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Carle, Eric

(Encyclopedia)Carle, Eric, 1929–2021, American children's book author and illustrator, b. Syracuse, N.Y. Although born in the U.S., Carle was raised in Stuttgart, G...

Sellars, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Sellars, Peter, 1957–, American director, b. Pittsburgh, grad. Harvard (1981). A highly innovative director, he began his career with the Boston Shakespeare Co. (1983–84) and Washington's American...

Reuter, Baron Paul Julius von

(Encyclopedia)Reuter, Baron Paul Julius von roiˈtər [key], 1816–99, founder of Reuters Telegram Company (now part of Thomson Reuters), b. Kassel, Germany. His original name was Israel Beer Josaphat. First a ba...

suicide

(Encyclopedia)suicide [Lat.,=self-killing], the deliberate taking of one's own life. Suicide may be compulsory, prescribed by custom or enjoined by the authorities, usually as an alternative to death at the hands o...

miracle

(Encyclopedia)miracle, preternatural occurrence that is viewed as the expression of a divine will. Its awe and wonder lie in the fact that the cause is hidden. The idea of the miracle occurs especially with the evo...

Muhammad, Benjamin Franklin Chavis

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad, Benjamin Franklin Chavis, 1948–, African-American civil-rights and religious leader, b. Oxford, N.C., as Benjamin Franklin Chavis, Jr. An activist from boyhood, he was a youth coordinator ...

Avicenna

(Encyclopedia)Avicenna ăvĭsĕnˈə [key], Arabic Ibn Sina, 980–1037, Islamic philosopher and physician, of Persian origin, b. near Bukhara. He was the most renowned philosopher of medieval Islam and the most in...

Organization of Islamic Cooperation

(Encyclopedia)Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), international organization of 57 countries whose inhabitants are mainly Muslim, est. 1969 as the Organization of the Islamic Conference, renamed 2011. It is ...

Moorish art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Moorish art and architecture, branch of Islamic art and architecture developed in the westernmost lands of the Muslims, known as the Maghreb: N Africa and Spain. The Great Mosque at Al Qayrawan in Tun...

pilgrim

(Encyclopedia)pilgrim, one who travels to a shrine or other sacred place out of religious motives. Pilgrimages are a feature of many religions and cultures. Examples in ancient Greece were the pilgrimages to Eleusi...