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Ter Borch, Gerard

(Encyclopedia)Ter Borch or Terborch, Gerard gāˈrärt tərbôrkhˈ [key], 1617–81, Dutch genre and portrait painter. He studied with his father and traveled throughout Europe, showing extraordinary precocity in ...

Purim

(Encyclopedia)Purim po͞oˈrĭm [key] [Heb.,=lots], Jewish festival celebrated on the 14th of Adar, the twelfth month in the Jewish calendar (Feb.–March). During leap years it is celebrated in Adar II. According ...

Shawnee Prophet

(Encyclopedia)Shawnee Prophet, 1775?–1837?, Native North American of the Shawnee tribe; brother of Tecumseh. His Native American name was Tenskwautawa. He announced himself as a prophet bearing a revelation from ...

Homeland Security, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Homeland Security, United States Department of (DHS), executive department of the federal government charged with protecting the security of the American homeland as its main responsibility. Its prima...

Ivan III

(Encyclopedia)Ivan III or Ivan the Great, 1440–1505, grand duke of Moscow (1462–1505), creator of the consolidated Muscovite (Russian) state. He subjugated (1478) Great Novgorod, asserted his sway over Vyatka, ...

Moriscos

(Encyclopedia)Moriscos môrĭsˈkōz [key] [Span.,=Moorish], Moors converted to Christianity after the Christian reconquest (11th–15th cent.) of Spain. The Moors who had become subjects of Christian kings as the ...

monetary agreement

(Encyclopedia)monetary agreement, attempt by two (bilateral) or more (multilateral) nations to regulate and coordinate their financial relations by treaty. The objectives are usually to promote trade by facilitatin...

Bene Israel

(Encyclopedia)Bene Israel or Beni Israel both: bāˈnē [key] [Heb.,=sons of Israel], Jewish community of India, living mostly in and near Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Many thousands of others have settled in Israel s...

Raffles, Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley

(Encyclopedia)Raffles, Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley, 1781–1826, British East Indian administrator. He was one of the founders of Britain's empire in East Asia. Beginning his career (1795) as a clerk in the British...

Steelyard, Merchants of the

(Encyclopedia)Steelyard, Merchants of the, German hanse, or merchants guild, residing at the Steelyard on the Thames near the present Ironbridge Wharf at London, England. The merchants of the Hanseatic League in Lo...