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Gorgas, Josiah

(Encyclopedia)Gorgas, Josiah gôrˈgəs [key], 1818–83, chief of ordnance in the Confederate army during the American Civil War, b. Dauphin co., Pa.; father of William Crawford Gorgas. He was commissioned in the ...

Abel, Niels Henrik

(Encyclopedia)Abel, Niels Henrik nēls hĕnˈrĭk äˈbəl [key], 1802–29, Norwegian mathematician. While a student at the Univ. of Christiania (Oslo) he did fundamental work on the integration of functional expr...

Feodor III

(Encyclopedia)Feodor III, 1661–82, czar of Russia (1676–82), son and successor of Alexis. Although an invalid, Feodor strove to carry out reforms. In 1681 he abolished the system of precedence among the boyar f...

Freeman, Orville Lothrop

(Encyclopedia)Freeman, Orville Lothrop, 1918–2003, American political figure, b. Minneapolis. In World War II he served in the U.S. marine corps, was severely wounded, and was discharged with the rank of major in...

Aoun, Michel Naim

(Encyclopedia)Aoun, Michel Naïm, 1935–, Lebanese military and political leader. A graduate of Lebanon's military academy (1958), he fought in several major battles during the civil war (1975–90), rising to the...

earring

(Encyclopedia)earring, a personal adornment, sometimes an amulet, worn attached to the ear lobe. Since prehistoric times the ear has been pierced for the insertion of the earring; certain primitive tribes distort t...

Justo, Agustín Pedro

(Encyclopedia)Justo, Agustín Pedro ägo͞ostēnˈ pāˈᵺrō ho͞osˈtō [key], 1876–1943, president of Argentina (1932–38). An army general, he rose to prominence (1922) as minister of war under Marcelo Torc...

Kikwete, Jakaya Mrisho

(Encyclopedia)Kikwete, Jakaya Mrisho jäkäˈyä kĭkwĕˈtā [key], 1950–, Tanzanian political leader, b. Msoga, Tanganyika, grad. Univ. of Dar es Salaam (1978). He joined the defense forces while in college, an...

sumptuary laws

(Encyclopedia)sumptuary laws sŭmpˈcho͞oĕˌrē [key], regulations based on social, religious, or moral grounds directed against overindulgence of luxury in diet and drink and extravagance in dress and mode of li...

Zähringen

(Encyclopedia)Zähringen tsĕrˈĭng-ən [key], noble German family. It took its name from a now ruined castle near Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden, and can be traced to the 10th cent. The family held extensive fiefs i...