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conscription

(Encyclopedia)conscription, compulsory enrollment of personnel for service in the armed forces. Obligatory service in the armed forces has existed since ancient times in many cultures, including the samurai in Japa...

Alcott, Louisa May

(Encyclopedia)Alcott, Louisa May, 1832–88, American author, b. Germantown, Pa.; daughter of Bronson Alcott. Mostly educated by her father, she was a friend of Emerson and Thoreau, and her first book, Flower Fable...

Nielsen, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Nielsen, Carl nēlˈsən, Dan. nĭlˈsən [key], 1865–1931, Danish composer. Nielsen was a pupil of Niels Gade at the Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen. Considered Denmark's foremost composer, he is ...

Lydia, ancient country, Asia

(Encyclopedia)Lydia, ancient country, W Asia Minor, N of Caria and S of Mysia (now NW Turkey). The tyrant Gyges was the founder of the Mermnadae dynasty, which lasted from c.700 b.c. to 550 b.c. The little kingdom ...

Murray, river, Australia

(Encyclopedia)Murray, principal and second-longest river of Australia, 1,609 mi (2,589 km) long, rising in the Australian Alps, SE New South Wales, and flowing westward to form the New South Wales–Victoria bounda...

Lachenmann, Helmut

(Encyclopedia)Lachenmann, Helmut, 1935–, German composer, b. Stuttgart. One of the most influential European composers of the late 20th and early 21st cents., he studied in Venice with Luigi Nono (1958–60) and ...

Abyei

(Encyclopedia)Abyei, disputed region, c.4,000 sq mi (10,400 sq km), on the border of Sudan and South Sudan. Claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, the area was given special administative status under the 2004 peac...

Mackinder, Sir Halford John

(Encyclopedia)Mackinder, Sir Halford John hălˈfərd, məkĭnˈdər [key], 1861–1947, English geopolitician. Educated at Oxford (1887–1905), he led in the revival of British geographical learning. He establish...

Ardern, Jacinda Kate Laurell

(Encyclopedia)Ardern, Jacinda Kate Laurell, 1980–, New Zealand political leader. A member of the Labor party, she worked for Prime Minister Helen Clark and for British prime minister Tony Blair and also was elect...

Thomas à Kempis

(Encyclopedia)Thomas à Kempis kĕmˈpĭs [key], b. 1379 or 1380, d. 1471, German monk, traditional author of The Imitation of Christ, b. Kempen, Germany. He was schooled at Deventer, in the Netherlands, the center...