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Reno

(Encyclopedia)Reno rēˈnō [key], city (1990 pop. 133,850), seat of Washoe co., W Nev., on the Truckee River; inc. 1903. Tourism has been the major industry since gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931. With its...

Barmakids

(Encyclopedia)Barmakids bärˈməsīdzˌ [key], Persian-descended religious family from Khorasan. They served as viziers to the Abbasid caliphs in the 8th cent. Khalid ibn Barmak, d. 782?, supported the revolution ...

Schnitzler, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Schnitzler, Arthur ärˈto͝or shnĭtsˈlər [key], 1862–1931, Austrian dramatist and novelist. The son of a prominent Jewish Viennese physician, he studied and practiced medicine until he attracted...

Scientology, Church of

(Encyclopedia)Scientology, Church of, philosophical religion founded by L(afayette) Ron(ald) Hubbard, 1911–86, b. Tilden, Nebr. Hubbard's book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (1950) first set forth...

Port Said

(Encyclopedia)Port Said bo͝or [key], city (1986 pop. 469,533), NE Egypt, a port on the Mediterranean Sea at the entrance to the Suez Canal. It is a fueling point for ships using the canal and is the site of the ma...

John Birch Society

(Encyclopedia)John Birch Society, ultraconservative, anti-Communist organization in the United States. It was founded in Dec., 1958, by manufacturer Robert Welch, headquartered in Belmont, Mass., and named after Jo...

Kemp, Jack French

(Encyclopedia)Kemp, Jack French, 1935–2009, American politician and government official, b. Los Angeles. He played football while at Occidental College (grad. 1957) and was a professional quarterback for 13 seaso...

Sully, Maximilien de Béthune, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Sully, Maximilien de Béthune, duc de sülēˈ [key], 1560–1641, French statesman. Born and reared a Protestant, he fought in the Wars of Religion under the Huguenot leader Henry of Navarre (later ...

Social Credit

(Encyclopedia)Social Credit, economic plan in Canada, based on the theories of Clifford Hugh Douglas. The central idea is that the problems fundamental to economic depression are those of unequal distribution owing...

Bülow, Bernhard Heinrich Martin, Fürst von

(Encyclopedia)Bülow, Bernhard Heinrich Martin, Fürst von bĕrnˈhärt hīnˈrĭkh märˈtĭn fŭrst fən büˈlō [key], 1849–1929, German chancellor. He held many diplomatic posts before he became, through the...