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Croker, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Croker, Richard, 1841–1922, American politician, head of Tammany Hall from 1886 to 1902, b. Co. Cork, Ireland. He became prominent as Democratic leader of New York City's East Side and as an aide of...

George, Saint

(Encyclopedia)George, Saint, 4th cent.?, perhaps a soldier in the imperial army who died for the faith in Asia Minor. His life is cloaked in legends; Gibbon's identification of him with George of Cappadocia is fals...

ancestor worship

(Encyclopedia)ancestor worship, ritualized propitiation and invocation of dead kin. Ancestor worship is based on the belief that the spirits of the dead continue to dwell in the natural world and have the power to ...

Dirksen, Everett McKinley

(Encyclopedia)Dirksen, Everett McKinley dûrkˈsən [key], 1896–1969, American politician, b. Pekin, Ill. A veteran of World War I, he held minor offices in Pekin before serving in the U.S. House of Representativ...

Polycarp, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Polycarp, Saint pŏlˈĭkärp [key], c.a.d. 70–a.d. 156?, Greek bishop of Smyrna, Father of the Church. He was a disciple of St. John, who appointed him bishop. Thus he linked the apostles and such ...

Pompeius, Sextus

(Encyclopedia)Pompeius, Sextus sĕkˈstəs pŏmpāˈəs [key], d. 35 b.c., Roman commander; one of the sons of Pompey the Great. He fought for his father at Pharsalus, then went to Egypt and, after the battle of Th...

Osman I

(Encyclopedia)Osman I ōthmänˈ [key], 1259–1326, leader of the Ottoman Turks and founder of the dynasty that established and ruled the Ottoman Empire. The Osmanli or Ottoman Turks derive their name from Osman. ...

patent medicine

(Encyclopedia)patent medicine, packaged drugs that can be obtained without prescription; the term was formerly used to describe quack remedies sold by peddlers. Patent, or proprietary, medicines are advertised to t...

Galen

(Encyclopedia)Galen gāˈlən [key], c.130–c.200, physician and writer, b. Pergamum, of Greek parents. After study in Greece and Asia Minor and at Alexandria, he returned to Pergamum, where he served as physician...

Ibn Batuta

(Encyclopedia)Ibn Batuta ĭˈbən bäto͞oˈtä [key], 1304?–1378?, Muslim traveler, b. Tangier. No other medieval traveler is known to have journeyed so extensively. In 30 years (from c.1325) he made a series of...