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Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi

(Encyclopedia)Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi säˈdēä, äl-fīyo͞oˈmē [key], 882–942, Jewish scholar, b. Egypt. He was known as Saadia Gaon. He was the head of the great Jewish Academy at Sura, Babylonia, which...

Chavín de Huántar

(Encyclopedia)Chavín de Huántar chävēnˈ dā wänˈtär [key], archaeological site in the northeastern highlands of Peru, near the headwaters of the Marañon River. It flourished between c.900 b.c. and 200 b.c....

Cibber, Colley

(Encyclopedia)Cibber, Colley sĭbˈər [key], 1671–1757, English dramatist and actor-manager. Joining the company at the Theatre Royal in 1690, Cibber became successful as a comedian, playing the fops of Restorat...

Godkin, Edwin Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Godkin, Edwin Lawrence gŏdˈkĭn [key], 1831–1902, American editor, b. Moyne, Ireland, of English parentage. His idealism found expression in his History of Hungary and the Magyars (1853) and won h...

Gurkha

(Encyclopedia)Gurkha go͝orˈkə [key], ethnic group of Nepal and neighboring areas. They claim descent from the Rajputs of N India and entered Nepal from the west after being driven from India. They conquered (ear...

Strauss, Leo

(Encyclopedia)Strauss, Leo, 1899–1973, American philosopher, b. Hesse, Germany. Strauss fled the Nazis and in 1938 came to the United States, where he taught at the New School in New York City (1938–48) and the...

Bataan

(Encyclopedia)Bataan bătănˈ, –tänˈ, bätä-änˈ [key], peninsula and province, W Luzon, the...

Blitzstein, Marc

(Encyclopedia)Blitzstein, Marc (Marcus Samuel Blitzstein), 1905–64, American composer, pianist, and librettist, b. Philadelphia. After attending the Univ. of Pennsylvania and the Curtis Institute of Music, he stu...

megachurch

(Encyclopedia)megachurch, large Protestant church with an average weekly attendance of 2,000 or more; relatively uncommon until after 1970. In the United States, where most megachurches are located, there were more...

muckrakers

(Encyclopedia)muckrakers, name applied to American journalists, novelists, and critics who in the first decade of the 20th cent. attempted to expose the abuses of business and the corruption in politics. The term d...