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McKenna, Reginald

(Encyclopedia)McKenna, Reginald, 1863–1943, British politician and banker. Elected to Parliament as a Liberal in 1895, he entered the cabinet as president of the board of education in 1907. As first lord of the a...

Isocrates

(Encyclopedia)Isocrates īsŏkˈrətēz [key], 436–338 b.c., one of the Ten Attic Orators. He was a pupil of Socrates and of the Sophists. Perhaps the greatest teacher in Greek history, he taught every younger or...

W and Z particles

(Encyclopedia)W and Z particles, elementary particles that mediate, or carry, the fundamental force associated with weak interactions. The discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, in the...

Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino

(Encyclopedia)Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino dōmēngˈgō foustēˈnō särmyānˈtō [key], 1811–88, Argentine statesman, educator, and author, president of the republic (1868–74). An opponent of Juan Manuel de ...

drug addiction and drug abuse

(Encyclopedia)drug addiction and drug abuse, chronic or habitual use of any chemical substance to alter states of body or mind for other than medically warranted purposes. Traditional definitions of addiction, with...

Cambridge, University of

(Encyclopedia)Cambridge, University of, at Cambridge, England, one of the oldest English-language universities in the world. Originating in the early 12th cent. (legend places its origin even earlier than that of t...

Lease, Mary Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)Lease, Mary Elizabeth, 1853–1933, American agrarian reformer and temperance advocate, b. Ridgeway, Pa. The daughter of an Irish political refugee, she first gained recognition for a series of lectur...

Alfonso V, king of Aragón and Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso V (Alfonso the Magnanimous), 1396–1458, king of Aragón and Sicily (1416–58) and of Naples (1443–58), count of Barcelona. He was the son of Ferdinand I, whom he succeeded in Aragón and ...

Freeman, Orville Lothrop

(Encyclopedia)Freeman, Orville Lothrop, 1918–2003, American political figure, b. Minneapolis. In World War II he served in the U.S. marine corps, was severely wounded, and was discharged with the rank of major in...

Erbakan, Necmettin

(Encyclopedia)Erbakan, Necmettin nĕjˈmətĭn ârˈbäkän [key], 1926–2011, Turkish politician. Trained as an engineer, he received a doctorate in Germany and worked there for several years. In 1970 he establis...