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Cromwell, Thomas, earl of Essex

(Encyclopedia)Cromwell, Thomas, earl of Essex, 1485?–1540, English statesman. While a young man he lived abroad as a soldier, accountant, and merchant, and on his return (c.1512) to England he engaged in the wool...

Chamberlain, Neville

(Encyclopedia)Chamberlain, Neville (Arthur Neville Chamberlain), 1869–1940, British statesman; son of Joseph Chamberlain and half-brother of Sir Austen Chamberlain. The first half of his career was spent in busin...

insanity

(Encyclopedia)insanity, mental disorder of such severity as to render its victim incapable of managing his affairs or of conforming to social standards. Today, the term insanity is used chiefly in criminal law, to ...

invertebrate

(Encyclopedia)invertebrate ĭnˌvûrˈtəbrət, –brātˌ [key], any animal lacking a backbone. The invertebrates include the tunicates and lancelets of phylum Chordata, as well as all animal phyla other than Chor...

Herodotus

(Encyclopedia)Herodotus hērŏdˈətəs [key], 484?–425? b.c., Greek historian, called the Father of History, b. Halicarnassus, Asia Minor. Only scant knowledge of his life can be gleaned from his writings and fr...

Olmec

(Encyclopedia)Olmec ōlˈmĕk [key], term denoting the culture of ancient Mexican natives inhabiting the tropical coastal plain of the contemporary states of Veracruz and Tabasco, between 1300 and 400 b.c. The term...

Dubinsky, David

(Encyclopedia)Dubinsky, David do͞obĭnˈskē [key], 1892–1982, American labor leader, president (1932–66) of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU), b. Brest-Litovsk, Poland. He was a baker in ...

Haig, Douglas Haig, 1st Earl

(Encyclopedia)Haig, Douglas Haig, 1st Earl, 1861–1928, British field marshal. He saw active service in Sudan (1898) and in the South African War (1899–1902) and upon the outbreak of World War I (1914) was given...

Paisley, Ian Richard Kyle

(Encyclopedia)Paisley, Ian Richard Kyle pāzˈlē [key], 1926–2014, Northern Irish religious and political leader. For many years a leading protagonist of militant Protestantism against Roman Catholicism in North...

Reagan, Ronald Wilson

(Encyclopedia)Reagan, Ronald Wilson rāˈgən [key], 1911–2004, 40th president of the United States (1981–89), b. Tampico, Ill. In 1932, after graduation from Eureka College, he became a radio announcer and spo...

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