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Gibeon

(Encyclopedia)Gibeon gĭbˈēən [key], ancient town, 5 mi (8 km) NNW of Jerusalem. The Book of Joshua relates that its inhabitants established a treaty with the invading Israelites, resulting in their servitude to...

Merab

(Encyclopedia)Merab mĭrˈăb [key], in the Bible, daughter of Saul and husband of Adriel. In Second Samuel, the sons of Adriel are, depending on the translation, either born to or brought up by Michal, Saul's youn...

Uncle Sam

(Encyclopedia)Uncle Sam, name used to designate the U.S. government. The origins of the term are unclear. The term was believed to have arisen in the War of 1812, when it seems to have been used at first derisively...

Richelieu

(Encyclopedia)Richelieu rĭshˈəlo͞o [key], river, c.75 mi (120 km) long, issuing from the north end of Lake Champlain, near the N.Y.–Que. border, and flowing N across S Que. to the St. Lawrence River at Sorel....

Donati, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Donati, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä dōnäˈtē [key], 1826–73, Italian astronomer, b. Pisa. Serving as director of the Florence Observatory from 1864, he was a pioneer in the spec...

Currie, Sir Arthur William

(Encyclopedia)Currie, Sir Arthur William, 1875–1933, Canadian commander in World War I. He made a distinguished record for himself in World War I as a brigade and division commander, particularly at Ypres (1915) ...

Home Owners' Loan Corporation

(Encyclopedia)Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC), former U.S. government agency established in 1933 to help stabilize real estate that had depreciated during the depression and to refinance the urban mortgage deb...

Naseby

(Encyclopedia)Naseby nāzˈbē [key], village, Northamptonshire, central England, near Northampton. Nearby, on June 14, 1645, the parliamentarians under Sir Thomas Fairfax of Cameron and Oliver Cromwell defeated th...

Margaret of Scotland, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Margaret of Scotland, Saint, d. 1093, queen consort of Malcolm III and sister of Edgar Atheling. She was married to Malcolm c.1070. A deeply religious woman, she worked to replace the Celtic practices...

Kurusu, Saburo

(Encyclopedia)Kurusu, Saburo säˌbo͞orōˈ ko͞oro͞oˈso͞o [key], 1886–1954, Japanese career diplomat. As ambassador to Germany from 1939 to 1941, he signed the Berlin Pact (Sept., 1940). A special envoy to W...