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animism

(Encyclopedia)animism, belief in personalized, supernatural beings (or souls) that often inhabit ordinary animals and objects, governing their existence. British anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor argued in Pr...

Yazidi

(Encyclopedia)Yazidi or Yezidi Middle Eastern religious community whose beliefs incorporate elements of Zoroastrianism, Sufism, Christianity, Manichaeism, and Judaism. Its members, numbering between 200,000 and one...

Wells, H. G.

(Encyclopedia)Wells, H. G. (Herbert George Wells), 1866–1946, English author. Although he is probably best remembered for his works of science fiction, he was also an imaginative social thinker, working assiduous...

Maccabees, books of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Maccabees, two books included in the Septuagint and placed as the last two books in the Old Testament of the Vulgate; they are not included in the Hebrew Bible and are placed in the Apocrypha in Prote...

Salvador, city, Brazil

(Encyclopedia)Salvador souN [key], city (1991 pop. 2,075,273), capital of Bahia state, E Brazil, a port on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the commercial center of a fertile crescent (the Recôncavo) and a shipping point...

propaganda

(Encyclopedia)propaganda, systematic manipulation of public opinion, generally by the use of symbols such as flags, monuments, oratory, and publications. Modern propaganda is distinguished from other forms of commu...

Owen, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Owen, Robert, 1771–1858, British social reformer and socialist, pioneer in the cooperative movement. The son of a saddler, he had little formal education but was a zealous reader. At the age of 10 h...

heresy

(Encyclopedia)heresy, in religion, especially in Christianity, beliefs or views held by a member of a church that contradict its orthodoxy, or core doctrines. It is distinguished from apostasy, which is a complete ...

Somerset, Edward Seymour, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Somerset, Edward Seymour, duke of, 1506?–1552, protector of England. He served on various military and diplomatic missions for Henry VIII and, after the marriage of his sister Jane to the king, was ...

Soyinka, Wole

(Encyclopedia)Soyinka, Wole wōˈlā shôyĭngˈkə [key], 1934–, Nigerian playwright, poet, novelist, essayist, and political activist, born Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka. Educated at the universities of Ibadan and ...