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Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

(Encyclopedia)Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), international organization that came into being in 1961. It superseded the Organization for European Economic Cooperation, which had been ...

Draco, Athenian politician and law codifier

(Encyclopedia)Draco drāˈkŏn [key], fl. 621 b.c., Athenian politician and law codifier. Of his codification of Athenian customary law only the section dealing with involuntary homicide is preserved. From this and...

Maurice, duke and elector of Saxony

(Encyclopedia)Maurice, 1521–53, duke (1541–47) and elector (1547–53) of Saxony. A member of the Albertine branch of the ruling house of Saxony, he became duke of Albertine Saxony during the Protestant Reforma...

Pan, in Greek religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Pan păn [key], in Greek religion and mythology, pastoral god of fertility. He was worshiped principally in Arcadia, and one legend states that he was the son of Hermes, another Arcadian god. Pan was ...

Mississippi, University of

(Encyclopedia)Mississippi, University of, main campus at Oxford; state supported; coeducational; chartered 1844, opened 1848. The university medical center, which includes the schools of medicine, dentistry, and nu...

Yoruba

(Encyclopedia)Yoruba yōˈro͞obä [key], people of SW Nigeria and Benin, numbering about 20 million. Today many of the large cities in Nigeria (including Lagos, Ibadan, and Abeokuta) are in Yorubaland. The old Yor...

San Fernando, city, Trinidad and Tobago

(Encyclopedia)San Fernando săn fərnănˈdō [key], city (1990 pop. 30,092), Trinidad and Tobago, on the Gulf of Paria. It is the country's second largest city and a commercial center for S Trinidad. ...

Detroit, river, United States and Canada

(Encyclopedia)Detroit, river, 32 mi (52 km) long, flowing from Lake St. Clair S into Lake Erie between Detroit, Mich., and Windsor, Ont.; it forms part of the U.S.-Canada boundary. It is one of the most heavily ind...

Venus, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Venus, in Roman religion and mythology, goddess of vegetation. Later, she became identified (3d cent. b.c.) with the Greek Aphrodite. In imperial times she was worshiped as Venus Genetrix, mother of A...

Duhamel du Monceau, Henri Louis

(Encyclopedia)Duhamel du Monceau, Henri Louis äNrēˈ lwē düämĕlˈ dü môNsōˈ [key], 1700–1782, French agriculturist and tree expert. He did experimental work on plant physiology and ecology and wrote The...