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divination

(Encyclopedia)divination, practice of foreseeing future events or obtaining secret knowledge through communication with divine sources and through omens, oracles, signs, and portents. It is based on the belief in r...

Christian Reformed Church

(Encyclopedia)Christian Reformed Church, denomination formed after the secession of a group from the Reformed Church in America in 1857. Colonists from Holland who began settling in Michigan in 1846 generally becam...

Palmer, Josephine

(Encyclopedia)Mpama, Josie 1903–1979, anti-apartheid activist. Mpama was a pioneer of women's rights in South Africa and a labor advocate. B...

astatine

(Encyclopedia)astatine ăsˈtətēn, –tĭn [key] [Gr.,=unstable], semimetallic radioactive chemical element; symbol At; at. no. 85; at. wt. of most stable isotope 210; m.p. 302℃ (estimated); b.p. 337℃ (estima...

Led Zeppelin

(Encyclopedia)Led Zeppelin, English pop music group formed in 1968 by guitarist Jimmy Page (1944–), singer Robert Plant (1948–), bassist John Paul Jones (1946–), and drummer John “Bonzo” Bonham (1948–80...

Bentley, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Bentley, Richard, 1662–1742, English critic and philologist. Generally considered the greatest of English classical scholars, he was also an Anglican clergyman who became (1717) Regius Professor of ...

Wilson, Colin

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Colin, 1931–2013, English writer, b. Leicester. Born into a working-class family and largely self-educated, Wilson in many of his books exhorts humankind to expand its powers and realize its...

West, Nathanael

(Encyclopedia)West, Nathanael, 1903–40, American novelist, whose real name was Nathan Weinstein, b. New York City, grad. Brown Univ., 1924. An innovative, highly original author, West revealed the sterility and g...

Agnew, Spiro Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Agnew, Spiro Theodore spērˈō [key], 1918–96, 39th Vice President of the United States (1969–73), b. Baltimore. Admitted to the bar in 1949, he entered politics as a Republican and was elected (...

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