled 1368–98), a former Buddhist monk, joined a rebellion in progress, gained control of it...

Mather, Cotton

(Encyclopedia)Mather, Cotton măᵺˈər [key], 1663–1728, American Puritan clergyman and writer, b. Boston, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1678; M.A., 1681); son of Increase Mather and grandson of Richard Mather and of Jo...

Meiji restoration

(Encyclopedia)Meiji restoration, The term refers to both the events of 1868 that led to the “restoration” of power to the emperor and the entire period of revolutionary changes that coincided with the Meiji emp...

Oates, Joyce Carol

(Encyclopedia)Oates, Joyce Carol, 1938–, American author, b. Lockport, N.Y., B.A. Syracuse Univ., 1960, M.A. Univ. of Wisconsin, 1961. She taught English at the Univ. of Detroit and the Univ. of Windsor, Ontario,...

Wolfe, Thomas Clayton

(Encyclopedia)Wolfe, Thomas Clayton, 1900–1938, American novelist, b. Asheville, N.C., grad. Univ. of North Carolina, 1920, M.A. Harvard, 1922. An important 20th-century American novelist, Wolfe wrote four mammot...

Marcos, Ferdinand Edralin

(Encyclopedia)Marcos, Ferdinand Edralin fārdēnändˈ ĕdˈrälēnˌ märˈkōs [key], 1917–89, Philippine political leader. A lawyer and aide to Manuel Roxas (1946–47), he was elected to congress in 1949, ser...

Mueller, Robert Swan, 3d

(Encyclopedia)Mueller, Robert Swan, 3d, 1944–, American law enforcement official, b. New York City, B.A. Princeton, 1966, M.A. New York Univ., 1967, J.D. Univ. of Virginia School of Law, 1973. After serving in Vi...

Du Bois, W. E. B.

(Encyclopedia)Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt Du Bois) dəboisˈ [key], 1868–1963, American civil-rights leader and author, b. Great Barrington, Mass., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1890; M.A., 1891; Ph.D., 18...

Resnais, Alain

(Encyclopedia)Resnais, Alain älăNˈ rānāˈ [key], 1922–2014, French filmmaker. Although not an official member of the French cinema's New Wave movement, he shared its innovative and personal approach to style...