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Mastroianni, Marcello

(Encyclopedia)Mastroianni, Marcello märchĕlˈlō mästrōyänˈnē [key], 1924–96, Italian movie actor, b. Fontana Liri, Italy. Known for his striking good looks and his world-weary introspective air, he was di...

commercial paper

(Encyclopedia)commercial paper, type of short-term negotiable instrument, usually an unsecured promissory note, that calls for the payment of money at a specified date. Because it is not backed by collateral, comme...

Gordin, Jacob Mikhailovich

(Encyclopedia)Gordin, Jacob Mikhailovich yäˈkôb mĭkhīˈləvyĭch gôrˈdĭn [key], 1853–1909, American writer of Yiddish plays, b. Russia. He was for some years a teacher and a newspaper writer in St. Peters...

Gore, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Gore, Charles, 1853–1932, English prelate and theologian. As the first principal (1884–93) of Pusey House, a theological center at Oxford, he was a leading figure in the High Church movement (see ...

Dio Cassius

(Encyclopedia)Dio Cassius (Cassius Dio Cocceianus) dīo kăshˈəs [key], c.155–235?, Roman historian and administrator, b. Nicaea in Bithynia. He was a grandson of Dio Chrysostom. His rise in civil and military ...

trickster

(Encyclopedia)trickster, a mythic figure common among Native North Americans, South Americans, and Africans. Usually male but occasionally female or disguised in female form, he is notorious for exaggerated biologi...

Pogodin, Nikolai

(Encyclopedia)Pogodin, Nikolai fyôˈdərəvĭch sto͞okäˈlôf [key], 1900–1962, Russian dramatist. Pogodin wrote many colorful, optimistic, and popular plays generally dealing with the theme of man's conquest ...

preventive medicine

(Encyclopedia)preventive medicine, branch of medicine dealing with the prevention of disease and the maintenance of good health practices. Until recently preventive medicine was largely the domain of the U.S. Publi...

Prince William Sound

(Encyclopedia)Prince William Sound, large, irregular, islanded inlet of the Gulf of Alaska, S Alaska, E of the Kenai peninsula. It has many bays and good harbors; the large Columbia Glacier flows into Columbia Bay,...

Hitchcock, Lambert

(Encyclopedia)Hitchcock, Lambert, 1795–1852, American chairmaker, b. Cheshire, Conn. In 1818 in Barkhamsted, Conn., Hitchcock established a factory whose employees came to number about 100. The village that the f...