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Shalikashvili, John Malchase David

(Encyclopedia)Shalikashvili, John Malchase David shälēˌkäshvēˈlē [key], 1936–2011, U.S. army general, b. Poland. Drafted into the army, he became a commissioned officer in 1959, served in Vietnam (1968–6...

Diego Garcia

(Encyclopedia)Diego Garcia, coral island, 11 sq mi (28 sq km). Indian Ocean, largest island of the Chagos Archipelago, SW of Sri Lanka. Part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, the island was leased (1970) to th...

Fifth Monarchy Men

(Encyclopedia)Fifth Monarchy Men, religious group active during the time of the Commonwealth and Protectorate in England. They were millenarians expecting the imminent coming of Jesus to rule the earth. His monarch...

Eretria

(Encyclopedia)Eretria ĕrēˈtrēə [key], ancient city of Greece, in Euboea (now Évvoia), SE of Chalcis (now Khalkís), its rival. In the 7th and 6th cent. b.c., Eretria sent out many colonists to islands and coa...

Hippias

(Encyclopedia)Hippias hĭpˈēəs [key], tyrant (527 b.c.–510 b.c.) of Athens, eldest son of Pisistratus. Hippias governed Athens after the death of his father. His younger brother Hipparchus was closely associat...

Jami

(Encyclopedia)Jami jäˈmē [key], 1414–92, Persian poet, b. Jam, near Herat. His full name was Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami. His poetic influence was widespread. Nearly 100 works are attributed to him, of which...

spinach

(Encyclopedia)spinach, annual plant (Spinacia oleracea) of the family Chenopodiaceae (goosefoot family), probably of Persian origin and known to have been introduced into Europe in the 15th cent. It is valued as a ...

Indo-European

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Indo-European, family of languages having more speakers than any other language family. It is estimated that approximately half the world's population speaks an Indo-European tongue as a first ...

Zoroastrianism

(Encyclopedia)Zoroastrianism zôˌrōăsˈtrēənĭzəm [key], religion founded by Zoroaster, but with many later accretions. The religion's priests, successors to the pre-Zoroastrian Magi, acquired great power b...

Nahuatlan

(Encyclopedia)Nahuatlan näˈwŏtˌlən [key], group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock of North and Central America. A Nahuatlan language of great historical importance is ...