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Johnston, Albert Sidney

(Encyclopedia)Johnston, Albert Sidney, 1803–62, Confederate general, b. Washington, Ky. After serving in the Black Hawk War, he resigned (1834) from the U.S. army and went to Texas where he enlisted (1835) in the...

joint, in geology

(Encyclopedia)joint, in geology, fracture in rocks along which no appreciable movement has occurred (see fault). Nearly vertical, or sheet, joints that result from shrinkage during cooling are commonly found in ign...

Sonderbund

(Encyclopedia)Sonderbund zônˈdərbo͝ont [key] [Ger.,=separate league], 1845–47, defensive league of seven Roman Catholic cantons of Switzerland; it was formed to protect Catholic interests and prevent the esta...

Zhang Yimou

(Encyclopedia)Zhang Yimou, 1951–, Chinese film director. Sentenced to forced labor during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) because his father had been an officer in Chiang Kai-shek's army, he then studied at t...

adrenocorticotropic hormone

(Encyclopedia)adrenocorticotropic hormone ədrēˈnōkôrˌtəkōtrŏpˈĭk [key], polypeptide hormone secreted by the anterior pituitary gland. Its chief function is to stimulate the cortex of the adrenal gland to...

center of mass

(Encyclopedia)center of mass, the point at which all the mass of a body may be considered to be concentrated in analyzing its motion. The center of mass of a sphere of uniform density coincides with the center of t...

Aeschines

(Encyclopedia)Aeschines ĕˈskĭnēz [key], c.390–314? b.c., Athenian orator, rival of Demosthenes. Aeschines rose from humble circumstances and became powerful in politics because of his oratorical gifts. At fir...

magnetron

(Encyclopedia)magnetron măgˈnĭtrŏnˌ [key], vacuum tube oscillator (see electron tube) that generates high-power electromagnetic signals in the microwave frequency range. Its operation is based on the combined ...

Magsaysay, Ramón

(Encyclopedia)Magsaysay, Ramón rämōnˈ mägsīˈsī [key], 1907–57, president of the Philippines (1953–57). When the Japanese invaded the Philippines (1941), he joined the army and was commissioned a captain...

Maitland, Frederic William

(Encyclopedia)Maitland, Frederic William mātˈlənd [key], 1850–1906, English legal historian, educated at Cambridge. A thorough scholar, he founded the Selden Society for the publication of early English docume...