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Aries

(Encyclopedia)Aries ârˈēz [key] [Lat.,=the ram], constellation lying on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Taurus and Pisces; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It con...

Rosh ha-Shanah

(Encyclopedia)Rosh ha-Shanah hə-shäˈnə [key] [Heb.,=head of the year], the Jewish New Year, also known as the Feast of the Trumpets. It is observed on the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, occurring usual...

Pachycephalosaurus

(Encyclopedia)Pachycephalosaurus păkˌĭsĕfˌəlōsôrˈəs [key] [Gr., = thick-headed lizard], bipedal herbivorous dinosaur of the late Cretaceous period, approximately 68–65 million years ago. Its disting...

Amritsar

(Encyclopedia)Amritsar əmrĭtˈsər [key], city, Punjab state, NW India. It is a district administrative center, as well as a trade and industrial city where carpets, fabrics of goat h...

Walke, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Walke, Henry wôk [key], 1808–96, American naval officer, b. Princess Anne co., Va. Walke was appointed a midshipman in 1827, served in the Mexican War, and was later made a commander. In wisely rem...

Roy, Rammohun

(Encyclopedia)Roy, Rammohun räm-mōˈhən roi [key], 1772–1833, Indian religious and educational reformer. Sometimes called the father of modern India, Roy was born to a wealthy and devout Brahman family in Beng...

Williams, Venus Ebone Starr

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Venus Ebone Starr, 1980–, b. Lynwood, Calif., and Serena Jameka Williams, 1981–, b. Saginaw, Mich., African-American tennis players. Coached by their father, Richard, both sisters turned...

Harijans

(Encyclopedia)Harijans hârˈĭjănzˌ [key] [children of God], in India, individuals who are at the bottom of or outside the Hindu caste system. They were traditionally sweepers, washers of clothes, leatherworkers...

polytheism

(Encyclopedia)polytheism pŏlˈēthēĭzəm [key], belief in a plurality of gods in which each deity is distinguished by special functions. The gods are particularly synonymous with function in the Vedic religion (...

Catalan literature

(Encyclopedia)Catalan literature, like the Catalan language, developed in close connection with that of Provence. In both regions the rhymed songs of the troubadours flourished as an art form from the 11th to the 1...

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