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mastodon

(Encyclopedia)mastodon măsˈtədŏnˌ [key], name for a number of prehistoric mammals of the extinct genus Mammut, from which modern elephants are believed to have developed. The earliest known forms lived in the ...

Levine, David

(Encyclopedia)Levine, David, 1926–2009, American caricaturist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., studied Pratt Institute, Tyler School of Art, Temple Univ., Philadelphia, and Eighth Street School of New York. Levine's deftly sa...

butoh

(Encyclopedia)butoh [Jap.,=dance of darkness], avant-garde dance form developed in post–World War II Japan. First performed in 1959 by the dancers Tatsumi Hijikata (1928–86) and Kazuo Ohno (1906–2010), butoh ...

ronin

(Encyclopedia)ronin rōˈnĭn [key], in Japanese history, masterless samurai. Ronin were retainers who were deprived of their place in the usual loyalty patterns of Japanese feudalism. The daimyo they had served mi...

Mackenzie, William Lyon

(Encyclopedia)Mackenzie, William Lyon, 1795–1861, Canadian journalist and insurgent leader, b. Scotland; grandfather of William Lyon Mackenzie King. Emigrating to Upper Canada in 1820, he published (1824–34), f...

magnitude

(Encyclopedia)magnitude, in astronomy, measure of the brightness of a star or other celestial object. The stars cataloged by Ptolemy (2d cent. a.d.), all visible with the unaided eye, were ranked on a brightness sc...

caravan

(Encyclopedia)caravan, group of travelers or merchants banded together and organized for mutual assistance and defense while traveling through unsettled or hostile country. Caravan trade is associated with the hist...

Hyères

(Encyclopedia)Hyères yĕr [key], city, Var dept., SE France, in Provence, on the Mediterranean Sea. A port...

Johnston, Gabriel

(Encyclopedia)Johnston, Gabriel, 1699–1752, colonial governor of North Carolina (1734–52). An efficient and popular Scot, he nevertheless had constant difficulties with the assembly over quitrents and other fin...

Nethinim

(Encyclopedia)Nethinim nĕthˈĭnĭm [key], in the Bible, alien captives of the Jews who performed the humblest tasks of the temple. Their lot improved until in post-Exilic times they became the equals of other tem...