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Hydra, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Hydra, in Greek mythology, many-headed water serpent; offspring of Typhon and Echidna. When one of its heads was cut off, two new heads appeared. The second labor of Hercules was to kill the monster. ...

corvée

(Encyclopedia)corvée kôrvāˈ [key], under the feudal system, compulsory, unpaid labor demanded by a lord or king and the system of such labor in general. There were national and local variations, but in broad te...

Olson, Floyd Bjornstjerne

(Encyclopedia)Olson, Floyd Bjornstjerne byûrnˈstĕrˌnə [key], 1891–1936, American lawyer and politician, b. Minneapolis. In his early life he was an itinerant laborer and for a time belonged to the Industrial...

Parker, Alton Brooks

(Encyclopedia)Parker, Alton Brooks, 1852–1926, American jurist, U.S. presidential candidate (1904), b. Cortland, N.Y. He practiced law in Kingston, N.Y., and was (1877–85) surrogate of Ulster co., N.Y. He becam...

Kellogg, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Kellogg, Edward, 1790–1858, American economist, b. Norwalk, Conn. He advocated a financial scheme to abolish interest, which was often usurious at the time he wrote. Kellogg devised a system of fina...

Kok, Wim

(Encyclopedia)Kok, Wim (Willem Kok), 1936–2018, Dutch political leader. He worked for the National Association of Trade Unions (later the Federation of Dutch Trade Unions), and served as its chairman from 1973 to...

Weaver, Robert Clifton

(Encyclopedia)Weaver, Robert Clifton, 1907–97, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1966–68), b. Washington, D.C., grad. Harvard (B.S., 1929; M.A., 1931; Ph.D., 1934). An African American, he was su...

Shaw, Lemuel

(Encyclopedia)Shaw, Lemuel, 1781–1861, American jurist, b. Barnstable, Mass. After a career in the Massachusetts state legislature, Shaw served as chief justice for the supreme judicial court of Massachusetts (18...

Plekhanov, Georgi Valentinovich

(Encyclopedia)Plekhanov, Georgi Valentinovich gāôrˈgē vəlyĭntyēˈnəvĭch plyĭkhäˈnəf [key], 1857–1918, Russian revolutionary and social philosopher. He was a leader in introducing Marxist theory to Ru...

Montessori, Maria

(Encyclopedia)Montessori, Maria märēˈä mōntās-sôˈrē [key], 1870–1952, Italian educator and physician. She was the originator of the Montessori method of education for young children and was the first wom...