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autism

(Encyclopedia)autism ôˈtĭzəm [key], developmental disability resulting from a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain. It is characterized by the abnormal development of communica...

Nicholas, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Nicholas, Saint, patron of children and sailors, of Greece, Sicily, and Russia, and of many other places and persons. Little is known of him, but he is traditionally identified as a 4th-century bishop...

Nicholas I, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Nicholas I, 1796–1855, czar of Russia (1825–55), third son of Paul I. His brother and predecessor, Alexander I, died childless (1825). Constantine, Paul's second son, was next in succession but ha...

Nicholas II, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Nicholas II, 1868–1918, last czar of Russia (1894–1917), son of Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna. Discontent at home grew, the army tired of war, the food situation deteriorated, the governme...

Nicholas I, king of Montenegro

(Encyclopedia)Nicholas I, 1841–1921, prince (1860–1910) and king (1910–18) of Montenegro, successor of his uncle, Danilo II. In 1862, after a series of frontier incidents, Nicholas was forced into war with th...

Nicholas Brothers

(Encyclopedia)Nicholas Brothers, African-American tap dance team consisting of Fayard Antonio Nicholas, 1914–2006, b. Mobile, Ala., and Harold Lloyd Nicholas, 1921–2000, b. Winston-Walem, N.C. Performing on sta...

Nicholas of Cusa

(Encyclopedia)Nicholas of Cusa (Nicolaus Cusanus), 1401?–1464, German humanist, scientist, statesman, and philosopher, from 1448 cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. The son of a fisherman, Nicholas was educate...

autogiro

(Encyclopedia)autogiro jīˈrəplān [key], type of aircraft supported in the air by a horizontally mounted airfoil similar to that of a helicopter but unpowered. Invented by the Spaniard Juan de la Cierva, it was ...

Nicholls, Francis Redding Tillou

(Encyclopedia)Nicholls, Francis Redding Tillou, 1834–1912, American politician, b. Donaldsonville, La. At the outbreak of the Civil War he helped organize a company of Confederate volunteers and through active se...

Nicholson, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Nicholson, Francis, 1655–1728, British colonial administrator in North America. Lieutenant governor under Sir Edmund Andros, he fled (1689) to England during the revolt in New York led by Jacob Leis...