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americium

(Encyclopedia)americium ămərĭˈshēəm [key], artificially produced radioactive chemical element; symbol Am; at. no. 95; mass no. of most stable isotope 243; m.p. about 1,175℃; b.p. about 2,600℃; sp. gr. 13....

Jay, Ricky

(Encyclopedia)Jay, Ricky, 1946–2018, American magician, actor, and writer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Richard Jay Potash. The grandson of a fine amateur magician, Jay first performed at age four and as a teenager bega...

Dravidian languages

(Encyclopedia)Dravidian languages drəvĭdˈēən [key], family of about 23 languages that appears to be unrelated to any other known language family. The Dravidian languages are spoken by more than 200 million peo...

Gülen, Fethullah

(Encyclopedia)Gülen, Fethullah, 1941–, Turkish Islamic leader, founder of the Gülen movement, an educational, religious, and social Islamic organization that supported the Justice and Development party (AKP) in...

hafnium

(Encyclopedia)hafnium hăfˈnēəm [key], metallic chemical element; symbol Hf; at. no. 72; at. wt. 178.49; m.p. about 2,227℃; b.p. 4,602℃; sp. gr. 13.31 at 20℃; valence +4. Hafnium is a lustrous, ductile, si...

Haida

(Encyclopedia)Haida hīˈdə [key], Native North Americans living primarily on the Queen Charlotte Islands, off British Columbia, and on the southern end of the Prince of Wales Island, off Alaska. They speak the Ha...

hairdressing

(Encyclopedia)hairdressing, arranging of the hair for decorative, ceremonial, or symbolic reasons. Primitive men plastered their hair with clay and tied trophies and badges into it to represent their feats and qual...

kaleidoscope

(Encyclopedia)kaleidoscope kəlīˈdəskōp [key], optical instrument that uses mirrors to produce changing symmetrical patterns. Invented by the Scottish physicist Sir David Brewster in 1816, the device is usually...

Pence, Mike

(Encyclopedia)Pence, Mike (Michael Richard Pence), 1959–, Vice President of the United States (2017–21), b. Columbus, Ind., grad. Hanover College, 1981, Indiana Univ. law school, 1986. A Republican, he twice ra...

Bacon's Rebellion

(Encyclopedia)Bacon's Rebellion, popular revolt in colonial Virginia in 1676, led by Nathaniel Bacon. High taxes, low prices for tobacco, and resentment against special privileges given those close to the governor,...