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Iran-Iraq War

(Encyclopedia)Iran-Iraq War, 1980–88, protracted military conflict between Iran and Iraq. It officially began on Sept. 22, 1980, with an Iraqi land and air invasion of western Iran, although Iraqi spokespersons m...

Islamic art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Islamic art and architecture, works of art and architecture created in countries where Islam has been dominant and embodying Muslim precepts in its themes. Among the ceramic types are unglazed wares...

Somalia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Somalia sōmäˈleə [key], officially Federal Republic of Somalia, country (2015 est. pop. 10,616,000), 246,200 sq mi (637,657 sq km), extreme E Africa. It is directly south of the Arabian pen...

nitroglycerin

(Encyclopedia)nitroglycerin nīˌtrōglĭsˈərĭn [key], C3H5N3O9, colorless, oily, highly explosive liquid. It is the nitric acid triester of glycerol and is more correctly called glycerol trinitrate. It is insol...

avocet

(Encyclopedia)avocet ăvˈəsĕt [key], common name for a long-legged wading bird about 15 to 18 in. (37.5–45 cm) long, related to the snipe and belonging to the same family as the stilt. The American avocet or b...

Moore, Gordon Earle

(Encyclopedia)Moore, Gordon Earle, 1929– American engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur, b. San Francisco, Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, 1954. He joined (1956) Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory, where ...

Lardner, Ring

(Encyclopedia)Lardner, Ring (Ringgold Wilmer Lardner), 1885–1933, American humorist and short-story writer, b. Niles, Mich. He was a sports reporter in Chicago, St. Louis, and Boston from 1907 to 1919. His first ...

Koprowski, Hilary

(Encyclopedia)Koprowski, Hilary, 1916–2013, Polish-American microbiologist and immunologist, b. Warsaw, M.D. Univ. of Warsaw, 1939. He fled Poland after the Nazi invasion (1939), making his way to Brazil where he...

tensor

(Encyclopedia)tensor, in mathematics, quantity that depends linearly on several vector variables and that varies covariantly with respect to some variables and contravariantly with respect to others when the coordi...

Ter Borch, Gerard

(Encyclopedia)Ter Borch or Terborch, Gerard gāˈrärt tərbôrkhˈ [key], 1617–81, Dutch genre and portrait painter. He studied with his father and traveled throughout Europe, showing extraordinary precocity in ...