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pear

(Encyclopedia)pear, name for a fruit tree of the genus Pyrus of the family Rosaceae (rose family) and for its fruit, a pome. The common pear (P. communis) is one of the earliest cultivated of fruit trees, both in i...

T'ang, Chinese dynasty

(Encyclopedia)T'ang täng [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907. It was founded by Li Yuan and his son Li Shih-min, with the aid of Turkish allies. The early strength of the T'ang was built directly up...

Sihanouk, Norodom

(Encyclopedia)Sihanouk, Norodom nōrōdŭmˈ sĭhənŭkˈ [key], 1922–2012, king of Cambodia (1941–55, 1993–2004), b. Phnom Penh. Sihanouk was educated in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and Paris and was elect...

Powell, Colin Luther

(Encyclopedia)Powell, Colin Luther, 1937–2021, U.S. army general and government official, b. New York City, grad., City College (B.S., 1958); George Washington Univ...

Rumsfeld, Donald Henry

(Encyclopedia)Rumsfeld, Donald Henry, 1932–2021, American government official, b. Chicago, Princeton Univ. (B.A., 1954). After graduating college, Rumsfeld enliste...

USA PATRIOT Act

(Encyclopedia)USA PATRIOT Act [Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorists], 2001, U.S. federal law intended to give federal authorities increased ...

Khmer Empire

(Encyclopedia)Khmer Empire kəmĕrˈ [key], ancient kingdom of SE Asia. In the 6th cent. the Cambodians, or Khmers, established an empire roughly corresponding to modern Cambodia and Laos. Divided during the 8th ce...

class action

(Encyclopedia)class action, in law, a device that permits one or more persons to sue or be sued as representative of a large group of people interested in the matter at issue. The court in whose jurisdiction a suit...

Chomsky, Noam

(Encyclopedia)Chomsky, Noam nōm chŏmˈskē [key], 1928–, educator and linguist, b. Philadelphia. Chomsky, who has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1955, developed a theory of transforma...

puppet

(Encyclopedia)puppet, human or animal figure, generally of a small size and performing on a miniature stage, manipulated by an unseen operator who usually speaks the dialogue. A distinction is made between marionet...