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Annan, Kofi Atta

(Encyclopedia)Annan, Kofi Atta kōˈfē äˈtä ănˈən [key] 1938–2018, Ghanaian diplomat, the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations (1997–2006) and the first person to hold that office who came fro...

imam

(Encyclopedia)imam ĭmämˈ [key] [Arab.,=leader], in Islam, a recognized leader or a religious teacher. Among the Sunni the term refers to the leader in the Friday prayer at the mosque; any pious Muslim may functi...

Kabul

(Encyclopedia)Kabul käˈbo͝ol, kəbo͞olˈ [key], city (1997 est. pop. 1,500,000), capital of Afghanistan and of Kabul prov. and its largest city and economic and cultural center, E Afghanistan, on the Kabul Rive...

Constantinople

(Encyclopedia)Constantinople kŏnˌstănˌtĭnōˈpəl [key], former capital of the Byzantine Empire and of the Ottoman Empire, since 1930 officially called İstanbul (for location and description, see İstanbul). ...

Tashkent

(Encyclopedia)Tashkent tŏsh– [key], city (1992 pop. 2,133,000), capital of Tashkent region and of Uzbekistan, in the foothills of the Tian Shan mts.; the name is also spelled Dashkent. The largest and one of the...

millipede

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Millipede, representative of the class Diplopoda millipede mĭlˈəpēdˌ [key], elongated arthropod having many body segments and pairs of legs. Millipedes, sometimes termed thousand-legged w...

hermandad

(Encyclopedia)hermandad ārmändäᵺˈ [key] [Span.,=brotherhood], a peacekeeping association of armed individuals, a characteristic of municipal life in medieval Spain, especially in Castile. Hermandades are know...

Hewitt, Abram Stevens

(Encyclopedia)Hewitt, Abram Stevens hyo͞oˈĭt [key], 1822–1903, American industrialist and political leader, b. Haverstraw, N.Y. He became a lawyer, and friendship with a son and marriage to a daughter of Peter...

Gwathmey, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Gwathmey, Robert gwăthˈmē [key], 1903–88, American painter, b. Richmond, Va. Gwathmey taught at Cooper Union from 1942 to 1968. Among the first white artists to portray African Americans with dig...

Döllinger, Johann Joseph Ignaz von

(Encyclopedia)Döllinger, Johann Joseph Ignaz von yōˈhän yōˈzĕf ĭgˈnäts fən dölˈĭngər [key], 1799–1890, German theologian and historian, leader of the Old Catholics. Ordained in 1822, he was subsequ...

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