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Cambridge Platonists

(Encyclopedia)Cambridge Platonists, group of English philosophers, centered at Cambridge in the latter half of the 17th cent. In reaction to the mechanical philosophy of Thomas Hobbes this school revived certain Pl...

Laurier, Sir Wilfrid

(Encyclopedia)Laurier, Sir Wilfrid lôˈrēā, Fr. lōryāˈ [key], 1841–1919, Canadian prime minister. He studied law at McGill Univ. His premiership of Canada (1896–1911), the first to be held by a French Can...

Scholz's star

(Encyclopedia)Scholz's star, dim binary star system, consisting of a red dwarf and brown dwarf, in the constellation Monoceros, apparent magnitude 18.3. The red dwarf is a tiny star, with less than ten percent the ...

Olajuwon, Hakeem

(Encyclopedia)Olajuwon, Hakeem häkēmˈ ōlīˈjəwŏnˌ [key], 1963–, Nigerian-American basketball player, b. Lagos. Introduced to basketball at age 15, when he stood 6 ft 9 in. (206 cm) tall, he soon became th...

Dollier de Casson, François

(Encyclopedia)Dollier de Casson, François fräNswäˈ dôlyāˈ də käsôNˈ [key], 1636–1701, priest and explorer in Canada, b. near Nantes, France. In 1657 he entered the seminary of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, and...

lyric

(Encyclopedia)lyric, in ancient Greece, a poem accompanied by a musical instrument, usually a lyre. Although the word is still often used to refer to the songlike quality in poetry, it is more generally used to ref...

Clough, Arthur Hugh

(Encyclopedia)Clough, Arthur Hugh klŭf [key], 1819–61, English poet. He was educated at Rugby and Balliol College, Oxford, where he became friends with Matthew Arnold. After graduation (1841) he was fellow and t...

Foster, Stephen Collins

(Encyclopedia)Foster, Stephen Collins, 1826–64, American songwriter and composer, b. Lawrenceville, Pa. His pioneer family was aware of his talent for music, but not understanding it they provided him with little...

hula

(Encyclopedia)hula, traditional Hawaiian dance usually performed standing with symbolically descriptive arm and hand movements and gracefully sensual undulations of the hips; it is also done in a sitting position. ...

Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of

(Encyclopedia)Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of, New York City, the world's largest Gothic cathedral. The Episcopal cathedral was begun in 1892 in the Byzantine-Romanesque style after designs by G. L. Heins and C...