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Buss, Jerry

(Encyclopedia)Buss, Jerry (Gerald Hatten Buss), 1933–2013, American businessman and basketball executive, b. Salt Lake City. He worked in the aerospace industry unt...

Houdin, Jean Eugène Robert

(Encyclopedia)Houdin, Jean Eugène Robert or Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin zhäN özhĕnˈ rōbĕrˈ o͞odăNˈ [key], 1805–71, French conjurer and magician. Originally a clockmaker, he was celebrated for his optica...

Aguiyi-Ironsi, Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe

(Encyclopedia)Aguiyi-Ironsi, Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe, 1924–1966, Nigerian military officer and political leader. An Igbo from Umuahia, he joined the Nigerian army in 1942 and received military training in Englan...

Thorndike, Lynn

(Encyclopedia)Thorndike, Lynn, 1882–1965, American historian, b. Lynn, Mass. He taught history at Northwestern Univ. (1907–9), at Western Reserve Univ. (1909–24), and at Columbia (1924–50). Among his books ...

sorcery

(Encyclopedia)sorcery: see incantation; magic; spell; witchcraft. ...

Dunham, Katherine

(Encyclopedia)Dunham, Katherine dŭnˈəm [key], 1909?–2006, American dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist, b. Chicago. She studied anthropology at the Univ. of Chicago, where she received a B.A. and Ph.D. a...

Houdini, Harry

(Encyclopedia)Houdini, Harry ho͞odēˈnē [key], 1874–1926, American magician and writer, b. Budapest, Hungary, as Erik Weisz, later modified to Ehrich Weiss; his stage name honors the French magician Houdin. By...

Eriphyle

(Encyclopedia)Eriphyle ĕrˌĭfīˈlē [key], in Greek legend, wife of Amphiaraüs and sister of Adrastus. She forced her husband into the battle of the Seven against Thebes when Polynices bribed her with the magic...

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