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bicycle

(Encyclopedia)bicycle, light, two-wheeled vehicle driven by pedals. The name velocipede is often given to early forms of the bicycle and to its predecessor, the dandy horse, a two-wheeled vehicle moved by the thrus...

schizophrenia

(Encyclopedia)schizophrenia skĭtˌsəfrēˈnēə [key], group of severe mental disorders characterized by reality distortions resulting in unusual thought patterns and behaviors. Because there is often little or n...

depression, in economics

(Encyclopedia)depression, in economics, period of economic crisis in commerce, finance, and industry, characterized by falling prices, restriction of credit, low output and investment, numerous bankruptcies, and a ...

poliomyelitis

(Encyclopedia)poliomyelitis pōˌlēōmīˌəlīˈtĭs [key], polio, or infantile paralysis, acute viral infection, mainly of children but also affecting older persons. Historically, there were three immunologic ty...

anthrax

(Encyclopedia)anthrax ănˈthrăks [key], acute infectious disease of animals that can be secondarily transmitted to humans. It is caused by a bacterium (Bacillus anthracis) that primarily affects sheep, horses, ho...

pesticide

(Encyclopedia)pesticide, biological, physical, or chemical agent used to kill plants or animals that are harmful to people; in practice, the term pesticide is often applied only to chemical agents. Various pesticid...

plague

(Encyclopedia)plague, any contagious, malignant, epidemic disease, in particular the bubonic plague and the black plague (or Black Death), both forms of the same infection. These acute febrile diseases are caused b...

Louis IX, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis IX or Saint Louis, 1214–70, king of France (1226–70), son and successor of Louis VIII. His mother, Blanche of Castile, was regent during his minority (1226–34), and her regency probably la...

Pétain, Henri Philippe

(Encyclopedia)Pétain, Henri Philippe äNrēˈ fēlēpˈ pātăNˈ [key], 1856–1951, French army officer, head of state of the Vichy government (see under Vichy). In World War I he halted the Germans at Verdun (1...

Zwingli, Huldreich

(Encyclopedia)Zwingli, Huldreich or Ulrich ho͝oldˈrīkh tsvĭngˈlē, o͝olˈrĭkh [key], 1484–1531, Swiss Protestant reformer. The real beginning of the Reformation in Switzerland was Zwingli's lectures on t...