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Poussin, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Poussin, Nicolas nēkôläˈ [key], 1594–1665, French painter, b. Les Andelys. Poussin was considered the greatest of living painters by his contemporaries. Although he spent most of his life in Ita...

fold

(Encyclopedia)fold, in geology, bent or deformed arrangement of stratified rocks. These rocks may be of sedimentary or volcanic origin. Although stratified rocks are normally deposited on the earth's surface in hor...

Hussein, Saddam

(Encyclopedia)Hussein, Saddam sädämˈ ho͞osānˈ [key], 1937–2006, Iraqi political leader. A member of the Ba'ath party, he fled Iraq after participating (1959) in an assassination attempt on the country's pri...

Jackson

(Encyclopedia)Jackson. 1 City (1990 pop. 37,446), seat of Jackson co., S Mich., on the Grand River; inc. 1857. It is an industrial and commercial center in a farm region. The city's chief manufactures are machinery...

Hearst, William Randolph

(Encyclopedia)Hearst, William Randolph, 1863–1951, American journalist and publisher, b. San Francisco. A flamboyant, highly controversial figure, Hearst was nonetheless an intelligent and extremely competent new...

Aral Sea

(Encyclopedia)Aral Sea ărˈəl [key], salt lake, SW Kazakhstan and NW Uzbekistan, E of the Caspian Sea in an area of interior drainage. To the north and west are the edges of the arid Ustyurt Plateau; the Kyzyl Ku...

sumac

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Poison sumac, Rhus vernix sumac or sumach sho͞oˈmăk, so͞oˈ– [key], common name for some members of the Anacardiaceae, a family of trees and shrubs native chiefly to the tropics but rang...

smart card

(Encyclopedia)smart card, small device that resembles a credit card but contains an embedded microprocessor to store and process information. Magnetic-stripe cards, which store a very small amount of information (m...

peonage

(Encyclopedia)peonage pēˈənĭj [key], system of involuntary servitude based on the indebtedness of the laborer (the peon) to his creditor. It was prevalent in Spanish America, especially in Mexico, Guatemala, Ec...

Zapata, Emiliano

(Encyclopedia)Zapata, Emiliano āmēlyäˈnō säpäˈtä [key], c.1879–1919, Mexican revolutionary, b. Morelos. Zapata was of almost pure native descent. A tenant farmer, he occupied a social position between th...