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Jehoahaz

(Encyclopedia)Jehoahaz jōˈəhăz [key]. 1 In Second Kings, king of Israel (c.821–805 b.c.), son and successor of Jehu. He presided over an era of severe reduction of territory and prestige for the northern king...

Euler, Leonhard

(Encyclopedia)Euler, Leonhard lāˈônhärt oiˈlər [key], 1707–83, Swiss mathematician. Born and educated at Basel, where he knew the Bernoullis, he went to St. Petersburg (1727) at the invitation of Catherine ...

pawnbroker

(Encyclopedia)pawnbroker, one who makes loans on personal effects that are left as security. The practice of pawnbroking is ancient, as is recognition of the danger it involves of oppressing the poor. In fact, the ...

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 ...

Jones, Casey

(Encyclopedia)Jones, Casey, 1864–1900, American locomotive engineer celebrated in ballad and song, probably b. Jordan, Fulton co., Ky. His real name was John Luther Jones, but at the age of 17 he went to Cayce, K...

Kananga

(Encyclopedia)Kananga lo͞olwäbo͞orˈ [key], city (1984 pop. 298,693), capital of Kasai-Central prov., S central Congo (Kinshasa), on the Lulua River. It is the commercial and transportation center of a region wh...

Klobuchar, Amy Jean

(Encyclopedia) Klobuchar, Amy Jean, Senator from Minnesota, 1960- , b. Plymouth, Mn,, Yale University (B.A., 1982), University of Chicago Law School (J.D., 1985)....

Thein Sein

(Encyclopedia)Thein Sein tān sān [key], 1945–, Burmese general and political leader. A graduate of the Defense Services Academy, he commanded an infantry battalion and later served under strongman Than Shwe whe...

lark

(Encyclopedia)lark, common name for members of the large family Alaudidae, perching birds of terrestrial habits, chiefly of the Old World and best-known through the skylark, Alauda arvensis. The horned larks belong...

Muskie, Edmund Sixtus

(Encyclopedia)Muskie, Edmund Sixtus, 1914–96, U.S. Senator (1959–80), b. Rumford, Maine. A lawyer, he sat (1947–51) in the Maine legislature after serving in the navy in World War II. He later became (1955) M...